Law

MPs voted this week to ban anyone aged 15 or younger in 2024 from buying cigarettes. If the legislation passes and is enacted, it would be a world first. Ben Quinn reportsBefore 2007, going out on the town in the UK involved inhaling secondhand smoke – on trains, in restaurants, in clubs and in pubs. Even non-smokers would find that a stale tobacco scent could linger after an evening out. The ban on smoking indoors in public places changed things almost overnight.Now with smoking rates among the population plummeting, the government is going a step further: it intends to ban the sale of tobacco to anyone born before 2009. To that age cohort onwards, the sale of cigarettes would be prohibit..

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Report says thousands of people held in little-reported facilities where authorities are violating human rights on a large scaleThe US and UK are complicit in the detention of thousands of people, including British nationals, in camps and facilities in north-east Syria where disease, torture and death are rife, according to Amnesty International.In a report, the charity says the western-backed region’s autonomous authorities are responsible for large-scale human rights violations against people held since the end of the ground war against Islamic State (IS) more than five years ago. Continue reading...

Death penalty not to be imposed, but WikiLeaks founder’s wife says he will not be afforded first amendment protectionsThe US has provided assurances to the high court in London in an attempt to prevent a last-ditch appeal by Julian Assange against extradition, but the WikiLeaks founder’s wife has dismissed them as “weasel words”.Last month, two judges deferred a decision on whether Assange, who is trying to avoid being prosecuted in the US on espionage charges relating to the publication of thousands of classified and diplomatic documents, could take his case to an appeal hearing. Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak’s authority suffers blow as several Conservatives vote against bill, which clears first Commons hurdle with 383 votes to 67At 12.30pm a transport minister will respond to an urgent question in the Commons tabled by Labour on job losses in the rail industry. That means the debate on the smoking ban will will not start until about 1.15pm.Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, is one of the Britons speaking at the National Conservatism conference in Brussels starting today. The conference, which features hardline rightwingers from around the world committed to the NatCons’ ‘faith, flag and family’ brand of conservatism, is going ahead despite two venues refusing to hos..

Lawsuit against The Cosmetic Institute alleges patients in NSW and Queensland experienced heart problems, punctured lungs and seizuresFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastWomen who allegedly suffered complications undergoing so-called “one size fits all” breast augmentation surgery in two states could be compensated under a proposed class action settlement.The lawsuit was launched against The Cosmetic Institute in 2017 by patients in New South Wales and Queensland who alleged they suffered distressing complications because of the negligence of the company’s surgeons and staff.Sign up for Guardian ..

Lehrmann has lost his defamation case against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson. Here are all the other connected casesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastMore than three years after Brittany Higgins alleged on The Project that she had been raped, the defamation case stemming from that broadcast has come to an end.A judge dismissed Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case against Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson in April, finding on the balance of probabilities that Lehrmann raped Higgins in Parliament House. Continue reading...

Order allows ban to stand while lawsuits proceed, in decision critics call ‘an awful result for trans youth and their families’The supreme court is allowing Idaho to enforce its ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth while lawsuits over the law proceed, reversing lower courts.The justices’ Monday order allows the state to put in a place a 2023 law that subjects physicians to up to 10 years in prison if they provide hormones, puberty blockers or other gender-affirming care to people under age 18. Under the court’s order, the two transgender teens who sued to challenge the law still will be able to obtain care. Continue reading...

Offenders could face jail if image is widely shared under proposed amendment to criminal justice billCreating a sexually explicit “deepfake” image is to be made an offence under a new law, the Ministry of Justice has announced.Under the legislation, anyone who creates such an image without consent will face a criminal record and an unlimited fine. They could also face jail if the image is shared more widely. Continue reading...

Sir Jonathan Cohen was due to hear case involving alleged rape victim but second judge ruled he should not hear itA high court judge has been removed from presiding over a case involving an alleged rape and domestic abuse victim, in part due to his membership of the men-only Garrick Club.Sir Jonathan Cohen was due to hear a family court case involving a dispute between a separated couple over shared care arrangements for their child, but another high court judge ruled last Thursday that Cohen should not hear the case. Continue reading...

CCRC to retest rape and murder cases from before 2016 where DNA was a factor in identificationScores of people who maintain they were wrongly convicted of rape and murder will have fresh DNA testing conducted in their cases after Andrew Malkinson’s exoneration.The announcement by the miscarriage of justice body for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), comes ahead of the publication of a major review of its handling of Malkinson’s case. Continue reading...

British PM says he will speak to Netanyahu to express solidarity and discuss how further escalation can be avoidedUK general election opinion poll tracker: Labour leading as election loomsDavid Cameron ruled out trying to become PM again in an interview this morning. (See 9.30am.) But Liz Truss has not done so. In an interview with LBC’s Iain Dale, being broadcast tonight, she did not entirely dismiss the possibility. This is from LBC’s Henry Riley.Truss is giving interviews to publicise her memoir which is out this week. According to extracts sent out in advance, she also confirmed in her LBC interview that she wanted to see Donald Trump win the US presidential election. She said:I don..

Spokesperson says Duke of Sussex will challenge decision and hopes to ‘obtain justice from the court of appeal’The Duke of Sussex has lost an initial attempt to appeal against a high court decision to back a reduction in his level of personal security when visiting the UK.The prince took legal action against the Home Office after a decision in February 2020 by the executive committee for the protection of royalty and public figures (Ravec) to downgrade his publicly funded security. Continue reading...

London law firm admits to error but judge says final order cannot be overturnedA couple were divorced by mistake after solicitors at a leading law firm made a computer error but a senior judge has said it cannot be overturned.The couple, referred to as Mr and Mrs Williams by the high court, were married for 21 years until they separated in 2023. Continue reading...

The court will investigate crimes against humanity committed during the African country’s two civil wars between 1989 and 2003Senators in Liberia have voted overwhelmingly to establish a war crimes court, two decades after civil conflict ended in the west African country.The new court will investigate and try crimes against humanity and corruption committed during Liberia’s two civil wars between 1989 and 2003, which killed up to 250,000 people. Continue reading...

Freedom of information request reveals potential offences include immigration crime, drug offences and fraudUK politics – latest updatesDozens of Home Office staff are under criminal investigation for a range of offences including immigration crime, fraud and drug offences, the Guardian has learned.In response to a freedom of information (FoI) request about its little-known anti-corruption criminal investigation unit (ACCIU), the department revealed that 16 allegations were either awaiting charging advice or trial and a further 18 were under investigation. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed.Full report: Bruce Lehrmann ‘hellbent on having sex’ with Brittany Higgins and raped her in Parliament House, defamation judge findsA ‘hapless’ Bumble date, Qing dynasty ceramics and the Algonquin round table: the best lines from the Bruce Lehrmann verdictBruce Lehrmann and Lisa Wilkinson have both arrived into courtroom one on the 21st level of the federal court building in central Sydney.Lehrmann is sitting at the bench, alongside his legal team, while Wilkinson is sitting on the other side of the courtroom in the front row of the gallery, in a row of red reserved seats. Continue reading...

Justice Michael Lee finds former Liberal staffer was not defamed by Lisa Wilkinson and Ten in interview with Brittany Higgins in February 2021Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastBruce Lehrmann has lost his defamation case against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson, bringing to an end a sprawling legal saga which has gripped the nation.In a live oral summary that took two and a half hours, Justice Michael Lee said the former Liberal staffer was not defamed by Wilkinson and Ten when The Project broadcast an interview with Brittany Higgins on Monday 15 February 2021 in which she alleged she was raped in Parliament House. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Rights groups denounce negotiations with Rapid Support Forces, accused of ethnic cleansing and war crimesInside South Sudan’s worsening refugee crisis – in picturesForeign Office officials are holding secret talks with the paramilitary group that has been waging a campaign of ethnic cleansing in Sudan for the past year.News that the British government and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are engaged in clandestine negotiations has prompted warnings that such talks risk legitimising the notorious militia – which continues to commit multiple war crimes – while undermining Britain’s moral credibility in the region. Continue reading...

Concerns that vicious circle of party ill-discipline is undermining the PM’s ability to restore orderSenior Tories fear Rishi Sunak is facing a vicious circle of party ill-discipline, amid concerns that attacks from Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Suella Braverman will signal his inability to restore authority in the months before the general election.A rebellion this week over his plans to ban smoking is set to be the latest flashpoint, with libertarian MPs, including Truss, preparing to criticise the proposal as a nanny-state measure that is unconservative. Continue reading...

Official data for first week shows 7,152 reports received though nearly half of those were made on 1 AprilPolice Scotland has said only a small number of the thousands of reports lodged so far under Scotland’s controversial hate crime act were authentic.The force released data showing 3.8% of the 7,152 complaints it received in the first week the hate crime act was in force were judged to be legitimate. Two hundred and forty complaints were logged as hate crimes and 30 as non-hate incidents. Continue reading...

Mobile units will be deployed on high streets to identify wanted people – including repeat offendersThe government is investing more than £55m in expanding facial recognition systems – including vans that will scan crowded high streets – as part of a renewed crackdown on shoplifting.The scheme was announced alongside plans for tougher punishments for serial or abusive shoplifters in England and Wales, including being forced to wear a tag to ensure they do not revisit the scene of their crime, under a new standalone criminal offence of assaulting a retail worker. Continue reading...

Flirting with leaving the European court of human rights has failed to move the dial for the PM, and has highlighted his deficienciesRishi Sunak is not a deep-cover agent of the Labour party, but politics might not look very different if the prime minister were on a secret mission to make life easier for Keir Starmer.To achieve this feat, special operative Sunak would occupy positions expected of a Conservative leader, but in a way that minimised public enthusiasm and maximised division in his own party. Continue reading...

Long-running dispute, featuring ‘bizarre’ photo of visa cancellation next to a steering wheel, ends with ruling that minister can rely on department summariesFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastThe immigration minister is not required to personally read submissions for intervention on visa decisions, the high court has ruled, in a decision breaking Labor’s losing streak on sensitive migration cases.On Wednesday, the high court unanimously ruled in favour of Andrew Giles in a long-running case featuring a “bizarre” photo of a signed ministerial brief next to a steering wheel. Continue reading...

Nicaragua asks UN’s highest court to halt German weapons sales to Israel, alleging it is breaching obligation to prevent genocideGermany has said Israel’s security is at “the core” of its foreign policy because of the history of the Holocaust, but denied accusations at the UN’s highest court that is aiding genocide in Gaza by arming Israel.Nicaragua has brought a case against Germany at the international court of justice (ICJ) urging judges to order a halt to German weapons sales to Israel, alleging it is in breach of its obligation to prevent genocide and ensure respect of international humanitarian law. Continue reading...

Court finds in favour of group of older Swiss women who claimed weak policies put them at greater risk of death from heatwavesWeak government climate policies violate fundamental human rights, the European court of human rights has ruled.In a landmark decision on one of three major climate cases, the first such rulings by an international court, the ECHR raised judicial pressure on governments to stop filling the atmosphere with gases that make extreme weather more violent. Continue reading...

Western governments could once be confident of protecting their friends. Nicaragua’s case shows those days are goneThe case brought by Nicaragua against Germany at the international court of justice (ICJ) in The Hague this week is a powerful example of the unprecedented political impact that the Gaza conflict is having around the world. Most obviously, Israel’s continuing assault after the 1,200 brutal murders and about 240 kidnappings by Hamas on 7 October has had a deadly impact on Palestinians. More than 30,000 people in Gaza have been killed, and a famine is now looming. The conflict has also opened up a division between the global north and south in a way not seen before.Nicaragua..

Amendment tabled by cross-party group including Stella Creasy is latest plan to modernise abortion law in England and WalesStella Creasy: No watering down, no new red tape – it’s time to fully decriminalise abortion in England and WalesA cross-party group of MPs is proposing to make abortion access a human right in England and Wales, putting forward legislation that would decriminalise abortion up to 24 weeks and introduce protections against access being stripped back.Proposals to modernise abortion law have been made in the form of amendments to the government’s criminal justice bill, which is due to be debated after parliament returns from its Easter recess later this month. The Com..

Many fear a focus on social media is drawing attention from those the hate crime law aims to protect“We sell flat whites and make croissants in a bakery that’s supposed to be a safe place for the people who work here and the customers who visit. We didn’t expect to be targets of hate.”Tristan Aitchison runs the Xoko bakehouse in Inverness. Over the past year, the LGBTQ+-inclusive cafe has been subject to a succession of alleged hate incidents, including the Pride flag being ripped from its door on several occasions, as well as spitting and verbal abuse, resulting in staff working at night being issued with panic alarms. Continue reading...

Israel’s appalling conduct was predicted by many, yet ignored by its allies. Now even they are distancing themselvesIn Gaza, the six-month milestone has arrived, and with it a perceptible shift. Whatever amnesty the Israeli government was given by its allies in the wake of the Hamas attacks is now threatening to expire. To much of the public, who backed a ceasefire since the early days of the Gaza assault, it was always clear that a calamity was going to unfold. But in the official sphere – among politicians and parts of the media – the horror of 7 October extended what seemed to be a blank cheque for Benjamin Netanyahu and his government.Perhaps it took the killing of seven World Cent..