Lawyer news

From Nuremberg to the ICC, Ben Ferencz never gave up fighting for international justice

09-04-2023 18:54

The legal icon, who has died aged 103, witnessed then prosecuted Nazi war crimes and campaigned tirelessly for ‘law not war’Seventy-six years ago, at the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg – once the site of annual torchlit Nazi rallies – Ben Ferencz, a punchy 27-year-old whose short build was all but concealed behind the tall wooden podium, opened the biggest murder trial in history.It was his first ever trial, but all 22 members of the Einsatzgruppen he was prosecuting &nda

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Harry, Gwyneth... even Wagatha: we can learn so much from ‘media circuses’ | Catherine Bennett

09-04-2023 10:30

Witnessing equality before the law is surely reason enough to have had Donald Trump on cameraAfter the recent joys of the Boris Johnson interrogation, Donald Trump’s New York indictment could only be, for connoisseurs of extended demagogue-humbling, a two-star show.Delightful as it was to watch Trump fail to make something dashing of his entrance, the judge’s refusal to indulge broadcasters meant the public were denied even the sound of his historic contribution: “Not guilty.&r

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Government retreats from Brexit bill plan to ditch EU laws

09-04-2023 09:00

Climbdown likely after cross-party Lords revolt threatens to defeat Jacob Rees-Mogg’s Retained EU Law BillMinisters have begun a full-scale retreat over post-Brexit plans to ditch thousands of EU laws by the end of this year, after Tory peers warned they would join a mass cross-party revolt in the House of Lords.The Observer can reveal that the government has dropped plans to hold the report stage of the Brexiters’ retained EU law bill in the Lords soon after Easter, apparently to pr

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At last, a consensus is emerging on protecting women-only spaces | Sonia Sodha

09-04-2023 09:00

Compassion and common sense are prevailing in a sensitive conflict over rightsUnclear law is bad law. Ambiguously drafted statutes result in judges scrabbling to interpret what exactly legislation means when disputes hit the courts and organisations that don’t know what their legal obligations are because even lawyers don’t agree.The Equality Act is an important piece of legislation passed by Labour in 2010 that enshrines protections against discrimination for many groups. But there&

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There is more than one way to have a good death | Letters

09-04-2023 07:00

When the end of life approaches, palliative care in a hospice, hospital or at home can help ease the painCharlotte Raven writes movingly about approaching the end of her life (“Please let me choose. I don’t deserve to suffer a sudden, painful death”, Focus). As a retired palliative care nurse with 22 years’ experience of hospice nursing, I want to express my sorrow that she had such a terrible experience of hospice care and to reassure her (I hope) and others that this is

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