In a judgment released on April 29, the European Court of Human Rights examined the compatibility of a plea bargain procedure with the fair trial protections of the European Convention on Human Rights. See ECtHR, Natsvlishvili and Togonidze v. Georgia, no. 9043/05, Judgment of 29 April 2014. This Chamber decision marks the first case in which the European Court has analyzed in detail any
Read moreA number of distinct courts and monitoring bodies oversee States’ implementation of, and compliance with, their specific obligations under international human rights law. These bodies may be judicial (national, regional or international courts), quasi-judicial (bodies that are not courts, but do decide individual complaints), political (led by States), or supervisory (documenting and assessing human rights conditions). Each of these entities
Read moreThe European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) issued a judgment last week upholding a British court’s grant of immunity to Saudi Arabia and Saudi officials who allegedly tortured British citizens. See ECtHR, Jones and Others v. United Kingdom, nos. 34356/06 and 40528/06, ECHR 2014, Judgment of 14 January 2014. The UK House of Lords had blocked the plaintiffs’ civil suits
Read moreLast week, Nepal’s highest court released a decision prohibiting grants of amnesty for serious human rights violations committed during the nation’s 10-year internal conflict. The Supreme Court found that grants of amnesties, limitations on criminal prosecutions, and the 35-day time limit on filing cases do not conform to the standards established by the Nepalese Constitution and international law. [OHCHR] If
Read moreOver the past week, the European Court of Human Rights has held hearings in several cases relating to the “war on terror,” at the same time as the United States has forcibly repatriated two Guantanamo Bay detainees, despite their fears of persecution. The following post summarizes these developments and – in follow-up to this previous post – also surveys recent advances in other
Read moreThe Registrar for the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) recently admonished several British newspapers for publishing misleading reports about the tribunal’s judgments. [The Guardian] The Registry‘s statement, which was emailed directly to reporters, explained that the ECtHR was “concerned about the frequent misrepresentation of its activities in the British media,” specifically pointing to recent articles discussing payments made to
Read moreIn a highly anticipated judgment, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights has ruled, in Vinter and Others v. the United Kingdom [GC], nos. 66069/09, 130/10 and 3896/10, Judgment of 9 July 2013, that the “whole life orders” imposed on the applicants violated Article 3 (torture or inhuman treatment) of the European Convention on Human Rights because UK law
Read moreThe European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR) will hold its 263rd Session from March 18-23, 2013, during which it will hear thirteen collective complaints and examine States’ reports on compliance with certain articles of the European Social Charter. [ECSR Agenda] Additionally, the Committee will hold a meeting about non-accepted provisions of the Charter and exchange views with the Commissioner for
Read moreThe Extraordinary African Chambers, a special criminal court, opened on February 8, 2013 in the West African nation of Senegal to prepare a case against former Chadian president Hissène Habré. [NY Times] Habré has been accused of responsibility for the deaths of more than 40,000 people and the torture of more than 20,000 during his eight-year rule of Chad, from 1982
Read moreIn addition to the various regional and universal human rights mechanisms established exclusively and specifically for the promotion and protection of human rights, a number of other dispute settlement bodies – often related to economic integration initiatives – may decide cases involving individuals’ and communities’ fundamental rights. Generally, these tribunals’ core mandate is the adjudication of disputes arising from the
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