Latest news with #supremecourt
The Guardian
12 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Indian court orders removal of thousands of stray dogs from Delhi region
India's supreme court has ordered the immediate removal of thousands of stray dogs from the Delhi capital region, citing canine attacks and the country's alarming rabies toll. The sweeping move has set up a clash between public safety advocates and those who see the animals as beloved fixtures of their neighbourhoods. The ruling on Monday, one of the strongest in the nation's long-running struggle with its street dog population, directs civic authorities to capture all strays, sterilise and vaccinate them and relocate them to newly built shelters. The court gave authorities eight weeks to create the facilities and install CCTV monitoring to ensure no animals are released back on to the streets. The bench stressed the need for immediate action. 'Round up all stray dogs from all localities … whether sterilised or unsterilised,' Justice JB Pardiwala declared. 'Children must feel safe while cycling and playing. The elderly must feel safe on their walks.' Stray dog control has become a lightning rod civic issue in Delhi and other Indian cities. While some residents see the dogs as a menace, others consider them to be like family. Many of the dogs are fed daily by 'community feeders' who provide food, water and veterinary care. Nishima Bhagat, who attended a candlelight march in the centre of the city on Monday night to protest against the court ruling, said: 'We are walking in solidarity to show that there are people for the voiceless. They [the dogs] cannot speak for themselves. They cannot be put into the pounds. We cannot uproot them from the place where they live.' India bears the highest rabies burden globally. Each year about 5,700 people die from rabies, according to government figures, and the World Health Organization believes the toll to be as high as 20,000 deaths. The last dog census, in 2012, put Delhi's stray population at 60,000 and the figure now is estimated to be closer to 1 million. Dog packs roam parks, construction sites and residential lanes. Attacks on children and elderly people often make news headlines. Between January and June this year, Delhi reported 35,198 animal bite incidents and 49 rabies cases, municipal data shows. Pardiwala dismissed India's animal birth control (ABC) rules, which mandate that sterilised dogs be returned to their territories, as 'absurd' and ineffective. 'All these so-called animal lovers, will they bring back the children who have lost their lives?' he said, urging civic authorities to act decisively rather than debate policy. The ruling said there could be no exceptions and that anyone resisting the removals would face charges. Animal protection groups called the order 'impractical and inhumane'. Bharati Ramachandran, the chief executive of the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations, urged large-scale sterilisation, vaccination, and public awareness campaigns. Mini Aravindan, a senior official at Peta India, said: 'It's infeasible to build and staff enough shelters for hundreds of thousands of dogs' and the cost would be huge.
Irish Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Spain starts sending hundreds of asylum-seeking children from Canary Islands to mainland
Spain has begun the process of relocating hundreds of asylum-seeking children who have been living on the Canary Islands to the mainland amid a wave of anti-immigrant sentiment led by the far right. Just over 1,000 children, mainly from Mali, have been at the centre of a legal wrangle between Madrid and the Canary Island government in recent months over who should be responsible for them. They are among the many Africans who have made the dangerous crossing by boat to the Canary Islands, which has become one of the main routes from Africa to Europe. In March, the Spanish supreme court ruled that the central government was accountable for their wellbeing. After a series of logistical delays, that order is finally being implemented. READ MORE 'Justice is being done for these unaccompanied boys, girls and teenagers and for [the Canary Islands], which have been exclusively burdened with all the weight of this humanitarian drama,' wrote Fernando Clavijo, president of the Canary Island government, on social media, in advance of the first transfer of children to the mainland. Ten children – nine Malians and one Senegalese – were due to leave the Canary Islands on Monday, although their exact destination was unclear. The central government plans to transfer groups of up to 40 per week in the future and find homes for them with local charity organisations. Mr Clavijo has been demanding greater support from the central government of socialist Pedro Sánchez and from the country's other 16 regional governments to manage the situation regarding unaccompanied minors and adult migrants. As well as the asylum seekers, there are another estimated 4,000 or so migrant children who have been living on the Canary Islands. [ Violent clashes break out between far-right groups and migrants in Spanish town Opens in new window ] More than 100 migrants - 17 of them minors - wait to disembark from a "cayuco" boat that arrived last September, 2024 in the Canary Islands. Photograph: Antonio Sempere/ AFP As minors, their legal status is more complex than that of adult arrivals and they cannot be repatriated. Total migrant arrivals by boat to the Canary Islands this year reached 11,575 as of July 31st. Although that number is almost 50 per cent lower than the equivalent last year, as the Balearic Islands becomes an increasingly common alternative destination for migrants. Mr Clavijo has warned that local services are struggling to manage. The process of transferring the remaining migrant children is also due to get under way in September, following congress approval earlier this year of a new mechanism to manage them. The tight vote, which saw conservatives and the far right oppose the procedure, reflected how immigration has been pushed to the centre of the Spanish political arena. The conservative People's Party (PP) recently closed down a migrant centre in Pozuelo, near Madrid, where 400 minors were due to be taken in. The minister for territorial policy, Ángel Víctor Torres, accused the PP of putting up 'obstacles to the taking in of minors, those who are black'. Last month, the far-right Vox party called for the deportation of millions of migrants 'who have not adapted to our customs'. The party's leader, Santiago Abascal, said unaccompanied migrant minors should be among the deportees. A broader debate about tolerance of cultures and religions has arisen more recently, after the PP – at the instigation of Vox – introduced in the southern town of Jumilla a norm preventing religious festivals from being celebrated in local sports halls. The move was seen as being aimed specifically at the town's Muslim community, which had been holding two annual events in a local sports venue. The PP's mayor of Jumilla, Seve González, said it was important to 'defend our identity and protect the [Catholic] values and religious expressions of our country'. The left-wing central government and the country's Catholic Church have criticised the initiative, with the latter describing it as 'a discrimination which cannot be allowed in democratic society'.
Bloomberg
4 days ago
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Indigenous Group Wins Land Claim Over Slice of Metro Vancouver
An Indigenous group won claim to hundreds of acres of metropolitan Vancouver after a years-long trial and landmark judgment at British Columbia's supreme court. The Cowichan have aboriginal title to a section of riverbank in the city of Richmond, according to the 863-page ruling published Friday. Interests of the government of Canada and the city in the area alongside the Fraser River outlined in black on a map attached to the ruling 'are defective and invalid,' the judge said.
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Judge tells colleagues to be ‘on their guard' over expert witness evidence
Judges need to be 'on their guard' about expert witness evidence, according to a leading supreme court judge, who urged the legal profession to improve their 'scientific and technical literacy' to help prevent miscarriages of justice. Patrick Hodge, who is deputy president of the supreme court and president of the Expert Witness Institute, said the increasing complexity of legal cases in modern society means expert witnesses are playing a bigger role than ever before. 'I think the nature of modern technology and the nature of modern medical science makes these things much more expert-driven than they were,' he said. 'But you can't be in thrall to an expert witness, you have to approach their evidence with care. 'As a judge, you need to be on your guard and make sure that you feel they are in a position to be properly expressing opinions on that subject. To say: 'Does your experience justify you expressing an opinion on that matter?'' Senior politicians, lawyers and doctors have raised concerns about the lack of oversight and regulation in the use of expert witnesses, who give evidence in court on subjects considered outside the knowledge of a judge or jury. Their evidence can be crucial in determining the outcome of some cases, and there have been instances in which mishandled expert evidence has led to miscarriages of justice. The case of Lucy Letby, the neonatal nurse convicted of murdering seven babies, has prompted renewed scrutiny of expert witnesses. Lawyers appealing against her conviction argue that the expert evidence presented at her trial was flawed. The Expert Witness Institute, a not-for-profit founded in 1996, offers training and membership for experts based on their experience, as well as a directory of vetted experts, although there is no obligation for lawyers to use the service, or other similar schemes. Lord Hodge said lawyers and judges should improve their 'scientific and technical literacy' so they're not 'completely cold' on a subject and too reliant on expert witness evidence. 'I think there is always concern over miscarriage of justice. A person, no matter how expert and no matter how impartial, may make mistakes. And the court may not be aware of that,' he said. He added that there were problems with 'people coming forward claiming expertise in pseudoscience' which judges needed to be able to spot and challenge. Julie Maxton, the executive director of the Royal Society – the UK's national academy of sciences – said resources to help judges understand the scientific topics that keep cropping up in courtrooms were becoming increasingly popular. The society holds seminars and writes primers for judges on everything from the use of statistics and substance addiction to ballistics and DNA analysis. 'In this country, most people who go to do law don't do scientific A-levels. So they might have been out of contact with science for a long time, and science changes so much,' she said. 'We're not trying to make judges scientists, and we're all very aware that expert witnesses owe their first duty to the court for accuracy. But we're also aware that sometimes experts get things wrong.' Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Maxton said there would always be a role for expert witnesses, but the question was whether they should be accredited, and how they can be kept from digressing beyond the key areas of disagreement. She said this was of key importance in less-tested areas of science, such as gait analysis, which some experts claim they can use to identify people based on their walk. 'They say 'I can tell by the way this person does that, or how long their stride is etc.' But there may be no scientific basis for that,' said Maxton. As well as potential problems with the quality of expert evidence, there are concerns about whether expert witnesses are given enough training to act with complete impartiality. Hodge said there was 'a danger of an expert witness compromising their impartiality by being too anxious to please the client or the lawyers who have instructed them'. He said people used repeatedly as expert witnesses can end up with a 'protect the doctor mentality', where they focus too much on defending rather than explaining. 'It's very important that there are bodies who are providing accreditation and training to people who are setting themselves up as expert witnesses,' he said, even if these are not compulsory.
The Guardian
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Brazil judge eases Jair Bolsonaro house arrest to allow family visits
A Brazilian supreme court judge has eased the terms of Jair Bolsonaro's house arrest, allowing the far-right former president to receive visits from family members without prior judicial approval. The former paratrooper turned populist has been under house arrest since Monday, when Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the measure on the grounds that Bolsonaro had allegedly violated court orders. In his initial ruling, Moraes permitted Bolsonaro to receive only his lawyers and the family members he lives with at a mansion in Brasília: his wife, Michelle, his daughter and his stepdaughter. All other relatives were required to seek judicial authorisation, a restriction that has now been lifted. 'I authorise visits from the detainee's sons, daughters-in-law, granddaughters and grandsons without prior notice,' Moraes wrote, stressing that all visitors must still comply with the ban on using mobile phones or taking photos and videos of the former president. Bolsonaro also remains barred from contacting his son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, a congressman who has been in the United States since March and claims to have played a key role in persuading Donald Trump to impose a 50% tariff on Brazilian imports – a move the US president justified as a response to what he called a 'witch-hunt' against Bolsonaro. Two weeks ago, Moraes ordered Bolsonaro to wear an electronic ankle tag to prevent a potential escape attempt. In justifying last Monday's house arrest, the justice argued that Bolsonaro had flouted a court order prohibiting the use of social media – including by third parties – by appearing via video call at Sunday rallies, a recording of which was later posted by one of his politician sons, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro. Although legal experts broadly agree that the case accusing Bolsonaro of leading a coup attempt in 2022 is strong, the house arrest order has sparked a more contentious debate. Some have defended the judge's decision, arguing he had been 'patient' with Bolsonaro's repeated breaches of court rulings. But other legal scholars argue that it is unclear what precise violation Bolsonaro committed, noting that he was not explicitly banned from speaking at public events. In response to Moraes's latest ruling, politicians aligned with Bolsonaro have blocked congressional proceedings, demanding that lawmakers vote to impeach the supreme court justice and grant amnesty to the hundreds accused of involvement in the alleged coup attempt – including the ransacking of Brasília on 8 January 2023. The case against the 70-year-old politician is at an advanced stage and a verdict is expected as early as next month, with Bolsonaro facing a potential sentence of more than 40 years in prison.
