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Historic hearing will receive submissions from people whose human rights have been affected by climate changeJulian Medina comes from a long line of fishers in the north of Colombia’s Gulf of Morrosquillo who use small-scale and often traditional methods to catch species such as mackerel, tuna and cojinúa.Medina went into business as a young man but was drawn back to his roots, and ended...

The court will investigate crimes against humanity committed during the African country’s two civil wars between 1989 and 2003Senators in Liberia have voted overwhelmingly to establish a war crimes court, two decades after civil conflict ended in the west African country.The new court will investigate and try crimes against humanity and corruption committed during Liberia’s two civil wars between 1989 and 2003, which killed...

This blog is now closed.Full report: Bruce Lehrmann ‘hellbent on having sex’ with Brittany Higgins and raped her in Parliament House, defamation judge findsA ‘hapless’ Bumble date, Qing dynasty ceramics and the Algonquin round table: the best lines from the Bruce Lehrmann verdictBruce Lehrmann and Lisa Wilkinson have both arrived into courtroom one on the 21st level of the federal court building in central...

Concerns that rare sleep disorder is being used as an ‘escape route’ in sexual offence trials prompt calls for safeguards to protect victims and the publicExperts and lawyers involved in sexual offence cases in Britain have warned that suspected rapists are evading justice by claiming to have a rare sleepwalking disorder that causes them to engage in sexual activity while asleep.They said there had...

News service says it closed bureau after passing of new national security law known as Article 23US-funded Radio Free Asia (RFA) has closed its Hong Kong bureau over safety concerns for its staff in the wake of a new national security law known as Article 23.“Actions by Hong Kong authorities, including referring to RFA as a ‘foreign force’, raise serious questions about our ability...

High court strikes out part but not all of Bridgen’s case and orders him to pay Tory MP’s costsThe MP Andrew Bridgen has been ordered to pay Matt Hancock more than £40,000 in legal fees after an early stage of their libel battle.The MP for North West Leicestershire is bringing a libel claim against the former health secretary regarding a January 2023 message on...

Victoria McCloud wants leave to join litigation in supreme court appeal brought by For Women ScotlandThe UK’s first transgender judge is seeking leave to join the litigation in a crucial supreme court case that could significantly affect legal protections for transgender women, the Guardian has learned.Victoria McCloud, a senior civil judge who became the youngest person appointed as master of the high court in...

Bill being laid before Scottish parliament could, if approved, allow people in Britain to take their own lives within the lawUK membership of Dignitas, the Swiss assisted dying association, has jumped to 1,900 people – a 24% rise during 2023 – as an assisted dying bill is laid before the Scottish parliament.People from the UK now make up the second largest group who have...

Eleven found guilty of crimes against humanity after trial that heard testimony on torture, rape and forced disappearances A court in Argentina has convicted 11 former military, police and government officials of crimes against humanity committed during the country’s last dictatorship in a sprawling trial that heard, for the first time, about atrocities suffered by trans women.The three-year case focused on the forced disappearances,...

British Pregnancy Advisory Service says there is ‘genuine concern’ over rising number of investigationsSenior Labour figures seeking to water down plans to decriminalise abortionA leading provider of abortion services has received more than 30 demands to hand over medical records of women to police in the past four years, increasing to an average of one a month since October.Rachael Clarke, the chief of staff...

Voters told to swamp polling stations all at once and spoil ballots, after two days of dye attacks, fires and Ukrainian cross-border strikesRussians vote in final day of presidential election – live updatesCritics of Vladimir Putin and his Kremlin regime have called for massive protests at Russian polling stations on Sunday, the final day of a presidential election that is guaranteed to cement his...

Dancehall star was sentenced to life in prison in 2014 for the murder of an associateThe Jamaican musician Vybz Kartel’s conviction for the murder of an associate more than a decade ago has been quashed, with a London court ruling that attempts to bribe the trial jury meant the conviction was unsafe.The dancehall star, whose real name is Adidja Palmer, is one of Jamaica’s...

Andrew Cayley, previously Britain’s chief military prosecutor, to run operation of the complex caseA senior British lawyer has been appointed to oversee the international criminal court’s investigation into alleged war crimes in the Palestinian territories, the Guardian understands.Andrew Cayley, a barrister and former military prosecutor, has recently joined the ICC after he was chosen by the court’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, to lead the...

Some of the Tories’ ‘anti-woke warriors’ seem unaware that protection of speech in parliament does not extend to social mediaOn 28 October, Michelle Donelan, the secretary of state for science, published a letter expressing her “disgust and outrage” that two academics who had been appointed to an advisory group had been “sharing some extremist views on social media”.It was an extremely serious accusation levelled...

Debate has begun on Article 23 – legislation designed to bring laws closer to those of mainland ChinaHong Kong’s government has released the draft text of a new national security law that would further tighten control on the city and bring its laws closer in line with mainland China.The law, known as Article 23, is a domestic piece of legislation defining and penalising crimes...

Jury acquits Jeffrey Cook and John Mason after lawyers argue payments were authorised by UK and Saudi governmentsTwo men have been acquitted of paying bribes totalling millions of pounds to high-ranking Saudis after they argued that they had been unfairly prosecuted.Jeffrey Cook and John Mason had been accused of bribing a Saudi prince and his associates to secure and maintain a huge defence deal...

The recording forms part of the territory’s appeal of over $1m in compensation awarded to four teenage inmatesFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastDisturbing footage of teenagers being handcuffed and hosed down after being teargassed at the notorious Don Dale Detention Centre has been seen as evidence in an Northern...

First Nation members say in lawsuit that radiologists subjected them to a secret study without their knowledge or consentMembers of a First Nation in Canada have launched a lawsuit alleging they were subjected to a secret medical experiment without their consent that left them feeling “violated and humiliated”.The class-action lawsuit, which was certified by the Nova Scotia supreme court in early February, revives the...

Exclusive: Group of London toilet cleaners and attendants at court of appeal over legality of outsourced contractsA group of toilet cleaners and attendants for London’s most famous parks could be about to make legal history in the court of appeal by arguing that their outsourced contracts amounted to indirect race discrimination.While Royal Parks’ mostly white in-house staff were paid at least the London living...

Riyad al-Maliki presents Palestinian case at start of week of hearings called by UN general assembly voteThe Palestinian foreign minister has accused Israel of “colonialism and apartheid” at a world court hearing on the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands since 1967.“For over a century, the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination has been denied and violated,” Riyad al-Maliki told a bench of...

Special rapporteur cites lack of medical supplies, food and clean water, and continued demolition of infrastructureMiddle East crisis – live updatesIsrael appears to be in breach of the orders issued a fortnight ago by the international court of justice requiring it to take immediate steps to protect Palestinians’ rights and cease all activities that could constitute genocide, the UN special rapporteur on the occupied...

Father’s lawyers label high court of Australia decision a ‘monumental outcome’ for families of clergy sexual abuse victimsFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastAustralia’s highest court has rejected the Catholic church’s bid to avoid paying damages to the father of a choirboy allegedly sexually abused by Cardinal George Pell.The father,...

People may be exposed to abuses such as torture and degrading treatment in Rwanda, says watchdogEurope’s leading anti-torture watchdog has called on the government to process asylum claims in the UK rather than sending people to Rwanda because of the risk they may be exposed to human rights abuses there.In a report published on Thursday, the Council of Europe’s committee for the prevention of...

Tech tycoon awaiting fraud trial in US brings case against Serious Fraud Office in LondonMike Lynch, the technology tycoon once lauded as the UK’s answer to Bill Gates and now facing criminal fraud charges in the US, is suing the Serious Fraud Office.Lynch, who was extradited to the US last year to face trial over allegations he duped Hewlett-Packard into overpaying when it struck...