Many countries are implementing emergency releases of people from prison to mitigate the spread of Covid-19. Such measures, while critical to public health, can enable the unjust release from prison of politically connected and wealthy individuals convicted of corruption offences, thereby undermining the rule of law and democratic values by weakening public trust in the justice system. To reduce overcrowding of prisons while ensuring that white-collar criminals are appropriately sanctioned, one strategy is to impose alternatives to custodial sentences that ensure appropriate sanctioning of convicted criminals while de-densifying prisons – an approach that could be considered for non-emergency times as well. |
Search result: 3 articles
Article |
Covid-19 Emergency Prison Release Policy: A Public Health Imperative and a Rule of Law Challenge |
Journal | European Journal of Law Reform, Issue 4 2020 |
Keywords | emergency prison release, rule of law, democracy, reducing prison overcrowding, prisoner rights, appropriate sanctions for white collar criminals, alternatives to custodial sentences |
Authors | Victoria Jennett |
AbstractAuthor's information |
Article |
The Windrush ScandalA Review of Citizenship, Belonging and Justice in the United Kingdom |
Journal | European Journal of Law Reform, Issue 3 2020 |
Keywords | Windrush generation, statelessness, right to nationality, genocide, apologetic UK Human Rights Act Preamble |
Authors | Namitasha Goring, Beverley Beckford and Simone Bowman |
AbstractAuthor's information |
This article points out that the UK Human Rights Act, 1998 does not have a clear provision guaranteeing a person’s right to a nationality. Instead, this right is buried in the European Court of Human Rights decisions of Smirnova v Russia, 2003 and Alpeyeva and Dzhalagoniya v. Russia, 2018. In these cases, the Court stretched the scope of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, 1953 on non-interference with private life by public authorities to extend to nationality. The humanitarian crisis arising from the Windrush Scandal was caused by the UK Government’s decision to destroy the Windrush Generation’s landing cards in the full knowledge that for many these slips of paper were the only evidence of their legitimate arrival in Britain between 1948 and 1971. |
Article |
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Journal | Erasmus Law Review, Issue 2 2017 |
Keywords | Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information, exercise of regulatory authority, due process requirements, peer review reports, legitimacy |
Authors | Leo E.C. Neve |
AbstractAuthor's information |
The Global Forum on transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes has undertaken peer reviews on the implementation of the global standard of exchange of information on request, both from the perspective of formalities available and from the perspective of actual implementation. In the review reports Global Forum advises jurisdictions on required amendments of regulations and practices. With these advices, the Global Forum exercises regulatory authority. The article assesses the legitimacy of the exercise of such authority by the Global Forum and concludes that the exercise of such authority is not legitimate for the reason that the rule of law is abused by preventing jurisdictions to adhere to due process rules. |