Living in a country where so-called gay propaganda is banned, Denis, 19, was happy to finally meet someone he felt a connection with on the dating app Tinder. A few weeks after they had started chatting, the guy on the other side of the screen invited him over and asked him to bring “some weed” to relax them during their first encounter. But when Denis arrived at the address his date had given him, he was met by two policeman who began to search him. “It turned out to be a set up, and the guy I was talking to on Tinder was a cop,” Denis told The Moscow Times. The police presented him with a choice — pay a bribe or face being charged under the notorious Article 228 for drug-related crimes. “They told me they would charge me with possession of 7 grams of marijuana and open a criminal case against me, even though I had much less on me. It would be the end of my university career and possibly my future,” he said. Possession of up to 6 grams of the … [Read more...] about A Change in Russia’s Draconian Drug Laws Could Be on the Horizon
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Composure needed before creating new laws
There is a legal saying that hard cases make bad law. In essence, it is a restatement of the law of unintended consequences - basing the law on the findings of an extreme case may produce a precedent which is poor law when applied to medium or moderate cases. It is a phrase which must be borne in mind as Parliament debates the reform of New Zealand's gun laws - legislation replete with arbitrary and almost certainly unintended distinctions. After last Friday, Parliament wants to do something and the nation wants something done. This is as hard a case as it gets - but is one from which bad law should not ensue. It is a hazard politicians are aware of - the Cabinet consideration, drafting, three readings, committee stages, select committee hearings and public submissions process any proposed law goes through can be lengthy, but it is designed to attempt to prevent poorly phrased and ill thought-out proposals becoming statutes. Of course, it does not always work. That's why we have … [Read more...] about Composure needed before creating new laws
Harvard investigates ‘trauma’ among students after law professor agrees to represent Harvey Weinstein
Harvard University has launched an investigation into law professor Ronald Sullivan after he agreed to represent Harvey Weinstein in court. Mr Sullivan, the university’s first African American faculty dean, joined Mr Weinstein’s legal team in January, ahead of the June trial for rape. Mr Weinstein himself was spotted on Wednesday meeting a private investigator, Herman Weisberg, who he has hired to assist in his case. The two men met at a Cipriani Dolci restaurant in Grand Central station, with Mr Weinstein attempting to disguise his appearance with a black baseball cap and dark glasses. Mr Sullivan, on joining Mr Weinstein’s team, felt the backlash almost immediately, as his students began complaining that his decision to represent the disgraced film producer traumatised them, and put them at risk. A student, studying visual and environmental studies, started an online petition to remove Mr Sullivan from his position as faculty dean of Winthrop House, one of … [Read more...] about Harvard investigates ‘trauma’ among students after law professor agrees to represent Harvey Weinstein
Judge ‘shocked’ at DPP’s decision to prosecute man for assisting woman to attempt suicide
A trial judge was shocked at a DPP decision to prosecute a man for assisting a woman in attempting suicide on a night when the two people decided to take their own lives together.The trial judge asked why the Director of Public Prosecutions had brought such a case to criminal court.Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin said at Cork Circuit Criminal Court today: “I know the DPP have brought this case but I would say, someone would want to think, 'what are we doing here?' "This is a court of crime. Does the DPP realise that both of these were psychiatric patients at the time? Both of them are under psychiatric care. They are making joint plans.”The judge said that putting the case to the jury would be to ask them to speculate on what was going on in the mind of a man in relation to the young woman at a time when he was in the process of preparing to die by suicide himself. "He was going into the garden to end his life. (It would mean asking the jury) to speculate on what … [Read more...] about Judge ‘shocked’ at DPP’s decision to prosecute man for assisting woman to attempt suicide
Editorial: ‘Law on ‘coercive control’ welcome’
Editorial: 'Law on 'coercive control' welcome' Independent.ie A new law to improve protections available to victims of domestic violence under both the civil and criminal law has been introduced, with a creation of a new offence of "coercive control". The Domestic Violence Act 2018, while overdue, is to be welcomed, particularly the new offence which, in the words of Minister for Justice, Charles Flanagan, "recognises that the effect of non-violent control in an intimate relationship can be as harmful to victims as physical abuse because it is an abuse of the unique trust associated with an intimate relationship". https://www.independent.ie/opinion/editorial/editorial-law-on-coercive-control-welcome-37777305.html https://www.independent.ie/incoming/article37777000.ece/8588a/AUTOCROP/h342/22law.jpg Email A new law to improve protections available to victims of domestic violence under both the civil and criminal law has been introduced, with a creation of a new offence of … [Read more...] about Editorial: ‘Law on ‘coercive control’ welcome’