After a few months hiatus, I am bringing back my Global Legal Monitor (GLM) updates post, the Global Legal Monitor: Highlights. What I usually do with this post is provide a list of interesting GLM articles that attracted a higher number of readers within a month of their publication. I also often highlight a few additional GLM items published in the same time period that, although they did not garner as much attention, describe equally interesting legal developments in different parts of the world.
In this installment of my GLM highlights post I have combined articles published in September, October and November 2013. In these three months alone Global Legal Monitor published a total of 84 articles on various legal developments around the globe. Here is a list of the top three articles for each of these months in the order of their popularity:
Top September Articles
- China: Trademark Law Revised
- Fiji: New Constitution Signed into Law
- Vietnam: Controversial Internet Decree in Effect
Top October Articles
- World Bank: Legal Barriers to Economic Equality for Women Still Exist
- Switzerland; United States: Agreement on Tax Dispute
- Malaysia: Court Decision on Use of Word “Allah” by Non-Muslims
Top November Articles
- Thailand: Draft Legislation on Civil Partnerships for Same-Sex Couples
- Russian Federation: New Privacy Protection Law
- Indonesia: Government Planning to Reduce Exports of Shark Fins
In addition to the above listed articles, I found numerous others so interesting that I thought I would be remiss in my duties if I did not highlight a few. Three will do for now. The first discusses a recent, first ever conviction obtained under a newly passed law in Sweden criminalizing the act of filming or taking still photos of a person without permission in certain circumstances including inside a home, in toilets, or in dressing rooms. The article notes that a 47 year old man became the first person to be convicted under this law for filming a woman taking a shower with her young son.
The second GLM article explains a recent measure adopted by Ukraine‘s Ministry of Revenue and Duties authorizing the institution to conduct polygraph (lie detectors) tests on job applicants and on officials under investigation for possible misconduct (including corruption). The article states that, although polygraph tests are recognized as indirect evidence in Ukraine, results of such tests authorized by the new measure will not form a basis for any legal action.
The third article describes a recent measure that the lower house of Russia‘s legislature recently adopted, which seeks to impose on persons convicted for terrorism offenses a legal duty to pay compensatory damages to victims for loss of life and/or property. The measure, which is widely expected to be enacted into law soon, also mandates that the property of family members of persons who commit terrorist acts can be used to compensate victims of such acts if there is “reasonable ground to believe” that the property was obtained in connection with terrorist activities. In addition, the law extends the statutory limitation period to bring civil claims for damages caused by terrorist acts.
Please remember to use the comments section to tell us which of the GLM articles you find interesting.
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