UN and WHO launch new guidance to address human rights in mental health care
The World Health Organization (WHO) and UN Human Rights Office launched new guidance on Monday to improve laws addressing human rights violations in mental health care. The guidance encourages countries to rethink their approach to mental health policy so that the individual’s dignity and human rights are at the center of conversation and care. The [...]
Peruvian law students from the Facultad de Derecho y Ciencias Políticas, Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco are reporting for JURIST on law-related events in and affecting Perú. All of them are from CIED (Centro de Investigación de los Estudiantes de Derecho), a student research centre in UNSAAC’s faculty of law dedicated to [...]
India dispatch: proposed criminal law reforms have their benefits, but some terms raise questions
Indian law students are reporting for JURIST on law-related developments in and affecting India. This dispatch is from Samar Veer, a third-year law student at National Law University, Delhi and JURIST’s Dispatches Managing Editor. Union Home Minister Amit Shah introduced three new bills in the Lok Sabha (lower house of Indian Parliament) Friday that are [...]
In the UN Security Council’s latest quarterly report regarding life in Afghanistan, released last week, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated that Taliban authorities must ensure “inclusive governance,” allow freedom of speech and stop handing out corporal punishment in order to enter the global community. Guterres’ comments come as the Taliban remain under intense scrutiny for [...]
US dispatch: recent SCOTUS rulings contribute to a divided Fourth of July
Sharon Basch is a rising 2L at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. The most recent spate of United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) decisions handed down late last week have left American citizens more divided than ever. Within the last few years, the US Supreme Court has seen a large volume of what are [...]
Canadian law students are reporting for JURIST on national and international developments in and affecting Canada. Mélanie Cantin is JURIST’s Chief Correspondent for Canada and a rising 3L at the University of Ottawa. On Monday, May 1, the jury for the coroner’s inquest into the 2015 death of 35-year-old British Columbia man Myles Gray during [...]
Explainer: Why US Activists Have Declared 2022 the 'Year of the Botched Execution'
A new report released by the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) has dubbed 2022 the “Year of the Botched Execution,” shedding light on critical issues that mire the capital punishment process in the US — including racial discrimination and problems with prosecutorial accountability. The report highlights that botched executions and protocol errors have led to [...]
North Carolina lawmakers override governor veto on gun rights bill
North Carolina lawmakers Wednesday overrode Governor Roy Cooper’s veto on a bill that would allow residents to buy a handgun without a permit. Under the bill, residents no longer need a permit from the sheriff’s office which would eliminate background checks for those purchasing a gun. However, if a resident chooses to purchase a gun [...]
Texas court postpones execution of inmate over mental illness concerns
A Texas court Tuesday postponed inmate Andre Thomas’ execution date to allow his legal team to prove that he is not competent to be executed. After confessing to a triple murder in 2004, Thomas gouged his eyes out and claimed divine direction for his crimes. Thomas has been considered “seriously mentally ill” since the incident. Further, [...]
The Canadian government has introduced a law delaying the extension of medically-assisted dying laws for people with mental illness. In a news release Thursday, the Department of Justice announced Bill C-39, which proposes that the broadened medical assistance in dying laws (MAID) be delayed until March 2024. Eligibility for MAID for those suffering from mental [...]
