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Philippine Supreme Court chief justice impeached
Legal World News |
2011/12/12 13:11
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The Philippine House of Representatives impeached the Supreme Court chief justice Monday over alleged corruption and favoritism toward the country's former president, now under hospital arrest for alleged election fraud.
A majority of the 284 members of the powerful House signed the resolution to impeach Chief Justice Renato Corona, who will now be tried by the Senate in an impeachment tribunal. Corona, who became the only known Supreme Court chief to be impeached in Philippine history, vowed to fight back.
Among its allegations, the impeachment complaint accuses the Corona-led court of ruling improperly in ex-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's favor when she sought to leave the country last month before she was arrested.
The surprise move is the latest twist in the Philippine political drama pitting Arroyo against her popular, reformist successor Benigno Aquino III, who has blamed her for a decade of corruption scandals that eroded public trust in government and held back foreign investors. |
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ICC seeks information from Libya on Seif al-Islam
Legal World News |
2011/12/06 16:40
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International Criminal Court judges want to know from Libyan authorities where Moammar Gadhafi's son and one-time heir apparent is being held and if court officials can visit him, according to a court document released Tuesday.
Libyan authorities announced Nov. 19 that Seif al-Islam Gadhafi had been captured by fighters in the country's remote southern desert. Days later they said they plan to put Seif on trial, despite the Hague-based court having issued an arrest warrant on crimes against humanity charges.
The Hague-based court is now debating its next step and says it wants to hear from Seif himself.
In the document, judges say they want to know from Libya's new rulers "when and where" court officials could meet Seif to ask if he wants a lawyer to represent his interests at the court and "to assess his physical and mental state." It also directly asks Libyan authorities to indicate if they plan to surrender Seif to the ICC for trial.
The document says a person whose identity was not released called court officials last month seeking to have a lawyer appointed to represent Seif at proceedings in The Hague. Judges have so far declined the request as it remains unclear if Seif wants the person appointed. |
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World Court rules against Greece in Macedonia case
Legal World News |
2011/12/06 13:42
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The world court ruled Monday that Greece was wrong to block Macedonia's bid to join NATO in 2008 because of a long-running dispute over the fledgling country's use of the name "Macedonia."
In a 15-1 ruling, the court found that Greece's veto breached a 1995 deal under which Greece had agreed not to block Macedonia's membership in international organizations if it used the name "The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" while the matter was submitted to U.N. mediation. More than 15 years later, discussions over the name are still unresolved.
Although the question of Macedonia's name is sometimes seen as superficial by outsiders, it is a matter of deep concern for both sides. The young country has used the name in one form or another since shortly after World War II, when it was a province of Yugoslavia, but Greece sees use of the name as historically inaccurate at best and a potential threat to its territorial integrity at worst. |
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China to execute Filipino drug trafficker Dec. 8
Legal World News |
2011/12/01 10:29
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A Chinese court has upheld the drug trafficking conviction of a Filipino man and set his execution for next week despite appeals for clemency from the Philippine president, officials said Wednesday.
The 35-year-old man, who was not identified, was arrested in September 2008 at Guilin International Airport in southern China while trying to smuggle 3.3 pounds of heroin into Guangxi province from Malaysia, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said.
Smuggling more than 50 grams of heroin or other drugs is punishable by death in China.
Philippine officials based in China were told Monday that the Supreme People's Court in Beijing had upheld a lower court's decision to impose the death penalty on the Filipino man and that a Dec. 8 execution date had been set, the department said.
The Philippine government provided all possible help to the condemned man and made "sustained and exhaustive representations with the Chinese government at all levels," including an appeal from President Benigno Aquino III to his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, to try to have the death sentence commuted to life in prison, officials said. |
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Chile court orders halt to Anglo American sale
Legal World News |
2011/11/16 13:33
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A Chilean court on Tuesday ordered British-based mining company Anglo American to halt further sales of shares in a Chilean subsidiary.
The appeals court based in the capital of Santiago granted an injunction sought by Chile's state mining company, Codelco, which argues that it has first right of refusal on shares in Anglo American Sur, which has three operations in the country.
Anglo American PLC announced last week it had sold 24.5 percent of the subsidiary to Mitsubishi of Japan for $5.39 billion. Codelco has acknowledged that it cannot now overturn that sale, but its attorneys say they may ask for a review of its legality.
Codelco said in October that it planned to exercise its option to purchase 49 percent of the shares in Anglo American Sur for $6.57 billion. It said that option is open every third January under a contract signed in 1978 and modified in 2002.
Anglo American has announced it will fight the attempt to block its sale of the subsidiary. Its press office in Chile had no immediate comment on the court ruling.
Anglo American Sur operates the Los Bronces and El Soldado mines which produce about 261,000 tons of copper, as well as the Chagres smelter. |
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Chinese drug exec given suspended death sentence
Legal World News |
2011/11/09 11:51
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A Shanghai court handed the former chief executive of a large state-owned pharmaceutical company a suspended death sentence for corruption that enabled him to amass more than 50 million yuan ($8 million), an official said Wednesday.
Wu Jianwen, the former head of Shanghai Pharmaceutical Group Ltd., was convicted of accepting bribes, embezzling public funds and other graft charges by the Shanghai Intermediate People's Court, according to a court official surnamed Wang.
Wang said the court handed down a suspended death sentence with a two-year reprieve. Such sentences usually are commuted to life in prison with good behavior.
The punishment comes as China wrestles with food and product safety concerns and appears aimed at showing that authorities are cracking down on rampant corruption.
Shanghai Pharma says it is China's third largest pharmaceutical maker and second largest distributor of pharmaceutical products. It was the parent company of Shanghai Hualian Pharmaceutical Co., which authorities shut down in 2007 for making tainted leukemia drugs blamed for causing leg pains and partial paralysis among dozens of patients.
China's increasing importance as a pharmaceutical producer has ratcheted up concerns over a slew of scandals involving fake, adulterated and otherwise unsafe drugs — especially given the thriving market in mail order medications. |
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