A roundup of legal news from around the world, here are the top stories hitting headlines globally:
Dominique Pelicot Jailed for 20 Years in Landmark mass rape trial
In a historic and harrowing trial, French courts have sentenced Dominique Pelicot, 72, to 20 years in prison for aggravated rape and drugging his ex-wife, Gisele Pelicot.
The ruling is the culmination of a trial that also saw convictions for 50 other men charged with raping or assaulting Gisele over a period of years.
The trial, held in Avignon, exposed a systematic web of abuse against Gisele, who courageously faced each of her abusers as verdicts were read. The court found 46 men guilty of rape, two of attempted rape, and two of sexual assault.
Hirachand v Hirachand sees Supreme Court rules against recovery of success fees
The Supreme Court ruled against the recovery of success fees in a landmark inheritance case that saw a mother and her estranged daughter go head to head over the family estate.
Hirachand v Hirachand,(Nalini Hirachand-Appellant, Sheila Hirachand -Katan Hirachand-Respondents)in a case highly anticipated by the wills and probate sector, was concluded to allow the inclusion of a success fee, circumventing both common law rules relating to costs and the statutory prohibition against recovering a success fee from an unsuccessful party.
The UK Supreme Court overturned the rulings of both the High Court and the Court of Appeal in a decision handed down today. This tightens financial provision awards and attunes them with principles set out in the 1990 Act restricting the recovery of success fees under Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).
Smacking children ban to come into force by the end of 2024
The Children’s Commissioner for England has said she will team up with MPs to bring in a ban on smacking children, which could come into force by the end of 2025.
Rachel de Souza plans to work with parliamentarians to push for amendments to the Children’s Wellbeing Bill, expected to be published imminently, to outlaw the practice.
Woman denies owning XL bully dog released on bail
Keven Jones, 65, died in the UK after being mauled by his daughter in law’s XL Bully dog. Chanel Fong, 31, cried in the dock as she denied being the owner of the dog. Judge Rhys Rowlands told Mrs Fong that her trial will take place in October 2025.
Chanel has been given bail on the condition she should stay in touch with her solicitors. An earlier inquest heard how police were called to the house by ambulance staff after the attack. Home Office pathologist Dr Matthew Lyall gave the provisional cause of death as blood loss due to a leg injury. Cookie – the dog, was sedated by a police marksman before being put down by a vet.
South Korean president doesn’t respond to summons after martial law declaration
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who faces criminal charges on rebellion, has not responded to a summons for questioning over his failed attempt to declare martial law.
Yoon, based in Seoul, had been asked to appear for questioning as part of an investigation by the prosecutors’ office, but said he was still forming his legal defence team. Prosecutors planned to issue another summons. Yoon was impeached on Saturday 14th December after a vote of 204/85.
YouTuber Simon Wilson took a trip to the town of Longyearbyen off the coast of Norway, when he discovered that they had one bizarre law in place.
Simon Wilson, from Wales, made his way to the icy conditions of Norwegian island Longyearbyen to find that they had a decades-old law in place that states locals aren’t allowed to die. There’s no retirement homes on the island and there have been cases of death, but locals who are elderly or can’t take care of themselves can not stay on the island.
Christian Meyer, from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, explained. He told The Mirror: “The reason for this is that the permanently frozen ground will not only tend to keep your buried remains from decomposing and push them to the surface – it may also perfectly preserve the disease that killed you, for locals to pick up later.”
News outlet ABC News agrees settlement with Donald Trump over defamation claim
ABC News has agreed to pay 15 million dollars towards Donald Trump’s presidential library in order to settle a defamation lawsuit over news anchor George Stephanopoulos’ inaccurate on-air assertion that the president-elect had been found civilly liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll.
ABC News posted an editor’s note to its website expressing their regret over Stephanopoulos’ statements during a news segment on his This Week programme.
The network will also pay one million dollars in legal fees to the law firm of Trump’s lawyer, Alejandro Brito.
Martyn’s Law clears Commons
MPs have backed a new law aimed at preventing terror attacks at events venues, including nightclubs, concert halls and churches.
Figen Murray campaigned for the law after her 29-year-old son Martyn Hett died in the Manchester Arena bombing, at the end of an Ariana Grande concert in 2017.
The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill, also known as Martyn’s Law, will compel all UK venues with a capacity of more than 200 to have provisions in place for a terror attack on their premises.
