Category Archives: Law

Who shot the dog? The canine killing that could play a crucial role in the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial

Posted on by

Identity of Afghan special forces member who killed stray dog could prove critical in newspapers’ defence

Amid allegations of war crimes, of murder, and of domestic violence, the seemingly inconsequential but bizarre death of a dog has dominated days of evidence in the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial.

It has done so because the identity of an Afghan special forces member who shot the stray dog – accidentally injuring an Australian soldier – during an SAS mission in July 2012 could prove critical in an allegation of murder made against Roberts-Smith in the newspapers’ defence.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Erosion of abortion rights gathers pace around the world as US signals new era

Posted on by

A leaked supreme court draft ruling shows the US is set to end 50 years of a woman’s right to choose. Elsewhere, the battle still rages

In 2022, abortion remains one of the most controversial and bitterly contested ethical and political battlegrounds. It is illegal for women to terminate their pregnancies in any circumstance in 24 countries, with a further 37 restricting access in any case except when the mother’s life is in danger.

As a leaked document signals that the US supreme court is poised to strike down the landmark 1973 ruling in Roe v Wade, millions of American women face losing their access to legal abortions, joining millions more living in those countries rejecting a woman’s right to choose.

Continue reading...

US shaken to its core by supreme court draft that would overturn Roe v Wade

Posted on by

Biden condemns abortion opinion that, if handed down, would mean ‘fundamental shift’ in law and imperil many other rights

US politics – live coverage

Joe Biden has warned that a leaked draft supreme court ruling overturning Roe v Wade, the 1973 case which guaranteed the right to abortion, would represent a huge change in America law and could imperil a wide range of other civil rights.

In a historic moment that shook the US to the core and highlighted jagged social and political divisions, the court confirmed the draft was authentic but said it did not “represent a decision by the court or the final position of any member on the issues in the case”.

Continue reading...

Twitter takeover: EU and UK warn Elon Musk must comply or face sanctions

Posted on by

EU commissioner raises hate speech concerns as UK draws attention to penalties in online safety bill

The UK and EU have warned that Twitter must comply with new content rules or face sanctions that range from fines to a total ban, as concerns were raised that hate speech will increase on the platform under the ownership of Elon Musk.

The world’s richest man has agreed a $44bn (£34bn) deal to buy the social media network, which will hand control of a platform with 217 million users to a self-confessed “free speech absolutist”.

Continue reading...

Janjaweed militia blamed for attacks that left at least 200 dead in Darfur

Posted on by

Death toll likely to rise, say witnesses to indiscriminate attacks on Kreinik and El Geneina by Sudan’s notorious Rapid Support Forces

At least 200 people are now known to have died in West Darfur in the latest attack on civilians and local forces blamed on Janjaweed militia.

Darfur, the semi-arid western region of Sudan where a vicious civil war erupted in 2003, has seen a new outbreak of fighting over the past few months as rival groups clash over water and grazing land, shortages of which are being exacerbated by the climate crisis.

Continue reading...

Priti Patel’s refugee pushback policy withdrawn days before legal review

Posted on by

Government lawyers confirm Home Office plan to force small boats back to France has been abandoned

Priti Patel’s refugee pushback policy has been officially withdrawn by the government days before a judicial review of the tactic was due to be heard in the high court.

The government’s legal department acknowledged in a letter on Sunday that the plan to try to force people in dinghies back to France has been abandoned after Boris Johnson’s announcement that the Royal Navy would take over operations in the Channel.

Continue reading...

South Korea’s highest court overturns military convictions of two gay soldiers

Posted on by

Court rules long-criticised military sodomy law shouldn’t apply to consensual sex off base in off-duty hours

South Korea’s supreme court has thrown out a military court ruling that convicted two gay soldiers for having sex outside their military facilities, saying it stretched the reading of the country’s widely criticised military sodomy law.

The court’s decision on Thursday to send the case back to the high court for armed forces was welcomed by human rights advocates, who had long protested the country’s 1962 military criminal act’s article 92-6, which prohibits same-sex conduct among soldiers in the country’s predominantly male military.

Continue reading...

Russia ‘preparing legal action’ to unfreeze $600bn foreign currency reserves

Posted on by

Elvira Nabiullina says lawsuits aim to release gold and foreign currency frozen amid Ukraine invasion sanctions

Russia is preparing to take legal action to challenge the freeze on its $600bn (£462bn) foreign currency war chest put in place by western governments after the invasion of Ukraine, the head of the country’s central bank has said.

Elvira Nabiullina said plans were being made to launch lawsuits after governments including the US, UK and EU froze the Russian central bank’s foreign currency reserves held within their jurisdictions.

Continue reading...

New Zealand allows resident to be extradited to China in landmark ruling

Posted on by

Decision in case of murder suspect Kyung Yup Kim concludes government can trust Chinese assurances extradited defendants will not face torture

New Zealand’s courts have ruled the government can extradite to China a man suspected of murder – a landmark ruling that, if it proceeds, will be the first time the country has sent a resident to face trial in China.

The courts had previously blocked the extradition of Kyung Yup Kim, a man accused of killing a young woman in Shanghai, citing the risk of torture and not receiving a fair trial.

Continue reading...

Replacing Human Rights Act will weaken protections, say peers and MPs

Posted on by

Joint committee on human rights says plans contravene principle that human rights are universal

Dominic Raab’s proposal to replace the Human Rights Act with a British bill of rights is not evidence-based and will diminish protections for individuals, MPs and peers have said.

The criticisms by the joint committee on human rights (JCHR) are the latest directed at the planned changes, which the justice secretary has said will counter “wokery and political correctness” and expedite the deportation of foreign criminals.

Continue reading...

Colston Four acquittal to be referred to court of appeal

Posted on by

Unusual move to seek legal clarification, which cannot reverse verdict, amounts to the ‘politicisation of jury trials’, says defence lawyer

The attorney general has referred the case of four protesters cleared of the toppling of the statue of the slave trader Edward Colston to the court of appeal for legal direction.

In a rare move, which cannot reverse the not guilty verdicts, Suella Braverman is to ask appeal judges for clarification on whether defendants can cite their human rights as a defence in a case of criminal damage.

Continue reading...

Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial: SAS colleague felt threatened to testify by newspapers, court hears

Posted on by

Soldier refused to answer questions about one mission on grounds of self-incrimination on offence of ‘the most serious nature’

An SAS soldier who refused to answer questions about an alleged unlawful killing in Afghanistan has told the federal court he felt threatened to testify by the newspapers being sued by Ben Roberts-Smith.

The soldier, anonymised before the court as Person 56, refused to answer questions about a 2012 mission to Fasil, where, it has previously been alleged, he and Roberts-Smith were responsible for the unlawful killing of two Afghan men who had been taken prisoner from a vehicle.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

‘We have made it’: Ketanji Brown Jackson ‘honored’ to become supreme court’s first Black female justice – live

Posted on by

The White House celebration for Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation to the US supreme court is under way, with vice-president Kamala Harris making the opening remarks.

“Today is indeed a wonderful day as we gather to celebrate the confirmation of the next justice of the United States supreme court, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson,” she said.

Continue reading...

NSW lawyer given suspended jail term for working without a practising certificate

Posted on by

Judge describes Michael Rollinson’s conduct as a ‘breathtaking and flagrant disregard’ for the court’s authority

A New South Wales barrister who continued to work as a lawyer despite not having a practising certificate – including in a case before the high court – has been sentenced to a suspended jail term.

Michael Rollinson pleaded guilty to three counts of contempt in the NSW supreme court last month. In orders released by the court on Friday, NSW supreme court Justice Robert Beech-Jones described his conduct as “breathtaking”.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Ketanji Brown Jackson confirmed as first Black woman on US supreme court – as it happened

Posted on by

Joe Biden’s nominee is confirmed by Senate in 53-47 vote

Here’s a handy explainer, courtesy of CNN, about how the supreme court confirmation process works. Essentially, Judge Ketanji Brown’s lifetime appointment to the bench will be confirmed by a simple majority vote of the 100 US senators in the chamber this afternoon.

The US Senate is currently evenly split, between 50 Republicans, and the 48 Democrats and two independents who usually vote with them. In the event of a 50-50 tie in the Senate confirmation vote, the Democratic vice-president Kamala Harris would be called upon to break the tie and promote Jackson to the supreme court.

Continue reading...

Ketanji Brown Jackson makes history as first Black woman confirmed to US supreme court

Posted on by

Jackson confirmed 53 votes to 47, and will become first Black woman to serve in court’s more than 200-year history

Ketanji Brown Jackson, a liberal appeals court judge, was confirmed to the supreme court on Thursday, overcoming a rancorous Senate approval process and earning bipartisan approval to become the first Black woman to serve as a justice on the high court in its more than 200-year history.

After weeks of private meetings and days of public testimony, marked by intense sparring over judicial philosophy and personal reflections on race in America, Jackson earned narrow – but notable – bipartisan support to become the 116th justice of the supreme court. The vote was 53 to 47, with all Democrats in favor. They were joined by three moderate Republicans, senators Mitt Romney of Utah, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, who defied deep opposition within their party to support Joe Biden’s nominee. Their support was a welcome result for the White House, which had been intent on securing a bipartisan confirmation.

Continue reading...

Video appears to show Ukrainian soldiers shooting Russian prisoner of war

Posted on by

The BBC has confirmed the location west of Kyiv and found satellite images showing bodies on the ground

Soldiers fighting for Ukraine appear to shoot a Russian prisoner of war outside a village west of Kyiv in a video posted online.

The footage was originally shared on social media app Telegram. The New York Times said it had verified the video and the BBC said it had confirmed the location north of the town of Dmytrivka and found satellite images showing bodies on the ground.

Continue reading...

UK’s transparency laws are being undermined, warn journalists

Posted on by

Letter signed by several MPs urges better enforcement of transparency law, as government accused of obstructing requests

More than 100 journalists, politicians and campaigners have signed an open letter warning that the UK’s freedom of information (FoI) laws are being undermined by a lack of resources and government departments obstructing lawful requests.

The signatories include the editor-in-chief of the Guardian, Katharine Viner, the editor of the Observer, Paul Webster, as well as the shadow solicitor general, Andy Slaughter, the former Brexit secretary David Davis, and the former Green party leader Caroline Lucas.

Continue reading...

Liberty threatens to sue government over ‘racist’ joint enterprise law

Posted on by

Human rights group argues law unfairly attaches gang motives to black and minority-ethnic young men

The human rights group Liberty is threatening to sue the government and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) over the bitterly contested law of joint enterprise, arguing that it is discredited and racist in the way the authorities pursue it.

Under the law, people present when a person is killed can be convicted of murder despite not committing any serious violence themselves, if they are found to have “encouraged or assisted” the perpetrator. Liberty is acting for the campaign group Joint Enterprise Not Guilty By Association (Jengba), which supports approximately 1,400 people in prison who believe they have been unjustly convicted of serious crimes perpetrated by somebody else.

Continue reading...

Ex-P&O Ferries chef sues for unfair dismissal and racial discrimination

Posted on by

John Lansdown seeking up to £76m, which he will use to set up trust to help fellow seafarers

A former P&O Ferries chef is suing the company for £76m over its decision to sack almost 800 staff without notice last month.

John Lansdown, the only seafarer to launch a legal action, has filed a tribunal claim against the company and its chief executive for unfair dismissal, racial discrimination and harassment.

Continue reading...