The European Court of Human Rights, established by and solely responsible for interpreting the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (the Convention), is arguably the most developed and respected international court. Its caseload has swelled in the past two decades thanks in part to its growing legitimacy and to the Council
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights, established by the American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR), is the leading regional human rights court in the Americas. The Court consists of seven judges, elected by secret ballot by member states of the Organization of American States (OAS). Cases may be referred to the Court only by the
The U.S. Supreme Court conducts appellate review hearings of lower-court decisions, relying on written briefs and oral arguments by counsel for the parties to help the justices formulate opinions as to cases’ outcomes. The number of petitions from parties seeking to have the Supreme Court grant a hearing on their appeal far exceeds the number
The evaluation of competence to stand trial is by far the most common forensic evaluation conducted. It has been estimated that there are between 24,000 and 60,000 of these evaluations carried out across the United States each year. This article describes the Georgia Court Competence Test (GCCT), an instrument used to assess competence to stand trial.