Supreme Court of South Africa holds Oscar Pistorious guilty of Murder: Holds identity of the victim is irrelevant to guilt of the perpetrator

I have no doubt that in firing the fatal shots the accused must have foreseen, and therefore did foresee, that whoever was behind the toilet door might die, but reconciled himself to that event occurring and gambled with that person’s life. This constituted dolus eventualis on his part, and the identity of his victim is irrelevant to his guilt, the Supreme Court said.The Supreme Court of...

Relief for SL Tamil migrants from Canada Supreme Court- holds prosecution of Humanitarian aid to migrants unconstitutional [Read Judgment]

Allowing the appeal by Sri Lankan Tamil Migrants who had challenged the vires of Section 117 of Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), the Supreme Court of Canada has held it unconstitutional insofar as it permits prosecution for humanitarian aid to undocumented entrants, mutual assistance amongst asylum‑seekers or assistance to family members.7 Judges Bench of the Supreme...

US Court dismisses Sikh group suit against Facebook Blocking its page [Read Judgment]

Communication Decency Act must be interpreted to protect websites not merely from ultimate liability, but from having to fight costly and protracted legal battles, the Court said dismissing the suit against FacebookA District Court in North California dismissed a suit against Facebook, by a Sikh group “Sikhs For Justice (SFJ)” which had alleged that the Facebook violated federal and state...

Bangladesh Executes Two Opposition Leaders over 1971 war Crimes after SC rejects Review Petitions; Justice Krishna Iyer and Bachan Singh Jt mentioned [Read Judgment]

Does Islam permit killing of those unarmed people? While awarding the sentence, the Court must take into consideration the unbearable pains, tears rolling down the cheeks and sufferings of the widows and children of the victims who cried for getting justice for about 43 years, the four Judges bench said, affirming the death sentenceTwo top opposition leaders of Bangladesh who were involved in...

‘Hate crime’ at Harvard Law School: Photos of black tenured professors defaced with black tape

The students of Harvard Law School’s Wasserstein Hall were confronted with a disconcerting sight when they walked to their classes on Thursday. They were reportedly greeted with defaced photograph of every black tenured professor in the history of the schoolMichele D. Hall, a second year Harvard law student, explained on Blavity.com, “The portraits of black professors, the ones that...

Oklahoma Supreme Court expands custodial rights of non-biological parent in a same-sex relationship

Ramey, the plaintiff, is not a mere "third party" like a nanny, friend, or relative, as suggested by the district court. On the contrary, Ramey has been intimately involved in the conception, birth and parenting of their child, at the request and invitation of Sutton, the Court said while allowing the appeal of a non-biological parent in a Lesbian relationship.Oklahoma Supreme Court has held...

US Supreme Court sanctions ‘Shoot first, Think later’ approach to policing ; Sotomayor.J dissents [Read the Opinions]

While Majority opined that “Qualified immunity protects actions in the “‘hazy border between excessive and acceptable force.’”, the Dissenting judge said “By sanctioning a “shoot first, think later” approach to policing, the Court renders the protections of the Fourth Amendment hollow”.Supreme Court of United States have ruled that Qualified immunity applies to the actions of...

Supreme Court of Ohio upholds Sex Offender Registration Rules

Proponents consider registration to be a more economical method of monitoring and preventing recidivism than the costly alternative of imprisonment, the court said.Supreme Court of Ohio has turned down that challenge against the sex-offender-registration and address-verification requirements imposed on the persons convicted of Sex crimes. Dismissing the appeal filed by one Travis Blankenship,...

Call for reforms in Blasphemy Laws, does not amount to Blasphemy ; Pak SC [Read Jt]

If the asserted religious motivation of the appellant for the murder committed by him by taking the law in his own hands is to be accepted as a valid mitigating circumstance in this case then a door shall become open for religious vigilantism which may deal a mortal blow to the rule of law in this country where divergent religious interpretations abound and tolerance stands depleted to...

UNHRHC report indicts LTTE for 2009 civil war, vouches for creation of a Hybrid Court

A 300-odd page report by UN Human Rights High Commissioner Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein has implicated the LTTE for killing Tamil, Muslim and Sinhalese civilians, through indiscriminate suicide bombings and mine attacks, as well as assassinations of individuals including public officials, academics and dissenting Tamil political figures. In this way, the UN  rights organization has now...

US Court approved $415m settlement in tech wage case

A federal judge approved a $415 million settlement case that extended from a period of 2005 to 2009 and revolved around allegations that Apple, Google and several other Silicon Valley companies illegally conspired to prevent their workers from getting better job offers.“No poaching” pact was agreed upon where Apple, Google and other major employers cant recruit each other's workers...

Google foes targeted by Hausfeld, US Law Firm for private damages claim

U.S. law firm and class action specialist Hausfeld on September 1st launched a platform to help pursue claims against Google since it is posing an important problem for the world’s No. 1 Internet search engine amid its regulatory troubles in Europe. Avisa Partners, Public affairs consultancy will jointly manage the platform. It is helping French Internet search firm 1plusV in its EU...