Human Rights Advisory Panel urges the UN to compensate Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian families for lead poisoning in IDP camps
On 8 April 2016, the Human Rights Advisory Panel (HRAP) released its long-awaited opinion in the case of N.M & others against the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo...
The Mandatory Costs of Mandatory Minimum Sentences in Canada
Another day another mandatory minimum struck down. In Lloyd, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that a one-year mandatory minimum sentence that applied to drug trafficking offenders with a prior...
Administrative Decisions and Terrorist Suspects: The UK Supreme Court’s Decision in Youssef v SSFC
The month of January witnessed an important UK Supreme Court decision in Youssef v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (“Youssef”) pertaining to civil rights. It considered a...
A Backwards Step for Human Rights Law in Victoria: Bare v Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission
In July 2015, the Victoria Court of Appeal, Australia, handed down a landmark decision in Bare v Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (‘Bare’). The Court held that Victoria’s Charter of Human...
The Mau Mau Litigation – Justice at Last
It is rare for the British Government to apologise for state sponsored human rights abuses, particularly if they took place over 50 years ago. But in September 2015 the British...
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...
The Mandatory Death Penalty and Narratives of the Common Law
Some people say the common law is all about narrative. A story gets told, then retold and retold and with each retelling it changes a little. Most of the work...
Glossip v. Gross: SCOTUS Affirmation of Underdeveloped Science for the Lifeline of the Death Penalty
On 29 June 2015, in Glossip v. Gross 576 U. S. ____ (2015), Justice Alito gave the majority opinion (joined by Roberts C.J., and Scalia, Kennedy and Thomas, J.J.), which...
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...
Northern Ireland’s Human Rights Commission Granted Leave for Judicial Review to Challenge the Country’s Near-Blanket Ban on Abortion
Unlike the rest of the UK, Northern Ireland is not covered by the Abortion Act 1967. If you are a woman living there who wishes to terminate a pregnancy, the...
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...
