France Passes Controversial Asylum Law

France recently passed a controversial new asylum law that dramatically reduces the amount of time asylees have to file an application for relief and criminalizes illegally entering the country, which is punishable by up to one-year imprisonment. The law has received harsh criticism from both human rights groups and French National Assembly members themselves.

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MSU ILRJenna Tidwell, France, Asylum
Russia’s Decriminalization of Domestic Violence – Why Report if Nothing Happens?

In 2017 Russia removed criminal penalties from acts of domestic abuse that do not leave lasting physical injury. Russian law makers say that this is not a dismissal of the issue and that it still considers domestic violence to be an important societal problem. However, when reporting leads to nothing more than a fine, women have little incentive to make a formal report.

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