Thousands of police stations in India are to be linked through a tracking network in a bid to boost connectivity between stations and enhance crime-fighting capabilities. According to Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) project aims to create…

'This report examines the activities of the Supreme State Security Court (SSSC) in Syria set up during the state of emergency in 1963. While the the SSSC was set up to prosecute those it deemed a threat to state security, this paper argues that in practice, the SSSC’s role has been to prosecute those whom the Syrian authorities do not approve of, in trials that lack basic due process guarantees.The report is based on information collected from defendants who have finished serving their sentenc more...

Privacy is a key component of individual autonomy, and a voluminous literature has established both its practical value in healthcare contexts and its status as a fundamental, but not absolute ethical right. Because the Right to Information Act (2005) permits citizens to gain information under government control, it might be thought to threaten the privacy of patients and research subjects, especially those in government institutions. It is important for clinicians, administrators, information o more...

'Questions of justice and accountability for past crimes can be a central point of contention in peace negotiations. This report provides guidance on grappling with justice issues in peace negotiations. The author addresses the parameters and policy options for justice in the context of peace negotiations, including basic facts of law, guidance on amnesties and international criminal justice, lessons for incorporating approaches to accountability that are not limited to prosecutions.'

'Refugees and migrants in the Mashrek countries (defined as Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria for the purposes of this report) are at risk of unlawful deportation, ill treatment and exploitation. Difficulties accessing basic rights to healthcare, education, housing and work are compounded by lack of political will, an absence of appropriate laws for the provision of formal legal protection, administrative barriers, budgetary and material restrictions, restrictions on civil society organisations more...

'Austria's police and justice system are plagued by racism, according to an Amnesty International report.'

'An Amnesty International briefing highlights patterns of alleged human rights violations by Greek police against civilians. These include excessive use of force and firearms, torture or other ill-treatment, arbitrary detention and denial of prompt access to lawyers.'

French police have been accused of committing gross human rights violations – often against ethnic minorities – for which they are seldom brought to justice.

Sharecropping between poor landlords and rich tenants has hitherto been the subject of very little academic scrutiny. Given that such 'reverse share tenancy' contracts are mostly at odds with the canonical risk-sharing explanation for sharecropping, this article discusses a rationale for them that relies on weak property rights as well as the legal doctrine of adverse possession, and tests it using data from Lac Alaotra, Madagascar, where this type of tenancy accounts for one-third of land renta more...

'The difficulties connected with researching human trafficking are related to the nature of the subject itself. Like in many other areas of criminal justice studies, research on the nature and scope of trafficking in persons is considered inherently difficult as it involves hidden populations. Trafficking in persons is often a hidden criminal activity, and, as a consequence, the number of victims that come to the attention of the general public at any one time is necessarily only a subset of the more...