Court Appeal

The second circuit overturned the previous decision, saying the judge overstepped authority by intervening before it moved through the immigration court systemA federal appeals panel has reversed a lower court decision ordering the release of pro-Palestinian activist Mohsen Mahdawi, opening the door to the re-arrest of a student protest organizer whom the Trump administration has spent more than a year trying to deport.Tuesday’s ruling from the second US circuit court of appeals in New York City overturns a previous decision by a federal judge in Vermont, which likened the government’s efforts to expel him and other activists to McCarthyist repression. Continue reading...

Ron DeSantis’s Stop Woke Act suffers another legal setback, with the state accused of ‘puppeteering’Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailA federal appeals panel struck down a significant chunk of Florida governor Ron DeSantis’s so-called Stop Woke Act on Tuesday, delivering another rebuff to the Republican’s efforts to stifle free speech in higher education.In a scathing order, judges of the 11th circuit court of appeal said by a 2-1 majority that the higher education component of the law – which prevented college and university professors teaching or sharing thoughts on concepts of race and gender – breached the free expression rights guaranteed under the US constitution’s first amendment. Continue reading...

Trial judge found to have erred by giving boys youth rehabilitation orders for rape of two girls in HampshireA judge’s decision not to give two teenage boys custodial sentences for the rape of two girls was wrong s, the court of appeal has ruled.After a national outcry, the attorney general, Richard Hermer, referred the case to the court to consider whether the sentences given to the boys – identified only as X, Y and Z – were unduly lenient. Continue reading...

Richard Trahant fined $400,000 over apparent violation of order in case of priest who admitted sexual misconductThe US supreme court has rejected an appeal from an attorney who was fined $400,000 after taking steps to get an abusive Roman Catholic priest removed as chaplain of a high school campus.In a notice on Monday, the supreme court’s justices indicated without explanation that they would not take up the case of Richard Trahant, whose clients include dozens of people victimized by a clergy abuse scandal that drove New Orleans’ Catholic archdiocese into federal bankruptcy court. Continue reading...

• The Supreme Court struck down a 50-year-old federal election law on Tuesday, removing limits on how much political parties can spend in coordination with candidates for president and Congress. • The ruling follows a Republican-led lawsuit involving Vice President JD Vance, with the court's conservative majority deciding to upend congressionally enacted spending restrictions. • This decision expands the precedent set by the 2010 Citizens United ruling, which previously allowed for unlimited independent spending in federal elections.

Jury found Trump liable in 2023 for sexually ​abusing former magazine columnist and defaming herUS supreme court decisions – live updatesThe US supreme court declined on Monday to hear Donald Trump’s bid to overturn a $5m verdict in favor of E Jean Carroll in a case in ⁠which a jury found ⁠him liable for sexually ​abusing the former magazine columnist and then defaming her.The justices turned away the president’s appeal after a lower court upheld the 2023 jury verdict and rejected Trump’s arguments ⁠that the trial was unfair because the judge impermissibly let jurors hear evidence of his alleged past sexual misconduct. Continue reading...

In California, Weinstein was convicted in December 2022 of one count of rape and two counts of sexual assault and sentenced to 16 years in prisonHarvey Weinstein’s 2022 rape and sexual assault conviction was upheld Friday by a California appeals court, but the three-judge panel said the former movie executive must be resentenced.The unanimous decision came a day after prosecutors in New York decided Weinstein would not face a fourth trial there, dropping the #MeToo-era case on Thursday after the accuser said she could not bear to testify again. Continue reading...

Ruling lets DHS apply expedited removal to non-citizens who are living far from border A federal appeals court cleared the way on ⁠Tuesday for the Trump ⁠administration to expand ​a fast-track deportation process that would allow for the expedited removal of immigrants who are living far from the border.A panel of the US court of ⁠appeals for the District of Columbia circuit ruled 2-1 to overturn a decision by a judge who in August 2025 blocked the US Department of Homeland Security’s move to expand who ⁠qualifies for expedited removal. That expedited removal process has for nearly three decades been used to quickly return migrants apprehended ​at the border. Continue reading...

Proscription of direct action group has led to more than 700 people being charged under Terrorism ActProtesters arrested for allegedly supporting Palestine Action have expressed anger at the court of appeal’s decision that the ban on the direct action group was lawful.On Monday, five judges overturned the high court’s February ruling that proscription was unlawful, meaning that more than 3,000 people who have been arrested under the Terrorism Act since proscription, more than 700 of whom have been charged, could now face prosecution. Continue reading...

Solicitor general asks for Vickrum Digwa’s 21-year minimum jail term to be reviewed under ‘unduly lenient sentence’ schemeThe 21-year minimum jail term handed to a Sikh man who murdered Henry Nowak is to be reviewed by the court of appeal after a referral by the solicitor general.In a statement on Monday, the solicitor general, Ellie Reeves, said the case had “horrified me”. Continue reading...

Judges overturn decision of high court that government proscription of group under Terrorism Act was wrongThe high court was wrong to rule that the ban on Palestine Action under anti-terrorism laws was unlawful, the court of appeal has concluded.A five-strong panel, including the two most senior judges in England and Wales, overturned February’s decision of the lower court that the proscription of the direct action group, the first to be banned under the Terrorism Act, was wrong. Continue reading...

NSW police appeal after comprehensive class action loss in 2025 when force admitted music festival search of Raya Meredith was unlawful and unjustifiedFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe state of New South Wales is arguing that police have the power to forcibly move body parts when conducting a strip-search, as it seeks to appeal a landmark class action ruling.Thursday was the first day of a two-day hearing where NSW is seeking leave to appeal after losing a class action brought by Slater and Gordon lawyers and the Redfern Legal Centre over unlawful strip-searches conducted at music festivals between 2018 and 2022. Continue reading...

Keir Starmer announces review after three boys were given youth rehabilitation orders for rape of two girlsThe court of appeal will review the non-custodial sentences given to three teenage boys for the rape of two girls, Keir Starmer has announced.The boys, two of whom were 15 and one aged 14 at the time of sentencing, were given youth rehabilitation orders after the judge in the case said he wanted to “avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily” and support their reintegration into society. Continue reading...

• A federal appeals court ruling overturned a district judge’s injunction, allowing the administration to withhold certain grants previously directed for restoration. • Decision impacts funding for multiple programs, affecting states and nonprofits reliant on federal support. • Ruling reinforces executive authority on spending, potentially setting precedent for future policy disputes.

Rajiv Menon KC was accused of breaching judge’s directions with his closing speech at trial of six activistsA leading human rights barrister has won an appeal against his referral for contempt of court over his closing speech during a trial of Palestine Action activists.Rajiv Menon KC was accused of breaching the judge’s directions in the trial of six people for a 2024 direct action protest at an arms factory of the Israeli subsidiary Elbit Systems UK in Filton, near Bristol. Continue reading...

• The Trump administration filed an appeal Wednesday evening against a Massachusetts federal judge's March 16 ruling that blocked Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s overhaul of the nation's childhood vaccine schedule. • Judge Brian Murphy had ruled that Kennedy replaced the CDC's vaccine advisory committee "unlawfully" and placed any decisions made by the committee on hold. • The appeal signals the administration's intention to proceed with restructuring the vaccine advisory process despite legal challenges to its authority.

Australian white supremacist who murdered 51 Muslims said poor mental health made him admit to crimesThe Australian white supremacist who murdered 51 Muslim worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch in 2019 has been prevented from appealing against his guilty pleas, after one of New Zealand’s highest courts said his bid was “utterly devoid of merit”.Brenton Tarrant, who is responsible for the worst mass shooting in New Zealand’s history, asked the court of appeal in February to allow him to appeal against his guilty pleas, claiming harsh prison conditions had affected his mental health and compelled him to admit to the crimes. Continue reading...

The Seoul High Court found Kim Keon Hee guilty of manipulating the share price of Deutsch Motors, a South Korean car dealer, which it ruled a "collusive ... trading act constituting market manipulation".

Home secretary is challenging high court decision that PA’s proscription interfered with freedom of speechThe ban on Palestine Action has created a “culture of fear” among those campaigning for Palestinian rights and judges were right to deem it unlawful, the court of appeal has heard.Shabana Mahmood is challenging the high court’s decision in February that Palestine Action’s proscription, the first of a direct action protest group, represented a “very significant interference” with the rights to freedom of speech and assembly. It also found that the ban, which remains in place pending the appeal, was a breach of the home secretary’s own policy on proscription. Continue reading...

Tina Peters, an election denier, was found guilty in 2024 of allowing unauthorized access to county’s voting equipmentA Colorado appeals court on Thursday ordered the resentencing of a former Colorado election official who was found guilty of allowing unauthorized access to her county’s voting equipment, the latest development in a closely watched case that has attracted considerable attention from Donald Trump and other election deniers.Tina Peters, the former clerk in Mesa county in western Colorado was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2024 after a jury found her guilty on three counts of attempting to influence a public servant, conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, first-degree official misconduct, violation of duty and failure to comply with the secretary of state. Peters was the county clerk in 2020 and later allowed an unauthorized person to access the county’s Dominion voting machines. Sensitive information from the machines later wound up on the internet. Continue reading...

One twin wanted to take parental responsibility from the other for child P after both had sex with child’s motherA woman who had sex with identical twins within four days of each other is unable to ensure one of them takes parental responsibility because it is “not possible” to know which is the father, the court of appeal has said.One of the twins was registered as the father on the birth certificate of the child, referred to as P. His identical twin, along with the mother, sought to take over parental responsibility by asking the court of appeal to overturn a previous family court decision. Continue reading...