This article details Wajahat Ali’s epic battle to save a family’s home from foreclosure in the midst of the financial crisis. It’s a very interesting, and entertaining, read. I personally believe nothing short of the complete dismantling of our existing economic system will protect families from this kind of abuse. But, in the meantime, it’s nice to know there are some good people out there offering help.
Latest Updates: law RSS
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midwinterspring
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thabet
Imam from east London mosque is jailed for beating a nine-year-old boy:
Gulam Hussain, 44, of Knotts Green Road, in Leyton, was jailed for 12 weeks today at Walthamstow Magistrates’ Court after pleading guilty to common assault by beating.
The court heard that Hussain, who was an Imam at The Jamia Mosque in Lea Bridge Road, Leyton, had previously been cautioned in 2005 for a charge of actual bodily harm (ABH) against an 11-year-old.
Chair magistrate Dr Paul Davis told Hussain through an Urdu interpreter that he was being jailed, “for the protection of the public”.
This mosque has shall we say a ‘colourful’ history to anyone who grew up in the area. Wouldn’t surprise me if accusations of dirty dealings between the boys parents and people keen to take charge of the mosque committee emerge, such as those which have surfaced on a forum frequented by British Muslims. But whatever the truth of these accusations, this doesn’t excuse the teacher for abusing his power over the children.
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thabet
Britain’s highest court has issued a ‘landmark’ ruling in the case of Debbie Purdy, when they ordered the Director of Public Prosecutions to draw up a policy which would clearly define when prosecutions would and would not be pursued in cases of ‘assisted suicide’. Essentially, what this is likely to mean is people who assist a family member to die will not face prosecution (as there will be no public interest in prosecuting the individuals, and little chance of a jury convicting).
The death, however, must take place outside the country (e.g. the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland) — such an act is still a criminal offence in Britain. According to reports over a 100 people from Britain have used Dignitas, with no prosecutions; however, a doctor is out on bail for assisting his patients to use the Swiss clinic.
The Royal College of Nursing had also dropped its opposition to assisted suicides and adopted a neutral stance, joining The Royal College of Psychiatrists, The Royal College of Anaesthetists and the The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh on this matter. The British Medical Association (the doctors union) remains opposed to assisted suicide.
The Purdy ruling by the House of Lords has sparked a debate across the political spectrum, and calls for an assisted suicide bill — defeated three years in the House of Lords — to be be re-introduced into Parliament. A modification of the current law was also rejected by peers last month.
The Church of England and prominent Catholic, Jewish and Muslim voices, have reiterated their opposition to any ‘assisted suicide’ law in the UK on numerous occassions (I can’t find a Muslim response to the latest ruling). However, I have also come across (liberal) religious believers (including Muslims) who make the following argument in support of a right to taking one’s own life:
I will make this argument given two conditions: first that the person is capable of making an educated decision, and second that their end-of-life experience includes full access to both pastoral and medical care.
The Muslim individual who I came across cited verse 23 of Surat ul-Mu’minun in support of assisted suicide or euthanasia. I am not sure his argument holds up on a number of fronts, but what do you think?
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thabet
Defining ‘religion’ and ‘race’:
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thabet
Looks like Ali Eteraz started a trend: here’s another article which seeks to link Pakistan’s problems with Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s time as Prime Minister:
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thabet
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thabet
Manan Ahmad (Sepoy) continues a trend started by Ali Eteraz: locating Pakistan’s problems in its gradual constitutional (d)evolution and militarisation.
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thabet
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The retrial of the men accused of the transatlantic liquid bomb plot has begun.
Not, as Septic Isle notes, that you could tell from the media reporting that this is a retrial .
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thabet
Law without mercy is barbarism dressed up.
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thabet
Justice is still not colour blind.
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thabet
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thabet
Some good news: European Court of Human Rights says the New Labour government’s idea of holding the DNA of innocent people is unlawful.
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thabet
Corporate manslaughter: Five Blackwater employees (mercenaries) were charged with manslaughter this past week, accused of killing unarmed Iraqis. The families of the Iraqis want the death penalty, although lawyers for the families think the case will be thrown out.
Sadly, this case will probably be another whitewash — the policymakers, politicians and corporate executives behind the decisions to privatise the Iraq war and enact laws which granted the likes of Blackwater immunity, will be untouched.
(Via Jurist.)
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thabet
I think this former judge would have been better off explaining how to achieve the aim he seeks (see the end of the article), rather than merely calling it something ‘good’.
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thabet
The UAE opens its first all-female law firm and appoints its first set of female public prosecutors.
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thabet
Good news: The Home Secretary has ordered an inquiry into whether MI5 and CIA carried out ‘criminal acts’ in their treatment of a British resident being held in Guantanamo Bay.
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thabet
If some of these reported comments are true, they seem a little ignorant, especially the claim that ’sharia admits no exceptions’ and is ‘arbitrary’. That isn’t an accurate characterisation.
The comments at the end are better:
“The House is applying the domestic law of this country, as it is bound to do… We are not passing judgment on the law or institutions of any other state. Nor are we setting out to make comparisons, favourable or unfavourable, with sharia law.”
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thabet
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thabet
Britain’s shame:
Thousands of Chagos islanders have had the right to return to their homeland in the Indian Ocean overturned by a House of Lords judgement.
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thabet
A Liberal Democrat MP has said the courts should refuse an extradition request from Germany for an Australian schoolteacher accused of being a Holocaust denier.
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thabet
There is some confusion over whether or not the government will drop its attempt to extend detention with charge to 42 days.
The Times reported that the attempt would be dropped due to opposition from the House of Lords, but later the government issued a statement saying they were pressing ahead with trying to pass the legislation.
The government will probably try and force it through next year. Septic Isle speculates the Tories may pick it up as part of their push to win the next general election.
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thabet
A US court orders the Bush military junta to release 17 Uighurs being held in Guantanamo who were kidnapped in Pakistan seven years ago. However, an appeals court has temporarily blocked the release.
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Rizwaan Sabir writes about his experience of being arrested as a suspected terrorist, after he downloaded and printed an “al-Qaeda training manual”. Sabir is a PhD candidate at Nottingham University and was arrested earlier this year alongside Hicham Yezza.
Unsurprisingly, the usual set of bigots that populate Comment is free are happy to suggest Sabir deserved to be arrested simply because of his name.
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thabet
Alan Dershowitz’s arguments (and The New York Times blogger’s apologetic tone) get destroyed in the comments.
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thabet
US soldier is jailed “for conspiracy to murder four Iraqi men in April 2007″.
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thabet
A Pakistani televangelist and former MQM politician called for the killing of Ahmadis on television. Two people were killed shortly after the broadcast.
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thabet
Silvio Berlusconi’s superior civilisation: The Ministry of Justice in Italy is considering an appeal for the prosecution of an Italian comic for ‘insulting the Pope’.
