Judge Dies in Turkey Court Attack

Turkey — A gunman has shot dead a prominent judge and wounded four others in an attack in Turkey’s highest court, in the capital, Ankara.

Judge Mustafa Yucel Ozbilgin died despite six hours of surgery to remove a bullet from his brain. One of the wounded judges had been criticised for ruling against teachers wearing Muslim headscarves, and had reportedly received death threats.

Judge Mustafa Birden made headlines earlier this year when he ruled that school teachers, who are banned from wearing the Islamic headscarf at work, could not cover their heads even on their way to school.

The court’s decision on headscarves has been condemned as illegal by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose ruling party has Islamist roots. Mr Erdogan, though, was quick to condemn the attack, and said the culprit would be severely punished. (Source: www.bbc.co.uk)

Husband Not Culpable for Suicide

UK — A husband who allegedly subjected his wife to years of abuse was not criminally responsible for her suicide, appeal court judges have ruled. But the court signalled similar cases could result in a trial, even when the partner did take their own life.

The three judges upheld an Old Bailey judge’s decision to throw out the case against Harcharan Dhaliwal. His wife Gurjit hanged herself in London in 2005. He was charged with manslaughter but acquitted in March.

Mrs Dhaliwal’s death was seen as a test case for domestic violence by women’s groups. She was found dead in an outhouse at her home in Southall, west London on 22 February 2005.

Judge Jeremy Roberts QC said there was no basis on which a properly directed reasonable jury could convict him. But he also called for a review of the law to perhaps make it possible for manslaughter prosecutions to be pursued in the future.

At the appeal court, Sir Igor Judge, Mr Justice Henriques and Mr Justice Fulford upheld his decision. Sir Igor said the problem for the court to address was whether psychological injury, not recognisable psychiatric illness, fell within bodily harm. (Source: www.bbc.co.uk)

Regulation Entrenches Public Rights in Environment Protection

China — China’s State Environmental Protection Administration (‘SEPA’) is fine-tuning a regulation that will entrench the public’s right of participation in environmental protection. According to Xu Kezhu, principal of the legislative workgroup and deputy director of the Environmental Resources Research and Service Center with China University of Political Science and Law (‘CUPSL’), the framework of the regulation has been drafted.

Divided into six parts, the regulation comprises general principles, supplementary articles, rules pertaining to publicising environment related information, soliciting and collecting public opinion, supervision and remedial action, and accountability under the law.

Departments in charge of environment issues are obliged to hold public hearings before making decisions on any project that might affect the public’s rights and interests. The regulation also focuses on the procedures to be employed for public participation, and it will be illegal to refuse the public to be involved or to violate the set procedures. 
(Source: www.china.org.cn)

Software Piracy Blow Amid Regional Retreat

Hong Kong SAR — Hong Kong’s proud record of protecting intellectual property rights took a severe blow after the global Business Software Alliance (‘BSA’) said piracy in the city has become more prevalent while the rest of the region is improving.

Hong Kong’s software piracy rate increased from 52 per cent to 54 per cent last year, while Singapore leapfrogged Portugal and entered the top 20 rankings with 40 per cent.

‘Hong Kong was one of the few economies in the Asia-Pacific region that witnessed a rise in its piracy rate,’ said BSA Hong Kong chairwoman, Belinda Lui. ‘It is clear that more needs to be done to effectively address software piracy in Hong Kong and perhaps a different approach needs to be taken.’

Taiwan remained above Hong Kong with a rate of 43 per cent, according to the IDC global software piracy study.

Although the mainland remained the fourth worst offender, it was commended for its considerable improvement. About 86 per cent of mainland software was considered to be pirated compared with 90 per cent in 2004. (Source: www.thestandard.com.hk)