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Legal Advice & Law
News from around the world
- Anti-terror tactics 'weaken law' - The UK and the US have "actively undermined" international law in the way they fight terrorism, a report by judges and lawyers has said. The independent International Commission of Jurists carried out a three-year global study. It concluded that many measures introduced to fight terrorism were illegal and counter-productive. It called for justice systems to be strengthened and warned that temporary measures should not become permanent.
Source: BBC News [16th Feb 2009]
- Revealed: UK's first official sharia courts - Islamic law has been officially adopted in Britain, with sharia courts given powers to rule on Muslim civil cases. The government has quietly sanctioned the powers for sharia judges to rule on cases ranging from divorce and financial disputes to those involving domestic violence. Rulings issued by a network of five sharia courts are enforceable with the full power of the judicial system, through the county courts or High Court. Previously, the rulings of sharia courts in Britain could not be enforced, and depended on voluntary compliance among Muslims. It has now emerged that sharia courts with these powers have been set up in London, Birmingham, Bradford and Manchester with the network's headquarters in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. Two more courts are being planned for Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Source: The Times [18th Sep 2008]
- Courts slam Blair's 'abject surrender' to Saudi prince - The UK High Court has ruled that a controversial government decision to stop investigating allegations of arms industry bribery in Saudi Arabia violated both British and international law. Despite the judgement, it remains unclear whether the investigation will restart.
Source: The Register [10th Apr 2008]
Links to third-party websites (UK)
- Activists Legal Project - A collective providing information about the law to wide range of social change activists
- Justice Not Vengeance (JNV) - Resources for Non-violent Direct Action and Civil Disobedience
- FreeBEAGLES - A legal resource centre for UK political campaigners
- ECBA - European Criminal Bar Association: European Arrest Warrant
- Insolvency Helpline - How to cope with Debt/Bailiff Guide
- Out-Law - I.T. & e-commerce legal help from international law firm Pinsent Masons
Links to third-party websites (Overseas)
Computer/I.T. related Laws
- Computer Misuse Act 1990
- Tempest Law - A summary of the laws of Canada, England and the US on Tempest eavesdropping.
- - Excerpts from Supreme Court ruling on limits on surveillance technology.
Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) 2000
Human Rights Act 1998
Case Histories
- Copland v UK - How not to monitor your employees' communications.
- Halford v UK - Another legal case detailing privacy at work.
- Khan v UK - Covert listening devices.
- Mapplethorpe Book Provokes Academic Freedom Dispute - The University of Central England in Birmingham expressed its delight that the Crown Prosecution Service has reached a decision not to prosecute following confiscation of the book, Mapplethorpe, from the University's library stock in October 1997. The decision not to prosecute brings to an end a year of uncertainty for the University. (also see Times Higher Education article on the case).
- Seized Elton artwork not indecent - The "Klara and Edda Belly Dancing" by American Nan Goldin, taken from Gateshead's Baltic gallery by Northumbria Police on 20 September 2007 was deemed not child porn by the CPS. (see also Guardian article)
Terrorism
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