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...
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...
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...
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...
The Unified Screening Mechanism: Hong Kong to Assess Refugee Claims Alongside Torture Claims
The UNHCR previously had the role of assessing and determining refugee claims (“persecution claims”) in Hong Kong in accordance with Art. 33 of the Convention Relating to the Status of...
Canadian Constitutional Challenge to Prohibition on Assisted-Dying
Canada’s top court is once again set to decide on the constitutionality of physician-assisted dying for terminally ill patients. Last Wednesday, the Supreme Court of Canada heard oral arguments in...
Providing Syrian Survivors of Torture Access to Rehabilitation Services
Mental health and other rehabilitation services can be key to restoring basic functioning and facilitate resilience and positive coping strategies for refugee survivors of torture. In the summer of 2012,...
Federal Judge Strikes Down California Death Penalty as Unconstitutional
In a stunning – and possibly prescient – decision, United States District Court Judge Cormac J. Carney of the Central District of California struck down the state of California’s death...
Throwing Away The Key – Whole Life Sentences in the Court of Appeal
Flouting the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Vinter v UK, the UK Court of Appeal has held that whole life sentences do not violate Article...
Court of Appeal Affirms Ability to Pass Whole Life Tariffs for Murder
A specially constituted five-member Court of Appeal has ruled unanimously in R v McLoughlin that the imposition of a ‘whole life order’ for murder not does violate Article 3 ECHR....
Jones and Others v UK: Immunity or Impunity?
The recent decision of the European Court of Human Rights in Jones and Others v UK represents a missed opportunity to take a lead in developments in international law concerning...
Corporal Punishment in Namibia Revisited
In the landmark 1991 judgement of the Namibian Supreme Court in Ex Parte: Attorney-General, In Re Corporal punishment by Organs of State, Berker CJ remarked in a separate judgement, that...
