Category Archives: Law

Rwanda scheme would ‘completely erode’ UK’s standing on world stage

Posted on by

New Human Rights Watch head Tirana Hassan says UK’s plan to deport asylum seekers is ‘cheap politics’

The UK’s plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda would “completely erode” Britain’s standing on the world stage, the new head of Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said.

Tirana Hassan, who takes over as HRW’s executive director on Monday, also said other conservative governments in Europe were considering following Britain’s lead and looking at African states as an offshore dumping ground for asylum seekers, potentially dealing further blows to established refugee protections.

Continue reading...

Union leader urges TUC to unite in defying planned anti-strike law

Posted on by

Fire Brigades Union chief says joint action needed to oppose ‘pernicious’ minimum service levels bill

A leading trade union has called for a concerted campaign of defiance and civil disobedience against the government’s planned anti-strike laws.

Matt Wrack, the general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), urged a coordinated campaign among trade unions of “mass non-cooperation and non-compliance” against the minimum service levels bill.

Continue reading...

‘Historic moment’ as El Salvador abortion case fuels hopes for expanded access across Latin America

Posted on by

Human rights court hears seriously ill woman denied procedure as advocates call for change in region with world’s most restrictive abortion laws

Human rights activists in Latin America hope that a historic court hearing over the case of a Salvadoran woman who was denied an abortion despite her high-risk pregnancy could open the way for El Salvador to decriminalize abortions – and set an important precedent across the region.

The inter-American court of human rights (IACHR) this week considered the historic case of the woman, known as Beatriz, who was prohibited from having an abortion in 2013, even though she was seriously ill and the foetus she was carrying would not have survived outside the uterus.

Continue reading...

Brother of Biafra separatist held in Nigeria loses court challenge against UK

Posted on by

UK government not required to state whether Nnamdi Kanu, a British national, was victim of extraordinary rendition, judge rules

The brother of a British national being held in Nigeria after falling victim to extraordinary rendition has said he is disappointed after the high court dismissed his challenge to UK ministers’ handling of the case.

Kingsley Kanu, brother of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob), a prominent separatist movement proscribed in Nigeria, claimed that three foreign secretaries – Liz Truss, Dominic Raab and then James Cleverly – had acted unlawfully by failing to reach a view on whether he had been subjected to extraordinary rendition.

Continue reading...

Can you copyright a rhythm? Inside the reggaeton lawsuit that could shake the pop world

Posted on by

Two dembow progenitors are suing superstars including Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee – in a case that also names Justin Bieber – claiming that they deserve credit for birthing the genre

With the release of their song Fish Market in 1989, the Jamaican duo Cleveland “Clevie” Browne and Wycliffe “Steely” Johnson inadvertently changed the course of pop music. The track featured the first known example of what would come to be known as a “dembow” rhythm – the percussive, slightly syncopated four-to-the-floor beat that travelled from reggae to become the signature beat of reggaeton, today the world-conquering sound of Latin American pop.

Now, more than 30 years after Fish Market was released, Steely & Clevie Productions is suing three of reggaeton’s most celebrated hitmakers – El Chombo, Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee – for what they characterise as unlawful interpolation of Fish Market’s rhythm (or “riddim”), and are seeking the credit – and royalties – they say they deserved from the start.

Continue reading...

Experts cast doubt on Braverman’s hopes of ECHR rule change on Rwanda

Posted on by

Home secretary’s claims of ‘constructive’ talks regarding Strasbourg’s injunctions disputed by legal scholars

Legal experts have cast doubt on the UK’s claims of “possible reforms” to European court of human rights procedures that stopped an asylum seeker from being deported to Rwanda last year.

During a two-day visit to the country’s capital, Kigali, Suella Braverman told a selected group of government-friendly papers that she was “encouraged” by the government’s “constructive” talks with Strasbourg to overhaul court injunctions. An ECHR injunction last June prevented an Iraqi national from being deported from the UK to the east African country.

Continue reading...

ICC to plead for extra money to pursue Russian war crimes in Ukraine

Posted on by

International court’s prosecutor to make case at conference in London after Putin warrant issued

Karim Khan, the prosecutor of the international criminal court, will plead on Monday for extra cash to pursue Russian war crimes in Ukraine, including the potential prosecution of Vladimir Putin for overseeing the abduction of children from Ukraine to Russia.

Khan made his dramatic move against the Russian president last week ahead of a conference in London co-hosted by the UK and the Dutch government aimed at raising cash to fund the ICC’s war crimes investigatory work inside Ukraine. The ICC’s budget has not been increased even though it has 40 investigators working inside Ukraine.

Continue reading...

Joe Biden hails decision to issue ICC arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin

Posted on by

US president joined by German chancellor in support of action taken after Russia’s abduction of Ukrainian children

The US president, Joe Biden, has backed the International Criminal Court’s decision to issue an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin over his role in the abduction of Ukrainian children, saying it was “justified”.

Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, was among other international leaders who welcomed the decision, saying on Saturdayyesterday that it showed “nobody is above the law”.

Continue reading...

Putin’s alleged war crimes: who are the Ukrainian children being taken by Russia?

Posted on by

What we know about the children behind the indictment of Vladimir Putin and his children’s commissioner for abduction

• Russia-Ukraine war – latest news updates

The international criminal court in The Hague has indicted the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and children’s commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, for the mass abduction of Ukrainian children.

This means there is now an international arrest warrant out for Putin, a reflection of the speed with which the international legal community has pursued allegations of war crimes during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Continue reading...

Dominic Raab to push for tougher minimum sentence in domestic homicides

Posted on by

Move follows pressure from campaigners such as Julie Devey and Carole Gould whose daughters were murdered

Domestic abusers in England and Wales who kill their partners or ex-partners are to face tougher sentences under government plans after a campaign by bereaved families.

The justice secretary and lord chancellor, Dominic Raab, will push for a change in the law after pressure from campaigners such as Julie Devey and Carole Gould, who have been calling since 2020 for a change to the minimum sentence for domestic homicide.

Continue reading...

Asylum seekers win permission for Rwanda policy legal challenge

Posted on by

Ten people from conflict zones threatened with removal to Africa claim there has been a failure to consider risks of deportation

A court of appeal judge has ruled that a group of asylum seekers can bring a legal challenge against the Home Office for what they claim has been a failure to consider the dangers and risks of deporting them to Rwanda.

Lord Justice Underhill, the vice-president of the court of appeal’s civil division, has granted permission for the group to appeal against the government’s controversial policy on some grounds.

Continue reading...

Russia says it does not recognise Hague court amid reports of arrest warrants

Posted on by

International criminal court prosecutor is said to be preparing to formally open two war crimes cases

Moscow has said it does not recognise the jurisdiction of the international criminal court in The Hague, after reports that the court is expected to seek its first arrest warrants against Russian individuals over the war in Ukraine.

“We do not recognise this court; we do not recognise its jurisdiction,” Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told journalists in Moscow on Tuesday morning.

Continue reading...

Prison thrown into chaos by policy change

Posted on by

Prison specialising in people convicted of violent crimes was changed into a category C training prison in October

A prison which specialised in people convicted of violent crimes has been “thrown into chaos” by a policy change introduced by Dominic Raab’s Ministry of Justice to cope with a national rise in inmate numbers, an official watchdog has found.

HMP Aylesbury was “suddenly and without sufficient consultation, notice or support” changed into a category C training prison in October, the chief inspector of prisons said.

Only four out of every 10 prisoners went into settled accommodation on release from custody.

Just 8% of those available for work went into employment.

Recall rates were high, with 30% on average being returned to custody – four in 10 of these were within 28 days of being released.

There is an 30% shortfall of full-time employed probation officers in post against the required staffing level of 6,160.

Continue reading...

Braverman policies are ‘heartless’, says ex-Home Office adviser Nimco Ali

Posted on by

Exclusive: Home secretary’s ‘racist’ immigration plans condemned by former Tory campaigner

Suella Braverman should consider her position for putting forward “cruel and heartless” immigration policies that discriminate against war refugees of colour, a former Home Office adviser has said.

Nimco Ali, a one-time Conservative campaigner who in December left her job as an adviser on violence against women, said the home secretary was “the wrong person not just for the Conservative party but for the country”.

Continue reading...

Japanese man granted retrial after 45 years on death row

Posted on by

Iwao Hakamada, 87, was convicted of four murders in 1968 but granted ‘temporary release’ in 2014 after new evidence emerged

A court in Japan has granted a retrial to a man – thought to be the world’s longest-serving death row inmate – who was sentenced to hang for the murders of a family of four almost six decades ago.

The Tokyo high court ruled on Monday that Iwao Hakamada, 87, should be tried again for the crimes in a decision campaigners said was a “step towards justice”.

Continue reading...

Giving the middle finger is a ‘God-given right’, Canadian judge rules

Posted on by

Gesture may not be civil or polite but ‘it is not a crime’ and is protected under Canada’s constitution, judgment says

Giving your neighbour the middle finger may not be polite but is protected as part of a person’s right to freedom of expression under the Canadian constitution, a judge has ruled.

In a 26-page decision, Dennis Galiatsatos dismissed a case against a man accused of harassing his neighbour in a Montreal suburb.

Continue reading...

Killer exposed himself to Libby Squire weeks before murder, mother believes

Posted on by

Mother of murdered Hull student says incidents should be treated as red flags for more serious sex offences

Just weeks before Libby Squire was raped, murdered and dumped in a river, a stranger exposed himself to her on her way home.

Her mother, Lisa Squire, said the assault left the 21-year-old University of Hull student feeling “absolutely furious”. “But I never thought to say to her, you need to report that, you need to ring the police, and she didn’t report it either,” said Squire. “We’re almost conditioned to ignore indecent exposure. I didn’t know better then, but I know better now.”

Continue reading...

UK mother unlawfully denied legal aid in case against abusive ex, court rules

Posted on by

MoJ guidance found to be wrong after woman trying to enforce custody agreement denied funds as son no longer lived with her

A decision to deny a single mother legal aid to enforce a child custody agreement against her abusive ex-partner was unlawful, the high court has ruled.

When Susie (not her real name) separated from her ex-partner, who would physically and verbally abuse her when he had been drinking, they initially shared custody of their son equally. But when he breached their agreement, limiting her access, the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) refused her application for funds because it decided that as her son was not then living with her, he was not her dependant.

Continue reading...

Pentagon accused of blocking effort to hand Russia war crimes evidence to ICC

Posted on by

Defence department reportedly unwilling to share intelligence over fears precedent could be set against US soldiers

The Pentagon has been accused of blocking the sharing of US intelligence with the international criminal court (ICC) about Russian war crimes in Ukraine.

The Biden White House and state department have been a proponent of cooperation with the Hague-based ICC, as a means of holding Russian forces accountable for widespread war crimes, but the defence department is firmly opposed on the grounds that the precedent could eventually be turned against US soldiers.

Continue reading...

Braverman denies small boats plan breaks law after being asked about Mo Farah

Posted on by

Home secretary struggles to clarify if Olympian would have been deported as soon as he turned 18 under proposals

Suella Braverman has denied the government is breaking the law with controversial measures in which asylum seekers arriving in the UK via small boats will be detained and deported, despite telling Conservatives there was a more than 50% chance the plans may be incompatible with the European convention on human rights.

The home secretary on Wednesday struggled to clarify if the Olympian Sir Mo Farah would have been deported as soon as he turned 18 years old under the proposed regulations, or why he would not have been deported, as he was trafficked to the UK aged nine.

Continue reading...