First issue of Volume 4 Commonwealth Human Rights Law Digest
The majority of cases in this issue date from 2002 and include, for the first time, decisions from St Helena and the Soloman Islands. The cases summarised cover decisions in 24 different Commonwealth jurisdictions and include: the House of Lords' decision in ex parte Anderson on the illegality of the Home Secretary's powers to set minimum mandatory sentences for convicted murderers, the landmark South African decision in Du Toit & Anor v The Minister for Welfare and Population Development & Ors, which ruled that a lesbian couple could jointly adopt a child; the decision of the Pakistan court in Siddique v State condemning the practice of honour killings; the South African decision in Minister of Health and Ors v Treatment Action Campaign and Ors on the state's duty to provide adequate treatment to AIDS victims; the Belize death penalty case of Reyes v R in which the mandatory implementation of the death sentence betrays human rights principles, and the Sri Lankan court decision in Vijitha v Wijesekara & Ors in which a victim of police torture was awarded a substantial amount of compensation, to be paid largely by the main violators.
To subscribe to the Digest or for more information please contact Commonwealth Programme Assistant Erica Ffrench at: effrench@interights.org
In addition to the Digest, INTERIGHTS' free online Database of Commonwealth Human Rights Law contains over 900 short summaries of cases searchable by jurisdiction and theme.