Criminal Justice and Fair Trial

Sentencing and the Possibility of Reform in India

Last month the Supreme Court of India took a regressive step by affirming a 2008 decision (Swamy Shradhanand) in the case of V. Sriharan v. Union of India. In the...

Minorities suffer as the Supreme Court supports ‘suspicionless’ stop searches

In Roberts v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis and Another, the UK Supreme Court unanimously ruled that section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, which...

The Power of Perception: The ICC and Africa

At a recent event organised by Oxford Transitional Justice Research and the ICC Student Network, Judge Cuno Tarfusser of the International Criminal Court (ICC) addressed a group of students and...

Rape Law in Morocco

The Moroccan Conseil national des droits de l’Homme (National Human Rights Council, CNDH) has issued a worrying report (for the moment only available in French) on the condition of women...

The Meaning of Life Imprisonment – The Case of Khoroshenko v. Russia

Life imprisonment is a harsh sanction that is used in most countries in the world. Evidence from treaty bodies, such as the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture, suggests...

Justifying Deadly Force in the American Supreme Court

The case of City of Los Angeles v. Contreras, currently up for first-round consideration before the Supreme Court of the United States, centres on an important question of criminal procedure:...

Tackling Moral Policing in Mumbai: A Human Rights Approach

In the latest news on moral policing, earlier this month the Mumbai police conducted a round of raids across lodges, resorts and hotels in the holiday region of Madh Island...

A Human Rights Perspective of the Supreme Court Verdict on the Basic Structure Doctrine

In a recent verdict by the Supreme Court of Pakistan (“SCP”), the constitutionality of, inter alia, the 21st amendment—whereby the Federal Government can transfer the trial of certain terrorism-related offences...

Keeping Abreast of Hong Kong’s ‘Breast Assault’ Case: A Legal and Feminist Critique

All men are equal, but some men are more equal than others – others as in women, regrettably. It may not be surprising to find this in a dystopian animal...

Asia Bibi’s “Unfair Trial”

The week before last, the Pakistani Supreme Court admitted Asia bibi’s appeal against her conviction and death sentence for blasphemy under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code. Even if...

India, the Land of Ironies: A Constitutional Democracy’s Dance with the Death Penalty

India is a country of ironies. Barely a fortnight ago, we had a consultation on the death penalty organised by the Law Commission of India where participants advocated for the...

The Execution of Justice in Venezuela

In 2009, Judge María Lourdes Afiuni released a political prisoner on bail. Hours after the judgment was delivered, the late President Hugo Chávez appeared on national television, labelling Afiuni a...