Law

In a recording in 2020, the actor made a case for giving ‘human beings true agency over their bodies at the end of life’• Read more: ‘Push me over the edge’ – Diana Rigg’s daughter Rachael Stirling writes about her mother’s dying wishesDiana Rigg made an impassioned case to legalise assisted dying in a message recorded shortly before her “truly awful” and “dehumanising” death from cancer three years ago.The actor’s statement calling for a law that gives “human beings true agency over their own bodies at the end of life”, published today in the Observer, adds to the ongoing debate on assisted dying, with MPs expected to publish recommendations to the government w..

Those who stand up to injustice for the rest of us risk financial ruin and worse. The law must protect themImagine you are the first to notice that something bad has been going on at work. It has been going on for years. Some terrible mistake has been made, or some unjustifiable practice has crept in and become routine. You put down the torch and look up from the scattered piles of yellowing papers as it dawns on you: if this gets out, your organisation, your colleagues – perhaps you – will be in trouble. What do you do next?Even spotting the problem in the first place might make you a fairly unusual person. Something happens to our powers of perception in institutions – a sort of blin..

Rachael Stirling reflects on her mother’s final months – and listens back to the recordings the actor made then, racked with pain, as a passionate advocate of assisted dying• Read more: Diana Rigg made impassioned plea for assisted dying lawI will never forget the look in my mother’s eyes that day near the end; the “north face of the Eiger”, as my family christened it. You have seen it in Game of Thrones, that look. As the Queen of Thorns, she used it to great effect. Fixing me with it for the first time in these last months, she said: “Rachie, it’s gone on too long – push me over the edge.”She had by then been on end-of-life drugs for four days. I felt sick. I knew what ..

An allegation of rape, fiercely denied, in a ministerial office is being interrogated by weeks of testimony and cross-examination in a defamation trial brought by the accusedIt has become one of Australia’s most convoluted and damaging political sagas, polarising the public.An allegation of rape, fiercely denied, in a ministerial office in Parliament House has been discussed in news reports, interviews, speeches, and reams of commentary. It was examined in an aborted criminal trial, covered in four separate inquiries and now the first of several related civil cases is again calling witnesses and poring over evidence. Continue reading...

Lady Haldane’s decision disappoints LGBTQ+ campaigners and offer boost to Rishi Sunak at end of difficult weekUK politics live – latest updatesDowning Street’s unprecedented veto of Holyrood’s contentious gender recognition reform bill was lawful, Scotland’s highest court has ruled.The bill, which was passed by a cross-party majority in the Holyrood parliament last December, would have made Scotland the first country in the UK to introduce a self-identification system for people who want to change their legally recognised sex. Continue reading...

As the TUC meets to plan its response, my message is clear: don’t back down, strikes are a vital part of how we improve pay and conditionsSharon Graham is the general secretary of UniteThe British government is about to launch one of the greatest ever attacks on trade union rights. The so-called minimum service levels regulations may sound innocuous, but let’s be clear: trade unions are the last line of defence for workers and their communities, so we say, loud and clear, that we will fight this iniquitous legislation with all the power we can muster.Tory ministers are staggering from one desperate expediency to another, but they need to understand that we are going to take a stand. It..

Scotland to become first devolved nation to incorporate UNCRC into domestic law – unless Westminster intervenes againCampaigners, politicians and young people who led grassroots efforts to put international children’s rights standards at the heart of Scottish law are celebrating the passing of a landmark Holyrood bill.The Scottish parliament voted unanimously on Thursday afternoon for Scotland to become the first devolved nation to incorporate the UN charter on the rights of the child (UNCRC) into domestic law. Continue reading...

Suella Braverman earlier denied plotting to bring the PM down over the Rwanda bill. This live blog is closedRishi Sunak says he is holding this press conference to explain why the government is publishing its Rwanda bill.He says he is the child of immigrants. He understands why people want to come to the UK. Continue reading...

Concept is increasingly accepted in academia but is not a distinct crime against humanity under international lawThe destruction of more than a third of Gaza’s homes as Israel bombards the territory in pursuit of Hamas is leading international legal experts to raise the concept of “domicide” – the mass destruction of dwellings to make the territory uninhabitable.In the current Gaza war, launched after the 7 October attack by Hamas on southern Israel, independent experts estimate that as much as 40% of the housing in Gaza has been damaged or destroyed. The UN says 1.8 million people are internally displaced inside Gaza, many living in overcrowded UN shelters in the south. Continue rea..

I’m trying to change the law so that lawsuits known as Slapps, which threaten the right to free speech, are thrown outWayne David is Labour MP for Caerphilly“If ‘might’ is allowed to triumph over ‘right’, then ultimately we will all pay the price.” I wrote these words earlier this year, celebrating the importance of internationalism and standing with our global allies, but given the rampant legal bullying that is infringing on free speech in the UK, my words also have relevance closer to home.Slapps, or strategic lawsuits against public participation, are legal threats and actions aimed at journalists, community campaigners, academics or anyone challenging power. They’re used..

Al-Haq and Global Legal Action Network argue sales of British weapons could breach international lawIsrael-Hamas war – live updatesThe high court has been urged to intervene and suspend UK arms sales to Israel in a legal challenge launched on Wednesday.The Palestinian human rights organisation Al-Haq and the UK-based Global Legal Action Network (Glan) have applied for a judicial review of the government’s export licences for the sale of British weapons capable of being used in Israel’s action in Gaza, which has killed more than 16,000 people – mostly civilians – since 7 October, according to Gaza’s health authorities. Israel’s invasion of Gaza followed Hamas’s attack on south..

Emergency legislation stops short of leaving European convention on human rights and will infuriate Tory hard rightUK politics live – latest updatesRishi Sunak aims to block UK human rights laws in an effort to revive the government’s faltering plans to send people seeking asylum to Rwanda.An emergency bill published on Wednesday will assert that ministers have the power to ignore judgments that come from Strasbourg while stopping short of leaving or “disapplying” the European convention on human rights. Continue reading...

Donald Trump claims he told his son not to testify since ‘His young life has already been unfairly disturbed and disrupted enough’Eric Trump will not testify at his father’s fraud trial against the Trump Organization Wednesday despite being scheduled to take the stand for over a week.“I told my wonderful son, Eric, not to testify tomorrow at the RIGGED TRIAL,” Donald Trump wrote late on Tuesday night in a rant against the trial. Trump said that his son “already testified PERFECTLY”. Continue reading...

Amnesty International report details ‘harrowing’ testimonies of survivors at hands of security forces following nationwide protestsIranian security forces used rape and sexual violence to torture, punish and inflict lasting physical and psychological damage on protesters as young as 12 during the country’s nationwide protests last year, a report says.The report by Amnesty International is based on the testimonies of 12 women, 26 men, one girl and six boys who survived rape or other forms of sexual violence. Six survivors of rape were subjected to gang rapes by up to 10 male state agents, according to Amnesty. Continue reading...

Former home secretary urges PM to block all human rights laws used to halt deportation flightsUK politics live – latest updatesThe Conservative party faces “electoral oblivion in a matter of months” unless ministers block all human rights laws used to halt deportation flights to Rwanda, Suella Braverman has told MPs.In a personal statement to the Commons, the former home secretary urged Rishi Sunak to build at pace “Nightingale” detention centres and stop all legal challenges using domestic and international laws. Continue reading...

PMQs clash comes as Suella Braverman expected to heavily criticise government’s immigration plansUK politics live – latest updatesRishi Sunak’s government has been accused by Keir Starmer of giving Rwanda “hundreds of millions of pounds for nothing in return” following the signing of a deportation treaty.In a clash at prime minister’s questions, the Labour leader mocked the treaty, signed on Tuesday, saying the Rwandan government of President Paul Kagame had seen the prime minister coming “a mile off”. Continue reading...

A new report shows that time after time, authorities fail to save women at risk. Our misogynistic systems need reformJulie Devey is co-founder and chair of Killed WomenIn 2018, my daughter, Poppy Devey Waterhouse, was murdered by her ex-boyfriend just three days before she was going to move to her new flat to start her new life. Her bags were packed.My world was, of course, torn apart by her murder. It was in the coming years that I realised just how many other lives and families are destroyed each year in the same way – all of us part of a club we wish with all our hearts we weren’t in.Julie Devey is co-founder and chair of Killed WomenDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this..

Centrist Tories want PM to stick by UK’s human rights obligations while those on the right want new bill to override themTory MPs are at loggerheads as competing factions engage in last-minute lobbying efforts to try to change Rishi Sunak’s flagship Rwanda legislation before it is published in the coming days.The prime minister is due to announce a new bill as soon as this week, which Downing Street says will deal with concerns raised last month by the supreme court over the government’s scheme to send asylum seekers to east Africa. It follows the signing of a new treaty with Rwanda on Tuesday by the home secretary, James Cleverly, in Kigali. Continue reading...

Justices appear hesitant to overturn tax on owners of foreign companies as government says to do so would cost US billionsUS supreme court justices appeared hesitant to overturn a tax targeting owners of foreign corporations in a case that has sparked controversy over a call for Justice Samuel Alito to recuse himself, and which could undermine efforts to impose a wealth tax on the very rich.The justices heard arguments in an appeal by Charles and Kathleen Moore – a retired couple from Redmond, Washington – of a lower court’s decision rejecting their challenge to the tax on foreign company earnings, even though those profits had not been distributed. Continue reading...

Guidance says any transgender woman with history of violence against females who is assessed as risk will not go to a women’s prisonTransgender inmates with a history of violence against women will not be housed in female prisons in Scotland, except in “exceptional circumstances”.The long-awaited Scottish Prison Service policy review was prompted by the public outcry after a newly convicted transgender woman, Isla Bryson – who committed two rapes while living as a man, Adam Graham – was initially sent to the women-only prison Cornton Vale in January for assessment. Continue reading...

Attorney general’s staff contact human rights lawyers at chambers associated with judicial reviews against Home Office Barristers’ chambers whose lawyers helped defeat the Rwanda scheme at the supreme court have been approached by the attorney general’s office to advise on the next steps for the plans, in a highly unusual move.The attorney general, Victoria Prentis, has been tasked with drawing up a watertight Rwanda bill, and her staff have contacted human rights lawyers at barristers’ chambers associated with judicial reviews against the Home Office, asking if counsel will examine the draft legislation, the Guardian has learned. Continue reading...

Liberty condemns ‘staggering and shocking’ statistic as anti-protest legislation is enactedPolice have made at least 630 arrests of peaceful protesters campaigning against new oil and gas production in the past month, as the authorities exploit new powers under the government’s anti-protest legislation.The mass arrests of more than 470 people – some individuals were arrested more than once – was condemned by civil rights group Liberty as “staggering and shocking”. Continue reading...

Ex-Express owner is expected to claim regulator made errors during bidding war for national lottery contractRichard Desmond, the Brexit-backing media tycoon, is invoking EU law to sue the gambling regulator after it rejected his “fanciful” bid to run the national lottery, in a suit that could deprive good causes of millions of pounds.The former owner of the Daily Express has vowed previously to seek damages from the Gambling Commission after his company Northern & Shell missed out on a 10-year contract, worth £6.5bn, to run the lottery from next year. Continue reading...

Survivors of institutions run by Catholic diocese recall litany of sexual abuse as bankruptcy process keeps documents hiddenThis is the final installment of a three-part series exploring how the archdiocese of New Orleans’s bankruptcy stands apart from other cases of its kind. The first installment ran on Wednesday 29 November 2023, and the second installment ran on Friday 1 December. Call her Sheila. Continue reading...

The trailblazing judge, attorney and politician became, in 1981, the first woman to serve on the US supreme court Continue reading...

Former supreme court justice voted on a range of issues, including abortion, affirmative action and campaign financeSandra Day O’Connor, the former US supreme court justice, died at age 93 in Phoenix on Friday of complications related to advanced dementia and a respiratory illness, the court said in a statement.O’Connor was the first woman ever to serve on the US supreme court. She voted on a range of issues, including abortion, affirmative action and campaign finance. Continue reading...

Inventor alleged that article criticising his championing of Brexit and move to Singapore was ‘vicious and vitriolic’Sir James Dyson has lost his libel claim against the publisher of the Daily Mirror after a columnist at the newspaper stated that he had “championed Vote Leave … before moving his global head office to Singapore”.The inventor gave evidence at the Royal Courts of Justice for two days during a trial against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) over an article published in January 2022. Continue reading...

PM reaffirms stance after George Osborne suggests snub to Greek counterpart was result of ‘petulance’UK politics live – latest updatesRishi Sunak has denied having a “hissy fit” over the Parthenon marbles row and has said they cannot be returned to Greece “as a matter of law”.The prime minister this week accused his Greek counterpart of using a trip to London to “grandstand” over the issue of the ancient Greek sculptures. Continue reading...

Hall and Oates are embroiled in bitter legal action over the sale of their rights, while rights-owning company Hipgnosis is in trouble. Is the market for songs as assets going out of tune?The “ultimate partnership betrayal” is what Daryl Hall has accused erstwhile musical partner John Oates of, in court documents that allege a breach of their business partnership.Oates was moving to sell half of their joint operation, Whole Oats Enterprises, to Primary Wave, a company that has been buying up song catalogues with a view to making long-term gains from streaming royalties, advertising syncs and other sources. Hall claims Oates’s move happened “completely behind my back” as they were g..

Watchdogs applaud after Democrats vote to summon key rightwing duo to answer questions amid supreme court ethics rowWatchdog groups applauded Democrats on the US Senate judiciary committee after they voted on Thursday to subpoena the influential rightwing donor Harlan Crow and activist Leonard Leo, for information regarding gifts to the conservative justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas that have fueled an ethics scandal.Brett Edkins, of Stand Up America, said the committee “sent a strong message that the rich and powerful cannot evade scrutiny or accountability”. Continue reading...