Category Archives: Law

Sudan signals it may send former dictator Omar al-Bashir to ICC

Posted on by

Talks resolve to send ‘those who face arrest warrants’ for war crimes to The Hague

Sudan has suggested it is prepared to hand over the former dictator Omar al-Bashir to the international criminal court in The Hague to face trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The decision marks a dramatic shift from the previous official position of the country’s new rulers, though observers warned that many obstacles still needed to be overcome before the 76-year-old reached a court room.

Continue reading...

Appeal court gives 11th-hour reprieve to detainees due to be sent to Jamaica

Posted on by

Court of appeal orders Home Office not to remove anyone scheduled to be deported from two detention centres on 6.30am flight

A group of about 50 people due to be deported to Jamaica on Tuesday morning won a last-minute reprieve on Monday night following an emergency ruling by the court of appeal.

The court ordered the Home Office not to remove anyone scheduled to be deported from two detention centres near Heathrow on the 6.30am flight to Jamaica – “unless satisfied [they] had access to a functioning, non-O2 sim card on or before 3 February”.

Continue reading...

Russian anti-fascist group given ‘monstrous’ jail terms

Posted on by

Rights activists criticise trial, saying members of the Network group were tortured

A Russian court has sentenced a group of anti-fascists to between six and 18 years in prison on terrorism and other charges, with rights activists describing the punishment as monstrous.

Sergei Morgunov, a lawyer for one of the seven defendants, said a military court in the central city of Penza had handed down the verdict in the Network case. All seven had denied the charges.

Continue reading...

Saudi Arabia using secret court to silence dissent, Amnesty finds

Posted on by

Activists handed long prison sentences or death penalty by court set up for terror cases

Saudi Arabia is using a secretive special court set up for terrorism-related cases to systematically prosecute human rights activists and other dissenting voices who defy the country’s absolute monarchy, a new report has found.

The human rights watchdog Amnesty International spent five years investigating 95 cases heard at the Specialised Criminal court (SCC) in Riyadh, concluding in a report published on Thursday that the court is routinely used as a weapon to silence criticism despite the kingdom’s recent attempts to cultivate a reformist image.

Continue reading...

Harvey Weinstein trial: attorney shows dress witness wore during alleged attack

Posted on by

Lauren Young gave a distressing account of an alleged hotel bathroom attack by the once-powerful movie producer

The sixth and final woman to accuse Harvey Weinstein of sexually attacking them took the witness stand at his rape trial on Wednesday, describing in harrowing detail how he allegedly groped her in a Los Angeles hotel bathroom in 2013.

The jury in the New York supreme court were once again subjected to a graphic and distressing account of an alleged forced sex act imposed on an aspiring young actor by the once-powerful movie producer.

Continue reading...

Sentencing: minister rejects European human rights convention warning

Posted on by

Matt Hancock’s comments come as UK seeks tougher sentencing for terrorists

A senior government minister has raised further questions over Britain’s relationship with the European convention on human rights (ECHR) as Boris Johnson scrambles to push through tougher sentencing for terrorists.

Legal experts have suggested the government’s intended plan to extend the time terrorists serve in prison could be in breach of the ECHR, to which Britain has been signed up for decades.

Continue reading...

Harvey Weinstein trial: witness details complex relationship with ex-producer

Posted on by

Rape trial continued with cross-examination of accuser who suffered a panic attack under questioning on Monday

The dramatic rape trial of Harvey Weinstein continued on Tuesday with the cross-examination of an accuser who suffered a panic attack under questioning the day before.

The 34-year-old witness alleges she was violently raped twice by the film producer in 2013. Her claims form a central pillar of the prosecution’s case.

Continue reading...

Families call for inquests into deaths of Vietnamese migrants

Posted on by

Letter calls for full inquests into deaths of 39 people in a refrigerated lorry last year

Families of the 39 Vietnamese migrants whose bodies were discovered in a refrigerated lorry in Essex last year and campaigners in the UK are calling for inquests to be held into the deaths.

While criminal proceedings related to the tragic deaths continue, there has been no indication whether there will be any wider investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Continue reading...

Minister denies prison cuts made terrorism suspects hard to track

Posted on by

Rishi Sunak defends policies amid backlash over early release of Streatham attacker

The chief secretary to the Treasury has rejected the idea that cuts to prison and probation services have made it harder to rehabilitate or monitor terrorism suspects after a man who left prison days ago was shot dead by police after he stabbed two people in London.

Rishi Sunak declined to reveal the measures that Boris Johnson or the home secretary, Priti Patel, would announce on Monday after the attack by Sudesh Amman on Streatham High Road.

Continue reading...

Airbus to pay record £3bn in fines for ‘endemic’ corruption

Posted on by

UK court sanctions fines after firm admits using agents across world to bribe officials to land high-value contracts

Airbus, Europe’s largest aerospace multinational, is to pay a record £3bn in penalties after admitting it had paid huge bribes on an “endemic” basis to land contracts in 20 countries.

Anti-corruption investigators hailed the result as the largest ever corporate fine for bribery in the world after judges declared that the corruption was “grave, pervasive and pernicious”.

Continue reading...

Police sending a third fewer rape cases to prosecutors, figures show

Posted on by

Call for inquiry into CPS as prosecutions fall by a quarter and convictions by a fifth

Rape victims are finding it increasingly difficult to access justice as police refer fewer cases to the Crown Prosecution Service and fewer allegations of rape are being prosecuted and convicted, according to new figures.

The number of cases referred by the police for charging decisions fell by 32% in the year to September 2019, while prosecutions by the CPS fell 26% and convictions dropped 21%, according to quarterly CPS prosecution data across a range of crimes.

Continue reading...

Landmark case held on alleged sexual abuse of Ecuadorian schoolgirl

Posted on by

Hearing on teen who later killed herself could lead to first standard for protection from sexual violence at schools in Latin America

An international court hearing that involves the alleged sexual abuse of an Ecuadorian schoolgirl between the age of 14 and 16 by her deputy head could transform girls’ rights across Latin America.

In a region where 30% of students between 13 and 15 claim to have experienced sexual harassment while at school, it is hoped that the case, heard on Tuesday at the Inter-American Court on Human Rights (IACHR) in Costa Rica, will establish the first international standards to protect girls from coercion and sexual violence in school.

Continue reading...

Wales to ban parents smacking their children from 2022

Posted on by

Bill passes despite concerns it is ‘stepping into the private lives of families’

A move to ban parents from smacking children has been approved by the Welsh assembly and is expected to come into force in 2022 following a £2m awareness campaign.

Supporters said it was a historic day for Wales and would stop mothers and fathers using physical violence as punishment, but opponents argued it could criminalise loving parents.

Continue reading...

‘Why can’t we use a bear?’ Spanish startup shocked by Haribo legal threat

Posted on by

Founders of firm making alcoholic sweets left puzzled by trademark infringement claim

Small, sweet bears with the capacity to inflict a very sore head have triggered an intellectual property dispute involving a multinational confectioner, a trio of enterprising Spanish students and a shot or two of alcohol.

A couple of years ago, three friends studying in the Basque country experienced an epiphany: what if they combined their childhood love of sweets with their adult taste for alcohol? And what if the delivery system were a small, chewy bear?

Continue reading...

Met police to begin using live facial recognition cameras

Posted on by

Civil liberties groups condemn move as ‘a breathtaking assault on our rights’

The Metropolitan police will start using live facial recognition, Britain’s biggest force has announced.

The decision to deploy the controversial technology, which has been dogged by privacy concerns and questions over its lawfulness, was immediately condemned by civil liberties groups, who described the move as “a breathtaking assault on our rights”.

Continue reading...

‘Declaration of war’: Polish row over judicial independence escalates

Posted on by

MPs vote through legislation just as top court rules its provisions unlawful

A confrontation between the Polish government and senior judges has escalated dramatically after the country’s supreme court and parliament issued conflicting rulings on the legality of judicial reforms.

The rival rulings, which concern attempts by the ruling rightwing Law and Justice party (PiS) to assume direct control over the judiciary, have thrown the country’s legal order into chaos, with judges now liable for prosecution for complying with rulings issued by their own supreme court.

Continue reading...

Raab condemns US refusal to extradite Anne Sacoolas over Dunn death

Posted on by

Foreign secretary calls decision a ‘denial of justice’ and says UK would have acted differently

The foreign secretary has condemned the US decision to refuse an extradition request for the suspect charged with causing the death of Harry Dunn, saying the UK would have “acted differently”.

Harry Dunn died after a crash outside a US military base in Croughton, Northamptonshire, on 27 August 2019.

Continue reading...

Myanmar inquiry into treatment of Rohingya criticised after finding no evidence of rape

Posted on by

Government-appointed investigators failed to meet alleged victims living in Bangladesh

A Myanmar government-backed inquiry that dismissed allegations of genocide against the Rohingya has been condemned as a deeply flawed cover-up, after it failed to interview a single victim of rape.

The full report of the panel inquiry, which has been criticised by the UN, was not made publicly available. It is not clear how many Rohingya were interviewed by the panel.

Continue reading...

Climate refugees can’t be returned home, says landmark UN human rights ruling

Posted on by

Experts say judgment is ‘tipping point’ that opens the door to climate crisis claims for protection

It is unlawful for governments to return people to countries where their lives might be threatened by the climate crisis, a landmark ruling by the United Nations human rights committee has found.

The judgment – which is the first of its kind – represents a legal “tipping point” and a moment that “opens the doorway” to future protection claims for people whose lives and wellbeing have been threatened due to global heating, experts say.

Continue reading...

British woman’s false rape claim appeal a ‘critical moment’ for Cyprus

Posted on by

Activists say 19-year-old’s appeal is watershed for women and law in country

Activists in Cyprus have described the determination of a British teenager to overturn a conviction that she lied about being gang-raped on the island as “a critical moment” for women’s rights.

Ten days after the 19-year-old received a suspended four-month sentence for the offence of fomenting public mischief, her lawyers filed an appeal against the conviction before the country’s supreme court.

Continue reading...