Egypt/Day of the Endangered Lawyer: SCC honorary chairman appointed to CRCICA board

February 9, 2018

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LIFE AFTER REVOLUTION

One aspect of the changing market for legal services relates to relations between government and civil society groups and lawyers, showing.  Egypt is not without its problems, particularly for lawyers practicing in Egypt.

Some Egyptian lawyers have been denied the rights to a fair trial and freedom of expression and assembly because of broad security legislation passed since 2013, as well as facing travel bans and prosecution for carrying out their professional duties, in support of human rights.

On 24 January 2018, the International Day of the Endangered Lawyer, which focuses on the rule of law issues in the legal profession internationally, was dedicated to Egypt. The American Bar Association (ABA) and both the English and Welsh legal representative bodies, as well as a consortium of international lawyers, spoke out, calling for the role of lawyers and the rule of law to be respected in the country.

In a statement released local time, ABA president Hillary Bass said that lawyers should be able “to work without intimidation, harassment or improper interference and to ensure that they are adequately safeguarded when their security is threatened”, citing United Nations principles justifying such protection. Those taking comfort from Franke’s appointment will hope that Egypt addresses those concerns, as well as promoting its ability to resolve those of investors.

https://www.africanlawbusiness.com/news/7941-scc-honorary-chairman-appointed-to-crcica-board

 

France: Réforme de la carte judiciaire : Lorient gardera ses tribunaux

le 9 février, 2018

L’horizon s’éclaircit pour l’avenir des juridictions de Lorient. Nicole Belloubet, Garde des Sceaux, a dissipé mercredi à l’assemblée nationale les inquiétudes suscitées par la réforme de la carte judiciaire. Elle a assuré “qu’aucun des tribunaux de Vannes et de Lorient ne sera fermé”

Le député Morbihannais Jean-Michel Jacques, (LREM) relate dans un communiqué avoir interrogé la Garde des sceaux, mercredi lors des questions au gouvernement. La ministre de la justice a assuré « qu’aucun territoire ne serait affaibli par la réorganisation judiciaire à venir. Qu’aucun des tribunaux de Vannes et de Lorient ne sera fermé.”

https://www.ouest-france.fr/bretagne/lorient-56100/reforme-de-la-carte-judiciaire-lorient-gardera-ses-tribunaux-5556076

http://www.courrier-picard.fr/89860/article/2018-02-09/compiegne-pourrait-perdre-son-tribunal

https://www.lamontagne.fr/yzeure/travaux-urbanisme/politique/2018/02/10/yzeure-de-nouveaux-services-bientot-a-yzatis_12734705.html

http://www.aqui.fr/politiques/budget-stable-dans-les-landes-mais-des-nuages-a-l-horizon,16796.html

http://www.syndicat-magistrature.org/Mobilisons-nous-pour-une-justice.html

http://www.conferencedesbatonniers.com/1434-journee-de-mobilisation-du-15-fevrier

http://www.bfmtv.com/police-justice/mobilisation-de-juges-et-d-avocats-le-15-fevrier-pour-une-justice-de-qualite-1370038.html

http://www.estrepublicain.fr/edition-de-besancon/2018/02/11/la-bronca-des-avocats

https://www.dalloz-actualite.fr/chronique/soutien-greve-de-cour-nationale-du-droit-d-asile-du-13-fevrier#.WoAO_ejOXIW

http://www.lecourriercauchois.fr/actualite-161109-au-havre-et-a-rouen-les-avocats-plaident-proximite.html

http://www.lavoixdunord.fr/315060/article/2018-02-11/pour-que-valenciennes-conserve-son-tribunal-et-toutes-ses-competences

http://www.midilibre.fr/2018/02/09/nouvelle-carte-judiciaire-la-cour-d-appel-de-montpellier-retrogradee,1625822.php

https://secure.avaaz.org/fr/petition/tout_public_Sauvez_le_Tribunal_de_Grande_Instance_dALES/(SIGNEZ LA PETITION!)

https://secure.avaaz.org/fr/petition/tout_public_SAUVEZ_LES_TRIBUNAUX_DE_LONGWY_ET_BRIEY/?aZgtJab (SIGNEZ LA PETITION!)

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeYAoke-LGvKlQVIp5rWqhD34uUiWCq0L0C8k7Eop222k54jg/viewform?c=0&w=1 (SIGNEZ LA PETITION SVP!)

https://www.unepetition.fr/mobilisationpourlajustice (SIGNEZ LA PETITION!)

https://www.facebook.com/events/1965523327033138/

https://www.facebook.com/Sauvez-Les-Tribunaux-De-Longwy-Et-Briey-164205770879782/

https://www.facebook.com/events/1355851691185535/

#Cartejudiciaire #Réforme #Justiceprocheducitoyen #Touchepasamacour

JEUDI 15 FEVRIER 2018 – 10 HEURES
Rendez-vous, en robes, sur les marches du Palais de Justice de St-Nazaire 77, rue Albert de Mun, dans le cadre d’une journée nationale de mobilisation “pour une justice de qualité”. Le 15 février 2018 est le jour où notre Garde des Sceaux rendra public son projet de loi sur les Chantiers de la Justice, au terme d’une phase dite de concertation menée au pas de course et avec une grande opacité. La Conférence des Bâtonniers, le Conseil National des Barreaux et plusieurs syndicats d’avocats, magistrats, greffiers et personnels de greffes appellent à cette journée d’action. L’heure de la manifestation “aux marches du Palais” a été fixée à 10 heures dans la France entière. Le Barreau de Saint-Nazaire a toujours su se mobiliser en nombre pour la défense du justiciable et pour que les moyens donnés à la Justice soient dignes d’une grande démocratie comme la nôtre et lui permette de fonctionner avec humanité. Notre Barreau sera une nouvelle fois au rendez-vous !

(Ordre des Avocats de Saint-Nazaire Facebook)

Pakistan: Lawyers Stage Protest Demonstration Against Armed Attack On Additional Session Judge

February 9, 2018

A group of lawyers staged a protestdemonstration here on Friday condemning the armed attack on an Additional District and Session Judge in Khairpur district the other day.

The lawyers including advocate Sajjad Ahmed Chandio, Aslam Laghari, Geet Kumar and others while condemning the incident demanded immediate arrest of the attackers and exposing the cause of the attack.

They expressed solidarity with the judge Ghulam AliKanasro and lamented that the police could still not arrest the culprits.Chandio informed that some armed assailants attacked the residence of Kanasro in Sobho Dero and escaped.

https://www.urdupoint.com/en/pakistan/lawyers-stage-protest-demonstration-against-a-258193.html

https://www.dawn.com/news/1388442

Maldives: India seeks UN fact-finding panel for Maldives

February 10, 2018

India has urged the UN to send a fact-finding mission to Maldives and impressed countries to ask their judiciaries to support chief justice of the Maldives supreme court who has been imprisoned by the President following the order to release Opposition leaders.

The United Nations Security Council had held a meeting on Thursday to discuss the current political crisis in Maldives. Ahead of the meeting, UN Assistant Secretary, General Miroslav Jenca, reported to have informed the co ..

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Officials in New Delhi indicated that India has also approached various countries to direct respective judiciaries to support chief justice of Maldives in this hour of crisis. There are reports that the chief justice is under duress and is being tortured in prison. India is also advising various other countries who have not used travel advisories to issue such to pressure the Yameen government with tourism being the mainstay of the Maldivian economy.

…

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/india-seeks-un-fact-finding-panel-for-maldives/articleshow/62858133.cms

https://theconversation.com/maldives-crisis-a-bitter-religious-divide-comes-to-the-fore-91455

https://www.ft.com/content/b8399c4c-0d97-11e8-8eb7-42f857ea9f09

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/maldives-crisis-arrested-indian-journalist-will-be-deported-today-says-officials-1810957

https://www.trtworld.com/asia/how-a-sleepy-holiday-paradise-got-embroiled-in-a-political-mess-15026

https://www.modernghana.com/news/834236/kofi-annan-on-the-crisis-in-maldives.html

https://tribune.com.pk/story/1631044/1-pakistan-not-support-emergency-maldives-envoy-told/

https://avas.mv/en/44536

https://avas.mv/en/44548

https://raajje.mv/en/news/26728

http://www.sundayguardianlive.com/opinion/12694-modi-must-restore-democracy-maldives

https://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india-pakistan-refuses-to-interfere-in-maldives-domestic-affairs-427153

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/world/maldives-crisis-our-internal-matter/541936.html

https://avas.mv/en/44606

https://avas.mv/en/44621

http://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/global-affairs/the-unfolding-political-crisis-maldives-1533106

https://avas.mv/en/44625

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_the_Maldives

http://www.supremecourt.gov.mv/eng/?decision=eng

Kenya/Canada: Deported Opposition Lawyer Seeks Return to Kenya

February 9, 2018

A Kenyan attorney deported to Canada this week on charges of treason is challenging his removal in court, seeking a return to the African nation while insisting that its rightful leader is opposition figure Raila Odinga and not President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Miguna Miguna, who holds dual citizenship in Kenya and Canada, was sent to Toronto on Tuesday after participating in a mock presidential swearing-in ceremony for Odinga in Nairobi on January 30. Miguna also is one of Odinga’s attorneys.

“Today, my lawyers filed a petition seeking to invalidate the whimsical, illegal decision” to deport, Miguna said in a phone interview Friday with VOA’s Swahili service. He spoke from his home in a Toronto suburb.

Miguna was arrested last Friday at his home in Runda. On Tuesday, Kenyan authorities forced Miguna onto a late-night KLM flight from Nairobi to Toronto via Amsterdam. His removal flouted a Kenyan high court’s order that Miguna be presented to a Nairobi judge on Wednesday, five days after his arrest.

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https://www.voanews.com/a/deported-opposition-lawyer-seeks-return-to-kenya/4247445.html

https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001269149/miguna-miguna-was-lawfully-deported-security-bosses-insist

http://www.mediamaxnetwork.co.ke/news/408299/408299/

https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2018/02/10/immigration-boss-says-he-made-no-mistake-in-deporting-miguna_c1712125

https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001269156/return-to-dark-old-days-puts-us-on-the-precipice-of-chaos

https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2018/02/10/katiba-its-unconstitutional-what-does-it-mean_c1710804

https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2018/02/10/why-railas-men-are-uneasy-with-migunas-moves_c1712000

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/kenyas-dangerous-path-toward-authoritarianism

http://zipo.co.ke/29776/raila-men-uncomfortable-miguna-miguna/

https://www.newdelhitimes.com/deported-opposition-lawyer-seeks-return-to-kenya/

http://zipo.co.ke/29772/affidavit-matiangi-used-eject-miguna-country/

https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2018/02/10/we-must-win-surrender-not-an-option-miguna-tells-nrm-from-canada_c1712259

https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001269226/miguna-fires-at-jubilee-from-toronto-you-must-be-defeated

https://www.nation.co.ke/oped/opinion/On-Miguna–Constitution-has-been-overthrown/440808-4299342-4ascv4z/index.html

http://zipo.co.ke/29776/raila-men-uncomfortable-miguna-miguna/

https://www.nation.co.ke/oped/opinion/NASA-Miguna-DEPORTATION/440808-4299524-5vpsf3z/index.html

https://www.tuko.co.ke/265685-miguna-sends-a-chilling-message-jubilee-party-urging-supporters-stand-it.html

http://www.mwakilishi.com/article/diaspora-news/2018-02-10/miguna-takes-a-swipe-at-canada-says-it-abandoned-him

https://www.nation.co.ke/news/Miguna-vows-coming-back-to-Kenya/1056-4299932-9kianjz/index.html

https://www.voaswahili.com/a/tutamlazimisha-kenyatta-kuheshimu-katiba-asema-miguna-miguna/4247274.html (SWAHILI)

http://afrique.lepoint.fr/actualites/kenya-la-haute-cour-voit-rouge-sur-l-expulsion-d-un-opposant-au-canada-09-02-2018-2193587_2365.php (FRANCAIS)

https://www.voaindonesia.com/a/pengacara-oposisi-yang-dideportasi-berusaha-kembali-ke-kenya-/4247793.html (INDONESIAN)

China: Video: The victims of China’s forced disappearances

February 9, 2018

In China, the authorities go to great lengths to control civil society, even resorting to forced disappearances. Since President Xi Jinping came to power in 2013, political opponents have gone missing every month. Sometimes without any form of judicial process, they are sent to secret prisons where they remain locked up for months or even years, without anyone ever finding out what happened to them. FRANCE 24 investigates China’s forced disappearances.

On July 9, 2015, nearly 300 lawyers and human rights activists were arrested, interrogated and imprisoned in China. Some ended up in “black jails”: untraceable places, completely cut off from the outside world, where they were detained in secret.

This massive purge, targeting all those who denounced and challenged the authoritarian excesses of the Chinese Communist Party, was called the “709 incident”. According to some experts, it was Beijing’s worst crackdown on civil society since the Tiananmen Square massacre on June 4, 1989.

Since then, some of the “709 incident” activists have been released, but other dissidents have faced the ire of the Chinese authorities, sometimes even beyond its borders.

After a three-month investigation, several victims of these purges, family members of those missing and some of the few remaining pro-democracy activists in China agreed to speak to us on camera. They recounted the abductions, harassment and torture that they have been subjected to.

FRANCE 24 brings you the harrowing story of the missing people and activists that Xi Jinping’s China is so keen to silence.

http://www.france24.com/en/20180209-video-reporters-victims-china-forced-disappearances

https://chinachange.org/tag/709-crackdown/

http://eng.the-liberty.com/2018/7088/

http://www.france24.com/fr/20180209-reporters-video-chine-trace-disparus-pouvoir-prisonniers-politiques-xi-jinping-opposants (FRANCAIS)

http://www.telerama.fr/television/en-chine,-france-24-a-enquete-sur-les-kidnappings-legaux-dopposants-au-pouvoir,n5478658.php (FRANCAIS)

Gao Zhisheng is one of China’s most respected human rights lawyers who has been subjected to enforced disappearance, torture, illegal house arrest and detention over the years.

Take action now to call on Chinese authorities to disclose Gao Zhisheng’s whereabouts.>>>www.amnesty.org.au/act-now/china-release-human-rights-lawyer/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20180124_JanNewsletter&utm_content=20180124_JanNewsletter+CID_b5972488a2c78ced77959e1fd634e974&utm_source=CM&utm_term=ACT+NOW

(Amnesty International (Queensland/Northern New South Wales) Facebook)

Cyprus/Turkey: North ‘bar association’ condemns threats against Afrika judge

February 9, 2018

The ‘bar association’ in the north condemned threats made against a judge in the case of six people facing charges in connection with demonstrations outside the Turkish Cypriot newspaper Afrika.

According to media reports from the north on Friday, a team of lawyers and the head of the ‘bar association’ Unver Bedevi stood outside court saying justice should be allowed to run its course.

“We will not remain silent against these attacks on institutions and those who represent them,” he was quoted as saying by the Cyprus News Agency.

“Those who incite separation and violence in the country, instead of learning from the serious consequences of their actions and apologising to society, have the nerve to threaten the judge and attack lawyers.”

Bedevi and other lawyers also lambasted comments by Rebirth party ‘MP’ Erhan Arikli who said the court’s decision was a message to Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan and all the ‘fellow refugees’ referring to Turkish settlers.

The Cyprus News Agency said that in a post on his Facebook account, Arikli questioned why there was such an uproar over the six suspects and a demand for a harsh sentence against them while in the past, similar actions were punished with far lighter sentences.

Coming to his own conclusion, he said it was due to the fact that the six were ‘fellow refugees’ as opposed to similar cases where they were of Cypriot origin.

Harsh sentences would be a message towards Erdogan and Turkish people that live in the north and don’t know their limits, he added.

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http://cyprus-mail.com/2018/02/09/north-bar-association-condemns-threats-afrika-judge/

The Philippines: Carandang’s accuser barred from law practice for 2 years

February 10, 2018

The lawyer who brought the complaint that led to Malacañang’s suspension of Overall Deputy Ombudsman Melchor Arthur Carandang has been barred by the Supreme Court from practicing his profession for two years for unethical conduct.

His misdeed? Endlessly blocking the enforcement of a lower court’s ruling arising from his failure to settle a P34,000 loan he took out from the Government Service and Insurance System (GSIS) 50 years ago.

The high court said Eligio Mallari violated the lawyer’s oath by resorting to “dilatory moves” in preventing the GSIS from foreclosing two parcels of lands which he used as mortgage for a loan he got in 1968.

The suspension order was meted out on Mallari on Jan. 10 but was made public only on Friday.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/967621/carandangs-accuser-barred-from-law-practice-for-2-years

https://www.rappler.com/nation/195672-sc-suspends-eligio-mallari-delaying-tactics

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/967540/sc-suspends-pro-duterte-lawyer-who-sued-ombudsman-exec

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/968372/palace-respects-ombudsman-ruling-but-says-only-house-can-suspend-members

Thailand: Regulations spur party leaders to start from scratch

February 10, 2018

Leaders of several small political parties have decided to start from scratch and form new ones to evade regulations requiring updated party membership information, which are seen as excessive and burdensome.

Under new rules, existing parties can begin their member registration process on April 1. The members are required to produce letters confirming their membership and pay party fees within 30 days of April 1 or lose their membership status.

The regulations, however, are seen as favourable to new political parties which have a month’s headstart. The registration process for new parties starts on March 1 and ends on March 31.

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In a separate development, the Democracy Restoration Group and the Start Up People group were set to gather at the Democracy Monument at 4pm today.

Meanwhile, the Criminal Court yesterday approved arrest warrants for four protest leaders who twice failed to report to police to hear illegal assembly charges. The four are Arnon Nampa, Rangsiman Rome, Aekachai Hongkangwan and Sirawith Seritiwat.

Mr Arnon yesterday said he would be at today’s rally to demand an election.

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https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/1410199/regulations-spur-party-leaders-to-start-from-scratch

http://www.khaosodenglish.com/featured/2018/02/08/police-seek-jail-terms-mbk39-protest-leaders/

http://www.khaosodenglish.com/featured/2018/02/08/police-seek-jail-terms-mbk39-protest-leaders/

https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/02/02/thailand-39-democracy-activists-charged

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-thailand-politics-activists/thailand-issues-arrest-warrants-against-four-activists-one-caught-idUKKBN1FT1MG

http://www.khaosodenglish.com/featured/2018/02/10/protest-just-kick-off-activists-say/

http://www.omct.org/human-rights-defenders/urgent-interventions/thailand/2018/02/d24729/