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This article was originally published on the Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA), written by John McKendrick KC, CLA Executive Committee, May 2023. Commonwealth lawyers work together because they share values. Across our Commonwealth legal family there are more shared values than those that divide us. One area where we do disagree is on the death penalty. Most Commonwealth states have abolished…

Mr Vinson Ariste, has had his armed robbery conviction and sentence quashed by the Privy Council after expressing “deep concern” that he had been “languishing in prison” for over 12 years on the basis of a confession that should never have been admitted in evidence against him. Eyewitness News interviews Mr Ariste, alongside his lawyer in The Bahamas, Krysta A.…

This article was originally published in ‘A Lawyer Writes‘ – legal blog by Joshua Rozenbeg, 1 June 2023. Just occasionally, you read a judgment that makes your jaw drop. This one was delivered yesterday by five justices of the Supreme Court. In the words of Lord Kitchin and Lord Burrows, it’s about “a young man [who] has been languishing in prison…

This article was originally published in Eyewitness News (The Bahamas) by Natario McKenzie, June 1 2023. NASSAU, BAHAMAS — A man has had his armed robbery conviction and sentence quashed by the Privy Council after expressing “deep concern” that he had been “languishing in prison” for over 12 years on the basis of a confession that should never have been…

This article was originally posted in The Oxford Student, 7 May 2023. On Sunday 7 and Monday 8 May, the Oakeshott Room in Lincoln College will come alive with the voices of ghosts. That was what death row exoneree Peter Ouko likened his own experience to, having been sentenced to death in Kenya for the murder of his wife, a…

This article was originally posted in Reuters, 3 April 2023 By Rozanna Latiff           1,300 convicts will be eligible for sentence review Death penalty has been an ineffective deterrent – minister Moratorium on executions in Malaysia since 2018 KUALA LUMPUR, April 3 (Reuters) – Malaysia’s parliament on Monday passed sweeping legal reforms to remove the mandatory…

UK court rules against closed-door legal hearing

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council allowed the appeal to challenge the court's authority to hold a closed material procedure

'Closed-door hearings threaten fair trial rights'

This article was originally published in Cayman Marl Road news, 3 March 2023.  The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) has refused to allow the prison transfer hearing for murder convict Justin Ramoon to be a closed material hearing. The Governor and Director of Prison Services convinced the Court of Appeal that a Closed Material Procedure (CMP) should be…

Originally published 10 February 2023 in the Taipei Times. Taiwanese are rightfully proud that, despite the nation’s challenging regional environment, their country is a beacon of liberal, democratic values, and the just application of the rule of law. In 2016, the Washington Post commented that Taiwan’s national elections that year had “cemented this island’s standing as one of Asia’s most…

Death penalty doesn’t deter crime