| PAPER CHASE ARCHIVE |  
|
| Serious law. Primary sources. Global perspective. |
|
|
 |
|
|
 Legal news from Thursday, July 02, 2009 |
|
Thursday, July 02, 2009 |
India court declares anti-sodomy law unconstitutional
Andrew Morgan at 2:58 PM ET
[JURIST] The Delhi High Court [official website] on Thursday decriminalized homosexual conduct [judgment, PDF] by declaring India's anti-sodomy law unconstitutional. In a petition originally filed and rejected [JURIST report] by the court in 2004, the Naz Foundation [advocacy website] challenged the applicability of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code [text, PDF], a colonial-era law that punishes "carnal intercourse against the order of nature" with 10 years in prison and a fine. They had argued that using Section 377 to criminalize consensual adult sexual conduct ran counter to Article 21 of the Indian Constitution [text, PDF], which provides that "[n]o person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law," as well as the equality under the law provided by Articles 14 and 15. Writing for the court, Justice S. Muralidhar [official profile] agreed:
In our view, Indian Constitutional law does not permit the statutory criminal law to be held captive by the popular misconceptions of who the LGBTs are. It cannot be forgotten that discrimination is antithesis of equality and that it is the recognition of equality which will foster the dignity of every individual.
Muralidhar stressed that the ruling nullifies the application of Section 377 to consensual adult sex only, and does not apply to other sexually-based offenses, such as rape and sex with a minor. The court's decision is only binding within the Union Territory of Delhi [official website], including the capital.
The criminalization of homosexuality has been a divisive issue around the world. In April, an appeals court in Senegal ordered the release [JURIST report] of nine members of AIDS awareness group AIDES Senegal who had been convicted of sodomy and sentenced to eight years in prison. In November, the parliament of Burundi voted to criminalize homosexuality, a move condemned [JURIST reports] by human rights groups. In December, the UN General Assembly [official website] was divided [press release; JURIST report] over the issue as 66 nations signed a statement calling for decriminalization, and nearly 60 nations signed an opposing statement.
Link |
|
e-mail |
subscribe |
 |
latest newscast |
archive |
 Facebook page |
© JURIST
Ex-Guantanamo detainee civilian trial set for September 2010
Jaclyn Belczyk at 2:49 PM ET
[JURIST] A federal judge on Thursday set a trial date for terrorism suspect and former Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainee Ahmed Ghailani [GlobalSecurity backgrounder; JURIST news archive] of September 13, 2010. Ghailani, the first Guantanamo detainee to be transferred [JURIST report] to the US for a civilian trial, faces charges for his alleged involvement in the 1998 bombings of US embassies [PBS backgrounder; JURIST news archive] in Tanzania and Kenya. The trial date was set by Judge Lewis Kaplan of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York [official website]. No date was set for the next hearing, as defense lawyers asked for more time to prepare. Prosecutors have not yet decided whether they will seek the death penalty.
Earlier this week, Ghailani's lawyers requested access [JURIST report] to secret prisons [JURIST news archive] operated by the Central Intelligence Agency [official website], known as "black sites," at which their client was held prior to his transfer to Guantanamo Bay. Having been held at the Guantanamo facility since 2006 following his 2004 arrest in Pakistan, Ghailani was transferred to the US last month to face 286 separate counts including involvement in the bombings and conspiring with members of al Qaeda to kill Americans worldwide. He pleaded not guilty [JURIST report] at his initial appearance. In a rare move [JURIST op-ed] last month, Kaplan tentatively granted [JURIST report] Ghailani's request that his military lawyers be allowed to represent him in civilian court, pending military approval. The announcement [JURIST report] that Ghailani would be tried in federal court came last month following the ordered review of all Guantanamo detainees pursuant to plans to close the detention facility [JURIST news archive].
Link |
|
e-mail |
subscribe |
|
latest newscast |
archive |
Facebook page |
© JURIST
UK court recognizes pre-nuptial agreement in landmark ruling
Andrew Morgan at 1:31 PM ET
[JURIST] A British appellate court on Thursday recognized [judgment, PDF] a pre-nuptial agreement for the first time in the UK, where they have been generally disregarded by courts hearing divorce proceedings. The UK Court of Appeal of England and Wales [official website] overturned a lower court ruling that awarded £5.8 million to the ex-husband of German heiress Katrin Radmacher despite a pre-nuptial agreement intended to shield her assets. Noting that the UK's treatment of pre-nuptial contracts sets it apart from both other European Union [official website] countries and the "wider common law world," Lord Justice Thorpe said:
In so far as the rule that such contracts are void survives, it seems to me to be increasingly unrealistic. It reflects the laws and morals of earlier generations. It does not sufficiently recognise the rights of autonomous adults to govern their future financial relationship by agreement in an age when marriage is not generally regarded as a sacrament and divorce is a statistical commonplace.
Thorpe directed judges in the future to "give due weight to the marital property regime into which the parties freely entered." The judgment awards Nicolas Granatino £1 million in compensation, £700,000 for payment of his debts, and a £2.5 million in trust for a familial residence until their youngest daughter turns 22. He is expected to appeal the ruling to the House of Lords [official website].
UK divorce courts have traditionally not taken [backgrounder] pre-nuptial agreements into account when dividing marital assets. Instead, the courts have assessed the financial needs of the couple and any dependents in an effort to protect the financially weaker partner. Thorpe's ruling suggests that recognition of pre-nuptial contracts is in line with the British approach to contracts generally.
Link |
|
e-mail |
subscribe |
|
latest newscast |
archive |
Facebook page |
© JURIST
Germany leaders agree to set aside Nazi-era treason verdicts
Andrew Morgan at 11:55 AM ET
[JURIST] The political parties that make up Germany's coalition government agreed Wednesday on a proposal to set aside all Nazi-era treason verdicts. The Socialist Democrats (SPD) and the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) [party websites, in German] of Chancellor Angela Merkel [official profile] agreed to draft a law bypassing the current system, in which treason convictions must be considered on an individual basis, and exonerate all persons convicted of the broadly classified Nazi offense. SPD parliamentary leader Volker Kauder [personal website, in German] said that the measure is likely to succeed in parliament [Israel News report] before September elections.
CDU members had originally opposed [AP report] the proposal, on the grounds that the alleged acts of treason may have been committed third parties, rather than the Nazi government. Germany has taken other legislative measures to combat Nazi-era offenses. In November, German lawmakers passed [JURIST report] a law intended to counter anti-Semitism [JURIST news archive] just before the 70th anniversary of Kristalnacht [PBS backgrounder], when Nazi troops destroyed thousands of Jewish businesses and synagogues.
Link |
|
e-mail |
subscribe |
|
latest newscast |
archive |
Facebook page |
© JURIST
US immigration agency intensifies employer monitoring efforts
Andrew Morgan at 10:19 AM ET
[JURIST] The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement [official website] agency on Wednesday issued [press release] inspection notices to 652 businesses in an increased effort to target employers that use illegal labor. ICE notified selected employers that they would be auditing their I-9 [text, PDF] employee eligibility forms, which employers are required to file and retain for each employee. Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for ICE John Morton [official profile] said that the measure was "first step in ICE's long-term strategy to address and deter illegal employment" and that the agency is "committed to establishing a meaningful I-9 inspection program to promote compliance with the law." The audit reflects a shift in focus [JURIST report] in federal immigration enforcement, from workplace raids to targeting employers directly, announced last month by US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) [official website] Secretary Janet Napolitano [official profile] during a speech [transcript] at the Aspen Institute [organization website].
In March, the administration proposed an overhaul [press release] of US immigration policy. Last month, Attorney General Eric Holder [official profile] vacated [order, PDF; JURIST report] an order [text, PDF] by former attorney general Michael Mukasey [JURIST news archive] that had denied those facing deportation the right to challenge immigration decisions based on ineffective assistance of counsel claims. In February, Napolitano called for a review [JURIST report] of workplace raids conducted by ICE agents. ICE has arrested [JURIST report] many non-criminal illegal immigrants in the past year, many of whom were imprisoned [JURIST report]. In April 2008, Seton Hall Law School's Center for Social Justice filed a lawsuit [Star-Ledger report] claiming that warrantless immigration raids violate the US Constitution.
Link |
|
e-mail |
subscribe |
|
latest newscast |
archive |
Facebook page |
© JURIST
Israel high court orders stronger penalty in prisoner abuse case
Andrew Morgan at 8:49 AM ET
[JURIST] The Israeli Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) [official websites] to refile indictments on more serious charges against a soldier and an officer accused of shooting a blindfolded prisoner with a rubber bullet. Human rights groups B'Tselem, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) [advocacy websites], and Yesh Din [advocacy website, in Hebrew] filed suit against the IDF, saying that a charge of conduct unbecoming a soldier, the least serious military criminal sanction, did not reflect the severity of the crime. The charges stem from an August 2008 incident [video] in the Palestinian town of Ni'lin in which an IDF soldier shot a handcuffed and blindfolded protester, Ashraf Abu Rahma, in the foot with a non-lethal rubber bullet at an officer's direction. Rahma did not sustain serious injury as a result. Writing for a three judge panel, Supreme Court Justice Ayala Procaccia said [Jerusalem Post report] that the officer had committed a moral failure in ordering the shooting, and that the soldier should not have followed the officer's order because the act was illegal. The rights groups welcomed [press release] the decision, but expressed dismay that the Supreme Court's intervention was necessary in the matter.
Rights groups have long been critical of IDF tactics in Palestine. Last month, PCATI issued a report [JURIST report] asserting that harsh shackling techniques used by the IDF and the Shin Bet Security Agency (GSS) [official website] constitute torture. Last year, PCATI alleged [JURIST report] that detainees are regularly beaten and abused by IDF soldiers after they no longer pose a security risk. In 2007, the IDF launched investigations into two incidents [JURIST reports] of soldiers using Palestinians as human shields, in violation of Article 51(7) of the 1977 Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions [text] and other international agreements.
Link |
|
e-mail |
subscribe |
|
latest newscast |
archive |
Facebook page |
© JURIST
Iran bars publishing of opposition newspaper
Devin Montgomery at 7:14 AM ET
[JURIST] The Iranian government on Wednesday prevented the publishing [press release, in Persian] of the opposition Etemad-e-Melli [media website, in Persian] newspaper in its latest move to quash anti-government reporting in the country. International journalists in the country have also been ordered to stay indoors [AP report]. The newspaper was linked to opposition candidate Mehdi Karroubi [personal website, in Persian]. Both he and candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi [IranTracker profile] have continued to criticize the government for both alleged election fraud and its harsh treatment of protesters and the press following the announcement that incumbent candidate Mahmoud Ahmadinejad [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] had won the highly-disputed election [JURIST report]. In reaction to Mousavi's increasing criticism of the government, some in the government and its Basij [GlobalSecurity backgrounder] security forces have called for his arrest [Press TV report], calling him a threat to national security.
Earlier this week, Iran's Guardian Council of the Constitution [official website, in Persian] certified [press release, in Persian; JURIST report] the election results week after the Council rejected [BBC report] protesters' requests to abandon the results and start over after a partial recount [JURIST report]. Protests of the results have reportedly resulted in at least 17 deaths and hundreds of arrests [JURIST report]. Authorities stated that those arrested would be appropriately dealt with [Reuters report] by the court system. Human rights groups have viewed the arrests as political repression [JURIST report], saying that Iranian forces are using the protests to "engage in what appears to be a major purge of reform-oriented individuals." Amnesty International [advocacy website] has called for authorities to respect and nurture debate stressing [press release] that "healthy debate on issues of fundamental importance to peoples' lives" informs, rather than threatens, policy makers."
Link |
|
e-mail |
subscribe |
|
latest newscast |
archive |
Facebook page |
© JURIST
| For more legal news check the Paper Chase Archive...
|
|
|
| SYNDICATION | |
|
|
Add Paper Chase legal news to your RSS reader or personalized portal:
|
| E-MAIL | |
|
| ABOUT | |
|
|
Paper Chase is JURIST's real-time legal news service, powered by a team of 30 law student reporters and editors led by law professor Bernard Hibbitts at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. As an educational service, Paper Chase is dedicated to presenting important legal news and materials rapidly, objectively and intelligibly in an accessible, ad-free format.
|
|
|
