Palestine has a strong case, so why isn’t it recognised?
Even though it is recognised as a state by 143 of the 197 states of the UN
TV pictures of starving babies dying of hunger in Gaza was too much for France, ...
Articles
International Court of Justice adds weight to urgency of climate change action
On 23 July 2025, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) gave an advisory opinion on the obligation of states to protect the climate system and the environment from manmade emissions of greenhouse ...
The great advantage of BBF is its flexibility
A two-state solution is too inflexible and too terminal
Rumours about the death of BBF have been greatly exaggerated. A bizonal bicommunal federation is both possible and desirable. It is ...
Legal service answerable to Human Rights Court
In rape cases the central task, according to the court, is assessing the issue of non-consent
There is a public outcry in Cyprus following the finding by the European Court ...
How a tear made UK stock market plunge
Rachel Reeves, the UK finance minister, was tearful last Wednesday during prime minister’s questions (PMQs). She looked miserable as the prime minister rose to take questions after a U-turn ...
Challenging the Attorney-general is not unknown
In Cyprus, immunity from challenge is a hangover from colonial times
Thanasis Nicolaou, a newly conscripted soldier in the Republic of Cyprus (RoC) national guard was found dead under Alassa ...
An antidote to the hysteria over Iran
When a war of words gets out of hand an actual war usually follows. The war of words between Iran and Israel has been going on for many years and ...
Various reasons for contempt of court
In last week’s Tales from the Coffeeshop, Patroclos asked rhetorically: is everyone who publicly repeats some wild allegation about the courts investigated for contempt? To which the answer is ...
If you want peace, prepare for war
‘We shall fight them on the keyboards and in cyberspace’
When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990 and withdrew into its Russian shell, Nato countries benefited economically as the need to ...
US judiciary pushes back on tariffs
Three judges of the US Court of International Trade (USCIT) held that most of the tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump were unlawful and struck them down.
Trump immediately appealed ...
The poisoned chalice of a visit to Trump
It is embarrassing to watch the ritual humiliation of world leaders as they run the gauntlet of a visit to US President Donald Trump at the White House.
There have ...
An island of strangers in their own country
Immigration dominates politics in Europe and America in ways it had never done previously. It is the main platform of all right-wing movements that are mushrooming everywhere on both sides ...
Two Americans: one quiet, one loud
There were seagulls loitering by the tin chimney at the Vatican as it billowed white smoke heralding the election of Pope Leo XIV the first all-American pope, evocative of land ...
EU sounds the death knell for naturalisation via investment schemes
Malta and the EU’s definitive ruling on golden passports
In a trenchant judgement on April 29, 2025 the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) in the ...
Two must-see films about the papacy
Films highlight the doctrinaire versus the avant-garde and the machinations behind becoming pope
What was unique about Pope Francis who died last Monday was not that he was the first ...
UK Supreme Court struck fair balance on biological sex ruling
On Wednesday five justices of the UK Supreme Court (UKSC) decided that a woman is a person born biologically female. The judgement is long and technical and the UKSC was ...
Headscarf wearing: a secular freedom and a religious obligation
The headscarf controversy in Turkish Cypriot schools after a regulation governing school dress was changed to authorise schoolgirls to cover their heads raises human rights issues the European Court of ...
Marine Le Pen deserves a speedy appeal hearing
Marine Le Pen, the far-right National Rally (RN) candidate for president of France in 2027, was banned from holding public office for five years last week after she was found guilty ...
Istanbul mayor persistently harried by the judiciary
Turkey is in turmoil after Istanbul mayor and candidate for president Ekrem Imamoglu was charged with offences of bribery and corruption, which sparked sustained protests against the rule of President ...
West talks ceasefire in Ukraine, says nothing about Gaza
A stunning silence has greeted Israel’s deadly breach of Gaza ceasefire deal
There was an operational meeting in London last week of commanders of the so-called coalition of the ...
The influence of guarantors in Cyprus talks
The talks in Geneva between the Cypriot leaders and the guarantor powers Greece, Turkey and the UK next week convened by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in the hope that an ...
Nato will survive Trump’s onslaught
Nato without America is out of the question and reports that the death of Nato is imminent have been greatly exaggerated, as is loose talk that the US is destroying ...
ECtHR ruling rightly highlights Napa rape case failings
The case of X v Cyprus attracted worldwide attention as it highlights the plight of rape complainants
In a judgement last Thursday in the application of X v Cyprus, the ...
The muddled history of the fight for self-determination
The right to self-determination is the right of peoples to a state and the right of territorial integrity is the right of a state to its territory. Both are accepted ...