Lawyer

Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government to ask MPs to back controversial voluntary repatriation schemeItalian lawyers will be paid bonuses if they successfully convince their immigrant clients to return home under a government plan that has been compared to a “wild west-style bounty”.The incentive is in the latest security bill from Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government and goes to the lower house of parliament for final approval this week. It was passed by the upper house after fiery debate. Continue reading...

Pugilistic presence has laid waste to civil rights decision – her take-no-prisoners approach has alarmed legal experts but earned president’s plauditsWhen Donald Trump abruptly fired Pam Bondi earlier this month, he made it clear that an unmistakable priority for the justice department would be using the nation’s top law enforcement agency to seek retribution against his political rivals.For months, Trump pressured Bondi to move ahead with prosecutions against James Comey, Letitia James, Adam Schiff and other rivals, even publicly venting his frustration with Bondi in October. The justice department eventually did secure indictments against Comey and James, but the cases later collapsed. Trump fired Bondi on 2 April, reportedly because he was angered by the department’s lack of progress in prosecuting enemies. Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, has since said Trump has the “right” to direct investigations at the justice department. Continue reading...

California supreme court upholds lower court decision as Eastman says he will appeal to US supreme courtJohn Eastman, a lawyer who played a key role in Donald Trump’s efforts to subvert the 2020 election, officially lost his law license in California on Wednesday.The California supreme court upheld a 2024 ruling from a state judge, who recommended Eastman be disbarred. Eastman “exhibited gross negligence by making false statements about the 2020 election without conducting any meaningful investigation or verification of the information he was relying upon”, Judge Yvette Roland wrote in 2024. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Guardian analysis suggests young people who pose ‘catastrophic’ threat still slipping through systemMinisters are “failing to learn the lessons” from the Southport attack and allowing violence-obsessed teenagers to remain a “catastrophic” threat to society, lawyers for victims of the atrocity have said ahead of the findings of an official inquiry.A report on the July 2024 attack by the judge Sir Adrian Fulford, to be released on Monday, is expected to strongly criticise failings by a series of agencies, including the counter-terrorism programme Prevent. Continue reading...

The men, sent to the southern African country in July, have been denied in-person counsel for nine months Four men deported by the US to Eswatini and denied in-person legal counsel for nine months while detained in a maximum security prison have the right to see a local lawyer, Eswatini’s supreme court ruled.The men, from Cambodia, Cuba, Vietnam and Yemen, were sent to the small southern African country in July despite having no connection to the country, as part of Donald Trump’s administration’s efforts to ramp up deportations. Continue reading...

USC student Tucker Collins’s attorney accuses homeland security of ‘overt act of repression’ at Los Angeles protestA freshman at the University of Southern California has lost an eye after he was shot last month with a less-lethal projectile by a Department of Homeland Security agent at a No Kings march, according to his attorney.On 28 March, Tucker Collins, 18, took to the streets of downtown Los Angeles to photograph throngs of protesters, who held signs and chanted slogans denouncing the Trump administration’s policies, his lawyer V James DeSimone said in a statement on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Dianne Thompson and Lois Kirk tell Victoria police in letter ‘we did not expect to feel invisible’ after Neal Thompson’s deathGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe sisters of Neal Thompson, one of the two police officers shot dead by Dezi Freeman in Porepunkah last August, plan to sue Victoria police for negligence after an inquest into the officers’ deaths, their lawyer says.Police accountability lawyer Jeremy King, who is representing Dianne Thompson and Lois Kirk, confirmed on Sunday that the sisters would bring a negligence claim against Victoria police after the conclusion of a coronial inquest. A date for the inquest has not yet been announced. Continue reading...

Activists accuse Iran’s regime of crackdown on civil society as whereabouts of Nasrin Sotoudeh are unknownIs Iran using the war to hide a surge in executions?The prize-winning Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh has been arrested in Tehran, according to her family, as activists accused the regime of cracking down on civil society under cover of the war with Israel and the US.Sotoudeh’s daughter Mehraveh Khandan said her mother was taken from her home in Tehran late on Wednesday and that her whereabouts were unknown. Khandan suspected the arrest may be related to recent interviews about the war, in which Sotoudeh criticised the government. Continue reading...

The 42-year-old is the 26th person charged after February rally against Israeli president that led to violent clashes between police and protestersFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastLawyers have raised concerns that New South Wales police used heavy-handed tactics when arresting an anti-Isaac Herzog protester this week, after eight tactical officers were sent to their home at 5am and “smashed the door open”.The 42-year-old was the 26th person to be charged after the protest at Sydney town hall in February against the visiting Israeli president. The police response on the night of the protest is being investigated amid allegations of police brutality. Continue reading...

Broadcaster takes Kiis FM to court to argue licensee was wrong to terminate him for serious breach of contractFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesSign up for Guardian Australia’s free weekly media newsletter hereKyle Sandilands’ court case was not an occasion for a “royal commission” into his career and he just wants to get back to work quickly, the shock jock’s lawyers have told the federal court.Sandilands, who was earning $10m a year to front the Kyle and Jackie O Show, has taken Kiis FM to court to argue the licensee, Commonwealth Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), was wrong to terminate him for serious breach of contract earlier this month. Continue reading...

In House depositions, disgraced financier’s associates say they were not contacted after his 2008 plea dealSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailJeffrey Epstein’s accountant and his attorney have both said that federal government investigators never interviewed them about the late financier’s crimes and their work with him, according to deposition videos released by the House of Representatives’ oversight committee.Richard Kahn, Epstein’s accountant, and Darren Indyke, Epstein’s lawyer, said in hours of closed-door interviews with the committee that they did not witness, nor were involved in, any wrongdoing relating to Epstein, who died in 2019 after being charged with child sex trafficking. Continue reading...

The woman was arrested at routine ICE check-in and separated from two children, aged 18 months and fourSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxA Venezuelan mother of two who was allegedly trafficked to the US has been unlawfully detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and could soon be deported, according to her lawyers.The woman has applications in process for asylum and a visa designed for victims of trafficking. Continue reading...

Joshua Nass, of alleged $600,000 extortion plot, played role in pardon of man convicted of failing to pay $40m in taxesA New York lobbyist and attorney connected to a presidential pardon issued by Donald Trump in November has been charged with attempting to extort a former client and the client’s son over an alleged $500,000 debt.Joshua Nass, 34, was arrested on Friday after being charged in federal court in Brooklyn with attempted Hobbs Act extortion. US justice department prosecutors contend that Nass threatened a client for payment that he claimed he was owed for his services. Continue reading...