Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday signed into law a controversial bill allowing polygamy. The Marriage Act 2014 brings civil law in line with customary law , where some cultures allow a man to have multiple wives. The bill was approved by parliament last month after heated debate that caused female lawmakers to walk out [...]
Russia’s upper house of parliament on Tuesday approved a set of bills that apply new restrictions on the Internet and blogging, a move widely criticized by both pro-democracy activists and Russia’s technology sector alike. Critics of the draft laws affecting the Internet, which are expected to be signed by President Vladimir Putin soon and enforced [...]
The US Supreme Court ruled 6-2 Tuesday in Environmental Protection Agency v. EME Homer City Generation that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did not overstep its authority when it issued a regulation limiting power plants’ emissions that cross state lines. The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in 2012 that [...]
Thailand’s National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) on Tuesday indicted 36 senators for alleged misconduct, including the misuse of authority in violation of Thailand’s constitution. The indictment is a response to the senators’ attempt to amend the constitution to make the senate fully elected, a move ruled unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court in November. Commission Secretary General [...]
The US Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in two cases concerning attorney’s fees in patent disputes. In Octane Fitness v. ICON Health and Fitness the court ruled that the framework used by the district court to award attorney’s fees was too rigid. Section 285 of the Patent Act authorizes a district court to award attorney’s fees [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Yaniv Heled of Georgia State University College of Law argues that patent trolls may be better understood when viewed as analogous to biological parasites, as both are naturally occurring phenomena that thrive by syphoning resources from hosts. Viewing patent trolls as parasites can help in setting realistic expectations in the fight against [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Mary Ziegler of the Florida State University College of Law discusses the Florida Supreme Court’s recent decision recognizing that employers cannot discriminate against pregnant women … As JURIST reported, Florida recently joined a handful of states that recognize pregnancy-based bias as sex discrimination when the relevant state civil-rights law does not directly [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Sophie Richardson of Human Rights Watch discusses the EU and human rights issues in China… This year will see a pair of quarter-century anniversaries of key political events in China and Europe: the remembrance in June of those who died in the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing in 1989, commemorations in Europe [...]
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases Monday. The court heard arguments first in Nautilus, Inc. v. Biosig Instruments, Inc. , a long-running patent infringement case. Biosig sued Nautilus in 2004, alleging that Nautilus infringed its patent for a heart rate monitor. A district court found Biosig’s patent invalid because of “indefiniteness.” [...]
The United Church of Christ (UCC) on Monday filed a lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s same-sex marriage ban on the grounds that it restricts freedom of religion. The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of North Carolina on behalf of UCC reverends and same-sex couples. The UCC believes that North [...]
