New Rules on Abuse of Office and Torture

China — China’s highest criminal prosecution body has issued new regulations detailing official abuses of authority, which it hopes will stamp out the torture of criminals and criminal suspects.

The regulations issued by the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (‘SPP’) outline 42 offences of abuse of office with criteria against which prosecuting authorities could launch investigations. The offences include:

•     divulging state secrets;

•     releasing detainees without proper authority;

•     abusing authority in company registration and establishment;

•     failing to properly collect taxes;

•     illegally issuing logging and tree-felling permits;

•     selling land-use rights below value;

•     improperly recruiting public servants;

•     aiding and abetting fugitives; and

•     extracting confessions through torture, collecting evidence

      by violent means and abusing detainees.

The new regulations detail circumstances in which officials can be considered to be abusing their power. There are eight criteria for the crime of torture, including beating, binding, freezing, starving, exposing suspects to severe weather, severely injuring suspects, and directly or indirectly ordering others to torture. (Source: www.china.org.cn)

Woman Sues Bully Mother-in-law

United Kingdom — A woman who was bullied by her mother-in-law has been awarded £35,000 in damages.

The case was brought under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, normally used to deter stalkers. Nottingham County Court heard that Gina Satvir Singh endured months of cruelty at the hands of her mother-in-law, Dalbir Kaur Bhakar. Mrs Singh, from Bunny, Nottinghamshire, went to live with her mother-in-law after getting married. The court heard how Mrs Singh was left exhausted after she was also made to work in the house for long hours, doing chores, which included cleaning the toilet without a brush. She was only allowed to make one telephone call a week and was not permitted out of the family home unless accompanied. Mrs Singh was also forced to cut her hair, which was against her Sikh religion.

This is believed to be the first time someone has brought a damages case against a family member under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. (Source: www.bbc.co.uk)

Solicitor-General under Siege: MP

Papua New Guinea — Justice Minister Bire Kimisopa said his department has been under ‘siege’ from the mounting number of court cases brought against the State.

Twelve lawyers in the office of the Solicitor-General are expected to handle 9,267 cases presently pending. That works out to be about 770 cases per lawyer while a fair estimate for any lawyer is about 40 cases a year.

Mr Kimisopa also admitted to corrupt practices within the department, which had led in the past to certain default judgments and certificates of judgments being entertained, costing the State millions of kina. ‘There is a certain degree of corruption that has led to the present deplorable situation. The office of the Solicitor-General is under siege. It is a national disgrace,’ Mr Kimisopa told reporters.

Part of the problem had to do with police incompetence to put evidence together to help provide a good defence for the State, the former police minister said. In a bid to streamline the Attorney-General’s office to better handle the work and to brief out work to private lawyers in a fair and consistent manner, the minister has announced a low-level inquiry to review the entire process. (Source: www.thenational.com.pg)

Sylhet Speedy Tribunal Runs Out of Cases

Sri Lanka — The Sylhet Divisional Speedy Trial Tribunal is about to ‘run out of cases’, with only two cases tried and disposed of in the month of August.

The other courts of Sylhet, however, are overburdened with cases. The situation arose as the authorities concerned had failed to refer cases to the tribunal. The very lengthy and complex process of referring cases to the tribunal is also a major cause behind the tribunal running out of cases, a number of senior lawyers said.

Sensational cases are usually sent to the tribunal for quick trial. The division-level monitoring committee headed by the divisional commissioner preliminarily selects the cases based on a list from deputy commissioners. The committee then sends it to the Ministry of Home Affairs for approval.

Another monitoring committee headed by the home minister approves the same before making a gazette notification. But the whole process is complicated and time consuming. Sometimes it takes even five to six months, sources alleged. The tribunal has to finish the trial of a case within 90 working days.

The Sylhet Divisional Speedy Trial Tribunal has disposed of over 150 cases since its inception three-and-a-half years ago. (Source: www.thedailystar.net)