The UK Government Friday released a policy paper explaining revisions to the Ministerial Code, a set of guidelines for the conduct of its ministers. The changes relax the consequences for minor violations of the code and expand the role of the independent advisor, an executive appointee responsible for advising the prime minister on code violations. [...]
Legal News
Amnesty International Tuesday released its annual Report on Death Sentences and Executions which noted a sharp increase in executions in Iran and Saudi Arabia while describing global use of the death penalty between January and December 2021. The report reflects that there was a rise in executions and death sentences in 2021 after Covid-19 restrictions [...]
The Biden-Harris administration’s attempt to end the controversial Title 42 was Friday blocked by Judge Robert Summerhays of the US District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. Title 42 allows border patrol officials to quickly deport migrants at the US-Mexico border, whether or not they are legally seeking asylum, in order to stop the [...]
British police Thursday announced an end to their investigation of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson for alleged violations of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions throughout 2020 and 2021. According to a press release from the Metropolitan Police, no further fines would be issued against Johnson or his wife. The press release stated that 53 fixed penalty notices [...]
The UK High Court Wednesday allowed a case against the UK government for its continued use of the PPE manufacturer Supermax to go forward. All the Citizens, represented by UK law firm, Wilson Solicitors, is suing the government for continuing its relationship with the Malaysian company, despite an investigation uncovering allegations of forced labor in [...]
![Ninth Circuit rules audio-only trial access violates Sixth Amendment right to public trial](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2022/05/640px-Meizu_headphones_keyboard_Unsplash.jpg)
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Monday held that the District Court for the Northern District of California’s COVID-19 protocols violated defendant James David Allen II’s Sixth Amendment right to a public trial. In 2020, the district court prohibited the public from attending Allen’s suppression hearing and trial “and rejected his request [...]
![Federal court vacates injunction barring enforcement of Iowa law prohibiting school mask mandate](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2022/05/mask_1652764444.jpg)
The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Monday vacated a preliminary injunction because it is now moot due to “the current conditions differ vastly from those prevailing when the district court addressed it.” The preliminary injunction “completely barred” the enforcement of Iowa Code § 280.31, which prohibits Iowa schools from requiring students or staff [...]
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Thursday agreed to pay a $56 million settlement to the families of veterans who contracted COVID-19 during an outbreak at Holyoke Soldiers’ Home in 2020. The families filed the class-action lawsuit in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Holyoke is a state-run long term health care facility which [...]
![India top court rules right to bodily integrity includes right to refuse vaccination](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2022/01/vaccine_1642876677.jpg)
The Supreme Court of India Monday held that the right to bodily integrity of a person includes the right to refuse vaccination under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. The present writ petition was filed by Dr. Jacob Puliyel, a former member of the National Technical Advisory Group of Immunization. The petition challenged the constitutional [...]
![US Supreme Court rules Pentagon may discipline pilot who refused COVID-19 vaccine](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2022/04/covid_vaccine_1650386358.jpg)
The US Supreme Court Monday ruled against Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Dunn’s plea to block disciplinary action by the Air Force against him over his religious-based refusal of the COVID-19 vaccine. After Dunn tested positive for COVID-19 in the summer of 2021, he requested a religious exemption from the vaccine. His request was denied, and he [...]