Some Landmark Judgments Across the World
1. United States:
·
Brown v. Board of Education (1954): The U.S. Supreme Court declared state laws
establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be
unconstitutional, overturning the "separate but equal" doctrine.
·
Roe v. Wade (1973): The Supreme Court recognized a woman's constitutional right to choose to
have an abortion.
2. India:
·
Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala (1973): The Supreme Court established the
"basic structure" doctrine, affirming that certain features of the
Constitution are beyond the reach of the Parliament to amend.
·
Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India (1978): This judgment expanded the scope of personal liberty
under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.
3. South Africa:
·
S v Makwanyane and Another (1995): The Constitutional Court abolished the death penalty,
declaring it unconstitutional.
4. European Court of Human Rights
(ECHR):
·
Dudgeon v. United Kingdom (1981): The ECHR ruled that laws criminalizing homosexual acts
between consenting adults violate the right to respect for private life.
·
Hirsi Jamaa and Others v. Italy (2012): The ECHR found that Italy violated the European
Convention on Human Rights by intercepting and returning migrants to Libya.
5. International Criminal Court (ICC):
·
Prosecutor v. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo (2009): The ICC issued its first verdict,
finding Lubanga guilty of war crimes related to the use of child soldiers.
·
Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba (2016): The ICC convicted Bemba for war crimes and crimes
against humanity.
