Italy: New Law Including Measures on Home Detention or Postponement of...
(July 27, 2020) On June 30, 2020, a new law containing a provision on the adjustment of penal sentences because of the COVID-19 pandemic and other miscellaneous provisions entered into force in Italy....
View ArticleFrance: Constitutional Court Finds Arrested Persons Have Constitutional Right...
(Oct. 28, 2020) In a decision of October 2, 2020, the Conseil constitutionnel (Constitutional Council), France’s high court for constitutional questions, found that the absence of judicial recourse for...
View ArticleItaly: New Law Contains Measures on Visas, Territorial Waters, Virtual...
(Jan. 22, 2021) On December 20, 2020, Italy’s government issued Law No. 173 of December 18, 2020, which contains new measures concerning visas, vessels in territorial waters, virtual proceedings in...
View ArticleItaly: Miscellany of Measures Enacted to Fight Covid-19 Pandemic
(Jan. 28, 2021) On October 28, 2020, Italy’s government issued Decree Law No. 137, which introduced additional measures to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic. Among the topics these measures address are...
View ArticleNicaragua: Constitution Amended to Establish Life Imprisonment for Hate Crimes
(Feb. 26, 2021) On January 19, 2021, an amendment to Nicaragua’s Constitution establishing life sentences for hate crimes entered into force. The amendment adds a second paragraph to article 37 of the...
View ArticleEngland: Proposals Introduced to Reform Pre-charge Bail to Provide Better...
(Mar. 1, 2021) On January 14, 2021, the U.K. government published its response to a consultation into the use of pre-charge bail amid concern that it was not being used appropriately because of a...
View ArticlePakistan: Supreme Court Bars Use of Death Penalty for Inmates with Serious...
(Mar. 3, 2021) On February 10, 2021, a five-member bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan in a landmark judgment barred the use of the death penalty for inmates with serious mental illness or disorders...
View ArticleItaly: Implementation of EU Legislation on Arrest Warrants
(Mar. 9, 2021) On February 2, 2021, Italy issued Legislative Decree No. 10 (L.D. No. 10) amending domestic legislation to implement a European Union (EU) standard related to the European Arrest...
View ArticleNicaragua: Amendment to Code of Criminal Procedure Extends Pretrial...
(Mar. 11, 2021) On February 5, 2021, Law No. 1060, which amends Nicaragua’s Code of Criminal Procedure to extend the previous 48-hour pretrial preventive detention period for suspects, was published in...
View ArticleEngland: Restrictions on Privacy in Parole Hearings Loosened
(Mar. 15, 2021) On February 8, 2021, England’s government announced its intention to amend rule 15 of the Parole Board Rules 2019, which provide that, with limited exceptions, all parole hearings...
View ArticleMexico: First Cases Approved under Law Granting Amnesty to Criminals...
(May 3, 2021) On April 22, 2021, the Mexican government announced that it had approved the release from prison of five convicted individuals as provided by the Amnesty Law adopted one year earlier. The...
View ArticleChina: Revised Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Law Takes Effect
(June 9, 2021) On June 1, 2021, a revised version of China’s Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Law entered into effect. (Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Law (official gazette version), revised by...
View ArticleEngland and Wales: High Court Rules on Lawfulness of Policies Regarding...
On July 2, 2021, the High Court of England and Wales handed down its judgment in R (on the Application of FDJ) v. Secretary of State for Justice (Decision), which ruled on the lawfulness of the...
View ArticleSaudi Arabia: Flogging and Death Abolished as Ta'zeer Penalties
(Aug. 3, 2020) On July 15, 2020, the director of the Human Rights Commission of Saudi Arabia, Awwad bin Saleh, announced that the commission is planning to launch a number of initiatives to highlight...
View ArticleTurkey: Penal and Criminal Procedure Code Amendments Increase Sanctions for...
On May 27, 2022, Law No. 7406 amending the Turkish Penal Code (TPC), the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), and other provisions was published in Turkey’s Official Gazette. Among other changes, the...
View ArticleMalaysia: Bill Removing Mandatory Death Penalty for Certain Offenses Passed
On April 3, 2023, the lower house (Dewan Rakyat) of the Malaysian Parliament voted to pass the Abolition of the Mandatory Death Penalty Bill 2023 and the Revision of Sentence of Death and Imprisonment...
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