Four Myths On Death Penalty
By Kimmo Suominen
Several studies show that there hasn't been any remarkable change, for example, in murder rates, after abolishing death penalty and also several studies go on to prove that threat of death penalty does not have preventive affect for people committing serious offences.

Adding a New Dimension -Terrorism
By Arunjeev Singh Walia
There are many laws like Explosive Substances Act, Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, Prevention of Terrorism Act, which, provides for imposition of capital punishment. But it has been repeatedly held by the courts that death penalty is the maximum punishment and it cannot be awarded irrationally, arbitrarily and must be awarded only in the 'rarest of rare case'.

Vice of Arbitrariness
By Colin Gonsalves
Given the irreversibility of the death penalty sentence, it is unacceptable to state that the will of the majority of judges on the bench must prevail.

Seeking Guidelines

The Law Commission Says...
Extracts from the consultation paper on 'Mode of Execution of Death Sentence and Incidental Matters'

Journey Towards Humanity
The vanishing phase of capital punishment in many countries of the world has made the cry for the abolition of the capital punishment an insistent and loud one. The organizations working on human rights are seriously seized of this issue.

Editorial

Letters to the Editor

Trend Towards Abolition
By Richard C Dieter
Using different terms and a different legal analysis, the US may be coming to a similar conclusion: the death penalty is no longer acceptable in modern society, given what we know about its arbitrariness and mistakes, and given the alternatives that are now in place.

International Instruments on Death Penalty
The Universal Declaration, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 10 December 1948, is not exactly a legal instrument and it is not legally binding, but it has a huge importance for the later instruments. It was the first international document to lay down the right to life as an international human right goal for every nation.

malimath
The Malimath Committee
The Recommendations of the Committee On Reforms of Criminal Justice System

malimath
Vast Scope, Narrow Vision
By K.G. Kannabiran
An analysis of the Malimath Report and what it will do to the Indian inquisitorial system.

malimath
Challenge to the Judicial Community
By Linda Mc Gill
The Malimath Committee's Report and proposals must be aired, critiqued and robustly debated. The Report purports to be a "careful assessment" of both our current system and the principles of other democratic systems. Rather, to echo and paraphrase the concerns of international colleagues, it is biased and result-oriented.

sexuality minorities
Confronting Homophobia
By Sheba
Is there no way out for women who love other women other than killing themselves? the liberty to love and to shape that love is ours, determined as it is by a deeply personal stirring. Of course love needs to be regulated, not by the prescriptions of received structures, but by a sense of our own ethics and by intelligence.

communalism
Combatting Hatespeech
The following is a complaint filed against Praveen Togadia on the basis of which a case has been registered against him in Mumbai.

judgment
Long Distance Justice
By Vijay Hiremath
The P.C. Singhvi case, famous as the video conferencing judgment, opens up immense potential for recording evidence.

'Food must reach the hungry'
The May 2nd order of the Supreme Court in the writ petition filed by the People's Union for Civil Liberties against the Union of India. Writ Petition (Civil) No. 196 Of 2001.

globalisation
TRIPS And The Lifeline to Profits
By P.V.S Giridhar
Law has been elevated from a component of the infrastructure facilitating development into an engine of profit compromising justice.

Development or Destitution?
By D. Narasimha Reddy
Agenda of Agricultural Reforms in Andhra Pradesh

right to information
Not Good Enough
Richard N. Winfield and Sherrell Evans
India's Freedom of Information Bill has great potential to overhaul the ills of secrecy and inaccessibility but there are inadequacies that need to be addressed.

Disability
Blind To Their Needs
By Sunil Scaria
A survey of blind hawkers on railway platforms and trains by India Centre for Human Rights and Law threw up some horrific findings about employment for the disabled.

adivasis
Between Guns and Lathis
By Dilnaz Boga
The adivasis in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra are caught in the crossfire between the police and the Naxalites, as they try to eke out a livelihood from land bereft of irrigation facilities.

world social forum
Moving Towards Another World
World Social Forum is conceived as an international platform to contest the formulations put forward by the neo-liberal economic policies and capitalist led globalization. With the slogan "Another World is Possible", it has provided a strong basis for alliances amongst various social movements.

Other issues: