India: Reforms In Family Laws: Law Commission Makes Recommendation

The Law Commission on Friday hinted on some recommendations on reforms in family law. Some of the recommendations in its consultation paper are tweaking of the Indian Succession Act, 1925, to allow children born out of wedlock the right to inherit self-acquired property of their parents, need to replace ‘boy’ or ‘girl’ with ‘child’ to make room for adoption of inter-sex children under the Juvenile Justice Act.
The panel upholds the “best interests of the child” as paramount in deciding matters of custody regardless of personal laws.

India: Law Commission Suggests Significant Changes In Family And Personal Laws

The Indian Law Commission on Friday suggested significant changes in family and personal laws. These include “no-fault” divorce in an irretrievable breakdown of marriage and a stricter ban on child marriage. The commission’s 185-page consultation paper sought to strike a balance between freedom of religion and right to equality, while not favoring a uniform civil code. With UCC suffering from a lack of consensus, the commission has called for amendments in existing family laws and codification in aspects of the personal law that aim for gender equality “within communities” rather than seeking the more contentious parity “between communities”.

India: Family Law Reform: Confession Is Not A Criminal Act, Law Panel Declares

The Law Commission said on Friday that the demands such as one seeking a ban on church confessions could lead to blackmailing of women and are “knee-jerk reactions.” The Commission cautioned that one should be wary of them. In its consultation paper on ‘Reform of Family Law’ the panel added that confessing in itself cannot be a criminal act. Also, the panel asserted that “it is the misuse of confessions by select priests that needs to be checked. It is a far more progressive and sensible suggestion to eventually also include nuns who can hear confessions. This need not be enforced by law, but be brought in through consensus building within communities.”

India: Draft Data Bill: “ Caste” Clause Will Be Challenging To Implement, Law Makers Say.

Law Makers on Friday asserted that India’s draft data protection bill has a ‘caste’ googly for Indian firms and startups, which could prove to be challenging to implement. Caste has been categorized as sensitive personal data under the draft law. This means users need to be given explicit notice while companies collect their data. The catch, however, according to several lawyers working on the draft law, is that many Indian names reveal the caste of the person. Hence, companies will need to take consent while collecting names every single time — a challenging and painstaking task.

India: Law Master’s Program: Penn States Recognises Two Outstanding Indian Law Students

Two law students of Indian origin on Friday were recognized by Penn State for their outstanding performances a law master’s program. Bhargavi Kannan and Sanya Darakhshan Kishwar grew up in India roughly 1,200 miles apart — Kannan in the southern, cosmopolitan city of Chennai, and Kishwar in Gaya, a holy city in the northeast where the Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment. Kannan attended the Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University, which enrolls around 3,500 students in various undergraduate and graduate law programs. Meanwhile, Kishwar earned her degree from Central University of South Bihar, which was founded less than 10 years ago and typically enrolls about 50 new law students each year.

India: Law Reforms: Law Commission Suggests That Muslim Personal Law Should Be Clear On Nikahnama

The Law Commission on Friday suggested that the nikahnama, as followed in Muslim personal law, should make it clear that polygamy was a criminal offense and Section 494 of the Indian Penal Code would apply in case of violation, stressing that there was no place for practices not essential to a religion to be preserved as personal law.
Releasing a consultation paper on reforms in family law on Friday, the law panel said it was clear that polygamy was a criminal offense and Section 494 of IPC would apply to all communities.

US: California Passes Net Neutrality Protection Law

Lawmakers in the State of California on Friday passed the nation’s toughest net neutrality protections law. If signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, the new law would set up a legal fight with federal regulators who rolled back Obama-era internet rules this year. According to the legislation sponsored by Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat from San Francisco, broadband providers would not be able to slow down or block websites or charge higher fees for faster speeds. The law also places new limits on certain types of data plans.

UK: Government Plans To Increase Fees In Certain Cases

The government of the United Kingdom on Friday revealed how it hopes to allocate a £15m ‘investment’ into the criminal justice system after it was forced into reforming the Advocates Graduated Fee Scheme (AGFS) following this year’s direct action by barristers. But critics have already claimed juniors will still lose out to those at the higher end of the profession. According to today’s consultation paper, fees in certain cases will be increased by between 10% and 50%. These are; sexual offenses involving children, dishonesty offenses, and drugs offenses. Basic fees for junor advocates, lead juniors, QCs, and solicitor-advocates are also to be increased. A 1% fee rise across all offenses will also come into effect in April 2019, the government added.