When was the last time you had sex? For many detainees in Italian prisons, the answer is probably years. But things are changing. In April, the first intimate visit took place in an Italian detention centre. The inmate met his partner for two hours in a room with a double bed, not monitored by the penitentiary police, with the door closed but not locked, and a prison officer on guard duty outside the room. This marked the first instance of ‘conjugal visit’ in Italy after a 2024 Constitutional Court ruling that recognised what some have defined as the right to affection of the detainee (diritto all’affettività).
Individuals
“Suspension of Citizenship” in the Hungarian Constitution: On Statelessness, Bull**** and Authoritarian Lawmaking
An ancient and beloved Hungarian folktale is the story of King Matthias and the Clever Girl. According to the story, King Matthias the Just, who often wandered about Hungary in disguise to see how the plain folk were living, was insulted by a village alderman. Matthias, upon his return to court, decreed that the alderman should…
International Legal Protection for Mothers Experiencing Global Crises and Natural Disasters
Humanity now stands at a total population of 8.1 billion, of which 2 billion are mothers. Apropos of this year's Christmas celebrations throughout the Christian part of humanity, I've often had occasion to observe to my students that the classic Nativity story is also a stirring narrative of how the birth of Jesus Christ occurred…
New Oxford/Dublin research: Public majorities worldwide support a democratic world government focused on global issues
As last week’s UN Summit of the Future aimed for bold actions, our new study in the International Studies Quarterly finds that citizens around the world indeed support very far-reaching reforms of global governance. Overwhelming majorities in various countries across the global South, North, East, and West support the creation of a…