Know-Go Zone

May/June 2010

2010-05-12T09:41:00.024+02:00

Criminal probe of Gulf oil spill seen inevitable - 25 May
With a BP well spilling oil into the Gulf of Mexico for a fifth week and President Barack Obama under press to act, legal experts say it is only a matter of time before his administration begins a criminal investigation into the disaster. - Mail & Guardian website

BP had warning signs before Gulf blast - 26 May
BP told congressional investigators on Tuesday that pressure tests on a drill pipe showed a fudnamental mistake hours before the deadly explosion that caused the Gulf of Mexico oil leak, a memo released by two congressmen showed. - Mail & Guardian website

On top of a wave - 20 May
Every oil spill has a silver lining - if you are a lawyer, that is. More than 70 related lawsuits were filed in the two weeks after oil started leaking into the Gulf of Mexico on April 20th, most of them class actions. - The Economist website

US to suspend Arctic drilling : Alaska senator - 27 May
The Obama administration plans to announce on Thursday a suspension of offshore oil drilling in the Arctic until 2011 as a result of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, an Alaska senator said. - Reuters website
BP loses 15 percent of market value as US launches criminal probe of spill - 1 June
As BP hacked away at a pipe gushing oil at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, investors sawed off 15 percent, or $21.1 billion, of the company's market value Tuesday. - The Washington Post website
Sarah Palin blames environmentalists for Gulf oil disaster - 3 June
In her latest note on Facebook, Sarah Palin is blaming "extreme 'environmentalists'" for causing the gulf oil disaster that has been unfolding for over a month. Her logic is that because environmentalists push for tougher drilling regulations onshore in places like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (also known as ANWR) it forces oil companies to explore deeper offshore drilling which has more risks. - The Huffington Post website
BP given first bill for Gulf oil spill - 4 June
The United States government sent BP a $69-million bill for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill on Thursday, warning it was only the first invoice, as undersea robots poised to try to curb the leak. - IOL website
Judge recusals may hinder Gulf oil spill lawsuits - 8 June
Lawsuits over the Gulf oil spill are flooding the courts. Homeowners, fishermen and environmetnal groups are all trying to recover damages they suffered because of the gusher. But victims of the spill are beginning to encounter a new complication : judges who can't hear their cases because of conflicts of interest. The federal appeals court in New Orleans recently said it couldn't decide a major global warming case because eight out of sixteen judges steppe aside for one reason or another. - NPR website
Oil + water = chaos - 8 June
When one surveys the business-related carnage of the last few years - the Massey mine diaster, the financial crisis, the BP oil spill - one can't help but be struck by the question : where the heck were the regulators? - Moneyweb website
Interior Secretary Salazar seeks to reimpose drilling moratorium - 22 June
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says he will issue a new order imposing a moratorium on deepwater oil drilling after a federal judge struck down the existing one. Salazar said in a statement Tuesday that the new order will contain additional information making clear why the six-month drilling pause was necessary in the aftermath of the Gulf oil spill. The judge in New Orleans who struck down the moratorium earlier Tuesday complained there was insufficient justification for it. - Fox News website
Oil industry insider describes BP 'monster' lurking in the gulf - 26 June
With BP's recent admission that 100 000 barrels of oil are leaking into the Gulf per day, confirmation that the wellhead is now tipping as much as 11 degrees, and new video evidence that sea floor has begun cracking under the pressure, I am starting to believe teh semi-apocalyptic worst case scenarios now beign put furth by oil industry insiders. - Mother Nature Network website

http://streetgiant.com/2010/06/02/leroy-stick-the-man-behind-bpglobalpr/
StreetGiant website

Trafigura aLccused over Ivory Coast toxic waste - 1 June
Dutch prosecutors have accused multi-national oil trading firm Trafigura of illegally exporting hazardous waste to Ivory Coast in 2006. The allegations came at the start of a trial in which the firm is accused of breaking Dutch export and environmental laws and forging official documents. - BBC News website

Bhopal disaster criminal court verdicts to be delivered - 7 June
An Indian court is set to deliver a historic judgement on the Bhopal gas disaster, one of the worst modern industrial accidents. Over 25 years after a leak from a chemical plant owned by Union Carbide Corporation, a US company, killed up to 25 000 people and harmed hundreds of thousands more in the central Indian city, the city judicial magistrate of Bhopal will on Monday decide whether a dozen senior managers and directors of the plant should go to jail. The verdict will be the first in a criminal prosecution connected to the tragedy. - Mail & Guardian website

Guilty verdicts 25 years after India's Bhopal gas disaster -7 June
An Indian court sentenced the former top managers of the company blamed for the massive Bhopal gas leak 25 years ago to two years in prison on Monday in the first convictions over teh catastrophe. Eight people were found guilty in the local court in Bhopal over the 1984 incident. - Mail & Guardian website

The Lisbon Review 2010 : towards a more competitive Europe - May 2010
The Lisbon process has been a decade-long effort. At the March 2000 Eruopean Council in Lisbon, Portugal, Europe's heads of state and government set a ten-year timeline to make the European Union "the most competetive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world . . .". In this report the World Economic Forum carries out a review of Europe's progress. - Polity website

Banned : doctor who linked MMR vaccine with autism - 24 May
The British doctor who controversially drew a link between autism and the triple vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella should be banned from practising medicine. That's the rulling issued today by a panel of the General Medical Council which regulates the medical profession in the UK. - New Scientist website

Decision at http://www.gmc-uk.org/Wakefield_SPM_and_SANCTION.pdf_32595267.pdf

Prosecutors net 6.5m pounds crime cash - 5 May
A Moscow-based businessman has had 6.5m pounds seized by Scottish prosecutors in the country's largest ever recovery under Proceeds of Crime legislation. Anatoly Kazachkov was connected to a suspicious bank transfer of $10m from an account in Hungary to a Scottish bank in 2004. The cash will be invested in community projects around Scotland. - BBC News website

South African editors condemn jailing of journalist - 7 June
SA National Editors' Forum condemns the imposition of an extremely severe four months' jail sentence - with hard labour - on legendary Zambian editor Fred M'membe of The Post, Zambia's most popular newspaper, for contempt of court. For many years M'membe and his staff have been attcked by the Zambian authorities or holding them accountable for maladministration and misgovernance. - allAfrica website

On Zimbabwe's death row without a lawyer - 12 May
After 13 years on Zimbabwe's death row, George Manyonga is still waiting to see his lawyer. He saw him once, briefly, the day before his trial, but since then he has been left on his own. He has lost his lawyer and now he is losing hope. - BBC News website

April 2010

2010-04-26T11:32:00.010+02:00

Wilderness Safaries 'unfair to Bushmen' - 14 April
Survival International of London has complained to Moneyweb that Wilderness's Lodge in the Kalahari is prejudicial to Bushmen. Christina Chauvent, media spokesperson for Survival International said Wilderness had opened its Kalahari tented camp without the consent of the indigenous people who had been there for thousands of years. - Moneyweb website

Kalahari Bushmen's fight for right to water adds to growing anger at Botswana rulers - 6 June
Africa's oldest inhabitants are on the march. It was announced last week that the Kalahari Bushmen are returning to court in a new battle with the government of Botswana. The ancient tribe claim they are denied access to a water borehole on their land, one of the driest regions on the planet. The Bushmen won a court case in 2006 against their eviction from a game park in the central Kalahari, hailed as a victory for indigenous peoples around the world. Last year the Law Society of South Africa said that human rights lawyers in Botswana were being prevented from seeing their clients. - Guardian website
See also :
13 December 2006
52/2002
Roy Sesana Keiwa Setlhobogwa and Others v The Attorney General
[InfoUpdate 6 of 2007]

HI lawmakers vote to limit Obama document requests - 27 April
Hawaii legislators have passed a measure allowing a state agency to ignore repeated requests from a person or organization for President Barack Obama's birth certificate. - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution website

E-things - March 2010

2010-03-25T09:24:00.006+02:00

European Court of Justice rules in Google's favour - 23 March
Google aims to provide as much information as possible to users so that they can make informed decisions. For this reason, we have been awaiting a series of decisions by the European Court of Justice that explore the extent to which trade mark rights can be used to restrict information available to users. The first of those decisions was delivered today. - Google blog

European Court of Justice
23 March 2010
Joined Cases C-236/08 to C-238/08
Google France SARL, Google Inc v Louis Vuitton Malletier SA (C-236/08) ; Google France SARL v Viaticum SA, Luteciel SARL (C-237/08) ; Google France SARL v Centre national de recherche en relations humaines (CNRRH) SARL, Thonet, Rabion, Tiger SARL (C-238/08)

Nestle hit by Facebook 'anti-social' media surge - 19 March
Critics of Nestle took social networking side Facebook by storm today when a Nestle company page on the site received thousands of complaints about the company's alleged use of palm oil from deforested areas in Indonesia. The barrage of comments came in response to a Greenpeace campaign launched this week accusing the company of sourcing palm oil from unsustainable managed rainforests in Indonesia, and destroying the habitate of endangered orang-utans. - Guardian website
Keyphrase :
Environment

Earlier than 31 March

2010-03-17T08:40:00.019+02:00

International Criminal Court

Sudan poll like a vote under Hitler : ICC prosecutor - 24 March
The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said on Tuesday that monitoring Sudan's election next month would be like monitoring a vote in Hitler's Germany. Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo pressed for the arrest warrant issued by the ICC a year ago against Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur region. Bashir is contesting the poll. Moreno-Campo spoke a day after Bashir threatened to expel international election monitors for saying that the vote may have to be delayed to deal with logistical problems. - polity website

Sport and Recreation

Banned Briatore can return after 2010 - 13 April
Formula One's governing body agreed on Monday to end a life ban against former Renault team boss Flavio Briatore and allow him back into the sport after 2012. The International Automobile Federation (FIA) said in a statement that a settlement had been reached to end ongoing legal proceedings against the flamboyant Italian multi-millionaire. - Eye Witness News website

United Kingdom

Calls to raise age of criminal responsibility rejected - 13 March
Calls to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12 have been rejected by the government. England's children's commissioner Maggie Atkinson had told the Times that most criminals under 12 did not fully understand their actions. But the Ministry of Justice said those over 10 knew the difference "between bad behaviour and serious wrongdoing". - BBC News website

Teesside mother not told of sex offender's past - 19 March
A Teesside mother was not warned a man living in her home, who later raped her five-year-old daughter, was a known sex offender, a critical review has found. Stockton Council has suspended a person and admitted a support worker visited the family, instead of a social worker. - BBC News website
See also : Parolee attack : woman's claim worth thousands [South Africa in InfoUpdate 6 of 2010]

Week ending 12 March 2010

2010-03-04T14:49:00.057+02:00

United Nations

Van Schalkwyk tipped for top UN job - 5 March
Former environment minister and current Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk has emerged as a frontrunner for the post of the United Nation's new climate chief. - Mail & Guardian website

9 March 2010
Minister Manuel to serve on high-level advisory group on climate change financing
Presidency website
Independent body to review controversial UN climate panel - 11 March
A respected international scientified body will review the United Nations' Nobel prize-winning climate panel, under fire for errors in a key report on global warming, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said. - Mail & Guardian website

1 March 2010
Opening statement by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to the Human Rights Council 13th Session, Geneva
polity website

Africa

Africa must lead on the development of the crime of aggression - 8 March
The first ten-year Review Conference of the International Court (ICC) will take place from 31 May-11 June 2010 in Kampala, Uganda. Most state parties will be satisfied with the progress made by the Court since the adoption of its founding treaty, the Rome Statute, back in 1998. Supporters will be pleased that 110 countries have signed up to the ICC, that it is fully operational, and that it is actively investigating cases in five countries. - polity website

Calls to speed up African Charter - 8 March
African civil organisations want the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance to come into force by the end of 2010. - BuaNews Online website

Australia

Breaker Morant execution 'calculating' - 15 March
A court martial finding that led to the execution of Breaker Morant and a fellow Australian officer in 1902 was a cruel and caluculating conspiracy of the British military command, a parliamentary committee has been told. The issue was about an "unsafe" trial to the legal standards of proof of procedure in accordance with the law of 1902, Command James Unkles told the House of Representatives petitions committee in Canberra on Monday. - Sydney Morning Herald website

Australian court rejects mummy name request - 8 March
An Australian court has rejected a mother's request to ban the use of the term "mummy D" to refer to her daughter's step-mother. She had told the Family Court that encouraging the daughter to use the term was an "incendiary action". - BBC News website

Homeless lose sleeping spot at Australia's Bondi Beach - 9 March
A group of homeless men have lost their fight to sleep rough at a historic pavilion at Bondi Beach, Australia's most iconic arc of sand. A panel of appeal court judges has ruled they have no right to camp out at the famous spot. Some of the group have been living rough at the Mediterranean-style pavilion at Bondi for eight years. - BBC News website

Conservation

Canadian Parliament serving seal meat at lunch in support of hunters - 8 March
The Canadian Parliament's restaurant will serve seal meat this week in support of hunters battling a European Union ban on seal products. - Huffington Post website

Bluefin tuna trade ban gains European Union backing - 10 March
EU nations have decided to support a ban on international trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna until stocks recover. The bloc has agreed to back a motion for a ban during next week's meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). - BBC News website

Oscar win for film of dolphin hunt in Japan's Taiji - 8 March
A film which follows the annual dolphin hunt in the Japanese town of Taiji has won the Oscar for best documentary. The Cove, directed by Loui Psihoyos, follows activists as they try to gain access to a bay where dolphins are corralled and killed. - BBC News website

Egypt

Suzanne Tamim murder convictions overturned by court - 4 March
Egypt's highest court has ordered the retrial of a tycoon and an ex-policeman who were sentenced to death for killing a popular Lebanese singer. The court overturned their murder convictions on procedural grounds. The case has received much attention as it involves a member of an elite often seen as being above the law. - BBC News website

Europe

Small firms 'may be exempt from lodging accounts' - 10 March
Small companies may be exempted from having to draw up and lodge annual accounts, after MEPs approved changes to European Union rules. Politicians say the policy will cut red tape and help firms be more competetive in tough economic times. However, there is no guarantee it will come into force as each EU country must choose whether it adopts the exemption. - BBC News website

Germany

Princess Caroline's husband fined over Kenya assault - 9 March
A German court has fined Princess Caroline of Monaco's husband 200 000 euros (181 200 pounds) for assaulting a hotel owner in Kenya in 2000. Prince Ernst August of Hanover was found guilty at an earlier trial in 2004 of causing seriously bodily harm and was fined 445 000 euros. But he was granted a new trial after his wife's testimony corroborated his account of the incident on Lamu Island. - BBC News website

United Kingdom

High Court tells SFO to halt BAE plea deal - 3 March
Anti-corruption campaigners have secured an injunction from the High Court delaying a plea bargain between arms giant BAE and the Serious Fraud Office from going ahead. - Morning Star Online website

Judges fear prisons will burst under new rules - 11 March
Britain's leading criminal judges warn that a shake-up of sentencing guidelines could push prison overcrowding to crisis levels. They fear that the Sentencing Council, which comes into force next month with the aim of bringing more consistency to courts, will not curb judges' use of custody as hoped, but actually increase it. - Times Online website

Bulger killer Venables faces 'extremely serious' claim - 4 March
James Bulger's killer Jon Venables was recalled to prison because of "extremely serious allegations", Justice Secretary jack Straw has said. A report in the Sun newspaper claims Venables is alleged to have committed a serious sexual offence. - BBC News website

Bulger killer Venables could be murdered, says ex-judge - 8 March
Jon Venables could be murdered by vigilantes if his news identity is revealed, the judge who originally granted his anonymity has warned. Baroness Butler-Sloss originally made the decision when James Bulg'er stwo killers were released in 2001. - BBC News website
'Every prisoner will be looking out for Venables' - 9 March
If Jon Venables appears in the dock in a magistrates' court, few will know his true identity. Now 27 years old, he is one of four criminals whose anoymity is enshrined in law. The judicial system now faces the arduous task of trying to honour the order, despite apparent attempts by Venables to reveal who he is. Although details are not being disclosed, he will either be held in a segregation unit or a hospital wing, which provides greater protection from other inmates. If convicted and jailed he will continue to be segregated. - Times Online website
Venables should 'have a chance' says his ex-solicitor - 9 March
Jon Venables' former solicitor urged the justice system not to "give up" on the child killer - recalled to prison over "serious allegations". Laurence Lee told the BBC it was "very hard to class a child as evil" and he still had the right to a chance of rehabilitation. - BBC News website
Man mistaken for Bulger killer wants Venables named - 10 March
A man subjected to a hate campaign over false claims he murdered James Bulger has pleased with Jack Straw to reveal the real killer's new identity. David Calvert said his life had been made unbearable by a Facebook and text message campaign naming him as Jon Venables. - BBC News website
James Bulger's mother calls for commissioner's sacking - 14March
James Bulger's mother has called for England's children's commissioner to be saced for "twisted and insensitive" comments about her son's murder. Denise Fergus spoke out after Maggie Atkinson suggested James's killer should not have been prosecuted because, aged 10, they were too young. Ms Atkinson had said children under 12 did not fully understand their actions. - BBC News website

All dogs to be insured in proposals on dangerous breeds - 9 March
Every dog owner in the UK would have to take out insurance against their pet attacking someone under government proposals to tackle dangerous breeds. Police and local councils could also get new powers to force the owners of dangerous dogs to muzzle them or even get them neutered. - BBC News website

Somerset firefighter charged over cow stampede death - 5 March
A firefighter has been charged with manslaughter after a farmer was killed by stampeding cows. Harold Lee was moving 100 cows from his farm in August 2009 when he was trampled. Mr Lee's family claimed the cows may have been "spooked" by a fire engine siren while being taken to be milked. Julian Lawford was charged and has been suspended from his job. - BBC News website

United States

10 000 claims over 9/11 illness, injuries settled - 12 March
The WTC Captive Insurance Co announced settlements Thursday with more than 10 000 plaintiffs who claimed sickness or injuries after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The settlements could total up to $657 million. WTC Captive was created with a $1 billion FEMA grant. - CNN website

Ohio inmate ODs on pills hours before execution - 8 March
Gov Ted Strickland on Monday postponed the execution of a convicted killer who managed to take an overdose of pills in his death row cell and was found unconscious just hours before he was to be driven to his execution. Strickland issued a seven-day reprieve and rescheduled the execution for March 16. - AP on Google website

Ohio executes man after he tried to commit suicide - 16 March
A man convicted of strangling an elderly woman was executed in Ohio Tuesday, eight days after he tried to commit suicide by taking an overdose. - AFP on Google website

Zimbabwe

'It has never been so bad' : Zimbabwean human rights lawyers under attack - 4 March
Lawyers for Morgan Tsvangirai's office have a list of 184 people, including a boy of 3, who were murdered during the run-off presidential elections in June 2008 that ended with Robert Mugabe having himself declared the winner. Alongside the names of the dead is a column of those who have been identified as perpetrators by witnesses. Not one of these killings, all carried out by people serving President Mugabe, or one of thousands of cases of torture, rape, arson and looting against supporters of Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change, have been investigated or prosecuted. Instead, the Attorney-General's office and police are prosecuting on fabricated charges 26 MDC MPs who were trying to stay alive in the storm of savagery around them. - Times Online website

Zim to review local ownership laws - 3 March
Zimbabwe's Cabinet will review new local ownership rules that have sparked concern among business leaders, the industry minister said on Wednesday, saying the law had been published "prematurely". - Mail & Guardian website
Keyphrase :
Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Regulations

Zimbabwe business grab sparks outrage - 7 March
Zimbabwean businessmen based in South Africa have expressed outrage at their country's new "indigenisation" laws, which seek to seize control of foreign-owned companies and hand them over to locals. - Times Live website
See also : InfoUpdate 6 of 2010. North Gauteng High Court

Zim prepares to scrutinize amended mining law - 8 March
Zimbabwe has prepared an amended mining law to be presented to cabinet for approval before it is debated in parliament, but it is not clear if the amendment bill will prescribe 51% local ownership of all mines. President Robert Mugabe's government initially published a draft law in 2006 seeking to force miners to sell 51% ownership to indigenes and give up 25% free equity to the state, but the bill lapsed before it was passed. - Business Day website

South African to oversee diamond mining in Chiadzwa - 2 March
A top South African diamond official has arrived in Zimbabwe to assess the country's compliance with the Kimberley Process certification scheme. Abbey Chikane was recently appointed the Kimberley Process's monitor to Zimbabwe after the Southern African refused entry to a monitor from Belgium. - Eye Witness News website

Govt accuses De Beers of looting Chiadzwa - 5 March
The government has accused the region's biggest mining giant, South Africa's De Beers, of looting tonnes of diamonds from the Chiadzw mining fields over a period of 15 years without notifying the state of the discovery of the gems. The government is alleging that it could have lost billions of dollars in revenue from the "looting" of the diamonds by De Beers. - The Independent website
Zim businessman sentenced to 5 years - 5 March
A businessman in Zimbabwe who threatened to reveal the location of a mass grave in the eastern Chiadzwa diamond fields has been jailed for five years. IN a highly controversial case, Newman Chiadzwa was found guity of the illegal possession of diamonds. - Eye Witness News website

Zimbabwe's Bennett wants terrorism charges dropped - 9 March
Lawyers for Zimbabwean opposition politician Roy Bennett asked the High Court on Monday to drop terrorism charges against him in a trial which has raised tensions in Harare's fragile unity government. - Mail & Guardian website

Miscellaneous E-Things

German court orders stored telecoms data deletion - 2 March
Vast amounts of telephone and e-mail data held in Germany must be deleted, the country's highest court has ruled. The constitutional court overturned a 2008 law requiring communications data to be kept for six months. The law required telecoms companies to keep logs of calls, faxes, SMS messages, e-mails and internet use. - BBC News website

Jealous lover jailed over London Facebook photo murder - 9 March
A man who stabbed his ex-lover to death after seeing a Facebook photo of her with a new boyfriend has been jailed fo rlife. The Old Bailey found Paul Bristol guilty of murdering Camille Mathurasingh in April 2009. The IT technician, who lived in Trinidad and Tobago, flew to London within two weeks of seeing the picture and murdered the accountant. He has been ordered to serve a minimum term of 22 years. - BBC News website

Facebook security measures criticised after Ashleigh Hall murder - 9 March
Facebook was today accused of a "glaring failure" to implement advice on protecting children online after the conviction of a man for kidnapping, raping and murdering a teenager he ensnared using the social networking site. Peter Chapman was jailed for life - with a minimum term of 35 years - yesterday for killing Ashleigh Hall, who was 17. The 33-year-old convicted double rapist lured Ashleigh by creating a Facebook profile using the picture of a handsome teenager. - Guardian website

Ashleigh Hall facebook murder : lessons must be learned - 9 March
Lessons must be learned from the "tragic" rape and murder of a 17-year-old girl, the Home Secretary has said. Alan Johnson said UK and US authorities were working on ways to flag up when a convicted sex offender goes online. - BBC News website

Facebook threatens to sue Daily Mail - 11 March
Facebook has threatened to sue the Daily Mail for damages after the paper wrongly claimed in a piece published on Wednesday that 14-year-old girls who create a profile on the social networking site could be approached "within seconds" by older men who "wanted to perform a sex act" in front of them. - Guardian website

I posed as a girl of 14 online : what followed will sicken you - 11 March
Daily Mail Online website

Week ending 26 February 2010

2010-02-22T11:58:00.074+02:00

Australia

Kevin Rudd says Australia faces major terror threat - 23 February
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has warned that his country is now under a permanent and increased threat of militant attack. He also announced plans to fingerprint and face-scan visitors from 10 high-risk countries. - BBC News website

Ex-Guantanamo detainee Mamdouh Habib to sue Australia - 25 February
An Australian man who was held in the Guantanamo Bay US detention camp has won the right to sue his government for complicity in his alleged treatment. Mamdouh Habib says Australian officials were present at torture sessions he was subjected to while in detention. A Federal Court said he was free to sue after rejecting Canberra's claim that an Australian judge could not rule on the actions of foreign officials. - BBC News website

Europe

Goods made at Jewish settlements are not Israeli - 26 February
The European Court of Justice has ruled that Israeli goods made in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank cannot be considered Israeli. This means goods made by Israelis or Jews in the West Bank cannot benefit from a trade deal giving Israel preferential access to EU markets. - BBC News website

France

Violent French husbands 'may be tagged' - 25 February
Men seen as likely to be violent towards their wives could be forced to wear an electronic tag under a law being debated by the French parliament. The tag would have to be worn by men who have received a court order to stay away from their partner. - BBC News website

Malawi

Malawi court refuses to hear gay couple's case - 24 February
Malawi's Constitutional Court on Tuesday refused to hear the case of a gay couple arrested for "gross indecency" after holding the nation's first public same-sex wedding ceremony.Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza were arrested in late December. Their lawyer argued that the law used against them violated their constitutional rights to privacy, belief and self-expression. Chief Justice Lovemore Munlo said the case was a simple criminal proceeding. - Mail & Guardian website

Mozambique

Ex-Mozambique minister sentenced to 20 years - 27 February
A court sentenced Mozambique's former transport minister to 20 years in prison Saturday for his involvement in the theft of nearly $2 million in the country's biggest corruption case to go to trial since indepence in 1975. Former Transport Minister Antonio Munguambe was conficted of stealing money from the publicly owned company that runs the airports. - The Washington Post website

Goat sex : owner wants wedding - 26 February
Two young men accused of having sex with a goat in central Mozambique are facing criminal charges, and the goat's owner is demanding they make traditional wedding arrangements. - IOL website

Rwanda

Rwanda says genocide law fair, not stifling opposition - 20 February
The Rwandan government justified a genocide law which bans ethnic divisionism and denied claims it is used to stifle freedom of speech. Rights groups, including Amnesty International, say the legislation is vague and ambiguous and is often employed to silence legitimate criticism and discredit opposition parties. - Eye Witness News website

South Korea

South Korea court rules death penalty legal - 25 February
South Korea's highest court has ruled the death penalty does not violate the constitution. The country has 59 prisoners on death row - but the last executions there were in 1997, before an unofficial moratorium to allow for debate. Analysts say it is unlikely executions will now resume. - BBC News website

Uganda

Statement from the Synod of Bishops, 8-11 February 2010
The Anglican Church of Southern AFrica
Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Draft Bill
Writing Rights blog

United Kingdom

When is a non-resident a resident under British tax rules - 25 February
there are many enduring myths about the legal system. The common-law spouse and judges banging gavels may be the most popular, but not far behind is the belief that if you simply spend 90 days or less in the UK, you are one up on the taxman. But it is a myth that will struggle to survive the publicity surrounding Robert Gaines-Cooper's unsuccessful trip to the Court of Appeal last week. - Times Online website

David Mills awaits Italy bribery case appeal ruling - 25 February
UK tax lawyer David Mills could learn on Thursday whether his conviction for bribery is to be upheld in Italy. Mills was convicted of taking a 600 000 pound bribe from Silvio Berlusconi in 1997 for giving false evidence at one of the Italian PM's trials. - BBC News website

Torture collusion probe urged by human rights watchdog - 20 February
The UK's human rights watchdog has called for an independent review of claims that British intelligence services colluded in torture. The Equality and Human Rights Commission says 25 people now claim the UK knew of their mistreatment abroad. - BBC News website

Fresh legal challenge over MI5 torture guidance - 23 February
The government is facing fresh legal action over secret guidance on torture given to intelligence officers interviewing detainees abroad. Legal charity Reprieve, which represents several former Guantanamo Bay detainees, wants the advice for MI5 and MI6 officers to be published. - BBC News website

Mercy killers to face the full rigour of criminal law, says DPP - 25 February
Mercy killers will face the full rigours of the criminal law under guidelines to be announced today by the Director of Public Prosecutions. But people who answer a loved one's request to assist them in committing suicide are unlikely to be prosecuted, Keir Starmer says. - Times Online website

Law clarified on assisted death - 25 February
New guidance has been issued to clarify the law on assisted suicide in England and Wales. But the Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer, has made it clear it does not cover so called mercy killing. - BBC News website

See also : British guideline on assisted suicide will capture attention of Kebble murder trial
in InfoUpdate 5 of 2010

Yorkshire Ripper seeks ruling on minimum sentence - 1 March
Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe is seeking a High Court ruling on how much longer he must serve in jail, it can be revealed. A judge said there was no reason why it should not be reported that 63-year-old Sutcliffe is asking the High Court to grant him a finite minimum sentence. - BBC News website

Killer Venables 'where he belongs', says Bulger mother - 3 March
Jon Venables, 27, was recalled to prison last week after breaching the terms of his release from prison. He and Robert Thompson murdered James Bulger in 1993. Jamie's battered body was found by children playing on a freight railway line. Precise details of the nature of Venables' breach were not released by the Ministry of Justice. - BBC News website

British Library warns UK's web heritage 'could be lost' - 25 February
The UK's online heritage could be lost forever if the government does not grant a "right to archive", a group of leading libraries has said. The British Library, along with other institutions, has been archiving UK websites since 2004 but has only been able to cover 6 000 of an estimated 8m. - BBC News website

Pair settle 'lost Titian' claim - 24 February
Christie's has reached an out of court settlement after selling a painting for 8 000 pounds which turned out to be a lost original Titian worth up to 4m pounds. Its previous owners had accused the auction house of negligence over the sale of the picture - Salome with the Head of St John the Baptist - in 1994. - BBC News website

United States

US was told of Toyota claims in 2004 - 21 February
The largest US auto insurer alerted regulators earlier than first believed about a worrying trend of accidents involving Toyota Motor Corp vehicles. Toyota's president, Akio Toyoda, is to make an extraordinary appearance to answer questions from lawmakers next Wednesday about the safety crisis that has engulfed the company founded by his grandfather. - Eye Witness News website

Toyota receives subpoenas for recall documents - 22 February
Toyota has received subpoenas asking it to produce documents relating to problems that led to the recall of millions of its vehicles. Toyota said in a statement it would co-operate with the investigations. The confirmation of the legal requests comes as a document alleging it "saved" $100m on the recalls was released. - BBC News website

Zimbabwe

Mugabe defends local ownership laws - 1 March
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe defended his controversial local ownership laws at his 86th birthday celebrations on Saturday, saying that they were designed to broaden Zimbabwean participation in the economy. - Polity website
Keyphrase :
Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Regulations

Zim ownership law 'could affect economic recovery' - 1 March
Zimbabwe's new local ownership law, requiring locals to own 51% of major foreign firms, could hurt the nation's economic recovery, the main labour body said on Monday. The law took effect on Monday, giving companies valued at more than $500 000 45 days to inform the government of the racial make-up of their shareholders. The companies will be given five years to comply with the 51% rule. - Mail & Guardian website

And the bill for Mugabe's party was . . . - 27 February
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's supporters say they spent $300 000 (abour R2.3-million) to celebrate his 86th birthday in the impoverished country. - IOL website

Court orders return of diamonds seized by Zimbabwe mining minister - 19 February
The murky saga of diamonds mined in eastern Zimbabwe has once more been aired in the courts, with the ZANU-PF mining minister Obert Mpofu ordered to return 29 kilograms of rough stones he took from the central bank where they had been deposited for safekeeping. - Voice of America News website

Bennett's farm overrun by diamond miners - 20 February
A rights group in Zimbabwe said on Friday Roy Bennett's coffee farm had become overrun with diamond miners. The farm, Charleswood Estate, was seized under President Robert Mugabe's Land Reform Programme. Researcher Farai Maguwu said senior government officials could be involved in diamond mining on Charleswood Estate. - Eye Witness News website

International

Golden years : time spent in retirement has sharply increased - 23 February
As governments try to tackle huge structural budget deficits, one means of attack is to delay paying state pensions by gently raising the official state-retirement age. Official retirement ages have failed to keep pace with rising life expectancy, making pensions increasingly unaffordable. - Economist website
Includes comparative graph

Miscellaneous E-Things

Twitter and Facebook access for US troops - 27 February
US troops are to be allowed to use social networking websites such as Twitter and Facebook following a review of internet use and security. Defence department officials say the benefits of using social media now outweigh the risks to security. - BBC News website

Google execs found guilty of privacy violations : how concerned should we be for Internet freedoms? - 24 February
In a milestone verdict handed down by an Italian court on Wednesday, three Google executives were given six-month suspended sentences for allowng a video about which they were totally unaware to be uploaded to their site, Google Video. Is this the end of Internet freedom, or the beginning of Google's accountability to the individual? - The Daily Maverick website

Google faces European competition inquiry - 24 February
The European Commission is looking into complaints about Google's behaviour, the company has revealed. The complaints were made by UK price comparison site Foundem, French legal search engine ejustice.fr, and Microsoft's Ciao. - BBC News website

They're watching what?

2006-11-17T07:53:00.000+02:00

One of the most sensible perspectives I've yet read on the matter of privacy, although written specifically in the context of harvesting data by offering a free service, makes sense across the board.

See "Some perspective on privacy" written by David Pogue. After reviewing a service that offers free international phone calls, David commented on the level of suspicion among some that this could be a ruse to harvest telephone numbers. "I’m as interested in privacy as the next person. But if someone were interested in harvesting phone numbers, why would he go to the trouble of launching this elaborate phone-services company? Wouldn’t it be infinitely more efficient just to pick up a tidy, complete, ready-to-harvest, pre-compiled list of phone numbers – a little thing called the *phone book*?". As David points out, who would care enough to pursue our "mundane daily communications"?

Our details are recorded in plenty of places as it is without looking for perceived faces behind rocks at every move.

I've been surprised by the number of friends and colleagues in the information and technological fields who are seriously suspicious of the motives of some (well, it's mainly one name that crops up regularly) of the most popular search engines. The nature of my job means that most of my day is spent on the Internet, pursuing links and searching for specific resources. That same search engine is my default choice, unless a particular search indicates a different approach. The reason for my choice is that it has the largest electronic footprint around, leaving me free to apply discernment in my choice of parameters and, hey presto, I'm not often disappointed in the results.

Considering what I am gaining from the service, if the company really does have the resources to trail me endlessly around my ever-changing electronic maze, why should I be concerned? In the work context, my employer could insist on standing behind me watching exactly the same processes and I would have no grounds to refuse. I feel strongly about my right to privacy but is what I do in a public domain really 'private' anyway?

Having said this, I am by no means advocating a careless approach to the way one dispenses personal information. The escalating number of cases of identity theft, at best the consequent inconvenience, reminds one constantly of the need to be reasonably cautious.

An example I've used more than once when addressing various audiences is that one wouldn't write one's personal information on a slip of paper and hand it to strangers at a mall. Why would one carelessly make the same information available in an electronic forum from which it cannot be redeemed?

As with most of life, it's finding the balance that counts.

PS I do kill cookies ruthlessly and frequently

"ctrl s" no longer suffices : the mind boggles

2006-11-16T11:26:00.000+02:00

As one who falls clearly into the half of the universe that sees electronic information as a blessing despite the responsibilities that come with the turf, I've read some interesting articles in recent days relating to developing legal requirements in the corporate field :

Corporate communication : why we can't just 'send and receive' anymore?, on the Bizcommunity website (South Africa. 13 November 2006)
"Email has to be well-managed in order for a business to achieve optimum levels of digital communication. However, another, arguably more pertinent reason for this discipline, is the current focus on the archiving of data and access to electronic records. Corporate South Africa is being directed, through legislation and industry-led awareness campaigns, to ensure that they tow the line as far as the way information is archived, accessed and reproduced" ;

The rise of electronic evidence - CNet News website (US. 8 November 2006)
"If you want to succeed in litigation these days, it is imperative that relevant electronic data be preserved. The destruction of such data can lead to serious adverse evidentiary inferences, as illuminated by a very recent case . . . A federal magistrate in Michigan recently was called upon in the case to decide whether and to what extent sanctions should be awarded with respect to the failure to preserve certain electronic evidence" ;

The legal danger lurking in the server on the Economist Intelligence Unit's website (US. 10 November 2006)
"In three weeks’ time, new rules come into force in US federal courts that could profoundly affect how companies treat electronic information, from e-mail and voice-mail to iPods and flash drives. The rules cover “electronic discovery” – the art of producing the right electronic documents to respond to a lawsuit . . . One of the most controversial and confusing aspects of the new rules relate to preservation of electronic information : can companies re-cycle the tapes they use to back up information on corporate servers, or do they need to keep all the back-up tapes in case they are ordered to produce them in court? And at what point do they need to start saving information : when they get sued or as soon as they think they might get sued? There is no hard-and-fast answer, but companies are worried".

The desperation of 'Mr and Mrs Average' : a family suicide averted

2006-11-12T13:16:00.000+02:00

Please read "'Why I wanted to kill my family'".

The article builds on the point that people who commit family murders are considered, at best, mentally unstable. At worst - few words suffice. I consider myself a compassionate person but have come no closer to understanding what might drive a dedicated parent to that level of desperation, being content to accept that it is something I likely will never comprehend.

This article left me in tears for the first time, in response to the written word, in a long time. It records a letter received from two dedicated parents who debated this option when it seemed that financial pressures would tear their family apart.

Both parents are employed : "Despite us both having permanent jobs, our take home salary is approximately R4 500 per month . . . We simply do not qualify for a mortgage bond which would enable us to purchase a home of our own, and we certainly would not dream of invading municipal or any other private property and erecting a dwelling there in defiance of the law. Breaking the law is just not in our nature".

Reaching a point where the couple can no longer afford to rent a home, they have approached various authorities and organisations to try and find a solution.

Their story has a perversely 'satisfying' status at present : the family has survived, but the parents have moved into their respective parents' homes with two children each. This young family is alive but living under extreme stress, separated by a system that caters to the needs of the destitute and the wealthy but is destroying the lives of 'average' citizens.

"So, when you write our story, consider our epitaph, and be careful of labelling us as cowards, because rest assured, desperation and hopelessness devastates all of us, and it is quiet desperation that compels us to take the actions we do. Ask yourself when you write and read the stories of those you have labelled as cowards, what you could have done to help others like ourselves and maybe yourselves, and at least consider, even for a moment, what each and every "coward" has gone through and what you could have done to prevent it".

Anti-RetroVirals vs Beetroot, Garlic, Lemon and Others. 2006(11)

2006-11-09T09:18:00.000+02:00

In the news at the moment :

this morning's decision handed down by the Supreme Court of Appeal relating to the forfeiture to the State of vehicles driven by individuals under the influence of liquor (National Director of Public Prosecutions v Van Staden [2006]SCA 135(RSA). An excerpt from the media statement says "The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) today (Thursday 9 November 2006) decided that a motor vehicle that is driven under the influence of liquor or while the level of alcohol in the driver's blood exceeds the prescribed limit, is liable to be forfeited to the State in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act" ;

the Health Department has been in the spotlight for years, largely because of its policy relating to the treatment of AIDS with ARVs (Anti-RetroVirals vs Beetroot, Garlic, Lemon and Others) ; an article in The Sunday Times of 6 November, "Manto muscled out in palace coup", is being given international coverage this week.

Oh my Panting Pacemaker!

2006-10-29T12:03:00.000+02:00

I don't think there has ever been a single week prior to this one in which so many applications that have incredible potential for the information sector have come to my attention.

Today, Mary Ellen Bates' latest newsletter drew my attention to LibraryThing. This is w-a-a-a-y more than an online catalogue. It includes the kind of tech elements we should now expect as a matter of course (eg cellphone accessibility), social networking (blogs, reader reviews, sharing info with similar interest groups/individuals), as well as the more expected auto-insertion of LC bibliographic info. Regardless of the physical environment in which we individually operate, virtual communities are becoming indispensable and this is one powerful utility to enable us to locate info and contacts relevant to our interests. Apparently it is envisaged that a variant for professional libraries will be available in due course.

An example of user feedback :
"When I visit someone's house for the first time, I sneak a look at their bookshelves as soon as politeness allows. Who knew that there was a virtual equivalent? ... Library Thing, my pick for high-concept website of the year."
Lorem Ipsum (Cambridge, MA Bookstore)

Instead of raving on, if this interests you, take the Tour and join the fan club.

My personal opinion : as far as developing a comprehensive international book catalogue goes, Google should keep a few eyeballs glued on this one.

Being a Google-fan-with-some-qualification, on Tuesday I was engrossed in Google Reader [which I prefer to Pluck at this stage because the latter did just that to the heartstrings of my hard-drive which is still fighting the pangs of unrequited uninstallation] and the revised Toolbar . . .

. . . and the day before that investigating IE7 which sadly had to be uninstalled because its current security settings aren't compatible with my lifestyle . . .

. . .and Firefox 1.5 has been installed but I have yet to spend time familiarising myself with its features

Then I read a rave write-up on one of the techie blogs about the latest version of Copernic Desktop Search - must check that out as I have been a fan of the earlier version for some time.

Can't wait to see what the coming week holds . . .

January 2006 : then and now

2006-07-05T20:17:00.000+02:00

Even with almost five months still to run, 2006 has been a year to remember. Looking at events that were set in motion in January alone :

The year started on a sad note as news broke of the murder of 6-year old Steven Siebert while on holiday in Plettenberg Bay. By the end of January, the court hearing into the death of 6-month old Jordan Leigh Norton had started in the Cape High Court ; the case is still in progress.

The debate surrounding cross-border municipalities intensified as the Constitution Twelfth Amendment Act and Cross Boundary Municipalities Laws Repeal and Related Matters Act of 2005 was signed into effect. InfoUpdate no.4 of 27 January referred to the history of the boundary disputes. Even now, in August, the controversy continues.

Although Cricket 365 reported on 4 January that Judge Siraj Desai would be heading an inquest into the death of cricketer Hansie Cronje in an aeroplane accident, it was exactly seven months later on 4 August that it was reported that the court proceedings will start on Monday 7 August. This will be nine days after two residents of the greater Pietermaritzburg area, Harry Antel and his nephew Karl Stegen, died in a plane crash at Baynesfield. A news article commented on the increase in plane crashes in the first half of the year. Many questions have been raised around the crash that claimed Cronje's life.

Comments were invited on the SA Law Reform Commission's Discussion Paper on Privacy and Data Protection. The Law Society of South Africa organised a series of seminars around the country during July on the subject of Information Security and Privacy : Attorneys Duties.

On Friday 27 January I was one of a delegation of eight who visited the Durban Magistrates' Courts to see the pilot electronic project in action. Our newsletter, InfoUpdate no.16 of 16 July 2004 had carried details of the earlier stages of this project.

The Shaik trial was in full swing in the Durban High Court. The subsequent appeal will be heard in the Supreme Court of Appeal between 21 and 25 August.

These are just some of the matters that arose in January that have current parallels.

And, the feature of my job which I love the most, an unexpected change in direction was occasioned by the arrival of an email yesterday from someone who had come across my blog and had a number of questions. The subject of South African rugby came into the discussion - I admit to knowing almost nothing of current value on the subject but came across this link a short while ago which has kick-started an interest in this afternoon's game.

The Chickenless Head Syndrome

2006-04-11T10:19:00.000+02:00

My goodness, there are so many links with potential that have caught my eye in recent days, I'm somehow going to have to find time to do a bit more delving around between my day-job and other life. (Did I say "other life"? - that seems to have gone the same way as the chicken).

The Chickenless Head Syndrome was first identified by my one-of-a-kind colleague, Collette, who immortalised the expression by telling a phone caller that I wasn't available because I was "running about like a head without a chicken".

The news item "Specialized collections from the Newspaper Archive" has revealed what I hope will be a really useful resource. The Newspaper Archive apparently holds copies of over 35 million newspaper pages dating from 1753 to date. A particularly useful feature is the development of specialised collections, for example Asbestos and Asbestos-Related Lawsuits. The papers have been sourced in the US, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, Jamaica, Denmark, South Africa and the US Virgin Islands.

This is one I'll be watching : "Novell : Linux desktop set to take off". It's particularly timeous as I attended a talk last week by Matt Erasmus of DcData who addressed the Pietermaritzburg Computer Club on the topic "The Linux Alternative : introduction to Linux as a replacement for Windows as a server as well as on the desktop". There is a lot of local interest in open source software, evidenced by the number of questions Matt fielded and the general consensus from the audience who are very impressed with the operating system but are a bit dubious about using it as a desktop solution at present. Matt also introduced us to PLEG (Pietermaritzburg Linux Enthusiasts Group).

On the legal front, recent eye-catching judgments include :
Bafana Finance Mabopane v Makwakwa [2006] SCA 49 (RSA) (Supreme Court of Appeal) handed down on 30 March ; the news article "Judges say debtors cannot sign away protection" supplies details.
Van der Merwe v The Road Accident Fund and Another also of 30 March relates to people married in community of property being able to sue one another. See the news article Court throws out marriage rule" for more.
Gory v Kolver NO and Others (Transvaal Provincial Division), 31 March, has been given international news coverage as it "ruled that a man whose partner died without leaving a will is entitled to the estate in the same way as a legally married spouse would be". See "South Africa affirms partner estate rights".
And "the Land Claims Court has reserved judgment on whether the Sapekoe Tea Company may remove its assets from its abandoned tea plantation at Tzaneen in Limpopo" - full-text article "Judgment in Sapekoe assets case reserved".

The IOL website hosts an interesting article by environmental lawyer Jeremy Ridl , "a leading figure in the hard-fought campaign to stop dune mining at St Lucia". Professor Ridl, now believes dune mining may have proved the better option. See the article "We were naive, says dune mining activist".

And, finally, a topic I cannot view dispassionately, seal hunting. These are the latest items I've read :
"Seal hunt activist plans court challenge on observer permits" refers to Rebecca Aldworth, an activist who is now to turn to the courts after being denied a permit to observe the hunt.
An American businesswoman, Cathy Kangas, has reportedly offered the Canadian government $16m if this year's hunt stops immediately, see "Canadian seals given a fighting chance, peace talks resume in Côte d'Ivoire, U.N. begins reforms".
To present the other side of the debate, the acting Commissioner of the Canadian High Commission in Brunei, has issued a statement on this topic.

I make progress : wherever the chicken may have come, it wasn't first.

Until next time . . .

Rock on

2005-06-24T16:33:00.000+02:00

The South African Online Online Users Group (SAOUG), Organisation of South African Law Libraries (OSALL) and Special Libraries and Information Services Group (SLIS) hosted a conference from 21-23 June at the CSIR Conference Centre in Pretoria/Tshwane. I was one of 200 delegates and one of only three from KwaZulu-Natal. Having returned home at about 11pm last night, it will be a day or two before my notes metamorphose into legible format but these are some of the highlights that immediately spring to mind.

Glenda's informal definition of knowledge management : data + organisation = managed information + application = managed knowledge

witnessing the swell of enthusiasm in the legal information sector as the potential of blogging was explained and ideas grew. A blog was created online during my presentation on The practical application of blog- and wiki- technology in the South African legal information community. Choosing a name for it was not difficult : see the work in progress, "Librarians Rock 2". Everyone present was encouraged to visit the weblog and add comments on the conference

the organisers had put a tremendous amount of forethought and hard work into the planning of the conference and the social highlight was the performance of Mercury Rising at the Barnyard Theatre, Menlyn - and the delight with which one colleague commented "the younger generation are speechless - they're sitting there while we older ones are dancing and singing along". The personal highlight of this highlight was the performance of The Great Pretender - I may never recover from the goosebumps. One of the exhibitors confessed the following morning to immediately going out and buying a three-CD set of Freddie Mercury's hits

Clem Sunter's talk on Games Foxes Play - and the surprised delight on his face when the audience rose to the Chair's request and joined in . . "we will, we will, rock you"

the warm welcome from the organising committee, the hospitality of my hosts and the friendship of so many colleagues from around the country

Today signalled my return to the office with a head full of ideas and good intentions. Emails and phone-calls suggesting collaborative projects have already started coming in as a direct result of the conference. What a stimulating field in which to work.

Deputy President is relieved of duties by President of South Africa

2005-06-14T14:50:00.000+02:00

Many of the online newspapers in South Africa have just broken with lead stories relating to the end of the speculation surrounding the position of Deputy President Jacob Zuma since the completion of the Shaik trial in the Durban High Court. Here are some of the links :

Mbeki fires Zuma - Business Day

Excerpt :

"Mbeki said: "I have come to the conclusion that the circumstances dictate that in the interest of the honourable Deputy President, the government, our young democratic system and our country, it would be best to release the honourable Jacob Zuma from his responsibilities as deputy president of the republic and member of the Cabinet."Mbeki said he would make an announcement about the change in his Cabinet in due course. Mbeki told the joint sitting on Tuesday it seemed self-evident that arising out of the judgement, further legal processes would be undertaken in the higher courts."

Deputy president sacked - Mail & Guardian

Mbeki releases Zuma - IOL (Independent Online)

Zuma gets the sack - News24

Action in the Courts, and it's only Tuesday

2005-06-14T13:31:00.000+02:00

In Kern v Minister of Safety and Security, the Constitutional Court handed down a decision on 13 June finding the Minister of Safety and Security liable for the behaviour of three policeman who had raped the applicant. Three factors lead the Court to its decision : the policemen and Minister had a duty to protect members of the public, the applicant had turned to the police for protection, and the "wrongful conduct of the policemen coincided with their failure to perform their duties to protect the applicant".

On the same day, the Cape High Court ruled on a case in which a school teacher used his beliefs as a Christian to justify corporal punishment in school.

On 25 May it was reported that the Port Elizabeth High Court had ruled that vehicles should not be confiscated from motorists accused of driving in an intoxicated state. In a response dated 10 June, the Asset Forfeiture Unit explains why it feels the seizure of these vehicles is justified.

I'd have had to link to this article on the strength of its title alone but the subject is timeous : "Stop your presentation before it kills again!". I'll be speaking at a conference in Pretoria next week and the points it raises caused me to go back and review my outline last night. After experimenting with a number of formats, I have taken to preparing my presentations in html as it makes for much easier navigation, especially in response to questions from the audience, and I find it more interactive and versatile than the more traditional PowerPoint format.

With a deep breath

2005-06-13T13:17:00.000+02:00

Back again and raring to go!

We've finally overcome a number of teething problems with access to our blogspot and can't wait to get going again. The downtime has been profitably used to get up to speed on various developments in this field and I've come across some extremely useful sites in the course of the last few weeks.

Firstly, everyone seems to be looking for a copy of the judgment handed down in the Durban High Court on 31 May 2005 in the matter of S v Shaik. Copies abound on the Internet including this one on the Business Day website. Other interesting links relating to this case are the "Seven bad years for Shabir Shaik", a chronology of developments leading to the guilty verdicts on the IOL site, and "Timeline of the Zuma-Shaik Saga" on the Business Day website.

Another judgment that is attracting interest at the moment is in the matter of The Law Society of the Cape of Good Hope v Andre Nesbitt Berrange ; it relates to the matter of conveyancers alleged to be 'buying' work from third parties, in this case estate agents.

As far as blogging policies are concerned, one site I have bookmarked and will be referring others to is IBM's Blogging policy and guidelines. For anyone who is undecided about which RSS aggregator to use, the law librarians of Southern Illinois have some really useful tips and links at "Current awareness made easy" on the Law Dawg Blawg. "RSS : moving into the mainstream" on the Engineering Information website is another resource I have found useful. Finally, the "RSS Specifications : everything you need to know about rss" site answered most of my questions before I'd had time to formulate them.

At last, it works!

2004-08-30T13:32:00.000+02:00

The best intentions almost came to nought as far as blogging goes : the relatively new medium offered a perfect forum for recording links to news items

After an exciting launch some months ago, the downside of technology struck and on 18 May we lost contact with our blog

Respecting quality of life

2004-06-22T15:28:00.000+02:00

According to new research into chemical residue found in the dust collecting on computers and other electronics devices, the PC that you're using to read this story could pose a long-term threat to your health (CNet News 2004-06-03).

England
A woman severely ill with multiple sclerosis has won the right to prevent local authority carers intervening to save her life. She made a living will expressly refusing all life-prolonging treatment when she realised her condition would deteriorate to the point where she was entirely dependent on carers (Telegraph 2004-05-28).

The producers of junk food are to to be banned from advertising during children's television programmes in an attempt by the Government to reduce obesity in the young (Telegraph 2004-05-30).

South Africa
The fine for the sale of tobacco products to minors has increased from R10 000 to R50 000 for a first offence, Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said (Mail & Guardian 2004-05-31).

Smoking inflames poverty in poor countries as people sacrifice food and education for cigarettes, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday, urging governments to implement stricter tobacco rules (Business Report 2004-05-31).

America
The latest report from the Surgeon General further expands the list of smoking-related diseases ; for the first time, the number of Americans who have quit smoking edges out number who still smoke (New York Times 2004-05-28).

The Institute of Medicine report last month was the final in a series of investigations into vaccine safety. It was meant to answer concerns about whether vaccines or the mercury-based preservatives in them can cause autism. The panel of experts said there was no evidence to link vaccines with autism and urged researchers to look elsewhere. However, several members of Congress who believe that vaccines can cause autism in children criticised an official report meant to lay such fears to rest, saying they do not believe the findings (IOL 2004-06-03).

South Korea
A South Korean court ordered a woman to pay her husband 50-million won (about R280 000) in compensation for having a baby with another man (IOL 2004-05-31).

Old Master, new home ?

2004-06-14T16:42:00.000+02:00

A South African family and film legend Elizabeth Taylor have locked horns over ownership of a Van Gogh painting (IOL 2004-05-28). The Globe and Mail reports that the film star is suing a Canadian lawyer and his two South African siblings to prevent them from claiming a van Gogh painting that she has on the wall of her Los Angeles mansion - a painting they say was looted from their great-grandmother by the Nazis before the start of the Second World War (2004-05-27). The Orkins and Adler claim that their great-grandmother owned the painting but that it was looted by the Nazis after she fled Germany during Adolf Hitler's rise to power (Mercury 2004-05-28).

Australia
Australia is introducing legislation to ban gay marriage, in a move which puts the prime minister, John Howard, squarely alongside President Bush on the issue that may prove crucial to their respective attempts to gain re-election

United Kingdom
A student who was caught plagiarising work he had downloaded from the internet is to sue his university for negligence (WebUser 2004-05-28).

Ireland
Four men were acquitted yesterday of membership of the terrorist group behind the Omagh bomb after a judge ruled that the Real IRA was not illegal. Mr Justice Paul Girvan dismissed the charges because the wording of anti-terrorist law did not specifically state that the "Real" IRA was a banned organisation (Telegraph 2004-06-27).

Canada
After nearly a decade of debate in the profession, two of Canada's most important legal organizations are finally moving to put a ban on sex between lawyers and clients (Globe and Mail 2004-05-24).

America
Like many other Americans who disagreed with Reagan's policies as President, I join his supporters in mourning his passing. But insofar as understanding Reagan's legacy bears directly on challenges that still lay ahead, the haze of nostalgia should not be permitted to obscure a clear-headed assessment of the record (FindLaw 2004-06-09).

Whereto 'search'?

2004-06-11T11:15:00.000+02:00

A cloud of uncertainty hangs over retail pharmacy employees as the Pharmaceutical Society of SA (PSSA) tries to negotiate the new medicine pricing regulations with the department of health to avoid 21 000 potential job losses (Business Report 2004-05-27).

South African National Parks has shot more Himalayan tahrs on Table Mountain and is seeking permission from the health authorities to be allowed to give the tahr meat to staff to eat (IOL 2004-05-27).

Why is Internet searching getting harder and less productive? And what might reasonably happen over the next several months to search engines as we know them? And finally, what does this mean for searchers? (LLRX 2004-05-24).

United States
In Kremen v Cohen, a federal appellate court accepted the view that a domain name is "property" and that domain name registrars should be held liable for the conduct of third-parties when a third-party interferes with the property interests of a domain name registrant by stealing their domain name. What is remarkable about the decision is its far-reaching implications and its potentially severe impact upon domain name registrars (CircleID 2004-05-06).

A federal appeals court yesterday upheld the only law in the nation authorizing doctors to help their terminally ill patients commit suicide. The decision, by a divided three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, said the Justice Department did not have the power to punish the doctors involved (New York Times 2004-05-27).

Scientists are preparing to perform the world's first full-face transplant. The 24-hour operation involves lifting an entire face from a dead donor - including nose cartilage, nerves and muscles - and transferring them to someone hideously disfigured by burns or other injuries (Mail & Guardian 2004-05-27).

Tracking the tracker

2004-06-03T11:46:00.000+02:00

The system to ensure that doctors keep their skills up to date will be restructured completely, said the Health Professions Council (HPC). Fraudulent, negligent and malpractising doctors will soon be facing much-more stringent disciplinary procedures, the Health Professions Council said on Tuesday (News24 2004-05-25).

Network Healthcare Holdings (Netcare) is confident it will not be investigated by the competition commission, but management is prepared to defend itself against allegations of competition abuse if necessary. Netcare, the largest player in the private hospital market, could face an investigation into its Netpartner scheme following the submission of a memorandum by the Council for Medical Schemes to the commission last week (Business Report 2004-05-26).

Wild animals are losing their habitat to encroaching urban development and abandoning their natural shyness in search of food. And along with human urbanisation encroaching on wildlife habitats come the people’s pets. Crow rehabilitates wild animals injured in such circumstances and returns them to their natural habitat (Mail & Guardian 2004-05-25).

An Internet service is about to test the frontiers of e-mail privacy. DidTheyReadIt.com, which will launch Monday, allows anyone to secretly track e-mails they send. You'll see whether someone opens your e-mail, how long the recipient keeps it open — even where geographically the recipient is reading it (USA Today 2004-05-28).

United States
Two privacy measures by Senator Debra Bowen (D-Redondo Beach) – one closing a loophole in the state’s security breach laws, the other taking the same privacy protections people already have when using their office telephone and applying them to e-mail and other electronic communications – passed the Senate Appropriations Committee today and may be voted on by the full Senate as early as Monday (State of California. Senator Debra Bowen - 2004-05-20).

An Internet service is about to test the frontiers of e-mail privacy. DidTheyReadIt.com, which will launch Monday, allows anyone to secretly track e-mails they send. You'll see whether someone opens your e-mail, how long the recipient keeps it open — even where geographically the recipient is reading it (USA Today 2004-05-20).

In Kremen v Cohen, a federal appellate court accepted the view that a domain name is "property" and that domain name registrars should be held liable for the conduct of third-parties when a third-party interferes with the property interests of a domain name registrant by stealing their domain name. What is remarkable about the decision is its far-reaching implications and its potentially severe impact upon domain name registrars (CircleID 2004-05-06).

Two-thirds of divorces after age 40 are initiated by wives, debunking the myth of an older man divorcing his wife for a younger woman, a new survey shows (FindLaw 2004-05-27).

Getaway wants name to get away

2004-05-28T13:30:00.000+02:00

A high court judge who on Friday imposed four life sentences on a man who raped his 15-year-old stepdaughter - impregnating her last year - expressed the view that many people got away with such crimes largely because of family pressure (IOL 2004-05-24).

Environmental lobby group Biowatch sought in the Pretoria High Court to compel the government to divulge information about genetically modified organisms (GMO) in South Africa (News24 2004-05-24).

A family-owned publishing company has taken legal action against a big rival for allegedly copying one of its titles. Ramsay, Son & Parker, publisher of Getaway, has objected to Wegbreek, an Afrikaans-language title published by Media24. Wegbreek went on sale in March, the same month that Getaway celebrated its 15th anniversary (Sunday Times 2004-05-23).

Italy
The Italian parliament has passed legislation that introduces some of the harshest penalties anywhere in the world for illegally downloading copyrighted content. Italians found to have downloaded or uploaded music, film or any other copyrighted content over the internet now face up to three years in jail for their transgression (DMEurope 2004-05-24).

United Kingdom
As women in a sexual assault case have discovered, no fee doesn't mean no cost. The system to replace legal aid often ends up with demands to pay huge bills whatever the outcome of your day in court. Their case collapsed when a High Court judge ordered an urgent investigation into their solicitor, Jane Loveday, and her handling of their multi-million pound compensation claim in February (Guardian Unlimited 2004-05-23).

A "child of the eighties" has been born to a couple using sperm frozen for a record 21 years, scientists have revealed. The father was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1979 when he was 17 years old and his sperm was frozen before cancer treatment began. Later, when he and his wife decided to have a family, there was a delay of seven years until their baby was born, because of waiting lists and three unsuccessful attempts at fertility treatment (Telegraph 2004-05-25).

United States
Last week, Oklahoma judges considered a fundamental question - the status of international law in state courts in the US. And they made a paradigm-shifting decision.
Not only did they properly treat a US treaty as binding law, they also relied on a March decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. The result was to halt an execution that would have taken place on May 18 of a Mexican national whose right to assistance from the Mexican consulate was not honored by the US (FindLaw 2004-05-24).

Texas prison officials executed a killer who was a diagnosed schizophrenic. Kelsey Patterson was killed by lethal injection. His execution brought to an end a case that had ignited debate over condemning the mentally ill to die (LA Times 2004-05-19).

Police can search a parked car for drugs, guns or other evidence of a crime while arresting a driver or passengers nearby, the Supreme Court ruled Monday. The high court has already ruled that officers can search a car when arresting someone inside, and the same rule now applies if a motorist or passenger gets out of the car. The 7-2 ruling addressed a common situation, in which police pull over a suspicious car or come upon it while it is parked. Sometimes motorists get out of the car before an officer approaches, and it was not clear until now whether police had leeway to search the car (FindLaw 2004-05-24).

China
The arrival of Viagra appears to have spurred a huge increase in demand for impotence remedies using seahorses as a cheaper alternative to the western wonder drug that was making headlines around the world. Twenty-five million seahorses a year are now being traded around the world - 64 percent more than in the mid-1990s - and environmentalists are increasingly concerned that the booming trade in seahorses is putting the creatures at risk (IOL 2004-05-24).

Flying condom fights for family rights

2004-05-28T08:06:00.000+02:00

In an effort to ensure compliance, how does a company effectively manage and store a vast amount of e-mail - also taking into account corporate governance requirements? Grant Morgan considers this subject in two articles : Managing e-mail to avoid liability and ensure compliance, and, Overcoming e-mail chaos (E-strategy 2004-05).

Indexing files by looking at their audio features is still a work in progress for big search engines (CNet News 2004-05-27).

South Africa prides itself on having established a democracy that is firmly rooted in a healthy respect for human rights. Yet the rulers of our country have conveniently looked away on at least three occasions when the rights of South African residents or citizens have been in danger of being gravely violated (The Star 2004-05-21. Editorial).

Indonesia
An Indonesian court has sentenced a South African man to death for smuggling heroin. Okonkwo Kingleys was sentenced on Wednesday by the district court in the North Sumatra provincial capital Medan (IOL 2004-05-21).

United Kingdom
Two men were charged with threatening behaviour in connection with the flour-throwing incident during Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday. Outlining their motivation for the incident in the House of Commons, one of the men said: "It was never our intention to frighten anybody in the public or in the House. It was to draw attention to the evil family court system and the damage it is doing to our children, parents and grandparents in this country and to make this change happen (Telegraph 2004-05-21).

Germany
1 833 motorists took part in the Internet survey on what occupies their thoughts when traffic comes to a standstill - only ten percent think of finding an alternate route (IOL 2004-05-21).

United States
The special commission weighing revisions to the American Bar Association's code of judicial conduct seems to have missed the lesson that Americans don't appreciate it when judges behave in ways that undermine the judicial system's fairness and integrity (New York Times 2004-05-22).

Domestic woes

2004-05-26T16:55:00.000+02:00

The Supreme Court of Appeal will on Thursday hear an appeal by Mary Alexandra Hancock against her conviction in the Randburg regional court for the murder of her husband (News24 2004-05-20).

Statistics showed that one in every four women in SA was in an abusive relationship, with one woman being murdered by her partner every six days. This pattern was similar worldwide, Amnesty International secretary-general Irene Kahn said (Business Day 2004-05-20).

The Road Accident Fund (RAF) is technically bankrupt and is operating on a technical deficit of about R16.6bn says forensic investigator Ignatius Leopoldus Rautenbach (News24 2004-05-18).

Edging closer to a direct confrontation with Microsoft, Google, the Web search engine, is preparing to introduce a powerful file and text software search tool for locating information stored on personal computers (New York Times 2004-05-19).

YouSearched.Com has unveiled a search engine designed to be fully accessible to people with disabilities. Search is the second most used application on the Internet after Email but people with disabilities have not been able to fully utilize the capabilities of search engines. "The team at YouSearched.Com believe individuals using the Internet who are disabled, who are blind, who have difficulties distinguishing colours, have low vision, suffer tremors, or varying degrees of paralysis, and others living with disabilities, are as important as any other user", says YouSearched.Com founder Khalid Karrar (Search Engine Guide 2004-05-20).

Europe
A six-year moratorium on imports of genetically modified foods was lifted by the European Commission yesterday as it bowed to pressure from the United States. Brussels approved the import and sale of tinned and frozen GM sweetcorn from crops produced by the Swiss firm Syngenta, so long as it is clearly labelled as a bio-engineered product. The decision, which brought protests from environmentalists, comes after years of wrangling and gives a boost to the new technology, opening the way for imports of GM food and animal feed (Telegraph 2004-05-20).

United States
Within twenty-four hours of Mother's Day this year, a California appeals court held that EG, a woman who gave birth to twins conceived with her lesbian lover's eggs, was the sole legal parent of those twins. The ruling came as a terrible disappointment to KM, whose eggs had been used to conceive the twins. KM had petitioned to establish her parental relationship with the children, but the trial court, affirmed by the appellate court, dismissed KM's petition. The court based its conclusion largely on a consent form that KM signed, waiving parental rights prior to the retrieval of her eggs. The decision in this case exposes the complexity of defining the term "mother" as well as the discriminatory impact that traditional default rules can have on a nontraditional family
(FindLaw 2004-05-19).

The donkey's driving, dude

2004-05-26T09:47:00.000+02:00

The motorist who shot an alleged robber acted in a lawful manner and won't be arrested for murder ; Johannesburg police said the man acted in self-defence. The law makes provision for a person to defend his own life and property, and the life or property of another person (News24 2004-05-20).

The widow of a taxi passenger who died in an accident involving a special haul truck can sue the Road Accident Fund (RAF) in terms of a Supreme Court of Appeal ruling this week (News24 2004-05-18).

The row around the dispensing of medicines has taken a new and ugly twist that pits thousands of pharmacists against medical doctors. The Pharmaceutical Society of South Africa (PSSA) has called on its 5 000 members to oppose doctors' dispensing licence applications (IOL 2004-05-20).

Reinhardt Buys writes that e-mail and the internet make life faster, easier and more productive, but businesses are learning that they can also bring about legal risks and reputational ruin (News24 2004-05-19).

A 32-year-old Johannesburg man was found guilty on Monday of loading a virus on to the computers of Edgars, which the company claims cost them R20 million and affected up to 700 stores. Because the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act governing what employees may legally do with company computers is not yet in force, Berend Howard of Morningside Manor was charged with malicious damage to Edcon property (Witness 2004-05-18).

Ten tertiary education institutions offering Masters in Business Administration (MBA) qualifications have had their MBA courses scrapped, the Council for Higher Education said on Thursday. Six existing business schools received full accreditation. They are the Gordon Institute of Business Science at the University of Pretoria, the Wits Business School, the Graduate School of Business at the University of Stellenbosch, the Graduate School of Business of the University of Cape Town, the Graduate School of Leadership at the University of SA (Unisa) and the Graduate School of Management at the University of Pretoria (News24 2004-05-20). See also How much is your MBA worth? (IOL 2004-05-21).

The Star has published a guide to how local government works (2004-05-18).

Newly-appointed Environment Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk has been asked to intervene in the row over the shooting of Table Mountain's tahrs (News24 2004-05-20). The war of words over the killing of tahrs escalated into death threats on Wednesday when Table Mountain National Park chief Brett Myrdal was told that he would be murdered if National Parks killed another tahr (IOL 2004-05-20).

A man was fined about R2 100 for drunk driving a donkey cart in a small South African town, and then telling police he was unconcerned "because the animals knew the way home" (IOL 2004-05-20).

Iraq
Australian, US and other foreign firms paid a secret commission to former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's government to secure contracts under the UN oil-for-food programme (Business Report 2004-05-20).

United Kingdom
The world's first embryonic stem cell bank opens in Britain on Wednesday, breaking new ground in one of the most controversial areas of medical research (IOL 2004-05-19).

An e-crime study by the IPPR think-tank says there is a huge backlog of so-called e-crimes and a serious shortage of skills to deal with them. The report also calls for a nationally recognised computer-related qualification for people across the criminal justice system, including investigators and lawyers. If police skills are not improved the study warns of increased 'vigilantism' as the public sector and individuals take the law into their own hands (BBC 2004-05-18).

Britain's first three-dimensional cyber church has been forced to tighten security after a slew of abusive visitors ranted from the pulpit and swore in the aisles. The church said the first two days of the site, which launched last week, had been very noisy ; in one case, a person logged in as Satan, entered the pulpit and started to blaspheme (IOL 2004-05-19). Visit the site at http://www.shipoffools.com/church/.

Sweden
The father of a 10-year-old boy filed a police complaint of vandalism after a circus elephant picked up his child's bicycle for a closer look and then dropped it on the ground and trampled it (IOL 2004-05-20).

United States
The Bush administration wants the United Nations Security Council to renew on Friday a controversial resolution exempting American peacekeepers from prosecution by the new International Criminal Court (IOL 2004-05-20).

An American judge on Wednesday acquitted environmental protection group Greenpeace on charges it conspired to break the law by sending activists aboard a freighter carrying illegally felled mahogany two years ago. The politically charged case dusted off a law not used since 1890 to bring the first criminal prosecution by United States authorities of an advocacy group for civil disobedience (IOL 2004-05-20).How much is your MBA worth? (IOL 2004-05-21).

Acid test

2004-05-25T16:42:00.000+02:00

The Constitutional Court will hear an application on Thursday morning 20 May of a woman who wants to be paid maintenance from her unmarried partner’s estate. The decision is particularly significant as research has shown that more than two million South Africans (and in all probability significantly more than two million) are in non-marital relationships with their intimate partners (Women's Legal Centre. Media release 2004-05-19).

Hate crimes against lesbians are on the increase, mainly in areas such as Soweto and Alexandra, the chief executive officer of the Forum for the Empowerment of Women has said (IOL 2004-05-19).

The South African lawyers for the Zimbabwe detainees have now given President Thabo Mbeki an ultimatum : either help bring them back or face court action (The Star 2004-05-19).

The thorny issue of the Table Mountain goatlike tahrs may be headed for court again following a threat by the National Council of SPCAs (NSPCA) to seek an urgent interdict (Mail & Guardian 2004-05-18).

The decision by the South African Bureau of Standards to ban asbestos products in automotive products has sparked a heated debate about the safety of white asbestos used in brake pads, gaskets and buildings (Business Report 2004-05-19).

Britain
The Government has signalled that it is willing to breach the first of its "red line" safeguards on the European constitution by agreeing to cede Britain's veto over sensitive areas of criminal justice. The shift in policy raises fears that Brussels could acquire the power to interfere with the common law tradition of habeas corpus, trial by jury, and rules of evidence (Telegraph 2004-05-19).

Malaysia
The al-Qaida-linked website that first posted a video of American civilian Nicholas Berg's beheading has been shut down by the Malaysian company that hosted it - because it was drawing too much traffic. A senior officer of the company said it was not aware that the site, www.al-ansar.biz, may have been connected to al-Qaida or that offensive material had been posted on it (FindLaw 2004-05-13).

China
A man in northern China became suspicious when the beautiful woman he had married two years earlier gave birth to an ugly daughter last year. The disgusted husband divorced his wife and sued her for deceit after discovering that she had had plastic surgery before they met (IOL 2004-05-19).

Blow by blow

2004-05-25T13:11:00.000+02:00

What an abysmal start to a daily service!

Our staff complement has come frighteningly close to being decimated by various viruses of the biological type in the last week or two. Having served my term for a few days last week, I've joined the team of survivors and hope that within a day or two I will have caught up on all the activity that went down in my absence.

In the meantime, if you have an interest in the 'affirmative action' judgment that was handed down in the Constitutional Court (SA) on Thursday last week, please e-mail our librarians at help@lawlibrary.co.za or keep an eye on ConCourt's website : http://www.concourt.gov.za/.

Stand by for the Big Catch-up of 2004 . . .

Turbulent spirits

2004-05-18T12:18:00.000+02:00

Homicide detectives have identified a suspect they believe shot a street child in Cape Town's city centre after his car had been broken into. Now they are protecting street children who fear for their lives because they saw what happened - including their key witness, an 11-year-old boy (IOL 2004-05-18).

The turbulent spirits of the long-dead czars and the Nordic gods must have smiled at the recent goings-on in the Pretoria high court, the battleground for alcoholic spirit coolers. Court papers tell a fascinating story of how Smirnoff Ice was withdrawn from the market to be replaced by Smirnoff Spin. However, nine days before the launch of Smirnoff Spin - following a three-month advertising campaign, training workshops for sales staff, presentations and demonstrations, all at a cost of R10 million - the competing brand Nordic was launched (Business Report 2004-05-18).

The Health Department has lost close to half a million in South African courts in cases against Cuban doctors fighting to keep their jobs (Witness 2004-05-18).

The Ark, a shelter for homeless people in Durban, and its residents lost an application for leave to appeal against an eviction order on Monday at the Pietermaritzburg High Court (Witness 2004-05-18).

A 32-year-old Johannesburg man was found guilty on Monday of loading a virus on to the computers of Edgars, which the company claims cost them R20 million and affected up to 700 stores. Because the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act governing what employees may legally do with company computers is not yet in force, Berend Howard of Morningside Manor was charged with malicious damage to Edcon property (Witness 2004-05-18).

South Africa remains last in a survey of 22 countries able to conduct electronic government operations, but this should be seen in the correct context (Mail & Guardian 2004-05-17).

Nigeria
A 13-year-old boy has turned down N5.7 million as compensation for his eye plucked out by ritualists, although an Upper Sharia Court in Bauchi is still trying to persuade the victim to take the money. An official of the court said that the victim, Isa Yayaji, was insisting that the ritualist should sacrifice an eye for an eye (AllAfrica 2004-05-13).

Australia
Greenpeace went on trial in the United States for boarding a freighter carrying illegally harvested Amazon mahogany. It is accused of breaking a law against "sailor mongering" last used 114 years ago. In the first US criminal prosecution for civil disobedience of an advocacy group rather than its individual members, the environmental watchdog faces probation and fines if convicted of a crime over the 2002 protest off Miami (SMH 2004-05-18).

Belgium
European Central Bank governing council member Guy Quaden yesterday played down fears that small and medium firms would suffer from new rules on bank capital. The Basel 2 rules will revamp the way banks manage risk, but some analysts have said they could cause a reduction in lending to smaller firms, as these were riskier bets than large corporations (Business Report 2004-05-18).

Ring of fire

2004-05-17T11:17:00.000+02:00

Erinvale, a Prestigious Cape golf estate has been slapped on the wrist by a court for charging property owners exorbitant late building penalties in a case that could curb similar clauses of other developments (Sunday Times 2004-05-16).

A former TV presenter is being sued by his former fiancée for R764 000 - because he called off their engagement (Sunday Times 2004-05-16).

Within a month the Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) and Monhla Hlahla, its chief executive, are likely to know when they will have to go to the labour court to defend the dismissal of one of airports operator's top executives. Paul O'Sullivan, who was fired as Acsa's group executive for aviation security last year, apparently because of "irreconcilable differences", is fighting to get his job back. He will be suing the company and Hlahla for R20 million in damages for defamation. This action dates back to the daring R125 million heist at Johannesburg International Airport. The case goes to court on March 11 next year (Business Report 2004-05-17).

Three Japanese men were arrested at Cape Town International Airport on Friday with 37 endangered lizards strapped to their bodies under their clothing. This is the latest in a series of poaching incidents by foreigners in what conservation officials have described as "a total onslaught" on endangered Western Cape reptiles and insects, which fetch high prices on collectors' markets overseas (Cape Times 2004-05-17).

Zimbabwe
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has struck a deal with Equatorial Guinea to extradite the 70 suspected mercenaries held in Harare to the oil-rich country in exchange for fuel worth US1.2-billion (Sunday Times 2004-05-16).

New Zealand
Justice Minister Phil Goff said yesterday that the Government would introduce a bill in June or July creating two exceptions to the rule known as double jeopardy, which prevents the state prosecuting someone already acquitted of the offence alleged (New Zealand Herald 2004-05-17).

Iraq
The president of the Iraqi Governing Council was killed early Monday in a huge explosion set off by a suicide bomber outside the headquarters of the U.S.-led occupation authority here (Washington Post 2004-05-17).

EU
The EU would lift sanctions against the US once it fully repealed a contentious tax law (Business Report 2004-05-13).

Irish Premier Bertie Ahern has been touring EU capitals since early May to try to reach consensus on outstanding wrangles in the charter, seen as vital for the smooth running of the bloc which expanded on May 1 to 25 members from 15 (IOL 2004-05-16).

United States
Six of the defendants in the Abu Ghraib abuse case once all bunked together in a tent in Baghdad. But as the most important military prosecutions since Vietnam unfold, each soldier is struggling alone to explain away seemingly irrefutable evidence captured in frame after frame of disturbing images, and they are pointing fingers at one another, minimizing their roles and blaming the government (New York Times 2004-05-16).

And so a page is turned

2004-05-15T12:28:00.000+02:00

As a group of information workers catering specifically to the legal and information professions, we have experimented with various vehicles to make information accessible quickly and easily to those who need it. More of that on the KwaZulu-Natal Law Society Library's website : http://www.lawlibrary.co.za

News articles have frequently provided details that make the tracing of legal references so much easier, sometimes listing locations or identities that direct researchers to the source of judgments or other authoritative documents.

The choice of name for our blog, Know-Go Zone, is indicative of our aim to provide a one-stop information service to our target audience and anyone else who is interested in legal and IT developments.

With no more ado, to today's links . . .

The rights of foreign spouses are once again in the spotlight in the Cape High Court, this time as an international model seeks to force South Africa to let the father of her child back into the country (Pretoria News 2004-05-14).

A Sandton domestic worker, convicted of arranging a robbery in which her employer was raped and murdered, claimed in the Johannesburg High Court on Friday that she has a split personality (News24 2004-05-15).

A unemployed, destitute woman's R2 000 fine for possession of drugs was on Thursday considered as "clearly beyond her means" by two Pietermaritzburg High Court judges who altered the sentence to a suspended term of imprisonment (Witness 2004-05-14).

United States
On Tuesday Microsoft released into the open-source community a series of pre-existing templates designed to simplify the writing of Windows programs - making it possible for developers to freely modify the templates (CNet News 2004-05-13).

Advanced search features of Longhorn, the next major version of Windows, won't be fully in place until 2009. The technology, called WinFS, is an add-on the Windows file system that Microsoft says will make it easier for users to find data such as documents, e-mail messages and multimedia files, no matter what their format, on local PCs and across the network (CNet News 2004-05-13).