Category Archives: Law

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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Campaign calls for gender apartheid to be crime under international law

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Prominent Afghans and Iranians say current laws do not capture the systematic suppression of women

A prominent group of Afghan and Iranian women are backing a campaign calling for gender apartheid to be recognised as a crime under international law.

The campaign, launched on International Women’s Day, reflects a belief that the current laws covering discrimination against women do not capture the systematic nature of the policies imposed in Afghanistan and Iran to downgrade the status of women in society.

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Ukraine urges ICC to investigate video appearing to show Russians killing PoW

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Graphic clip shows detained combatant standing in a shallow trench before being apparently shot

Ukraine has urged the international criminal court to investigate footage circulating on social media that appeared to show Russian fighters killing a Ukrainian prisoner of war.

In the graphic clip that first circulated on Telegram, a detained combatant is seen standing in a shallow trench and smoking a cigarette. The soldier says “Glory to Ukraine” and is then apparently shot with automatic weapons.

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Rishi Sunak to launch bill to stop people arriving on small boats claiming asylum

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Law will also place duty on home secretary to send anyone who arrives in UK on small boat to Rwanda or another third country

Rishi Sunak is to announce new laws stopping people entering the UK on small boats from claiming asylum, with the prime minister saying: “Make no mistake, if you come here illegally, you will not to be able to stay.”

The prime minister and his home secretary will launch the legislation this week, as part of the government’s drive to “tackle illegal migration”, one of its main priorities.

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Christian Aid claims it was subject to act of ‘lawfare’ by pro-Israel group

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The charity was taken to court for its work in the Middle East by the US body, whose director justifies litigation against NGOs that ‘cross the line’

A leading NGO has broken its silence on a bruising legal battle with a pro-Israeli advocacy group, describing it as an act of “lawfare” aimed at inflicting financial and reputational damage on organisations that do charitable work with Palestinians.

Christian Aid, the UK-based charity, was forced to spend about £700,000 defending itself against accusations that it had provided “material support” to terrorists, chief executive Patrick Watt has said.

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Trans violent offenders banned from women’s prisons in England and Wales

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New rules also cover transgender women ‘with their male genitalia intact’, says Dominic Raab

Rules barring some transgender women from female prisons in England and Wales are to come into force on Monday, the justice secretary has announced.

Dominic Raab had already announced in October that trans women with male genitalia or who had committed sexual offences would not be allowed in women’s prisons.

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US court skeptical of bid to access congressman’s phone in January 6 inquiry

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At issue is whether a protection afforded by the constitution applies to ‘informal’ fact-finding by members of Congress

A federal appeals court appeared skeptical on Thursday of the justice department’s interpretation of US Congress members’ immunity from criminal investigations and whether it allowed federal prosecutors to access House Republican Scott Perry’s phone contents in the January 6 investigation.

The department seized Perry’s phone in the criminal investigation last year and was granted access to its contents by a lower court, until Perry appealed the decision on the grounds that the speech or debate clause protections barred prosecutors from seeing his messages.

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Shamima Begum ruling deals bitter blow to chances of UK return

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Past supreme court ruling meant Siac judges found themselves unable to contradict home secretary

Almost exactly four years after she was stripped of her citizenship, Shamima Begum’s hopes of returning to the UK have been dealt a bitter blow, with the special immigration appeals commission (Siac) upholding the decision.

It is the latest development – and unlikely to be the last – in a legal fight that Begum’s family began in March 2019, one month after the then home secretary, Sajid Javid, took his controversial decision, shortly after she was found in a refugee camp in north-east Syria.

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Shamima Begum loses appeal against removal of British citizenship

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Special immigration appeals commission decides revocation of her citizenship was lawful

Shamima Begum, who left Britain as a schoolgirl to join Islamic State (IS), has lost an appeal against the decision to remove her British citizenship.

Describing it as a case of “great concern and difficulty”, the special immigration appeals commission (Siac) ruled that although there was “credible suspicion” that Begum was trafficked for sexual exploitation, the decision was ultimately one for the home secretary.

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Key measures of bill to limit protest tactics defeated in House of Lords

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Peers rejected letting police exercise stop and search without suspicion and sanction people without conviction

Proposed legislation aimed at curbing tactics used by protest groups has suffered eight defeats in the House of Lords.

Peers rejected key measures of the controversial public order bill, including ditching a measure to let police exercise stop and search without suspicion to tackle disruptive demonstrations.

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US ranking on abuse of power index hurt by inequality and violence

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Country came near median of 163 countries on Index of Impunity, higher than Hungary and Singapore

The US scores surprisingly badly in a new ranking system charting abuses of power by nation states, launched by a group co-chaired by former UK foreign secretary David Miliband.

The US comes close to the median of 163 countries ranked in the Index of Impunity, reflecting a poor record on discrimination, inequality and access to democracy. The country’s arms exports and record of violence are an even bigger negative factor.

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Chagos islanders must get full reparations for forced exile, says NGO

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Human Rights Watch also demands trial for ‘appalling colonial crime’ of expulsion – and continuing ill treatment – of Chagossians

The UK should pay full and unconditional reparations to generations affected by its forcible displacement of Chagos Islands inhabitants in the 1960s and 70s, an action that constituted a crime against humanity, Human Rights Watch has said.

The NGO said that individuals should be put on trial for the expulsion of Chagossians when the UK retained possession of what it refers to as British Indian Ocean Territory, or BIOT, after Mauritius gained independence in 1968.

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Legal victory in UK Japanese knotweed case could lead to more claims

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Court of appeal ruled homeowner could recover loss of value even if knotweed has been treated

A significant legal victory in a case brought by a householder affected by Japanese knotweed has raised the prospect of an increase in claims from people stricken by the hazardous plant.

The court of appeal ruled that a homeowner could recover damages for a loss of value of their property from having had Japanese knotweed, even if it had been treated.

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Sudan court sentences three men to hand amputation for stealing

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The verdict, the first of its kind in almost a decade, has shocked many who fear country is sliding back into state extremism

Three Sudanese men have been sentenced to hand amputation for stealing, the first time in almost a decade that such a punishment has been handed down in the country’s courts.

The three men in their 20s were convicted of stealing gas cylinders in Omdurman, Sudan’s most populous city, which sits across the Nile River from the capital, Khartoum.

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Gibraltar’s chief minister threatens top rights lawyers with defamation

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Lawyers call for apology and withdrawal of threats made during inquiry into alleged government corruption

Two leading London-based human rights lawyers have been threatened with defamation proceedings for making submissions on behalf of their client, in a highly unusual development.

The threat was made by lawyers representing the Gibraltar government and senior ministers, including the chief minister, Fabian Picardo, at an inquiry exploring alleged corruption at the top of the British overseas territory’s administration.

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Brexit Northern Ireland protocol is lawful, supreme court rules

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Judges reject legal challenge to UK-EU trade arrangements by group of unionist leaders

The Northern Ireland protocol is lawful, the supreme court has ruled, rejecting a legal challenge to the Brexit arrangements by a group of unionist leaders including the former first ministers the late David Trimble and Arlene Foster.

Five law lords presiding in the highest court in the UK unanimously dismissed the appeal on all three grounds including the claims that the Brexit trading arrangements breached the 1800 Act of Union and the Northern Ireland Act 1998.

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Insulate Britain activist jailed for eight weeks for contempt of court

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David Nixon disobeyed judge’s order not to mention climate crisis as motivation during trial over road-blocking protest

An environmental activist has been jailed for eight weeks after disobeying a judge’s instruction not to mention the climate crisis as his motivation during his trial for taking part in a road-blocking protest.

David Nixon, 36, a care worker from Barnsley, was sentenced at Inner London crown court on Tuesday after admitting contempt of court the day before by using his closing address to begin telling a jury about his reasons for protesting.

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‘Can you spell lynching?’: lawyer’s shocking note in Texas execution case

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Appeals court submission exposes racial toxicity in case of Black man John Balentine, sentenced to death for 1999 triple murder

In April 1999, John Balentine, a Black man on trial for murder in Amarillo, Texas, sat before an all-white jury as they deliberated whether he should live or die.

Should he be given a life sentence, in which case he would likely end his days behind prison bars? Or should they send him to death row to await execution?

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