UN Releases Revised Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death (May 24, 2017) [1]
On May 24, 2017, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released the 2016 Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death [3], “an updated version of the 1991 United Nations (UN) Minnesota Manual on the Effective Prevention of Extra-legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions, which, through widespread usage, became known as the Minnesota Protocol (the Protocol).” The original Protocol was drafted to supplement the UN Principles on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions, “which set out international legal standards for the prevention of unlawful death and the investigation of potentially unlawful death.” The OHCHR statement [4] on the Protocol notes that the 2016 Protocol was drafted “to take account of developments in both international law and forensic science” and to “ensure its continuing relevance over the coming decades.”