The two men charged with bringing a boatload of Afghani asylum seekers into Australian waters appeared before the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory last week. Are these the people really “scum of the Earth”?
Legal affairs
A history of Scientology’s legal battles
In light of today’s fraud conviction against the Church of Scientology in France, CSM looks back at the organisation’s long and abiding relationship with courts all over the globe.
US lawyer sues Airbus (and everyone else) over Air France disaster
A US lawyer is suing everyone who made anything that was part of the Air France Airbus flight that crashed into the mid Atlantic in June, reports Ben Sandilands.
Berlusconi may yet get his day in court
Silvio Berlusconi is not Italy’s head of state — just its head of government. If the country’s minister is a crook, the courts need to be given the opportunity to say so.
Justice in the balance … bank balance, that is
Despite decades of lip service from governments and the legal community, the price of justice is still prohibitively expensive for most Australians.
FAQ: What exactly is a war crime? Who lays down the law?
Both Israel and Palestine have been accused of committing war crimes in Gaza. But just what constitutes a “crime” in a state of war? And who makes up the rules?
Can a URL be defamation?
Embattled Fox News host Glenn Beck has set his lawyers upon the creators of glennbeckrapedand murderedayounggirlin1990.com. It’s certainly a meme too far, but does he have a case for defamation?
Olmert finally makes history, but for all the wrong reasons
Former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert has been formerly indicted on the corruption charges that led to his resignation. He was a man that history might once have remembered for a commitment to peace and diplomacy, says Gil Hoffman, but will now be forever remembered as a criminal.
Military court brought down by a balls up
Australia’s top military court has been ruled constitutionally invalid, leaving 170 cases in question and the military justice system in disarray — and it was all brought down over a pair of testicles.
China to face its first green lawsuit
A group of residents in China’s Guizhou province are planning to launch an unprecedented lawsuit against the government, with complaints they have suffered from a polluted drinking water supply.
Iran’s “mass show trial” begins
100 Iranian activists have appeared in court over accused of inciting violence in the wake of June’s presidential election, in what opposition spokespeople are deriding as merely a “show trial”.
The tweet that launched a $50k lawsuit
How to get sued in 140 characters or fewer: a woman complained to her 20 followers on Twitter about her real estate agents. Now they’re hitting her up for $50,000 for defamation.
Bio-piracy: the story of US Patent #5,894,079
In 1999, an American found some yellow beans in a Mexican market, named them Enola Beans and slapped a patent on them, allowing him to tax people who had been growing, consuming and exporting the beans for centuries. Ten years later, the patent has finally been scrapped.
I’m being sued for millions for sharing mp3s
Joel Tenebaum faces up to $4.5m in fines for illegally downloading mp3s, but he’s refusing to “cave” to the music industry and its army of lawyers. He explains how sharing a few Nirvana tracks online has led to a multi-million dollar David vs Goliath battle.
Aboriginal patients may end up the real losers in ACC victory
After a long-running legal tussle, a remote Aboriginal health clinic has lost its battle against the Australian Crime Commission to safeguard the privacy of its patient records.
Hate speech, the hijab and western media
Despite the gruesome nature of Marwa el-Sherbini’s murder in a German courtroom by her neighbour, the western media have shied away from telling her story.
Madoff: I won’t appeal
Bernie Madoff’s lawyer tells The Daily Beast that the Ponzi schemer won’t be appealing his 150-year jail sentence, saying there’s no point: “If the court were to say, ‘150 years is excessive, but 40 years is not,’ what’s the point? …He is not going to walk out of prison at age 106.”
Madoff hires help to find the comfiest jail
Bernie Madoff has hired a “veteran prison consultant” to help find him the best possible prison in which to serve his 150-year jail term.
Judge bans Catcher in the Rye sequel
Author J. D. Salinger has won his court case to ban the US publication of a book by a Swedish author that is being touted as an “unauthorised sequel” to The Catcher in the Rye.
“Evil” Madoff sentenced to 150 years
Disgraced businessman Bernie Madoff has been sentenced to 150 years in prison for operating one of the largest frauds in Wall Street history, a crime described by the judge as “extraordinarily evil”.
Shell pays $15.5m over Saro-Wiwa death
Shell has agreed to pay a settlement of $15.5m over the death of Nigerian environmental activist and writer Ken Saro-Wiwa in 1995, after they allegedly provided the Nigerian army with vehicles, patrol boats and ammunition used in the killing.
San Francisco may fine non-recyclers
San Francisco city officials are likely to introduce a law making recycling and composting mandatory, with a $500 fine for people who don’t comply.
