Death Penalty

The Lens of Reformation in Death Penalty Cases: A Complex Enquiry

The Lens of Reformation in Death Penalty Cases: A Complex Enquiry

As per the guidelines laid down by the Indian Supreme Court in Bachan Singh v. The State of Punjab and subsequent cases, the idea of reformation of the offender is...
Supreme Court of Pakistan prohibits execution of condemned prisoners with mental illnesses: A promising start towards reforming Pakistan’s death penalty problem?

Supreme Court of Pakistan prohibits execution of condemned prisoners with mental illnesses: A promising start towards reforming Pakistan’s death penalty problem?

On 10 February, 2021, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) delivered its landmark judgement in Safia Bano v. Home Department (along with 2 consolidated cases). This...
RBG: Advancing Justice in the Criminal Legal System

RBG: Advancing Justice in the Criminal Legal System

Over the course of her 27-year tenure as a United States Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg consistently voted to protect the rights of the marginalized and dispossessed, reflecting an...
The Broken State of Capital Sentencing in India’s Trial Courts

The Broken State of Capital Sentencing in India’s Trial Courts

Project 39A at National Law University, Delhi analysed judgments of all capital cases (215 in total) across trial courts of three Indian states, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, decided over...
UK Supreme Court finds evidence sharing in death penalty case unlawful

UK Supreme Court finds evidence sharing in death penalty case unlawful

On 25 March 2020, the UK Supreme Court handed down its judgment in the case of Elgizouli v SSHD [2020] UKSC 10. At issue was the legality of a UK...
Bringing Back the Death Penalty in South Africa for Crimes Against Women

Bringing Back the Death Penalty in South Africa for Crimes Against Women

September is the start of spring in South Africa, marked by warmer weather and blossoming trees. However, this September was marred by brutal xenophobic attacks and lootings, child abductions and...
US Supreme Court Affirms that there is No Right to a Painless Death

US Supreme Court Affirms that there is No Right to a Painless Death

On 1st April, a 5-4 majority of the United States Supreme Court reiterated that while the Eighth Amendment of the US Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, this does not...
Madison v. Alabama: Chief Justice Roberts “Takes Back Control” of his Court

Madison v. Alabama: Chief Justice Roberts “Takes Back Control” of his Court

Last week, the US Supreme Court spared the life of Vernon Madison, at least temporarily, by remanding his case back to the lower court to decide whether his dementia renders...
The High Court of England and Wales: facilitator of the death penalty abroad?

The High Court of England and Wales: facilitator of the death penalty abroad?

Last week, the High Court of England and Wales held that it was lawful for the British Government to assist American authorities with the investigation and prosecution of crime in...
Indian Supreme Court Judge Calls for Abolishing the Death Penalty

Indian Supreme Court Judge Calls for Abolishing the Death Penalty

In a powerful dissenting opinion that has reignited the debate on the retention of the death penalty in India, Justice Kurian Joseph of the Indian Supreme Court has called for...
The Union Government of India Introduces the Death Penalty for Child Rape

The Union Government of India Introduces the Death Penalty for Child Rape

When news broke out two weeks ago of the horrors committed in the brutal rape of two girls in the small towns of Kathua and Unnao, all legislative consideration of...
A Theatre of Death: Challenging the Death Penalty in India (with Anup Surendranath)

A Theatre of Death: Challenging the Death Penalty in India (with Anup Surendranath)

The death penalty was written into the colonial penal code in India when the country was under British direct rule, and it stayed on the books after independence. Today India...

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