Judge lifts stay protecting Yukos assets News
Judge lifts stay protecting Yukos assets

[JURIST] US District Judge Nancy Atlas decided Friday against renewal of the automatic stay protecting the remaining assets of Yukos [official website], the Russian energy company whose bankruptcy case was dismissed in a Houston bankruptcy court [JURIST report] last February. The decision comes as a major loss to Yukos, which faces a $27.5 billion back tax bill enforced by the Russian authorities. With the stay lifted, banks may sell Yukos assets and the Russian government can proceed with auctioning major oil-producing subsidiaries including the Yuganskneftegaz [corporate profile] refinery in Siberia. Yukos executives contend that the tax bills is politically motivated and faulty. The Houston Chronicle has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

South Africa becomes first country on continent to legalize same-sex marriage

Same-sex marriages became legal in South Africa on November 30, 2006 as the country's Civil Union Act, 2006 went into effect, making South Africa the only country on the African continent to legalize same-sex marriage. Read the Civil Union Act, 2006.