Eight Executed: The Price for Drug Offences in Indonesia
Over the last two days the media and human rights groups around the world have expressed repulsion and anger over Tuesday’s execution of eight people in Indonesia for drug offences....
Criminal Justice and Fair Trial
Mexico’s Torture Problem
The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture’s finding that ‘torture in Mexico is generalized’ drew an uncharacteristically sharp response from the Mexican Government, which accused Juan Méndez of being ‘irresponsible and...
Hutchinson v UK – A Change in Direction on Whole Life Orders?
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled in Hutchinson v UK that the imposition of a ‘whole life order’ for murder does not violate Article 3 ECHR. The...
Implementation of Carter will be the Ultimate Gauge of Success of the Decision
In a unanimous judgment released on February 6, 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada became the ninth jurisdiction in the world to recognize some form of assisted death. The federal...
Supreme Court of Canada Strikes Down Ban on Physician Assisted Death
In a landmark decision, on February 6, 2015 the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously struck down the criminal prohibition against physician assisted death (PAD) in Carter v Canada. The Court...
Whole Life Sentences in Hutchinson v UK – Compromise or Concession?
In Hutchinson v UK, the ECtHR again addressed the vexed question of the compatibility of whole life sentences with human rights law. This post analyses the Chamber decision, recognising the...
Glossip v. Gross: SCOTUS to Consider Oklahoma’s Lethal Injection Protocol
On Friday 23rd January, 2015, the US Supreme Court granted three Oklahoma death row inmates certiorari to challenge the state’s three-drug lethal injection protocol. In Baze v. Rees 553 U.S....
Prisoner Rights at the Forefront of Canadian Debates
Over the past month, two major developments have placed the constitutionally protected rights of prisoners front and centre in the Canadian press. The first of these developments is at the...
The Handbook of Human Rights in Northern Ireland: Where Are We Now?
Northern Ireland’s most prominent human rights NGO is the Committee on the Administration of Justice. Founded in 1981, it has played a significant role in ensuring that human rights and...
Capital Punishment in China: Room for Cautious Optimism?
Recent weeks have seen the resumption of executions in Jordan, after an 8-year de facto moratorium, and in Pakistan, following the murderous terrorist attack on a school in Peshawar, along...
A New Opportunity for the UN to Move Forward the Global Abolition of Death Penalty
On the 2014 world day against the death penalty, Ban Ki Moon made a strong statement calling for global abolition. This declaration reflects a growing trend toward abolition, and yet...
The Duty of National Authorities to Investigate Allegations of Torture
Proponents of universal jurisdiction for international crimes will be gratified by the judgment of the Constitutional Court of South Africa in the case of National Commissioner of the South African...
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