It\u27s Not OK : New Zealand\u27s Efforts to Eliminate Violence Against Women

Over the last decade, New Zealand has made significant efforts to address an acute social problem—violence against women. In New Zealand, it is estimated that one in three women has been a victim of domestic violence. In an effort to combat the problem, New Zealand has enacted legislation and regulations which aim to prevent and eliminate domestic violence. It has also created visible public education campaigns calling upon people to stop “family violence” as it is called in New Zealand.https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/crowley_reports/1000/thumbnail.jp

It\u27s Not OK: New Zealand\u27s Efforts to Eliminate Violence Against Women

This Report presents the findings of this research effort. It consists of three parts: Part I sets out the normative framework on domestic violence, both at the international and national level, and explains the relevant norms that govern the relationship between Maori and the Crown. Part II begins with a background discussion regarding the level of domestic violence in New Zealand. It then proceeds to detail the problems with the domestic law and implementing regulations addressing domestic violence, both with the law as written and problems with the law and regulations as implemented or enforced, the implementation gaps. It presents the delegation\u27s findings with respect to a range of problems women face when they are victims (and/or survivors) of domestic violence. It also documents the problems activists and workers face when they address these situations. Some of these problems relate to the existing law or government policy whereas others have to do with the way the law and policy has been implemented-or not implemented. Part III addresses domestic violence in Maori communities. While many of the problems presented in Part II also apply to Maori, Part III discusses some issues that affect Maori in particular. Both Parts II and III offer recommendations designed to address the documented problems. During the course of our research, the government of New Zealand has apparently decided to adopt a number of modifications to the existing legislation and policies addressing domestic violence. We commend the government for its willingness to make necessary modifications and join the government in hoping that these changes will help reduce and ultimately eliminate violence against women

Resisting the Inter-American Human Rights System

In a decision that shocked the inter-American human rights world, the Argentinean Supreme Court in February 2017 refused to comply with an InterAmerican Court of Human Rights decision ordering it to revoke a domestic judgment. At issue was a case in which Argentina\u27s Supreme Court had affirmed a civil judgment that found two journalists liable for defamation for publishing stories about an unacknowledged child of former President Carlos Menem in 2001. Ten years later, the Inter-American Court found that the Argentinean Supreme Court\u27s affirmation of the civil judgment against the journalists violated the journalists\u27 right to freedom of expression under the American Convention on Human Rights-the region\u27s core human rights treaty. The InterAmerican Court ordered Argentina\u27s Supreme Court to revoke the decision in its entirety. In 2016, Argentina\u27s president asked the Supreme Court to comply with the Inter-American Court\u27s decision and revoke the 2001 ruling, but the Supreme Court declined to do so, arguing that the Inter-American Court lacked the authority to order the revocation of a domestic judgment

"Las instituciones funcionan": La falta de diálogo constitucional en Chile

En los últimos años se ha hecho un lugar común la comprensión de que es sano para la democracia el que actores políticos eviten comentar decisiones judiciales. Tal entendimiento, sostiene el autor, es normativamente indeseable y políticamente dañino. Tomando los casos de la “píldora del día después”, revisa cómo es que en Chile los actores institucionales parecen disfrazar los argumentosconstitucionales sustantivos que sus pares no institucionales elaboran, haciéndolos pasar por meras discusiones formales. Esta situación, sigue, debilita la práctica constitucional y fomenta una actitud de consenso forzado. Si dicha práctica ha de reclamar consistencia, entonces es preciso incluir con especial fuerza normativa las construcciones de significado constitucional que actores sociales emprenden cuando, por ejemplo, litigan ante las Cortes

Matrimonio civil y Constitución Política: la sentencia del Tribunal Constitucional sobre matrimonio para parejas del mismo sexo

This article briefly discusses the Chilean Constitutional Court’s decision regarding  the definition of marriage in Chile, which reserves the right to marry exclusively to a man and a woman. The article grounds the discussion on a robust conception of the equal dignity of individuals and analyzes the separate opinions of the justices of the Court, emphasizing some technical legal issues such as the prevalence of separate opinions and the references to international human rights law in almost all of them. The article argues that, considering the development of international human rights law and the crafting of claims as fundamental rights claims, it is only a matter of time before the legislature addresses the issue of same-sex marriage, following the Court’s statement that it is the legislature’s duty to do so.El trabajo analiza de manera breve la sentencia del Tribunal Constitucional sobre la definición legal de matrimonio en Chile, que lo reserva para un hombre y una mujer. El fallo se pone en el contexto de argumentos que arrancan desde una concepción robusta del derecho a la igual dignidad y revisa los votos de mayoría, minoría y los votos concurrentes, poniendo de relieve algunos problemas de técnica jurídica, como es la prevalencia de votos separados de quienes suscriben la posición mayoritaria en el Tribunal, así como la referencia extensa a fuentes del derecho internacional de los derechos humanos. Se argumenta que, dado el impulso que esa rama del derecho ha experimentado, será cuestión de tiempo para que el Estado deba dar una respuesta constitucional a la demanda que las personas de orientación sexual diversa formulan en clave de derechos  fundamentales. No obstante, se afirma, es deber del legislador regular esta cuestión, tal como lo señala la sentencia del Tribunal Constitucional