Category Archives: Law

Badenoch says Labour’s claims to have always defended single-sex spaces are a ‘shameless work of fiction’ – UK politics live

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Minister for women and equality makes statement after supreme court ruling on gender recognition

Some MPs and peers are calling for President Trump not to be invited to address parliament when he visits the UK. In 2017, during Trump’s first presidency, the then Speaker, John Bercow, vetoed a proposal for Trump to address parliamentarians in Westminster Hall.

In an interview with Times Radio this morning, Stephen Morgan, an education minister, said Trump should be allowed to give a speech in parliament. Asked if Trump should be allowed to address MPs and peers, Morgan said:

I look forward to the US president addressing parliament in due course.

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UK prison officers to demand electric stun guns for dangerous jails

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Meeting called with justice secretary after attack on three guards at HMP Frankland

Prison officers will demand the immediate issue of electric stun guns to protect staff guarding Britain’s most dangerous jails when they meet the justice secretary this week.

Wednesday’s meeting with Shabana Mahmood was called after the attack on three guards at HMP Frankland, allegedly by the convicted terrorist Hashem Abedi. Two were seriously injured after being doused in hot cooking fat and stabbed, one five times in the torso, in a sustained assault.

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‘One hell of a turnout’: trans activists rally in London against gender ruling

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Thousands gather in Parliament Square in a show of unity after supreme court judgment

After last week’s supreme court decision, activists had been worried that trans people might become fearful of going out in public in case they were abused.

They weren’t afraid in London on Saturday. Thousands of trans and non-binary people thronged Parliament Square, alongside families and supporters waving baby blue, white and pink flags to demonstrate their anger at the judges’ ruling.

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ICJ hears Sudan case accusing UAE of ‘complicity in genocide’

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United Arab Emirates says Sudan ‘misusing’ world court in proceedings relating to African nation’s civil war

The international court of justice will rule in the next few weeks on whether the United Arab Emirates can be plausibly found “complicit in the commission of genocide” by arming the Rapid Support Forces militia in Sudan’s civil war.

The case was brought by Sudan, whose acting justice minister, Muawia Osman, told the world court in The Hague last week that the country’s “ongoing genocide would not be possible without the complicity of the UAE, including the shipment of arms to the RSF”. Sudan wants ICJ judges to force the UAE to stop its alleged support for the RSF and make “full reparations”, including compensation to victims of the war.

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UK supreme court ruling on legal definition of woman ‘brings clarity and confidence’, says government – live

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Judges say definition of women and sex in Equality Act 2010 act refers to biological women and biological sex

The definition of a woman and sex in the Equality Act relates to “a biological woman and biological sex”, the supreme court has ruled as it unanimously allowed an appeal from gender critical campaign group For Women Scotland.

A possible outcome of the case is that the court will agree with the previous interpretation of the law as it stands, but suggest parliament considers amending the Equality Act to deal with these previously unforeseen consequences.

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UK MP refused entry to Hong Kong accuses China of ‘hidden blacklist’

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Wera Hobhouse says her apparent presence on secret list of critics of country’s human rights record made her a target

A Liberal Democrat MP refused entry to Hong Kong to see her young grandson has said her experience should be “a wake-up call for any parliamentarian”, given that it seems to show China holds a secret list of banned politicians.

Wera Hobhouse, who was turned back by officials on Thursday, said she was given no explanation as to why this happened, and could only assume that it was because she had spoken out about rights abuses by China.

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EU will not rip up tech rules for trade deal with Trump, senior official says

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Bloc is ‘very committed’ to laws on big tech and is not targeting US companies, says European Commission’s Henna Virkkunen

The EU will not rip up its tech rules in an attempt to reach a trade deal with Donald Trump, the bloc’s most senior official on digital policy has said.

Henna Virkkunen, the European Commission vice-president responsible for tech sovereignty, indicated the EU was not going to compromise on its digital rulebook to reach an agreement on trade with the US – a key demand of Trump administration officials.

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US extradites Canadian citizen to India for alleged role in deadly Mumbai attacks

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Tahawwur Hussain Rana, 64, to stand trial for plotting multiday slaughter carried out by 10 Islamist gunmen

A Pakistan-born Canadian citizen wanted for his alleged role in the deadly 2008 Mumbai siege has landed in New Delhi after his extradition from the United States.

Tahawwur Hussain Rana, 64, arrived at a military airbase outside the Indian capital under heavily armed guard late on Thursday, and will be held in detention to face trial.

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Assisted dying vote delayed by three weeks to give MPs time to consider changes

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Kim Leadbeater says she is ‘absolutely confident’ postponement will not delay legislation reaching royal assent

The next vote on legislation to introduce assisted dying in England and Wales has been delayed by three weeks to give MPs on all sides more time to consider its changes, the MP leading the issue has said.

The bill, which has undergone a significant number of changes since the initial vote in November, will now return to the Commons on 16 May, instead of 25 April, for its report stage and votes if time allows.

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Ten Britons accused of committing war crimes while fighting for Israel in Gaza

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Exclusive: Met to be handed dossier of evidence alleging crimes including killings of civilians and aid workers

A war crimes complaint against 10 Britons who served with the Israeli military in Gaza is to be submitted to the Met police by one of the UK’s leading human rights lawyers.

Michael Mansfield KC is one of a group of lawyers who will on Monday hand in a 240-page dossier to Scotland Yard’s war crimes unit alleging targeted killing of civilians and aid workers, including by sniper fire, and indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas, including hospitals.

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Shabana Mahmood: lord chancellor with political nous unafraid to shake up system

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Her introduction to politics began as the child of the chair of Birmingham Labour party and as justice secretary she’s made tough decisions from day one

Shabana Mahmood’s potential as a future cabinet minister was first noticed by the former deputy Labour leader Tom Watson in the 90s over tea and samosas at her family’s end-of-terrace Birmingham home.

Watson, a seasoned fixer, had become a close friend of her father, Mahmood Ahmed, the chair of Birmingham Labour party. When political problems arose, Watson and fellow Labour party organisers would be guided through to comfy sofas in the family sitting room.

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Shabana Mahmood: lord chancellor with political nous unafraid to shake up system

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Her introduction to politics began as the child of the chair of Birmingham Labour party and as justice secretary she’s made tough decisions from day one

Shabana Mahmood’s potential as a future cabinet minister was first noticed by the former deputy Labour leader Tom Watson in the 90s over tea and samosas at her family’s end-of-terrace Birmingham home.

Watson, a seasoned fixer, had become a close friend of her father, Mahmood Ahmed, the chair of Birmingham Labour party. When political problems arose, Watson and fellow Labour party organisers would be guided through to comfy sofas in the family sitting room.

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UK parents with babies in neonatal care gain right to paid leave

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Measures hailed as lifeline for parents will allow people with sick babies to take up to 12 weeks’ leave

Parents with children in neonatal care will gain a day-one right to paid leave and pay in a move hailed as “a lifeline for parents” with sick babies.

From Sunday, the measures will allow eligible parents to take up to 12 weeks of leave and pay, on top of maternity and paternity leave.

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US authors’ copyright lawsuits against OpenAI and Microsoft combined in New York with newspaper actions

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California cases over AI trainers’ use of work by writers including Ta-Nehisi Coates and Michael Chabon transferred to consolidate with New York suits from John Grisham and Jonathan Franzen and more

Twelve US copyright cases against OpenAI and Microsoft have been consolidated in New York, despite most of the authors and news outlets suing the companies being opposed to centralisation.

A transfer order made by the US judicial panel on multidistrict litigation on Thursday said that centralisation will “allow a single judge to coordinate discovery, streamline pretrial proceedings, and eliminate inconsistent rulings”.

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Activist takes case over Trinidad’s homophobic laws to UK’s privy council

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Legislation was repealed in 2018 but Caribbean country’s supreme court last week recriminalised the act after appeal

The privy council in London will soon be called upon to make the final decision on a court case to remove homophobic laws in Trinidad and Tobago.

The laws were repealed in 2018 in a high court judgment that struck from the statute book the “buggery law” that had criminalised consensual anal sex since an act passed in 1925 under British rule. However, last week Trinidad’s supreme court upheld a government appeal against the ruling and recriminalised the act, dealing a hammer blow to LGBTQ+ rights in the Caribbean country and prompting the UK Foreign Office to update its advice for LGBTQ+ travellers.

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Hungary to pull out of ‘political’ ICC as Netanyahu visits Budapest

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Israeli PM, who is wanted by the court, hails Viktor Orbán’s ‘bold and principled’ decision to leave the ‘corrupt’ body

Hungary will leave the international criminal court because it has become “political”, the country’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, said as he welcomed his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanhayu – the subject of an ICC arrest warrant – to Budapest for an official visit.

Standing beside Netanyahu at the start of the four-day visit, Orbàn said Hungary was convinced the “otherwise very important court” had “diminished into a political forum”.

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Netanyahu to visit Hungary as Orbán vows to defy ICC arrest warrant

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Israeli prime minister begins four-day trip after Hungarian counterpart says court ruling would ‘have no effect’

Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to begin a four-day official visit to Hungary on Thursday, marking the first time the Israeli prime minister has stepped foot on European soil since the international criminal court issued an arrest warrant for him over allegations of war crimes in Gaza.

Hours after the ICC announced the warrants in November, Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, made it clear he would defy the court to host Netanyahu, telling reporters that he would “guarantee” the ICC’s ruling would “have no effect in Hungary”.

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UK government tries to placate opponents of AI copyright bill

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Economic impact assessment is one concession aiming to head off opposition from MPs, peers and creatives such as Paul McCartney and Tom Stoppard

The UK government is trying to placate peer and Labour backbencher concerns about copyright proposals by pledging to assess the economic impact of its plans.

Creative professionals including Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Tom Stoppard and Kate Bush have strongly criticised ministers’ proposals to let artificial intelligence companies train their models on copyright-protected work without permission, unless the rights holder opts out.

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MPs’ attacks on judges a huge threat to the rule of law, says attorney general

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Richard Hermer has responded to Robert Jenrick’s calls for a senior judge to be sacked over sentencing guidelines row

Political attacks on judges are “dangerous” and “a huge threat to the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary”, the attorney general has said in a direct rebuke to the shadow justice secretary.

Richard Hermer said politics was entering a “dangerous moment” where politicians were “attacking judges on a personal basis” on the floor of the House of Commons.

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British activist in solitary confinement in India despite acquittal, family say

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Brother of Jagtar Singh Johal claims he is being ‘mentally tortured’ through unwarranted detention

The British Sikh activist Jagtar Singh Johal, detained for seven years in an Indian jail, has been placed into solitary confinement and under 24-hour surveillance despite being acquitted of all terrorism charges against him by a Punjab court on 4 March, his family have claimed.

Johal is still facing the exact same charges in a parallel case in a clear example of double jeopardy, his brother Gurpreet said when giving testimony at Westminster to an all party committee on arbitrary detention. He said the Indian courts have not granted his brother bail, despite the prosecutor’s failure to produce any credible evidence or witnesses in the Punjab court.

Gurpreet said UK consular staff met his brother in jail on Tuesday and were told he had been put into solitary confinement with a 24-hour guard, adding no explanation had been given.

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