HOW many tests and examinations must a person sit for throughout their life? There are so many when they are a student. They have to be tested before getting a driving licence or a certificate for handling certain equipment and machinery. And in some companies, a person must do well in a test before they can secure a job or a promotion. Now, even to end a marriage, one has to go through a written test. But for this one, nobody is aiming for a high score. In Lianyungang city in eastern China’s Jiangsu province, the Dong­hai county’s Civil Affairs […]

We live in a rapidly changing world with the constant presence of so-called “foreign elements” in legal cases. Take, for example, a car accident between an Ontario resident and a New York resident that took place in Mexico, or a contract signed in Japan between English and German residents with respect to delivery of goods in Brazil. Given the multitude of “foreign elements” in the factual bases of these cases, which state’s law should the domestic court apply to adjudicate the litigation? Should this be Ontario, New York, Mexico, English, German, Japanese, Brazilian law or even some other? The presence […]

More than 3,500 reports of forced marriage were made to police over a three-year period, a Guardian investigation has found, as charities warned that there were thousands more victims living in conditions of modern slavery in homes across the UK. Data shared exclusively with the Guardian revealed 3,546 reportsbetween 2014 and 2016. But experts warn that the figures, collected by the Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation under the Freedom of Information Act, are just the tip of the iceberg. Over the same three-year period one national helpline run by another NGO received 22,030 calls from individuals or agencies concerned […]

Leading obesity experts are considering litigation against the food industry in the light of emerging research suggesting that junk food marketing could hijack a child’s brain. Neuromarketing is of growing interest to food companies. Fast food, soft drinks and snack companies increasingly interact with children through social media and online games. Some are beginning to probe further, gathering information through brain scans about how unconscious decisions are made to eat one snack rather than another and targeting people’s susceptibilities. A report on food neuromarketing to children by the Center for Digital Democracy in 2011 predicted “an explosive rise in new […]

Getting married is undoubtedly a huge step to take in a relationship, one that requires a great deal of assuredness and self-awareness. Some would argue that it would make more sense to marry later rather than sooner, as having a better grasp of your individual identity could prove beneficial for matrimony in the long run.  However, one professor claims that the optimum age for tying the knot lies between your late twenties and early thirties, with those who marry in their mid-thirties at greater risk of inevitably separating. Nicholas Wolfinger, a professor of family and consumer studies and adjunct professor […]

Discussing ‘what will happen if we get divorced’, particularly financially, is a conversation that is often avoided before entering into a marriage agreement, because it is deemed unromantic or tainting a marriage before it’s even started. But this is a crucial conversation to have, writes Angelique Ruzicka.  Money problems are now cited as one of the biggest reasons marriages fail in SA. During the divorce proceedings it is often money that fuels further disputes as couples squabble about how assets should be divided. The marriage contract determines to a large extent how this will be done, but couples still make […]

Litigation funding is an increasingly common feature of commercial dispute resolution. Key players in the funding market are building global capacity and diversifying the range of matters and jurisdictions in which they invest, and it is increasingly common for funded actions relating to the same subject matter to be commenced in multiple jurisdictions or for multiple funded actions to be commenced in a single jurisdiction. Australia has long been on the frontline of legal and commercial developments in this regard. Here, Damian Grave and Helen Mould provide a snapshot of the current global funding landscape and identify some key trends […]

Recently the nation has been riveted, horrified, bewildered and challenged by the cascade of sexual harassment and sexual abuse allegations leveled against high-profile personalities in the media, industry, the church, education and the arts. Reactions vary widely, but the #MeToo movement is a powerful reminder that, for all the headline-grabbing cases, there are thousands (or perhaps millions) more examples of sexual harassment and abuse that have gone unreported, unaddressed and unresolved involving non-celebrities who are equally impacted by these experiences. In this highly litigious society, many are asking why these cases languish, are not reported or not challenged through normal […]

Tim Steiner, pictured in 2015 with his partner, 29-year-old Polish lingerie model Patrycja Pyka Ocado boss Tim Steiner is set to receive £110m in bonuses early next year — a record payout for the boss of a UK-listed company. Due to a surge in the online grocer’s share price last week, this has teed up the payout for the 48-year-old former Goldman Sachs bond trader. A blockbuster deal with American retail giant Kroger saw Ocado’s value rocket 40% to £5.3bn, leaving it poised to break into the FTSE 100 when the index is redrawn at the end of the month.  […]

Islamic marriage, English divorce: For growing numbers of British Muslim women, the results can be devastating LONDON: Farida Miah was still reeling from the shock of learning that her husband had taken a second wife when she found out he had divorced her and ended their 18-year marriage. Miah, a British citizen of Bangladeshi origin, contacted a UK civil court and learned that her husband had managed to bypass the dowry settlement due to her under the terms of their Islamic marriage, leaving her with nothing. “He has all we owned,” said Miah, who lives in London and whose name […]