Pitcairn men lose Supreme Court appeal News
Pitcairn men lose Supreme Court appeal

[JURIST] Six Pitcairn Island men, found guilty of multiple sexual abuse charges in October 2004 [JURIST report], have lost their appeal in the Pitcairn Supreme Court sitting in Auckland, New Zealand. The Court denied all of the defense's arguments, including a claim that British law did not apply to the descendants of the 18th-century Bounty mutineers who originally settled the island [Pitcairn Island official website]. Later this year, Britain's Judicial Committee of the Privy Council [official website], the highest appeals court for UK overseas colonies, will hear a challenge to British jurisdiction over the remote Pacific island. JURIST's Paper Chase has background on the trials. Reuters 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.