Call for Inheritance Law Reform

UK — The grandchildren of murder victims may soon be able to inherit money even if their parents were the guilty parties. The Law Commission of England and Wales is planning to iron out a legal loophole which affects the children of people who kill their parents.

The call comes after the son of a man who murdered his parents was denied his inheritance. The grandparents had died intestate and under intestacy rules the son was to receive the inheritance. However, having been the murderer of his parent neither he nor his son could inherit the money.

In 2000, a Court of Appeal judge ruled any inheritance should go to the surviving sister of the murdered man and his wife’s nephew and niece.

Law Commission team lawyer Simon Tabbush said: ‘at present the law is just too sweeping ... It has the effect of punishing innocent grandchildren by permanently cutting them out of the scheme of inheritance because of their parent’s wrongdoing. This seems inherently unfair.’

Similar changes to the inheritance laws were made in France last year. (Source: news.bbc.co.uk)

Mother Convicted for Role in Son’s Suicide

US — A woman was convicted Monday of contributing to the suicide of her 12-year-old son, who hanged himself in his closet with a necktie after being picked on for months at school over his bad breath and body odour.

Judith Scruggs was found guilty of one count of risk of injury to a minor for creating a filthy home that prosecutors said prevented J Daniel Scruggs from improving his hygiene. She faces up to 10 years in prison.

The case marks one of the first times in which a parent was charged with contributing to a child’s suicide. Prosecutors presented evidence that showed there was barely room to move around her home because of clothes, boxes, papers and other debris that littered the floor. The kitchen and bathroom were filthy, soiled and stained. Prosecution witnesses also described a foul odour in the house similar to sticking your head in a hamper full of dirty clothes and whiffing garbage at the same time.

Prosecutors said they took no joy in bringing charges against a grieving mother but felt a jury should decide whether Scruggs’ actions contributed to the boy’s death. (Source: www.cnn.com)

Tougher Copyright Laws

China — The National Copyright Administration is improving the nation’s copyright laws by instituting four new regulations, including one to protect folk literature and the rights of information distribution networks.

The regulations will also control payments for radio and television broadcasting and for group management for copyrights of certain artwork.

An administration official, Duan Yuping said that the administration will also clamp down further on breach of copyrights through having regional intellectual property management departments work together with local public security offices, industry and commerce officials and customs and culture sectors in an effort to cut down on pirating activities. (Source: www.lawinfochina.com)

Court Decisions Go Online in Beijing

China — The Beijing High Court has initiated a website where people can freely search and review the documents of judicial decisions on intellectual property rights (‘IPR’) cases handled by the courts in Beijing at various levels.

Zhu Jiang, Vice-president of the Beijing High Court, said all of the judicial documents of the first and final judgments covering categories such as patents, trademarks, copyright, improper competition and technical contracts will be uploaded onto the website — bjgy.chinacourt.org.

‘The new move will increase judicial transparency and create a new channel for people to supervise the courts’ operations. Meanwhile, it will facilitate IPR researchers to get first-hand information and help common people learn more about IPR,’ Zhu said. (Source: www.lawinfochina.com)

Sex Law Changes Imminent

UK — A paedophile who used the internet chat room to groom two girls for sex has had his sentence increased by the Court of Appeal.

Michael Wheeler had groomed two girls while waiting for them to turn 13 to have sex with them so that should he be caught he would not have to serve more than two years. Had he had sex with either of the girls before they had turned 13 he would be liable for a life term.

The lower court judge had sentenced Wheeler to 15 months for each charge. The prosecution had appealed against the ‘unduly lenient’ sentences for indecent assault and the Appeal Court judges have now increased the sentence to seven years.

However, a change in the law is imminent which will make sentencing in future such cases more robust. The Sexual Offences Bill, launched in January of this year, is still making its way through Parliament. Under the new law, unlawful sex with a minor, whatever the age, will be much tougher. (Source: news.bbc.co.uk)