London court reopens $7bn Brazil dam collapse lawsuit
YET ANOTHER environmental disaster, initiated by a large corporate body’s reckless actions, will be scrutinised by a court of law. This time, it is the reopening of the $7bn lawsuit by 2,00,000 claimants against Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP, causing Brazil’s worst environmental disaster.
The London court of appeal went back on its earlier rejection of the appeal—England’s largest group claim ever—against BHP. While a lower court had dismissed the appeal (citing an abuse of process), the higher court had initially upheld the lower court’s decision. Now the upper court believes the appeal had a “real prospect of success”.
In 2015, the collapse of the Fundao dam, owned by the Samarco venture between BHP and Brazilian iron ore mining giant Vale, killed 19 people and wiped off villages as a torrent of more than 40 million cubic metres of mining waste swept into the Doce river and Atlantic Ocean over 650 kms away.
US court to seize Singapore tanker for transporting oil to North Korea
AS A Singaporean-owned tanker transported oil to North Korea, it violated UN Security Council sanctions against the country. Now the US Justice Department has said that it will seize the tanker. This is the second such incident.
The Justice Department said in a press release of July 30 that the tanker, called Courageous, was owned by Kwek Kee Seng, a Singaporean national. It is a 2,734-ton oil tanker, and was used to deliver oil products directly to North Korea through oil transfer and trans-shipment. According to the Justice Department, the vessel violated the US law and the UN Security Council resolution.
The action was caught through satellite images, showing Courageous transferring oil worth $1.5 million to the Saebyeol, a North Korean vessel, after turning off the Automatic Identification System from August to December 2019.
Four Australian Uber drivers launch legal action
UBER IS facing legal action in Australia. Uber drivers in Sydney and Melbourne have grouped together to launch legal action in the Federal Court to determine whether they and thousands of other gig economy drivers are entitled to minimum rates of pay and other protections as “employees”. The workers are following victory in a similar case in the UK.
Renowned lawyers Bret Walker and barrister Sheryn Omeri have been employed by Harmers Workplace Lawyers. These lawyers have the UK victory in their portfolio.
The suit is being initiated by four drivers, two from Sydney and two from Melbourne, who have claimed that Uber has been in violation of the Fair Work Act by not keeping records of their employment, and by not providing pay slips. The critical issue to be studied by the courts is whether drivers are employees of Uber or independent contractors. Uber categorises the drivers as the latter.
Court says Kenneth Kaunda to be buried at presidential burial site
THE ZAMBIAN High Court has allowed Zambia’s founding president Kenneth Kaunda to be laid to rest at the country’s presidential burial site, dismissing a challenge by one of his sons. Kaunda ruled Zambia from its independence in 1964, till his election defeat in 1991. Kaunda died on June 17 in a military hospital in Lusaka.
While as per the country’s tradition former presidents are buried at Embassy Park, where all other heads of state have been buried, his son contested this decision, saying his father’s last wish was to be buried at his residence next to his wife, Betty, who died more than 10 years ago.
Maybe political considerations took precedence and the burial was confirmed by the court at Embassy Park, which is visited by the public as a national monument.
Sri Lanka court orders banning of websites with malicious content
COLOMBO’S ADDITIONAL magistrate Lochana Abeywickrema has ordered that the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) of the country will have to ban all websites harmful for society. These websites will include those that are involved in various forms of human trafficking and sexual abuse.
The magistrate has asked TRC to submit a detailed report on all malicious websites identified, including registration of such website names, payments and provision of services. This order came after attorney general’s office requested a court order for the ban of such websites.
The issue comes to the fore from a magistrate’s Inquiry into the alleged sexual exploitation of a 15-year-old girl in Mt Lavinia through the internet.