The UkraineProsecutor General on Monday reopened the murder case against former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko . The charges, originally filed in January , allege that Tymoshenko and former prime minister Pavlo Lazarenko ordered the murder of Yevhen Shcherban and two others in 1996. Shcherban, a Ukrainian parliamentary lawmaker who also headed Ukraine’s Aton financial [...]
Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal ruled Monday that a law prohibiting a transgender woman from marrying her boyfriend was invalid under the Chinese constitution. The law had been interpreted to hold that only a person’s gender at birth could be considered for the purposes of marriage, which is restricted to a man and woman. [...]
The Vermont State Legislature on Monday gave final approval to a bill that replaces criminal penalties with civil fines for possession of up to an ounce of marijuana and up to five grams of hashish. As the law currently stands, possession of marijuana is a misdemeanor that can lead to a six-month prison sentence, a [...]
The US Supreme Court granted certiorari Monday in Burnside v. Walters to determine whether the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit erred in holding that the in forma pauperis (IFP) statute prohibits indigent plaintiffs from amending their complaints. Arkansas resident William David Burnside, proceeding IFP, filed suit against Memphis police officers and other [...]
UN Special Rapporteur Richard Falk on Monday urged Israel to stop construction of a highway that would cut off the local roads of Palestinian community Beit Safafa. The residents of Beit Safafa were not consulted during during the planning of this six-lane highway, known as the “Begin Highway,” and previous petitions to stop the construction [...]
Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Monday urged Tunisia to modify the country’s draft constitution to address potential human rights violations. After analyzing the third draft constitution, HRW expressed concern that the language recognizes universal human rights regarding only “cultural specificities of the Tunisia people.” HRW fears that affirmatively naming Islam as the religion of the [...]
The US Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Dan’s City Used Cars, Inc. v. Pelkey that section 14501(c)(1) of the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAAA) does not preempt state-law claims stemming from the storage and disposal of a towed vehicle. Section 14501(c)(1) reads: “a State … may not enact or enforce a law, regulation, or [...]
The US Supreme Court ruled Monday in Bullock v. BankChampaign, NA on the meaning of the term “defalcation” in the bankruptcy code. Under section 523(a)(4) of the Bankruptcy Code , an individual cannot obtain a bankruptcy discharge from a debt “for fraud or defalcation while acting in a fiduciary capacity, embezzlement, or larceny.” Writing for [...]
The US Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday in Bowman v. Monsanto that a farmer who buys patented seeds may not reproduce them through planting and harvesting without the patent holder’s permission. Monsanto holds a patent on genetically-modified seeds that utilize Roundup Ready technology. The seeds are altered to “self replicate,” which means that when one [...]
Kenya’s ambassador to the UN, Macharia Kamau, has sent a letter to the UN Security Council asking that the International Criminal Court (ICC) charges against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and Vice President William Ruto be dismissed, accusing the ICC of lack of impartiality, threatening regional security and violating Kenyans’ wishes. In a letter dated May [...]
