International

On Monday the International Court of Justice (ICJ) began its first trial, and this should be the occasion for the United States to halt its sabotage of this vital element of the international legal system. This was the call issued from Strasbourg by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), where PACE member, SP Senator and United European Left political group chair Tiny Kox expressed the hope that the new American President Barack Obama would follow up his announcement that the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay would be closed and torture renounced by declaring a willingness to cooperate with the ICJ.

'Work' is often assumed to mean paid employment. Those who are active in the voluntary sector or whose work is within the household simply don’t count. These people, predominantly women, stand entirely outside legislation protecting 'workers' from discrimination. Will unpaid work continue to go unrecognised?