|
News
on the Electronic Front |
|
| |
Recent
Judgments Available on the Internet
|
|
|
|
|
|
Constitutional
Court of South Africa
-
www.constitutionalcourt.org.za
;
http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACC/
17 December
2008
CCT 24/08 ; CCT 52/08
The President of the Republic of South Africa and Others v
Quagliani ; The President of the
Republic of South Africa and Others v Van Rooyen and Brown
; Goodwin v Director General, Department of Justice and
Constitutional Development ; with
The Speaker of the National Assembly and The Chairperson of the
National Council of Provinces intervening
validity of the Extradition Agreement concluded between South
Africa and the United States of America in 1999
To be handed down
Ruling delay on extradition laws - 17 December
The Constitutional Court on Wednesday postponed until January 21
its ruling on the legitimacy of South Africa's extradition law.
South Africa's extradition law has been called into question
because it has not been tabled as legislation. -
IOL website
|
|
|
|
|
|
Labour Courts
-
http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZALC/
Braamfontein
7 November 2008
JR892/07 [2008] ZALC 144
Hendred Fruehauf Trailers (Pty) Ltd v Doman NO and Others
Johannesburg
5 December 2008
JR1456/06 [2008] ZALC 149
Scheme Data Services (Pty) Ltd v Myhill NO and Others
28 November 2008
J2231/08 ;
J2188/08 ;
J2232/08 [2008] ZALC 148
Van Rensburg and Others v Minister of Safety and Security
25 November 2008
JR
3271/06 [2008] ZALC 147
Tshwane University of Technology v Kirstein and Another
19 November 2008
JR
2043/08 [2008] ZALC 146
Nutesa v Central University of Technology, Free State
19 November 2008
J456/08 [2008] ZALC 145
National Prosecuting Authority and Others v Public Servants
Association and Others
15 November 2008
J
2386/08 [2008] ZALC 151
Democratic Nursing Organization of South Africa and Another v
Director General, Department of Heath and Others
15 November 2008
J
2372/08 [2008] ZALC 150
Nehawu and Others v Minister of Public Service and
Administration and Others
|
|
|
|
|
|
Labour
Appeal Court
-
http://www.saflii.org.za/za/cases/ZALAC/
Johannesburg
5 December
2008
JA
1/05 [2008] ZALAC 13
Netherburn Engineering CC trading as
Netherburn Ceramics v Mudau NO and Another
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cape
Provincial Division
-
http://law.sun.ac.za/cgi-bin/list.php
; Court rolls at
http://www.saflii.org/blog/?page_id=134
12 December
2008
13778/2008 [2008] ZAWCHC 76
Hammel v Radiocity Contact Centre CC
12 December 2008
9958/06 [2008] ZAWCHC 75
Thunder Cats Investments 49 (Pty) Ltd and Others v Fenton and
Others
12 December 2008
A419 / 2008 [2008] ZAWCHC 74
Random Logic (Pty) Ltd trading as
Nashua, Cape Town v Dempster
12 December 2008
A15/2007 [2008] ZAWCHC 73
Emergency Medical Supplies & Training CC v Health Professions
Council of South Africa and Another
Court to rule on SPCA case - 18 December
The National Council of SPCAs will on Thursday hear whether it may
take back control of its Breede Valley branch, currently under
investigation for serious financial irregularities and unlawful
animal euthanasia. The national council brought an urgent
application for an interdict against the Breede Valley management
in the Cape High Court on Thursday in response to the branch's
refusal to vacate its office. -
IOL website
Miserly ex forced into sequestration - 14 December
Tired of waiting for her wealthy ex-husband to pay a
multimillion-rand divorce settlement, a mother of four is having
him sequestrated.
She has received nothing even
though her 80-year-old ex is financially sound.
The couple, who may not be named, were divorced in
2005.
Last month she was awarded a provisional sequestration
order in the Cape High Court. -
The Times website
See :
27 November
2008
10097/2008 [2008] ZAWCHC 67
Hilne v Hilne
|
|
|
|
|
|
Durban and Coast Local
Division -
http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZAKZHC/
; Court rolls
via
http://www.lawlibrary.co.za/notice/highcourts/index.htm
and
http://www.saflii.org/blog/?page_id=197
17 December
2008
6639/2002 [2008] ZAKZHC 97
Lattimore Construction CC v Nile Property Enterprises CC
12 December 2008
12670/07 [2008] ZAKZHC 96
Nofemela v Minister of Defence and Another
12 December 2008
AR312/08 [2008] ZAKZHC 95
Naidoo and Another v Moodley NO and Others
5 December 2008
5587/08 [2008] ZAKZHC 94
Smith v Smith and Others
21 November 2008
1701/04 [2008] ZAKZHC 93
Kepko v Road Accident Fund
21 November 2008
15902/05 [2008] ZAKZHC 92
Hilder v Jafta and Another
Coma case blow - 12 December
Just
weeks after a Supreme Court of Appeal ruling went against her,
Clare Tarr, of Durban, has lost another court battle. Tarr
(previously Shea) was involved in a car accident six years ago and
was in a coma for more than a month. Just weeks after a Supreme
Court of Appeal ruling went against her, Clare Tarr, of Durban,
has lost another court battle. Tarr (previously Shea) was involved
in a car accident six years ago and was in a coma for more than a
month. Tarr had argued that a document related to the curator ship
was not served on the master's office and because of this, the
correct judicial procedures were not followed. She also asked for
R30-million in damages from advocates Jacky Julyan and Barry
Skinner, the two advocates involved in the application for curator
ship, and a Mercedes, among other things, from the former
court-appointed curator, Mike McKenna. -
IOL website
|
|
|
|
|
|
Eastern
Cape Division
-
http://wwwserver.law.wits.ac.za/echc/index.php
;
http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZAECHC/
; Court rolls
(Grahamstown) at
http://www.saflii.org/blog/?page_id=283
12 December
2008
CA 142/08 [2008] ZAECHC 206
S v Busika
12 December 2008
CA 173/2008 [2008] ZAECHC 205
October v Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality
11 December 2008
CA 98/08 [2008] ZAECHC 204
Minister of Safety and Security and Others v White
Rape
victim to sue for R2m - 16 December
An East London woman's court victory to hold police legally
responsible for her rape by her estranged HIV-positive husband has
opened the door for damages claims by hundreds of women in a
similar position. Six years ago Marilyn White, who had a
protection order prohibiting her abusive sex offender husband from
entering her home, asked the police to enforce the order and
arrest him when he moved back into her home uninvited, three
members from Cambridge Police Station refused to do so.
He viciously raped her a few days later. -
Dispatch Online website
10 December 2008
3050/06 [2008] ZAECHC 203
Klein v Road Accident Fund
Hindu temple in shock as judge gives nod to development plan -
17 December
In a move that has shocked the Hindu community in Port Elizabeth,
Judge Bonisile Sandi has ordered the Provincial Heritage Resources
Authority (PHRA) to issue a permit to Pambili Developments within
10 days for the demolition of the old Low Ah Kee general dealer
building in Upper Valley Road. The issuing of the permit will
remove one of Pambili's stumbling blocks
in its bid to build a nine-storey headquarters right next to the
Shri Subramanier Aulayam Hindu Temple. -
Herald Online website
|
|
|
|
|
|
Free
State
Provincial Division
-
www.uovs.ac.za/fac/law/highcourt/
;
http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZAFSHC/
11 December
2008
5946/2008 [2008] ZAFSHC 138
Silverglade (Edms) Bpk v Wessels and Another
11 December 2008
A413/2007 [2008] ZAFSHC 137
Mogaecho v Regional Court Magistrate : Meintjies and Others
11 December 2008
5412/2008 [2008] ZAFSHC 136
Matlafalang Trainning CC and Another v MEC
: Free State, Department of Public Works and Another
4 December 2008
1464/2007 [2008] ZAFSHC 135
Hillard v Hillard
4 December 2008
513/2008 [2008] ZAFSHC 134
S v Mphatsoe
4 December 2008
A125/08 [2008] ZAFSHC 133
S v Samela
4 December 2008
A352/07 [2008] ZAFSHC 132
S v Mathe
27 November 2008
1113/2007 [2008] ZAFSHC 131
Jankowitz and Another v Road Accident Fund
27 November 2008
269/08 [2008] ZAFSHC 130
S v Mariti
20 November 2008
736/08 [2008] ZAFSHC 129
S v Leiee
19 November 2008
523/2008 [2008] ZAFSHC 128
S v Hlahele
6 November 2008
271/2008 [2008] ZAFSHC 127
S v Moeti
6 November 2008
A129/08 [2008] ZAFSHC 126
S v Nkomo
6 November 2008
522/2008 [2008] ZAFSHC 125
S v Nagel
30 October 2008
A410/07 [2008] ZAFSHC 124
S v Mokoena
30 October 2008
A123/08 [2008] ZAFSHC 123
S v Hloloane
30 October 2008
5448/08 ;
5023/2006 [2008] ZAFSHC 122
Du Plooy v Bitflow Investments 220 (Edms) Bpk
30 October 2008
5890/2008 [2008] ZAFSHC 121
Spar Group Limited v Kleyn NO and Another
16 October 2008
A3/07 [2008] ZAFSHC 120
St Helena Primary School and Another v MEC
: Department of Education Free State Province and Another
|
|
|
|
|
|
Limpopo High Court
-
http://www.saflii.org.za/za/cases/ZALMPHC/
17 November
2008
CC53/01 [2008] ZALMPHC 5
S v Phitela
|
|
|
|
|
|
Northern Cape
Division
-
http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZANCHC/
;
http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZAWCHC/
19 December
2008
721/2007 [2008] ZANCHC 78
Van der Westhuizen and Another v Minister van Veiligheid &
Sekuriteit and Another
15 December 2008
1595/2008 [2008] ZANCHC 77
Tauris Garden Trading 500 CC v Khara Hais Municipality
12 December 2008
1507/2008 [2008] ZANCHC 76
Saamwerk Soutwerke (Edms) Bpk v SA Soutwerke (Edms) Bpk and
Others
12 December 2008
1425/08 [2008] ZANCHC 75
AMSA SA (Edms) Bpk v Frabert BK
12 December 2008
367/06 ;
368/06 [2008] ZANCHC 74
Mweza v Member of the Executive Council Department of Social
Services and Population Development (Northern Cape)
; Barense v Member of the Executive Council Department
of Social Services and Population Development (Northern Cape)
12 December 2008
1357/2007 [2008] ZANCHC 73
Actaris South Africa (Pty) Ltd v Sol Plaatje Municipality and
Another
12 December 2008
CA&R 125/05 [2008] ZANCHC 72
S v Lombard
14 November 2008
CA&R 63/2008 [2008] ZANCHC 71
S v Witbooi
14 November 2008
864/2008 [2008] ZANCHC 70
Van den Heever NO v Van der Walt
|
|
|
|
|
|
Transvaal
Provincial Division
-
http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZAGPHC/
; Court rolls
at
http://www.saflii.org/blog/?page_id=134
12 December 2008
55235/08 [2008] ZAGPHC 411
African National Congress v Congress of the People (Association
Inc under Section 21) and Others
Mantashe lashes out at black judges - 14 December
Three Pretoria High Court judges - Judge President of the
Transvaal Provincial Division Bernard Ngoepe and Judges Jerry
Shongwe and Ben du Plessis - on Friday dismissed the ANC's
application to challenge the breakaway party's use of the
name. However, on Saturday ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe
said he could forgive Du Plessis - a white judge - for not knowing
the "historical facts", but described the two other judges - who
are black - as "apartheid apologists". He did not refer to their
race though. - IOL website
ANC slammed over slur on judges - 15 December
Prominent lawyers' organisations and COPE leader Mosiuoa Lekota
have slammed ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe for tarring two
black judges as "apologists for apartheid". Mantashe blasted Judge
President of the Transvaal Provincial Division Bernard Ngoepe and
Judge Jerry Shongwe for concurring with a white judge when
dismissing the ruling party's urgent interdict against COPE's use
of the party name. - IOL
website
12
December 2008
42199/2007 [2008] ZAGPHC 404
Tabok Derdepoort Ouerkommitee v Hoerskool FH Odendaal en 'n
Ander
FH Odendaal must alter language policy - 15 December
Hoerskool FH Odendaal in Pretoria will be a parallel medium school
from next year, the Pretoria High Court ruled on Friday. This
followed a judgment by Judge Cynthia Pretorius in which she turned
down an application by the Tabok Derdepoort Parents Committee, in
which they asked the court to overturn a decision by the school's
governing body that the school become a parallel medium school. -
IOL website
12 December 2008
38803/2006 [2008] ZAGPHC 403
CJW Marketing CC v Limpopo Provincial Liquor Board and Others
12 December 2008
17004/2008 [2008] ZAGPHC 402
Bester NO v Nel en Andere
12 December 2008
7507/2008 [2008] ZAGPHC 401
Unilever Plc and Another v Salma Traders
11 December 2008
A1446/05 [2008] ZAGPHC 409
S v Mosia
11 December 2008
A692/07 [2008] ZAGPHC 408
S v Mchunu
11 December 2008
A129/07 [2008] ZAGPHC 407
S v Skhosana
11 December 2008
A127/07 [2008] ZAGPHC 406
S v Buys
11 December 2008
A126/07 [2008] ZAGPHC 405
S v Lehong
Should court cases be conducted in English? - 15 December
A Brits attorney will ask the Pretoria High Court to force
government to finalise and promulgate a national language policy
so that South Africans could be served by government departments,
including the courts, in their own language. Cornelius Lourens
said in papers filed at court that as things now stand, all other
languages have to stand back for English, which is the language
officially used by government departments. -
IOL website
Death row prisoners go to court - 17 December
Several former death row prisoners whose sentences were commuted
to life imprisonment in the 1990s have turned to the Pretoria High
Court in a bid to force the Department of Correctional Services to
grant them parole. The prisoners believe they have served the
required time in jail but Correctional Services says that in terms
of parole provisions, the prisoners have to serve 20 years of
their sentence (from the time the sentence was commuted from death
to life) before they can even be considered for release. -
IOL website
Amnesty door slammed - 14 December
The door has been slammed shut on "back door" amnesties for the
perpetrators of human rights abuses under apartheid. Judge
Francis Legodi of the Pretoria high court found that certain
amendments made in 2005 to the National Prosecuting Authority's
prosecution policy, which would allow NPA prosecutors to give
amnesty for "political crimes" committed during the apartheid
era were unconstitutional and invalid. -
IOL website
Dagga farmer loses case - 15 December
The Pretoria High Court has ruled that the police were justified
in arresting a Kameeldrift cannabis farmer for dealing in drugs as
he could not provide a permit. Russell de Beer instituted a R620
000 damages claim against the minister of safety and security,
claiming that he was unlawfully arrested and detained on drug
charges while he had a permit for the 1.2 tons of dagga in his
possession. - IOL website
House cleaned out after lovers' tiff - 15 December
The former girlfriend of a Moreleta Park man (in Pretoria) who
"cleaned him out" after he had dumped her and took everything from
his teaspoons to toiletries and blood pressure tablets, has been
ordered to return the goods. Judge Bill Prinsloo ordered that if
Sharon-Ann Laubscher refused to hand the goods back to Anton van
Wyk, the sheriff would reclaim them and hand them back to him. -
IOL website
Dave King must pay for court dockets - 12 December
Billionaire Dave King was not entitled to a free copy of the
196 400-page docket in his R2.5 billion tax evasion trial, but was
entitled to a motivated index of documents within the docket, a
Pretoria High Court judge ruled on Friday. Judge Ronnie Bosielo
dismissed King’s application for an order that he was entitled to
a copy of the docket free of charge and that the National Director
of Public Prosecution's (NDPP) policy of charging accused for
copies of dockets was unconstitutional. The judge at the same time
ordered the NDPP to provide King with a full description of each
and every document in two sections of the docket to which they had
refused King access. - The
Times website
A flood of wife killings .
. . - 17 December
A Pretoria High Court judge was prompted to remark during a trial
this year of a man who murdered his partner
: "Killing one's spouse
has become an easy way of remedying domestic problems". In nearly
all the cases the husbands pleaded not guilty, claiming that they
could not remember killing their wives, or that they could not be
held accountable for their actions for a variety of reasons. These
included low blood sugar levels, low intelligence, depression and
anxiety. Some also blamed their wives, who, they claimed, had
provoked them. In the vast majority of the cases, the courts heard
that the wives had had enough of their spouses and were planning
to leave their husbands. - IOL
website
|
|
|
|
|
|
Regional Courts
Worcester
The colour of the skin .
. . - 19 December
Ben
Zimri has blamed his culpable homicide conviction in the Worcester
Regional Court on Thursday, following the on-field brawl that led
to the death of Rawsonville rugby player Riaan Loots in 2006, on
the fact that the presiding officers handling the case were not of
his "cultural background". They are white and he is coloured. The
murder charge was changed to culpable homicide, because the court
found that Loots's death was caused by negligence on Zimri's
part. Immediately after the conviction, Zimri's attorney, Martin
Green, applied for leave to appeal to a higher court, on the basis
that the magistrate and assessors were of a different cultural
background to his client. The request was denied. Worcester
Regional Magistrate Piet van Rensburg was then asked to recuse
himself from sentencing procedures, because Zimri apparently no
longer had faith in the fairness of the court. -
IOL website
|
|
|
|
|
|
Magistrates Courts
Plettenberg Bay
I
am guilty of sex crimes, SA man confesses - 19 December
A South
African man facing extradition to Britain to stand trial for a
string of sex crimes against children yesterday confessed to The
Herald that he was guilty and expected to spend a long time in
jail. Stephen Wooding, 35, sensationally confessed in matter-of-fact
tones during a brief interview while he was still sitting in the
dock in the Plettenberg Bay magistrate's court. According to a
notice signed by Justice Minister Brigette Mabandla confirming
Wooding's extradition request, he is
wanted in Britain for raping a boy younger than 13 and
"engaging in sexual activity"
with a boy younger than 13. There are also two charges of sexually
assaulting children, nine of taking indecent photographs of children
and a further 19 charges of "making an
indecent photograph/pseudo-photograph of a child".
Another two charges of "causing a child
under 13 to engage in sexual activities"
make a total of 34 counts which in South Africa would all be
contraventions of the Sexual
Offences Act, but he is not being investigated for any crimes
in this country. -
Herald Online website
See also :
Fugitive from US arrested - 5 December
A Pietermaritzburg-born man, who has been sought by the FBI for
almost a year, was flown out of KwaZulu-Natal on Thursday to face
charges of raping young girls in America. Graham Harding, 39, handed
himself over at the United States consulate in Durban on Tuesday.
Interpol spokeswoman Tumi Golding said the consulate handed Harding
to the SAPS, which took him to Johannesburg to hand him to FBI
agents on Thursday. He was immediately flown out of South Africa
accompanied by the agents. Harding left America for KwaZulu-Natal
late last year after he allegedly confessed to raping the two
minors, who were at the time close to him and under the age of 11.
US Consulate spokeswoman Sharon Hudson-Dean said Harding will appear
in a district court in Florida to face four charges within 24 hours
after landing. Besides rape, he will also be charged with evading
prosecution. - Witness
website
Pretoria
'Hate camp'
trial to resume in February - 17 December
The case of a 44-year-old man who allegedly kidnapped a 15-year-old
boy to teach him to hate black people at his "hate camp", has been
postponed in the Pretoria Magistrate's
Court today, national police said. -
The Times website
|
|
|
|
|
|
Competition
Commission, Tribunal and
Appeal Court
-
http://www.compcom.co.za/
;
http://www.comptrib.co.za/
Banks avoid rivalry over prices : study - 15 December
Retail banking in SA operates as a tightly knit oligopoly that
maximises profit by avoiding outright price competition, says the
report of an inquiry into competition in retail banking.
The 600-page report issued by the Competition
Commission on Friday did not say banks operated as a cartel but
that they took advantage of "the degree
to which customers, once recruited, became locked into a
particular bank". -
Business Day website
Are bank fees unjustifiably expensive? - 13 December
South Africa's bank charges are too high and banks should
implement reforms, a report by the Competition Commission has
found. The Competition Commission's full technical report,
released on Friday, supported the banking inquiry panel's findings
into bank charges. The inquiry panel, set up two years ago, found
that bank charges were too expensive and recommended that South
Africa's banks implement reforms. -
IOL website
Banking report supports findings on charges - 12 December
South Africa's Competition Commission said on Friday a full
technical report into Africa's most sophisticated banking system
supported an initial inquiry that found charges were too high and
banks must reform. The Competition Commission said in statement it
would meet with the Department of Trade and Industry, the National
Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank early in 2009 to
settle on a government response to the inquiry. -
Creamer Media's
Engineering News website
|
|
|
|
|
Legislation
Mine
Health and Safety Amendment Bill
New
safety legislation will drive away SA mining investment : lawyer
- 12 December
The recently passed Mine Health and Safety Amendment Bill, which
charges mining companies for criminal liability while
simultaneously imposing administrative fines, is unconstitutional,
and will drive away investment in South African mining, argues
Brink Cohen Le Roux partner Willem le Roux at the LexisNexis Mine
Health and Safety seminar held on November 18.
"The [Amendment Bill] is absolutely ridiculous. It sends
one message to people, that if one wants to conduct mining, then
your head is on the line, and astronomical, draconian fines will
be imposed. This does not encourage involvement and investment in
South Africa", Le Roux says.
- Creamer Media's
Mining Weekly website
|
|
|
| |
Useful
Links and Items of Interest
|
|
|
|
|
|
Legal Profession
United Kingdom
The case against barristers and solicitors merging - 16
December
With legal-aid fees plummeting, the Crown Prosecution Service and
defence solicitors are using more and more employed
"in-house"
advocates instead of independent barristers. Judges are refusing
to allocate serious cases to Queens Counsel. And the morale of the
independent criminal Bar is at an all-time low because so many are
not even earning a living. But those who think that the seemingly
inevitable move toward "fusion"
- in which there ceases to be a
distinction between barristers and solicitors -
will be good for the criminal justice system are wrong. -
Times Online
website
|
|
|
|
|
|
South Africa
Animal Rights
Endangered animals publicly cut up for muthi - 14 December
Illegal trading in protected and threatened animals, including
leopards and cheetahs, is openly taking place at the Mai Mai
traditional medicines market in central Johannesburg - but the
authorities are doing nothing to stop it. This week at least seven
full leopard skins and three cheetah pelts were on display, but
traders said they were not aware that they were required to have
permits to possess and sell the skins. -
IOL website
Two park lions shot dead - 14 December
Two lions that were among the 12 that escaped from the Lion Park
in Camperdown last month after a freak storm were killed by
poachers early on Saturday morning. The two were shot inside their
enclosure and dragged away by poachers, perhaps for muthi
purposes, leaving the park with just 14 lions. -
Witness website
Correctional Services
'Prisons do not make society safe from crime' - 18 December
A growing body of evidence indicates prisons have little value in
making society safe from crime ; rather,
they are punted by politicians and the private sector who benefit
from them. A report published in the Institute for Security Studies'
journal SA Crime Quarterly says :
"There is little (if any) evidence to support the idea that
imprisonment can reduce crime on any significant scale anywhere in
the world". Lukas Muntingh, the report's author, writes that prisons
carry symbolism valued by politicians. -
IOL website
Cyberlaw
Cops reel in greedy hackers - 13 December
A syndicate of Internet thieves has stolen more than R400-million
from government departments, including the Presidency. Two
computer identity-theft hackers, believed to be the masterminds of
the cyber gang, were nabbed by the police this week. These follow
the earlier arrests of 13 people involved in stealing millions of
rands from government departments and employees across the
country. The syndicate allegedly hacked into computer systems
linked to the Presidency using specialised spy software (spyware)
programs. - IOL website
Education
Damning findings made against university - 15 December
The Mangosuthu University of Technology's finance department was
grossly compromised when it was populated by students after the
departure of senior staff, resulting in payroll errors. This is
among independent assessor Vincent Maphai's findings contained in
a 21-page report on the governance, management structure and
efficiencies at the troubled Umlazi institution. Maphai's report
is scathing in its findings about the university council's failure
to exercise its responsibilities and obligations.
- IOL
website
UKZN academic freedom clash turns nasty - 14 December
UKZN vice-chancellor in war of words with professor. Professor
Malegapuru Makgoba has been embroiled in a vicious spat with a
physics professor who resigned from the University of KwaZulu-Natal
after facing disciplinary charges for bringing the institution
into disrepute. At the centre of the battle was a document about
"academic freedom"
and how it ought to be practised at UKZN. -
The Times website
Judiciary
JSC interviews Concourt candidates - 12 December
The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) interviews candidates on
Friday to fill a vacancy for a judge in the Constitutional Court,
the Mail and Guardian reported. The candidates are judges Leona Theron, Edwin Cameron, Eberhard Bertelsmann, Shenaz Meer and Nigel
Willis. This comes after a previous round of interviews did not
produce enough candidates to recommend to President Kgalema
Motlanthe. - IOL website
Judge with character - 17 December
Judge Leona Theron was interviewed for the vacant position on the
Constitutional Court last week at the same time her judgement
giving equal rights to women married under customary law in
KwaZulu-Natal was confirmed by the country's highest court. -
Mail & Guardian website
'Cameron unsuitable for Concourt seat' - 13 December
South Africa's pension funds adjudicator has launched a scathing
attack on Judge Edwin Cameron, arguing that the first judge to
disclose that he was HIV-positive was not fit for a position at
the Constitutional Court. But Judge Cameron has hit back at the
criticism levelled against him by advocate Vuyani Ngalwana,
telling the Judicial Service Commission on Friday that many of the
complaints against him were distorted and inaccurate. -
IOL website
Labour Law
Task
team proposes measures to save SA mining jobs - 18 December
The South African government, labour unions and mining companies
have agreed on short-term measures to save jobs in the industry, and
reiterated that retrenchments were seen as a last resort. A task
team was formed on December 1 to come up with ways to mitigate the
impact of the financial crisis on the local mining industry, where
thousands of mining jobs are on the line, as demand for commodities
have slumped. - Creamer
Media's Mining Weekly website
Land Affairs and
Property
Govt set to raise "cooling off" value for property buyers - 18
December
Soon buyers of properties below R500 000 may be able to walk away
after signing an Offer to Purchase. A very recent and interesting
government gazette notice last Friday 12 December seeks to increase
the monetary threshold for the cooling off right for purchasers
buying immovable property - from R250 000 to R500 000. - Article by
David Warmback, a lawyer in Shepstone & Wylie's property department
on the moneyweb website
See :
GenN 1535/GG 31709/12-12-2008
Hout Bay's iconic Sentinel peak up for sale - 15 December
The
Sentinel, the landmark mountain at the entrance to Hout Bay, is for
sale. An advertisement in the property press last week, entitled
"buy a mountain with a sea view" has shocked many Capetonians who
believed the Sentinel was part of the Table Mountain National Park.
But the mountain is privately-owned and is on sale for R12-million.
Park staff have said it would be "an outrage" to allow any
development on the Sentinel. The owners of the 10,9 hectare property
are a close corporation, G&R Marine Services. Sources say it was
bought a few years ago for R50 000. -
IOL website
Development
Crime, shack-dwellers & your property's location - 18 December
It's not always a bad thing to own property near an informal
settlement, I recently discovered. Regardless of where we live or
what homes we can afford, the need to protect what is lawfully
owned is greater than the differences between our communities, it
seems. - moneyweb
website
Land Claims and
Expropriation
White couple, black man battle for claim to South Africa farm
- 19 December
Their colliding dreams reflect the challenge the government faces
in restoring land to blacks without driving whites off productive
farms and destroying the country's economy. Even so, the effect on
the country's agricultural economy has not been overwhelmingly
positive. Whereas the global trend is toward larger, more
commercially successful farms, South Africa is breaking many of
its large farms into smaller, less economically efficient pieces
to meet the claims of new black farmers. Partly as a result, South
Africa in the last year has gone from a net exporter of food to a
net importer. And, in another worrying trend, some of the whites
who sold their farms have been recruited by other African
countries, where their skills are much in demand. Now
once-impoverished countries such as Mozambique are becoming more
self-sufficient - and taking a share of South Africa's export
market. - Los Angeles Times
website
Minerals and Energy
Nersa unveils proposed power conservation rules for SA - 13
December
South Africa' power regulator (NERSA) laid out the rules for its
power conservation programme on Friday, in a bid for reaction from
the public and affected sectors by early January. According to the
proposals, users will be allocated an annual limit for their
electricity use and will have to pay a charge in addition to
regular tariffs if they exceed that baseline. -
Creamer Media's Engineering News website
See :
Notice of the publication of the NERSA revised consultation paper
regarding the Multi-year Price Determination 2 (MYPD2) Proposed
Rule Changes - 12 December
NERSA website
Cost of pebble bed project 'beyond R16bn' - 18 December
The cost of the controversial Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR)
project that Eskom wants to build at Koeberg is likely to run well
beyond the government's present estimate of R16-billion - and
that's without taking into account the cost of dealing with the
resulting nuclear waste. So says Kommetjie architect and
environmentalist Rod Gurzynski in a scathing critique of the
specialist study on the financial aspects of the project. -
IOL website
Assmang shuts ferromanganese smelters on steel cutbacks - 18
December
Ferrous-metals miner Assmang will close three high-carbon
ferromanganese furnaces at its Cato Ridge works, because of
"extensive"
steel production cutbacks. The closures, effective December 25,
will leave three furnaces still in operation at Cato Ridge, or
about 60% of capacity, African Rainbow Minerals (Arm), which owns
50% of Assmang, said in a statement. Cato Ridge Alloys will also
stop producing medium-carbon ferromanganese, effective
immediately. - Creamer
Media's Mining Weekly website
Municipal Management
and Procedure
South Africa local government debt likely to rise - 17
December
Fitch Ratings says in a new report that subnationals' debt in
South Africa is likely to grow in a context of economic slowdown
and changing inter-governmental relations. The report, entitled
"Institutional Framework for South African Subnationals",
addresses the main elements defining inter-governmental relations
such as subnational regulation, funding and responsibilities, and
borrowing frameworks. -
Moneyweb website
Report may be
purchased at
http://www.alacrastore.com/storecontent/fitch/418538_report_frame
Cape Town
Cape
Town gets clean bill from Auditor General - 15 December
For the fifth consecutive year, the Auditor-General has given the
City of Cape Town an unqualified report for the financial year
ending 30 June 2008. Welcoming the report, the City of Cape Town's
Chief Financial Officer, Mike Richardson, said this confirms the
city's financial resources are being managed in accordance with
strict national guidelines. -
BuaNews Online website
City
completes liquor trading hours by-law - 18 December
The City of Cape Town's Liquor Policy Task Team has completed a
draft by-law to control the hours and days of trading by licensed
liquor establishments in the city. This is in line with the recent
signing of the new Western
Cape Liquor Act, 2008 (Act 4 of 2008). According to the
city, the purpose of the by-law is to control and regulate the
trading hours of undertakings licensed by the Licensing Tribunal.
- BuaNews Online website
See also :
R1m booze fine on cards
below
Msunduzi
Council writes off R100 mln - 18 December
Msunduzi councillors voted to write off debt of more than R100
million at a special full council meeting on Wednesday. The
write-off of irrecoverable debts amounts to just more than R293
million in two years. In August 2006, the municipality approved
the write-off of R184 million in arrears and this week R109,6
million was written off. The bulk of the write-offs
- R45 million -
were attributed to indigent service charge arrears for houses
worth under R60 000. The categories included indigent debt, which
amounted to more than R18 million, indigent rates arrears for
houses worth under R60 000 (R15 056 235), indigent rates arrears
for houses under R30 000 (just over R1 million). Automatic
indigent debt and other arrear debt totalled R25 371 121 and R1
818 203 respectively. -
Witness website
Msunduzi fares well in survey of metros - 14 December
A comparative survey that measured the country's municipalities,
including the Msunduzi Municipality, in terms of a municipal
productivity index makes for interesting reading. The MPI
comprises five factors. Nine cities, including Msunduzi and the
two other aspirant metros of Mangaung (Bloemfontein) and Buffalo
City (East London), were judged along with the country’s six
established metros. - Witness
website
Splurge on cars for deputy mayor - 14 December
The Msunduzi Municipality has allegedly spent more than R1 million
in transportation costs for deputy mayor Mervyn Dirks in the past
two years. About R700 000 was spent on hiring cars for Dirks to
use on official municipal business, while the municipality
recently bought a new car costing about R300 000 for the deputy
mayor. There are vehicles from car rental companies parked at
municipal facilities and sources told The Witness these are hardly
ever used, but cost the council hundreds of thousands of rands a
month. - Witness website
National Prosecuting
Authority
Pikoli : Law Society asks Motlanthe to explain dismissal
'rationally'
- 14 December
The Law Society of South
Africa believes that the South African public is entitled
to a proper explanation from President Kgalema Motlanthe why he
has recommended that Parliament should dismiss the National
Director of Public Prosecutions, Vusi Pikoli. In a statement
issued on Friday on behalf of LSSA co-chairs Max Boqwana and C
P Fourie, the organisation said the president's
decision appears to fail the "test of
rationality" for various reasons. -
Witness website
Media Release :
Law Society of South Africa
12 December 2008
Law Society says President's decision to
dismiss Pikoli appears to fail the test of rationality
The Law Society of South Africa
(LSSA) says the decision by President Kgalema Motlathe to
recommend the dismissal of National Director of Public
Prosecutions (NDPP), Vusi Pikoli, albeit the President's
prerogative, appears to have failed the test of rationality
for various reasons. LSSA Co-Chairpersons, Max Boqwana and CP
Fourie, say the enquiry raised a number of shortcomings in the
system.
'Instead of taking the narrow
approach and dismissing the NDPP, the President should have
taken this opportunity to reorganise and strengthen the
prosecutorial authority, and in particular the manner in which
it relates to the Executive', said the Co-Chairpersons.
As regards the test for
rationality, the LSSA points out that Mr Pikoli's dismissal
raises a number of questions :
▪
The Enquiry Commission was set
up in terms of the
National Prosecuting Authority Act, 1998 ; but its
authority is not clear.
▪
Can the President, in future, on his own
and without the application of the facts, dismiss the head of
the prosecutorial services?
▪
Should the President, in future, be guided
by political considerations in appointing a National Director
of Public Prosecutions, rather than by the internationally
acceptable principles of independence and the discharging of
prosecutorial responsibilities without fear, favour or
prejudice.
The LSSA
understands that the parties involved in this matter may still
exercise their legal rights and, therefore, does not wish to
deal with the merits of this matter at this stage, save to
point out that
▪
in exercising its responsibilities the NDPP
must appreciate its independence from the Executive
;
▪
Parliament should consider all the facts
before confirming the President's
decision ;
▪
the grounds on which the President can
ignore the recommendations of a properly constituted committee
and take his decision, should be assessed ;
▪
the impact of the precedent created by the
decision of the President ; and
▪
above all, Parliament must consider the
interest of the nation rather than a narrow political stance.
Since President Motlanthe chose
to recommend Mr Pikoli's dismissal on the ground that he was
insensitive to national security and the political
environment, the LSSA urges the President to explain clearly
his understanding of where prosecutorial independence to carry
out prosecutions without fear, favour or prejudice, as
guaranteed by the Constitution, is superseded by the
protection of national security. 'The President should explain
the basis for his decision to both the public and Parliament',
say Mr Boqwana and Mr Fourie.
The LSSA believes the South
African public is entitled to a proper explanation by the
President so that, when presenting his case to Parliament,
Parliament is not seen to be simply rubber-stamping a
politically motivated decision.
Issued on behalf of the co-Chairpersons of the Law Society
of South Africa
by Barbara Whittle
Communication Manager : Law Society of South Africa
Telephone : 012-366 8800 or 083-380 1307
E-mail :
barbara@lssa.org.za
Website :
www.lssa.org.za
Pikoli spurns R10m sweetener - 14 December
President Kgalema Motlanthe was prepared to offer Vusi Pikoli
about R10-million to walk away from his position as prosecuting
head. But Pikoli's reluctance to resign as National Director of
Public Prosecutions - and unrepentant response to the negative
findings made against him by Dr Frene Ginwala - changed the
president's mind. - IOL
website
15 December 2008
No settlement offer was made to Vusi Pikoli
SA Government Information
website
Politics
Black lawyers say Lekota a 'threat' to empowerment - 17
December
The Black Lawyers Association (BLA) expressed concern on Wednesday
over new Cope president Mosiuoa Lekota's statement on affirmative
action, labelling it as a "threat". At the party's inaugural
conference in Bloemfontein on Tuesday, Lekota said the Congress of
the People would abide by the Constitution and was committed to
the policy of affirmative action. -
BBC News website
'If you can stand the loss, leave SA' - 17 December
One of South Africa's most celebrated writers has issued a damning
attack on the South African political order for failing the
country's citizens. Breyten Breytenbach, the poet, writer and
anti-apartheid activist, has written a scathing article titled
Mandela's Smile : notes on South
Africa's failed revolution, in the latest edition of the US
magazine, Harpers. A reviewer of the article said that
Breytenbach cites "the relentless, mindless violence, nepotism and
corruption that prevail here as sources both of South Africa's
shame and of Breytenbach's incendiary call to quit the country". -
IOL website
Mandela's
smile : notes of South Africa's failed revolution - December
2008
Article by Breyten Breytenbach on
Harper's Magazine website
Safety and Security
Should cops act like security guards? - 13 December
The scale of government's paranoia over crime has been laid bare
with fresh revelations that half a billion rand of taxpayers'
money was given to private security firms to protect police
stations, government departments and courts last year. -
IOL website
Transport and Roads
Tollroads
Wild Coast toll road public comment period extended - 18
December
The cut-off date for public comment on the proposed Wild Coast N2
toll road has been extended by two weeks, owing to concerns that
the initial comment period was over the holiday season. The public
comment period on the controversial project's
environmental impact report has been extended from January 9 to
January 22. - Creamer
Media's Engineering News website
Western Cape
R1m booze fine on cards - 18 December
Specific limits on the amount of alcohol sold to individuals, a
ban on drinking in cars, tough action against patrons of illegal
shebeens and fines of up to R1-million to defaulting retailers are
some of the features of the
Western Cape Liquor Act
which have been fast-tracked to take effect from January 1. Not
only owners of illegal shebeens but also their suppliers and
patrons face stringent new measures as the Western Cape strives to
contain alcohol abuse and illegal trade. -
IOL website
See also :
City completes liquor trading hours
by-law above
Miscellaneous
Shaik's auditors admit guilt - 17 December
The two auditors who helped fraudster Schabir Shaik cook his
company's books pleaded guilty last week to three counts of
improper conduct and were suspended from practising for six months
by the auditing profession's regulator. Auditors Paul Gering and
Ahmed Paruk, partners at the Durban-based accounting firm David
Strachan & Tayler, were also slapped with R210 000 penalties each
for bringing the auditing profession into disrepute and not
complying with the Public
Accountants' and Auditors' Act. -
Mail & Guardian website
|
|
|
|
|
|
Africa
Rwanda
UN court convicts Bagosora for Rwanda genocide - 17 December
A UN court convicted former army colonel Theoneste Bagosora Thursday
of genocide in Rwanda in 1994 and sentenced him to jail for life. -
Reuters website
See :
International Criminal Tribunal for
Rwanda
Decision not
yet online [18 December 2008]
Somalia
Navy commander questions land attacks on pirates - 13 December
Days before Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is to ask the
United Nations to authorize "all necessary measures" against
piracy from Somalia, a leader of the US military, which would help
carry out that policy, said in effect :
not so fast. The commander of the US
Navy's 5th Fleet expressed doubt Friday about the wisdom of
launching attacks against Somali pirates on land, as the draft UN
resolution proposes. A Pentagon spokesman warned against the urge
to grasp for a quick and easy military solution to a complex
international problem. -
Associated Press website
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwean Constitutional Amendment no.19 gazetted - 15
December
The Zimbabwean Government has gazetted
Constitutional Amendment
no.19, which gives legal effect
to Zimbabwe's proposed inclusive government once it is approved by
Parliament. - BuaNews Online
website
Zim prints law for unity government - 14 December
Zimbabwe has published a draft constitutional law to create a
unity government but the opposition MDC on Sunday vowed to block
the proposed changes until its demands for equitable power-sharing
are met. President Robert Mugabe and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai
agreed to form a unity government in September, but the deal has
stalled over disagreements on control of key ministries. -
IOL website
13 December 2008
President Kgalema Motlanthe welcomes the gazetting of Amendment 19
of the Zimbabwean Constitution
SA Government Information
website
Zimbabwe
rivals 'should both go' - 17 December
Both Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader
Morgan Tsvangirai should step aside to end the deadlock, a
respected think tank argues. This could allow a transitional
administration to implement political and economic reforms, the
report by the UK's International Crisis Group says. -
BBC News website
17 December 2008
Statement by President Kgalema Motlanthe on the SADC’s
Humanitarian Assistance to Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC)
SA Government Information
website
South Africa will not ask Mugabe to step down
: president - 17 December
President Kgalema Motlanthe said Wednesday South Africa would not
join international calls for Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe to
step down, saying it was "not for us" to do so. -
AFP website
Time to kill Mugabe? - 17 December
A bishop has called for Robert Mugabe to be deposed 'by all means
necessary'. But is tyrannicide morally justifiable? More and more
black Zimbabweans now believe that killing President Robert Mugabe
is morally justified, in order to halt his tyrannical, murderous
misrule. They have lost all hope for peaceful, democratic change
; having witnessed the rigged elections, the sham
power-sharing agreement and the regime's on-going terror tactics
of kidnappings, beatings, rapes and murders. South Africa and the
African Union have left us to suffer and die, they say. -
The Zimbabwean
website
|
|
|
|
|
|
Asia
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ruling on prisoner voting rights is part of the modern
liberal trend - 17 December
Pui-yin Lo [Deputy Chairman, Special Committee on Constitutional
Affairs and Human Rights, Hong Kong Bar Association]
: "The judgment of Mr Justice Andrew Cheung of the Hong Kong
Court of First Instance on December 8, 2008, held that : "the
disenfranchisement provisions relating to voting and registration
contravene the right to vote constitutionally guaranteed under
article 26 of the Basic Law
of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and article 21
of the Hong Kong Bill of
Rights, so far as they affect prisoners (and those convicted
persons who have been sentenced to .
. .
imprisonment, and who have not served the sentences or received a
free pardon)". It was not unexpected. The court was assisted in
reaching the ruling by jurisprudence on the same topic of the top
national courts in Australia, Canada and South Africa, as well as
the European Court of Human Rights. Reference was also made to the
modern trend towards more liberal treatment of prisoners in terms of
voting rights noted in the ACLU's 2006 analysis of "felony
disenfranchisement" of various jurisdictions around the globe. -
Jurist website
Japan
Japanese group asks Google to stop map service - 19 December
A group of Japanese lawyers and professors asked on Friday that
Google Inc stop providing detailed street-level images of Japanese
cities on the Internet, saying they violated privacy rights.
Google's Street View offers ground-level, 360-degree views of
streets in 12 Japanese cities and is also offered for some 50 cities
in the United States and certain areas in Europe. -
Reuters website
South Korea
S
Korea parents fined over rape - 14 December
A South Korean court has fined the parents of a teenage rapist
more than $60,000 (£40,000) for failing to supervise their son.
The 18-year-old, who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,
raped a local seven-year-old girl in 2006. The court said the boy
had grown up watching pornography and had imitated a film he had
seen, during the attack. It said his parents could have prevented
the crime with appropriate education, but neglected their duty. -
BBC News website
|
|
|
|
|
|
Australasia
Australia
Aborigines win battle over mine - 17 December
Aborigines in Australia have won a court fight against the
Anglo-Swiss mining giant Xstrata. Xstrata had planned to divert
the McArthur River to allow for the expansion of a zinc mine in
the Northern Territory. A Federal Court decided that the
government did not follow the proper process in allowing the
mine's expansion to go ahead in 2006. Over 5km (3 miles) of the
river has already been diverted, and the traditional owners are
now demanding that it be returned to its original course. -
BBC News website
|
|
|
|
|
|
Europe
Italy
Parmalat's founder is sentenced to ten years' jail - 19
December
Calisto Tanzi, the founder of Parmalat, the Italian dairy group,
was yesterday sentenced in Milan to ten years in jail for
market-rigging. Tanzi, 70, was on trial with seven other former
Parmalat executives and bankers including three former Bank of
America employees, over events that led to the company's
collapse in December 2003. The former Bank of America executives
were acquitted. Tanzi was convicted of misleading the markets by
masking the state of Parmalat's
finances. The group, which was set up by Tanzi 45 years ago, fell
apart after it was forced to reveal previously unknown debts of
€14 billion in 2003 in events that are the closest that Europe has
come to an Enron-type accounting scandal. -
Times Online
website
|
|
|
|
|
|
Middle East
Iraq
New report slams US reconstruction of Iraq : report - 14
December
An unpublished federal draft report depicts the US-led
reconstruction of Iraq as a $100 billion failure doomed by
bureaucratic infighting, ignorance of basic elements of Iraqi
society and waves of violence there, The New York Times
reported in its Sunday editions. The Pentagon issued inflated
progress reports to cover up the reconstruction's failure once the
effort began to lag, according to the Times, which received
copies of the document from two people who had read the draft but
were not authorized to comment publicly about it. -
Reuters website
|
|
|
|
|
|
United Kingdom
Communications
BBC fined £95 000 for 'unfair' radio competitions - 18 December
The BBC was fined £95 000 today for running unfair competitions on
two radio stations. Industry regulator Ofcom imposed the penalty for
"serious" breaches of its code in shows broadcast on Radio 2 and BBC
London 94.9FM. The BBC invited listeners to take part in phone-in
competitions in pre-recorded programmes that were broadcast "as
live" when it knew they stood no chance of winning, Ofcom said. -
Telegraph website
Company Law
BAA told
to sell three airports - 17 December
The Competition Commission has said it will require BAA to sell
Gatwick, Stansted and Edinburgh airports. The watchdog says the
decision is subject to a final consultation but is necessary to
improve levels of service at UK airports. In August, the watchdog
had said BAA may have to sell three of its airports because of a
lack of competition. - BBC News
website
Courts
Family courts : a free-for-all? no, we will still protect children
- 18 December
The announcement by Jack Straw that the media are to be given access
to the courts at all levels is likely to be welcomed by the
judiciary. At last they will be able show the world at large that
there is no conspiracy or injustice going on. -
Times Online
website
Education
Teachers told : behave or face sack - 18 December
Teachers are being told to behave outside school to provide
inspiration for unruly children. -
Telegraph website
Family Law
Senior judges refuse to rule on pre-nuptial agreements - 18
December
Five senior judges have given a green light to post-nuptial
contracts agreed by married couples as to who owns what - but left
the issue of pre-nuptial contracts for Parliament. The ruling came
in a test challenge brought by a wife who claimed £5.6 million as
against the £2 million agreed in her pre-nuptial settlement. The
judges said it was not for them to declare that pre-nuptial
contracts were legally binding. But they nonetheless upheld a
post-nuptial agreement between Roderick MacLeod, 64, and his former
wife Marcia, 42, which varied the couple's
pre-nuptial agreement signed before their marriage in Naples ten
years ago. The judges' decision will be a
blow to lawyers hoping the court would give such agreements its
backing as increasing numbers of wealthy couples make use of them.
At present pre-nuptial agreements, which outline what assets the
wife and husband would keep if the marriage breaks up, are
"persuasive" in
court cases but not strictly binding. -
Times Online
website
Madonna gives Guy £50m in divorce - 15 December
Madonna has paid former husband Guy Ritchie around £50m as part of
their divorce settlement. The pop star's US spokeswoman Liz
Rosenberg told The Associated Press (AP) the figure included
the value of the couple's Ashcombe home in England. She said the
financial part of the settlement had been worked out but custody of
the couple's children had yet to be finalised. -
BBC News website
Legislation
Will the new Coroners Bill resurrect the controversial secret
inquests? - 16 December
Urgent reform has long been acknowledged by a government that has
itself commissioned a raft of reports on the coroners' system. In
this year’s Queen's Speech, the Government has proposed a Bill that
combines the Coroners and
Death Certification Bill and the
Law Reform, Victims and
Witnesses Bill. Thus reform of the inquest system will now be
combined with yet more criminal justice legislation. -
Times Online
website
Pension Funds
95
000 pensioners 'were overpaid' - 16 December
An estimated 95 000 public sector
pensioners have been overpaid £126m since 1978, the Cabinet Office
says. About 5% of civil servants, teachers, NHS workers, judicial
and armed forces personnel were overpaid by an average of just over
£200 a year each. The money will not have to be repaid but many face
pension cuts. - BBC News
website
Privacy
Lawyer of the week : Stephen Cragg - 18 December
Stephen Cragg, of Doughty Street Chambers, was the advocate in the
cases heard in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on the
police retaining fingerprints and DNA samples of innocent people.
The Grand Chamber ruled unanimously that it is a violation of
Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (right to
respect for private and family life) for the police to retain such
samples. - Times
Online website
See :
European Court of Human Rights
4 December 2008
30562/04 ; 30566/04
S and Marper v the United Kingdom
Miscellaneous
Teenager completes UK coast walk - 14 December
A teenager who sparked a land and air rescue operation after
stealing a boat has completed a sponsored walk around Britain to
make amends. Seb Green has raised more than £20 000 for the Dorset
and Somerset Air Ambulance and Starlight Children's Foundation, a
charity which grants wishes for seriously and terminally ill
children and provides hospital entertainment. -
BBC News website
|
|
|
|
|
|
United States
Criminal Justice
System
Beneath
their sealed records, some offenders went back to jail - 15
December
Hundreds of criminals in Texas whose records were sealed under a
2003 law have gone on to face new charges in the past two years,
"including a handful" of cases of murder and rape, The Dallas
Morning News reported today. The newspaper filed a request for
the statistics under the state public information law. Of an
estimated 14 000 offenders who had their
records sealed, The Morning News found that more than 1
500 were subsequently charged with new crimes. Under the
"seal" law, the newspaper reports, for $28, certain categories of
nonviolent offenders can ask a judge to seal their records from
public view. - the reporters
committee for freedom of the press website
Family Law
Atheist may sue if law on Las Vegas officiants won't change -
14 December
In a city launched by shotgun weddings and quickie divorces, and
which offers the chance to be wed by faux Liberaces, King Tuts and
Grim Reapers, there remains at least one nuptial taboo
: you can't be married by an
atheist. Michael Jacobson, a 64-year-old retiree who calls himself
a lifelong atheist, tried this year to get a license to perform
weddings. Clark County rejected his application because he had no
ties to a congregation, as state law requires. So Jacobson and
attorneys from two national secular groups - the American Humanist
Assn and the Center for Inquiry - are trying to change things. If
they can't persuade the state Legislature to rework the law, they
plan to sue. - LA Times
website
Health
Medical 'conscience rule'
is issued - 18 December
The Bush administration, as expected, announced new protections on
Thursday for health care providers who oppose
abortion and other medical procedures on religious or moral
grounds. "Doctors and other health care
providers should not be forced to choose between good professional
standing and violating their conscience", Michael
O Leavitt, the secretary of Health and Human Services, said in a
statement on his department's Web site. -
New York Times website
Doctor cleared of harming man to obtain organs - 18 December
A California transplant surgeon was acquitted on Thursday of a
charge that he had intentionally harmed a donor to speed extraction
of the patient's kidney and liver. The
verdict closed a case that had drawn widespread attention to the
medical, and ethical, complexities of organ transplantation. Dr
Hootan C Roozrokh was found not guilty of a single felony charge of
abuse of a dependent adult, after two other felony charges -
administering harmful substances and unlawful prescription - were
dropped last spring. Prosecutors had argued that Dr Roozrokh, 35,
prescribed excessive amount of drugs during a failed harvesting
procedure on a brain-damaged donor. -
New York Times website
Land Affairs and
Property
No trompe-l’oeil : a muralist loses his view - 18 December
As commonly as it happens, it never seems
quite fair that longtime residents lose views they have known for
decades when some big, brash tower muscles its way into the skyline.
But somehow it seems even less fair in the case of the
artist Richard Haas. For more than three decades as a trompe-l’oeil architectural
muralist, Mr Haas, 72, has opened panoramas where there were none,
created facades that never before existed, enlivened flat walls with
domes and arcades of his own invention and even recreated lost
landmarks ; at least in two dimensions. After giving New York and
the nation so many vistas, Mr Haas is watching sadly from his West
36th Street studio as his own vista disappears. A 27-story apartment
tower is going up at 350 West 37th Street. Its rear wall threatens
to blot out much of the fifth-floor view that he and his wife,
Katherine, have enjoyed since 1982. -
New York Times
website
Privacy
Rules will allow DNA samples from federal detainees - 13
December
Immigration detainees and others arrested for federal crimes will
be forced to provide DNA samples beginning in January under new
rules promulgated by the Justice Department this week, raising the
ire of immigrant rights advocates and other groups. Senate
Minority Whip Jon Kyl, author of a 2005 law that authorized the
department to include pre-conviction DNA samples in its national
database, said the change would help prevent violent crimes by
deportees who return illegally or who commit crimes pending
prosecution on earlier charges. -
LA Times website
Miscellaneous
Pothole Map inadequate for lawsuits, court finds - 18 December
In a blow to the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, the
state’s highest court ruled on Thursday that the association's
famous pothole map was not sufficiently clear and therefore did
not give two injured people the right to win civil judgments
against New York City under the city’s Pothole Law. The
Pothole Law -
passed in 1979 to make it harder for people to sue - protects the
city from liability for injuries to people who trip or fall on
sidewalks that are "out of repair,
unsafe, dangerous or obstructed", unless
a written notice of the defect has been provided to the city's
Department of Transportation at least 15 days before the accident.
Previously, the injured person only had to show, usually through
witnesses, that the crack or hole or protrusion had been there
long enough for the city to be able to fix it. -
New York Times
website
Watergate scandal informant dies - 19 December
Mark Felt, the former FBI official who revealed himself to be Deep
Throat, the source that exposed the Nixon-era Watergate scandal,
has died. Deep Throat helped reporters from the Washington Post
newspaper uncover abuses of presidential powers in the Nixon White
House. The scandal ultimately led President Richard Nixon to
resign in disgrace in August 1974. -
BBC News website
W Mark Felt, Watergate Deep Throat, dies at 95 - 19 December
W Mark Felt, who was the No.2 official at the FBI when he helped
bring down President Richard M Nixon by resisting the Watergate
cover-up and becoming Deep Throat, the most famous anonymous
source in American history, died Thursday. In 2005, Mr Felt
revealed that he was the one who had secretly supplied Bob
Woodward of The Washington Post with crucial leads in the
Watergate affair in the early 1970s. His decision to unmask
himself, in an article in Vanity Fair, ended a guessing
game that had gone on for more than 30 years. -
New York Times website
Profile
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/3848571/Deep-Throat-A-profile-of-the-man-who-helped-bring-down-President-Nixon.html
Timeline
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/3848570/Deep-Throat-Watergate-timeline-of-events.html
|
|
|
|
|
|
International
Courts
Constitutional courts to meet in SA - 15 December
The first World Conference on Constitutional Justice, organised by
the Constitutional Court of South Africa and the Venice
Commission, will take place in Cape Town next year. The two-day
conference, which will kick off on 23 January 2009, will bring
together, for the first time, courts of constitutional
jurisdiction from all over the world, including Commonwealth
courts and members of various regional groups of courts of
constitutional jurisdiction. The conference will explore the
impact these courts have, both on their own societies and on the
development of a global jurisprudence on human rights, reports
SouthAfrica.info. - BuaNews
Online website
SA law expert to chair WTO's top court - 18 December
South African law expert David Unterhalter is to take over as head
of the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) top court, the Appellate
Body, a WTO document said. The document on the WTO website, dated
December 15, said the seven-member body, among whom the chair
rotates each year, had elected Unterhalter as chairman from
December 18. The WTO referees world trade and rules on disputes
involving billions of dollars. -
IOL website
Environment
Near-paralysis at UN climate talks ends with vow for new treaty
- 13 December
One hundred eighty-nine countries agreed to start formal
negotiations for a new treaty to fight global warming, following a
two-week debate that exposed the gap they must close between rich
and poor nations. The US, Canada and Japan rebuffed demands by
developing countries for pledges to cut greenhouse-gas emissions
at the United Nations-led climate talks in Poznan, Poland.
Requests by China and South Africa for more industrialized nations
to share clean-energy technologies got no support at the talks. -
Bloomberg website
Australia sets new climate target - 15 December
Australia has said it will start a carbon trading scheme by the
middle of 2010, despite appeals from the business community for a
delay. The plan will cover 75% of the country's emissions. It has
also announced that it will cut greenhouse gas emissions by
between 5% and 15% by 2020, from the 2000 levels. -
BBC News website
With Obama, new wind blowing on climate - 14 December
President-elect Obama, in statements to governors, the nation and
on the Web, is now promising a profound change in how the US
government - and explicitly the White House - will deal with
global warming. "Denial is no longer an acceptable response," he
said in a recent radio address and Webcast. "The stakes are too
high". - ABC News website
'Embarrassing' to be a Canadian at climate talks : Green party
leader - 13 December
The UN climate conference in Poznan, Poland, was a "mark of shame"
for Canada, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May said on Saturday.
Delegates from poorer nations were angry at Canada for not meeting
its commitments under the Kyoto protocol, as well as all
industrialized countries for stalling on reducing greenhouse gas
emissions, May told CBC News. During the conference, which began
Dec 1, Canada won several Fossil of the Day Awards, announced by
Climate Action Network International, a group that includes more
than 400 non-governmental organizations. -
CBC website
|
|
|
|
|
|
United Nations
Human Rights
UN split
over homosexuality laws - 19 December
Sixty-six countries at the United Nations have called for
homosexuality to be decriminalised. The countries signed a
declaration sponsored by France and the Netherlands demanding an
end to legal punishment based on sexual orientation. Sixty other
countries of the UN's 192 member states, including a number of
Arab and African states, rejected the non-binding declaration.
They said laws on homosexuality should be left to individual
countries. The US was the only major Western nation not to sign
the declaration. - BBC News
website
|
|
|