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Appeals court rejects secret Delaware arbitration
Headline Legal News |
2013/10/25 15:20
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A federal appeals court has upheld a ruling declaring that a Delaware law allowing chancery judges to oversee secret arbitration in high-stakes business disputes is unconstitutional.
A three-judge panel of the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-to-1 Wednesday to uphold a federal judge's ruling in favor of the Delaware Coalition for Open Government, which challenged the law.
DelCOG, backed by The Associated Press, The New York Times and several other major news organizations, claimed in its lawsuit that the secret arbitration conducted by Delaware's Chancery Court violated the First Amendment rights of citizens to attend judicial proceedings and access court records.
Attorneys for the state argued that secret arbitration made the Chancery Court more efficient and generated revenue for Delaware, corporate home to thousands of companies.
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EU top court holds up state's say in Volkswagen
Headline Legal News |
2013/10/23 11:39
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The European Union's top court has upheld a law giving a German government authority a blocking minority in Volkswagen AG, Europe's largest carmaker.
The Court of Justice on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit against the rule brought by the European Commission, the 28-nation bloc's executive arm that also acts as the antitrust watchdog.
The German state of Lower Saxony's 20 percent stake in the Wolfsburg-based automaker gives it the right to block corporate decisions — a lower threshold than the 25 percent blocking minority for all other German public companies. But the court ruled the law still meets the relevant European requirements.
Lower Saxony state governor Stephan Weil, in turn, expressed "great joy" about the ruling, calling it a good day for the state and the company's employees, according to a statement issued by his office.
Volkswagen declined to comment on the verdict since the company wasn't a party to the lawsuit by the Commission against Germany. The company owns 12 car brands including Audi, Seat and high-end sports car maker Porsche.
The court also struck down a fine sought by the Commission which would have cost German authorities several dozen millions of euros.
The Commission initiated proceedings against the so-called Volkswagen law in 2005. A 2007 Court of Justice ruling then invalidated parts of it, forcing Germany to amend the law to its present form. Still, the Commission maintained it inhibits the free movement of capital within the EU. |
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Spanish court convicts 53 in corruption trial
Headline Legal News |
2013/10/04 13:31
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A Spanish court convicted 53 people Friday in the country's biggest-ever corruption trial, which lasted two years and centered on widespread real estate fraud and bribery in the southern jet-set resort town of Marbella.
The defendants in the trial, which ended last year, included former town hall officials, lawyers and business representatives. The judge took several months to decide on the sentences — 40 other people were acquitted and two accused died while the case was being prepared.
Under a highly complex scheme in the mid-1990s, city funds were widely misappropriated, and public officials and business representatives divvied up under-the table kickbacks for planning permissions and construction of hotels, residential complexes and urban infrastructure. Much of the money was then laundered with the help of lawyers.
Marbella, located on Spain's southern coast, was a magnet for jet set and society figures from across the world during the 1970s and 1980s.
The man who prosecutors said was the mastermind of the fraud, former Marbella urban planning adviser Juan Antonio Roca, got the biggest sentence — 11 years — for money laundering, bribery and fraud. He also was fined 240 million euros ($326 million).
Roca has been in jail since 2006 when he was first arrested as the case broke. Back then, he was considered one of the richest people in Spain with his assets including ranches, fighting bulls, thoroughbred horses, art, expensive cars and boats.
The scheme began when late Atletico Madrid soccer club owner Jesus Gil y Gil was mayor of Marbella between 1991 and 2002. Roca began working for Marbella town hall under Gil and claimed during the trial that he was just following the mayor's orders. |
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Chile top court confirms block on Barrick mine
Headline Legal News |
2013/09/30 14:48
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Chile's Supreme Court confirmed on Wednesday the suspension of Barrick Gold Corp.'s Pascua-Lama gold mine straddling the border with Argentina, but the court stopped short of ordering a re-evaluation of the environmental permit for the $8.5 billion project high in the Andes.
An indigenous community living below the mine had asked the Supreme Court to revoke Barrick's license and require the world's largest gold-mining company to prepare a new environmental impact study.
The Diaguita Indians, who accuse Barrick of contaminating their water downstream, earlier won an appellate ruling that ordered a freeze on construction of the project until the Toronto-based company builds infrastructure to prevent water pollution.
But they wanted to go further and had appealed that ruling from the court in the northern city of Copiapo in hopes of forcing Barrick to apply for a new permit that takes into account their anthropological and cultural claims to the watershed below the mine.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled the measures issued by the Copiapo Court "are sufficient to protect the constitutional guarantees that have been denounced as violated." The court also ordered "a suspension of the Pascua-Lama mining project" until environmental commitments and all works to protect the water systems are adopted.
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Teen guilty of murdering Georgia baby in stroller
Headline Legal News |
2013/09/03 20:24
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An 18-year-old man was convicted of murder in the shooting of a baby who was riding in a stroller alongside his mom in a town in coastal Georgia.
Jurors deliberated about two hours before finding De'Marquise Elkins guilty in the March 21 killing of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago in Brunswick. The man's mother, Karimah Elkins, was on trial alongside him and was found guilty of tampering with evidence but acquitted of lying to police.
De'Marquise Elkins' attorney asked for bond for his client while they appealed, which a judge denied.
Prosecutors said Elkins killed Antonio in an attempted robbery. The baby's mother, Sherry West, also was shot.
Another teen, 15-year-old Dominique Lang, is also charged with murder in the case and is set to be tried later.
Sherry West testified during the two-week trial that she was walking home from the post office with 13-month-old Antonio Santiago in a stroller on the morning of March 21. She said a gunman demanding her purse shot her baby in the face after she told him she had no money. |
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