Animal
Rights
Boys
'stamped on deer for laughs' - 10 December
Three youths killed a two-day-old fawn in Dorset by stamping on
it "for a laugh", a court has heard. The teenagers,
from Poole, who cannot be named for legal reasons, all deny
intentionally killing a deer while on land without consent. They
also deny an alternative charge of beating a wild mammal with
intent to cause unnecessary suffering. A post-mortem examination
showed the fawn suffered several skull fractures, a severed
spine and a fractured right leg. - BBC
News website
Anti-Terrorism
Menezes
family to receive compensation from police - 23 November
The Metropolitan Police have reached a compensation deal with
the family of Jean Charles de Menezes, mistakenly shot dead by
officers in July 2005. Relatives of the Brazilian, who was
killed at Stockwell Tube station in south London, had been
locked in a legal battle with the force. - BBC
News website
Emigration
and Immigration
Migrant
marriage teenagers lose High Court battle -7
December
A couple have lost a High Court battle against a government
immigration policy aimed at combating forced marriages. The
policy meant Briton Amber Aguilar, 18, from London, left her
UK life to live in Chile, her husband's country of origin,
after his student visa expired. Under the policy her husband
Diego, 19, cannot have a new visa to live in the UK with his
wife until both reach 21. Mr Justice Burnett ruled the home
secretary had not acted irrationally and the legal case must
be dismissed. The age limit for a marriage visa to be issued
to a foreign national was raised from 18 to 21 by the Home
Office on 27 November 2008. The change to the law came five
days after the couple's wedding. - BBC
News website
Keyphrase :
European Convention on Human Rights.
Article 8
Human
Rights
Police
'sceptical of rape victims from poor areas' - 25 November
Police are less likely to believe a rape victim if she lives in
a deprived area, according to a report. The report, "Rape :
the victim experience review", used interviews and focus
groups with victims, police officers and prosecutors. Campaigner
and report author Sara Payne found victims who had been
drinking, had criminal histories or previously made allegations
could face scepticism. - BBC
News website
Labour
Issues
Beefeaters
fired in bully probe - 25 November
Two Beefeaters at the Tower of London have been dismissed for
harassing Moira Cameron, the first female Beefeater. - BBC
News website
Land
Affairs and Property
Google
set to offer property dimension to UK mapping - 3 December
Google is set to launch a property dimension to its UK mapping
system. The new service will allow both estate agents and
private sellers to put their property as an overlay on Google
Maps. The plans were outlined at a conference called Estate
Agency Events last week, although Google has declined to give
official confirmation. - BBC
News website
Pension
Funds
Local
man in frozen pension fight at Europe's top court - 24
November
Europe's highest court is hearing a type of class action lawsuit
representing half-a-million British pensioners now living
overseas. All 500 000 have had their UK state pensions frozen at
the rate they were paid at the time of their retirement. The
effect is that every year the spending power of the pensions
goes down, because the UK government is paying no cost of living
increases if the pensioner lives in certain Commonwealth
countries - particularly Canada, Australia and South Africa.
After years of going through legal process in the British
courts, the only option left was to argue in the European Court
of Human Rights that the British government's attitude to who
got increases and who didn't was simply discriminatory. The
first European court ruled in favour of the government, but as
one of the six judges dissented, the pensioners were allowed one
final appeal. The case became a class action appeal by 13 named
pensioners, nine of whom appeared in the European Court before a
panel of 17 robed judges sitting at what is called a Grand
Chamber hearing. Eight of the 13 seniors were from Canada, four
from Australia and one from South Africa. The South African was
Annette Carson, who had, at an earlier stage, unsuccessfully
argued the case as an individual and ended up with a $100 000
bill for legal costs, virtually bankrupting her. - Canada.com
website
Miscellaneous
No
10 denies firm plan to change royal succession laws - 25
November
Downing St has played down suggestions that laws discriminating
against women and Catholics in the succession to the throne are
set to be changed. Gordon Brown said at Question Time that these
laws were "outdated" and the topic would be discussed
with Commonwealth leaders "in due course" But No 10
said this did not mean he would be raising the issue at this
weekend's Commonwealth summit. A spokesman said it might be
discussed on the fringes of the Trinidad meeting. - BBC
News website