Pitcairn Island men lose sex abuse appeal arguing UK law inapplicable News
Pitcairn Island men lose sex abuse appeal arguing UK law inapplicable

[JURIST] The six men convicted in October 2004 of committing sexual abuse [JURIST report] against women and underage girls on the British possession of Pitcairn Island [government website] over a period of 30 years have lost their latest appeals. Appearing before a specially-constituted Pitcairn Court of Appeal [Wikipedia backgrounder] in Auckland, New Zealand, the men had asserted that English law did not apply to their case as Pitcairn Island never ratified or approved the British legal system. The islanders – half the island's able-bodied male population – will now appeal to Judicial Committee of the Privy Council [official website], the highest appeal court for current and former British colonies, later this year. Pitcairn Island was originally settled by descendants of Fletcher Christian who led the 1789 mutiny against Captain William Bligh on the HMS Bounty. AFP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

UN Security Council called for Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied in Six Days' War

On November 22, 1967, the UN Security Council called for Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied during the Six Days' War, and for respect of the right of all States in the area to "live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries." Read Resolution 242, which remains a cornerstone of efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East.

President Kennedy assassinated, VP Lyndon Johnson sworn inin

On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Later that day, Vice-President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as the 36th President of the United States. Earl Warren, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, was later tasked with leading a commission to investigate the assassination. President Johnson received the final report of the Warren Commission on September 24, 1964. Read the Warren Commission Report.