Category Archives: Law

Donald Trump returns to New York court for fraud trial proceedings

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Former president planned a return to coincide with Michael Cohen’s testimony, which has been delayed until next week

Former president Donald Trump returned to a New York court on Tuesday to watch and deplore the civil fraud trial that threatens to disrupt his real estate businesses, but he got no face-to-face encounter – for now – with the star witness against him.

After attending the trial’s first three days earlier this month, Trump initially planned a return to coincide with testimony by Michael Cohen, his one-time attorney turned outspoken foe. But Cohen’s testimony was delayed until at least next week, with Cohen citing a health problem.

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Tory MP Peter Bone should be suspended for six weeks for bullying and sexual misconduct, says report – UK politics live

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Commons will vote on suspension recommended by independent expert panel after investigation

Peter Bone has issued a statement saying that the bullying and sexual misconduct claims about him made by a former employed, that have led to the IEP recommending a six-week suspension, are false and without foundation. He says the complainant did not raise them at the time and only submitted a complaint years after they had left.

As I have maintained throughout these proceedings, none of the misconduct allegations against me ever took place. They are false and untrue claims. They are without foundation.

The allegations by an ex-employee refer to events of more than 10 years ago that spanned no more than a few months. The complainant first made the allegations years after they left my employment. They did not raise them at any time during their employment, either in writing or verbally with me, nor with their line managers …

I am also firmly of the opinion that on this occasion the independent complaints and grievance scheme investigation was flawed, procedurally unfair and didn’t comply with its own rules and regulations. It is my belief that they have operated outside of the powers given to them by parliament and I am currently discussing with lawyers what action could and should be taken.

The commissioner found the following allegations proved:

Allegation 1: Mr Bone “verbally belittled, ridiculed, abused and humiliated” the complainant, and this was bullying.

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Prisons plan could add 1,000 places in England and Wales amid overcrowding

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Use of portable buildings and more doubling up in cells could be part of package to be announced next week

Prisoners in England and Wales could be moved into portable buildings or released early as part of a huge extension of the electronic tagging scheme, as the justice secretary considers creative measures to solve the overcrowding crisis.

Alex Chalk KC is expected to reveal a package of measures on Monday that could add 1,000 prison places across the estate, the Guardian understands.

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First minister says SNP MP who defected to Tories ‘probably never believed’ in Scottish independence – as it happened

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Humza Yousaf says Lisa Cameron’s move was ‘the least surprising news I’ve had as leader of the SNP’

NHS waiting lists have hit a new record high, with more people facing long waits, PA Media reports. PA says:

Figures for the NHS in England show 7.75 million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of August, up from 7.68 million in July.

This is the highest number since records began in August 2007 and comes despite Rishi Sunak saying cutting waiting lists is one of his priorities.

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What are the rules of war – and how do they apply to the Israel-Gaza conflict?

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International humanitarian law dictates the rules combatants should follow – with a central tenet that ‘civilians should not be targeted’

Amid the horror of the attacks by Hamas on Israel and the response by the Israeli military in Gaza, there have been calls for both sides to abide by international law and accusations of breaches.

So what is the framework of international laws that is supposed to govern war or armed conflicts?

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Taki Theodoracopulos given 12-month suspended sentence for attempted rape

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Spectator journalist, 87, is found guilty of attacking woman on ski weekend at his Swiss chalet in 2009

The journalist Taki Theodoracopulos has been handed a 12-month suspended prison sentence by a judge in Switzerland for an attempted rape in 2009.

The 87-year-old, who writes a column for the Spectator, was found guilty of attacking a woman on a ski weekend at his chalet in Gstaad in the Swiss Alps.

During a nine-hour hearing at the Oberland regional court in Thun on Thursday, Theodoracopulos dismissed the woman’s accusations as “monstrous” and a plot to destroy his career. He said he was “absolutely not guilty”.

The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, broke down in tears as she told the court about the violent assault. She said: “I felt like a piece of meat. I didn’t feel that he saw me as a person at all. I tried very hard to put the incident behind me but it really shook my confidence professionally and it has had ongoing emotional consequences.”

The woman said another journalist had invited her to Theodoracopulos’s chalet, called Palataki or Little Palace, in early 2009.

She explained why she had waited a decade to report the attack, having first made a complaint to the Metropolitan police in 2019. “I didn’t think anyone would believe me. The accused was, is, a wealthy and powerful man. I thought everyone would think I was lying and I was trying to make my way in [my career].

“But, also, I felt ashamed. I thought I shouldn’t have accepted the invitation, I shouldn’t have gone, and that if I tried to say something everyone would say it was my own fault.”

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Nine rapes at Harrogate military college reported to civilian police in 13 months

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Figures raise questions about safeguarding at college given ‘outstanding’ for welfare by Ofsted

Nine rapes at the Harrogate military college, which trains 16- and 17-year-olds for careers in the British army, were reported to civilian police over a 13-month period to the middle of August, figures show.

Disclosed under freedom of information legislation, the figures raise questions about safeguarding at Harrogate, and why its welfare arrangements are rated as “outstanding” by Ofsted.

In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support for rape and sexual abuse on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html

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‘Trump show is over,’ says New York attorney general as third day of fraud trial ends

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Letitia James calls former president’s appearance at civil trial a ‘political stunt’ and a ‘fundraising stop’

The New York attorney general, Letitia James, told reporters on Wednesday that “the Trump show is over” as the third day of the former US president’s civil fraud trial wrapped up in Manhattan.

James and Trump both returned to the trial a day after Trump ran afoul of the judge by denigrating a key court staffer in a social media post.

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Holiday pay ruling ‘entitles many UK workers to thousands in unfairly deducted wages’

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Unison says decision affects other types of employee payments and is ‘victory for underpaid workers’

Many UK workers could be entitled to thousands of pounds “unfairly” deducted from their pay after a supreme court decision, according to unions.

The judgment relates to a long-running row about holiday pay but Unison, which participated in the case, said the ruling affected all other types of payment to employees and called it a “victory for underpaid workers”.

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Former social worker alleges she was dismissed over menopause symptoms

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Maria Rooney’s action against Leicester city council is first tribunal case to consider the symptoms as a disability

A former children’s social worker has told an employment tribunal that she felt “colluded against” by the council she worked for due to suffering symptoms of menopause.

Maria Rooney initiated legal action against Leicester city council in the first tribunal case to consider the symptoms as a disability. She has alleged she was constructively dismissed after discrimination over suffering menopause symptoms.

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Judge issues gag order after Trump’s comments on court clerk in civil trial

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The second day of Trump’s trial got off to another combative start after Trump branded the case a ‘fraud’ and ‘scam’

The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial issued a gag order on Tuesday after the former president made comments about the judge’s clerk.

“Consider this statement a gag order forbidding all parties from posting, emailing or speaking publicly about any of my staff,” the judge, Arthur Engoron, said on Tuesday afternoon. “Personal attacks on members of my court staff are unacceptable, inappropriate and I will not tolerate them in any circumstances.

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Trump attacks New York court for fraud trial that threatens his business career

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Ex-president rails against judge and prosecutors accusing him of years-long fraud they say inflated his wealth by as much as $2.2bn

Donald Trump attacked the judge and New York prosecutors who have charged him with orchestrating a years-long fraud on Monday as state prosecutors accused the former president of using the scam to inflate his wealth by as much as $2.2bn.

Trump arrived at a New York court just a few miles south of Trump Tower on Monday for the first day of a fraud trial that could see the former president and his family business paying hundreds of millions of dollars in damages and that has already threatened to end his business career in the city where it started.

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Germany and Italy clash over proposed changes to shakeup of migration laws

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Hopes fade of deal being struck, with one sticking point being right to occasionally breach detention centre standards

European Union member states have failed to reach an agreement on changes to the bloc’s migration laws after Germany and Italy clashed over key proposals relating to human rights guarantees in detention centres and the role of NGOs in facilitating migrant arrivals.

But, as hopes faded on Thursday of a deal being struck, ministers said they expected “fine tuning” in coming days to lead to a pact that would apply in the event of a sudden refugee crisis such as that of 2015 when more than 1 million people arrived from Syria and beyond.

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French equality watchdog finds 90% of online pornography abuses women

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Report urges changes in the law to make it easier to take down content and prosecute its makers

As much as 90% of pornographic content online features verbal, physical and sexual violence towards women, and a significant amount of violence shown is punishable under existing laws in France, a report by the government-nominated equality watchdog has found.

France’s high council for equality between women and men on Wednesday handed the government a damning report on illegal porn-industry practices, urging changes to the law to prosecute makers of pornography and to take down content in order to protect those who have been filmed.

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South African anti-migrant ‘vigilantes’ register as party for next year’s polls

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Operation Dudula changes tactics from evictions and violence, with plans to fight elections on platform of expelling foreigners

An anti-migrant vigilante organisation in South Africa has registered as a political party and plans to contest seats in next year’s general elections.

Operation Dudula, whose name means “to force out” in Zulu, wants all foreign nationals who are in the country unofficially to be deported.

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HS2 may end up as ‘total waste of money’, warns IFS thinktank – UK politics live

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Comments from Paul Johnson of Institute of Fiscal Studies come as Downing Street hints at delay to work on second phase of rail link

Around 20,000 university workers are out on strike this week at more than 50 universities across the UK, despite a dramatic last-minute scaling back of industrial action.

Strikes had been set to go ahead at 142 UK universities this week as part of a long-running dispute over pay and working conditions, but it emerged last week that two thirds of branches of the University and College Union (UCU) had declined to take part.

Davey said the Lib Dem commitment – dating back to 1992 – to raise income tax by 1p to improve public services is unsustainable in the current economic climate. Originally the money raised was earmarked for education, but at the last election the party said it would use it to fund the NHS.

Speaking from Bournemouth to broadcast studios, Davey suggested the burden should instead fall on companies making “huge profits” while people struggle with the cost of living.

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Unilever to make payments to Kenyan tea pickers over 2007 plantation attacks

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UK law firm Leigh Day says money given to 77 workers for murders and rapes ‘sidesteps’ multinational’s responsibility over attack

Unilever is to make payments to 77 tea pickers who worked on one of its plantations in Kenya that was targeted during post-election violence in 2007.

The UK law firm Leigh Day, representing the workers, said the London-based consumer goods multinational had agreed to make voluntary, or ex-gratia, payments to former workers at its subsidiary Unilever Tea Kenya, who were attacked by armed assailants at its plantation in Kericho.

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War crimes dossier to accuse Russia of deliberately causing starvation in Ukraine

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Human rights lawyers are working with Ukraine’s public prosecutor to prepare dossier to submit to the international criminal court

Human rights lawyers working with Ukraine’s public prosecutor are preparing a war crimes dossier to submit to the international criminal court (ICC) accusing Russia of deliberately causing starvation during the 18-month-long conflict.

The aim is to document instances where the Russian invaders used hunger as a weapon of war, providing evidence for the ICC to launch the first prosecution of its kind that could indict the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

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Owners of New Zealand volcano that fatally erupted deny responsibility for visitor safety

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White Island/Whakaari volcano exploded in 2019, prompting debate over natural hazard tourism

The landowners of a New Zealand volcano that fatally erupted in 2019 have rejected arguments from the country’s workplace safety regulator that they ultimately managed and controlled activities on the island and bore legal responsibility for whether visitors to it were safe.

When White Island/Whakaari exploded on 9 December 2019, 22 people were killed – 17 of them Australians – with 25 others injured. It prompted renewed debate about controls for natural hazard tourism in New Zealand.

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Tigray atrocities continuing almost a year after ceasefire, UN experts warn

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Ethiopian government is failing to protect its citizens from ‘grave’ human rights abuses, amid rising violence and hate speech – report

Human rights abuses are still being committed in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region more than 10 months after a ceasefire formally ended the bloody civil war, according to a group of UN experts.

The latest report by the UN’s International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia said the nation’s government was failing to protect its citizens from “grave and ongoing” human rights abuses being committed by militias and Eritrean troops, who fought alongside Ethiopia’s federal military and remain in border areas of Tigray.

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