Secret Executions in India: Another Reason to Rethink the Death Penalty
Secret executions of death row prisoners are increasingly becoming the order of the day in India. At least three (two ‘successful’, one failed) have been attempted in the last few...
R v D: an Imperfect, yet Promising, Approach to the Treatment of the Niqaab in Court
Debate has recently been ignited in the UK about whether Muslim veils can be accommodated in court, stemming from Judge Peter Murphy’s decision in R v D. In her post...
The Queen v D(R): Wearing a Veil During Proceedings in Crown Court
In a recent Crown Court case The Queen v. D(R), His Honour Judge Murphy had to rule on whether a defendant charged with witness intimidation should be allowed to keep...
Guantanamo Military Commissions: Reflections from a Legal Observer – Part 3
Editor’s note: This is the third and final post of a multi-part blog. To view earlier posts on this subject, please view Part I and Part II. In my last...
Guantanamo Military Commissions: Reflections from a Legal Observer – Part 2
There is perhaps no more controversial space in the world than the U.S. Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. For many, Guantanamo represents the very worst of the American prosecution...
Bugmy v The Queen: Exploring the Significance of Indigenous Background in Sentencing
Bugmy v The Queen provides the High Court of Australia with its first opportunity in thirty years to rule on the significance of Indigenous background in sentencing. The overrepresentation of...
Human Rights and Community Justice: A View from Red Hook, Brooklyn
The Red Hook Community Justice Center (RHCJC), the small community court in Brooklyn, New York, seems miles away from lofty, academic debates on human rights. However, in its own way,...
Mendoza v Argentina: Against the life imprisonment of children
In Mendoza et al. v. Argentina, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (ICHR) has determined that life sentences against children constitute a breach of the American Convention on Human Rights...
Vinter v UK – Why The Majority Are Right To Find That Whole Life Orders Violate Article 3 ECHR
The European Court of Human Rights’ recent decision in Vinter v UK will inevitably come under fire for infringing abstract notions of subsidiarity and the Court criticised for meddling in...
Vinter v UK and Whether Life Should Mean Life
The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights has ruled, in the case of Vinter and Others v United Kingdom, that whole life orders of imprisonment violate Article...
It's Time to Wake Up – UK Legal Aid Cuts
Like many law academics I suppose I had grown tired of well-heeled QCs claiming that this or that change to legal services spelt doom for their profession when what they...
The Crimes of Gambia's Criminal Justice System
Last Autumn, the world witnessed a fleeting frenzy when The Gambia’s eccentric President Jammeh resumed executions for prisoners condemned to death. These executions—the country’s first in 27 years—were soon halted...
