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Dying declaring not sacred:
Court
New Delhi - The Supreme Court has ruled that a dying declaration has to be
put through the test of reliability like any other piece of evidence
collected by the police. Acquitting two convicted for murder, it said: "The
dying declaration has to be tested on the touchstone of credibility."
The Asian Age - February 9, 2004.
U.S. court broadens anti-terrorism review
Washington - February 22, 2004 - The United States Supreme Court has agreed
to hear and decide if American citizens can be held indefinitely as "enemy
combatants" without access to lawyers or courts. The apex court has accepted
the case of Jose Padilla or known as the "dirty bomb suspect" and in the
process will be defining what is the Federal Government's scope in the
so-called war on terrorism. The Padilla case will be heard along with that
of another American, Yaser Esam Hamdi, who was picked up in the battlefields
of Afghanistan. Attorneys for both men say that the treatment of them is
unconstitutional. Civil rights advocates in the US and overseas have been
sharply critical of the manner in which the Bush administration has gone
about the detentions which violate basic human rights and international
accords. A counter-terrorism specialist, Michael Greenberger, has said that
everything the Bush administration is doing now "is an attempt to make an
awful situation much more defensible when it gets to the Supreme Court. But
the Administration maintains that those detained are a threat to national
security.
The Hindu - February 22, 2004.
UK police can now force lawyers to reveal information
London - February 23, 2004 - Britain's new FBI-style will get sweeping
powers under which lawyers, bankers and accountants would be forced to
disclose confidential client information. Professionals normally bound by
secrecy rules would be told that they must answer investigators questions,
otherwise they could be fined.
The Asian Age - February 24, 2004. |
