PRESS RELEASE

Communication Cluster III

(non official – for media information only)

Arusha, 18 December 2008

Protais Zigiranyirazo Sentenced to 20 Years Imprisonment

Trial Chamber III composed of Judges Inés Mónica Weinberg de Roca, Khalida Rachid Khan and Lee Gacuiga Muthoga, on Thursday 18 December 2008, convicted Protais Zigiranyirazo of genocide and extermination as a crime against humanity and sentenced him to 20 years imprisonment. Credit was given to him for time spent in prison.

The Trial Chamber however acquitted him of conspiracy to commit genocide, complicity in genocide and murder as a crime against humanity. The Chamber found that the Prosecution failed to prove that Protais Zigiranyirazo conspired with officials, at various meetings, to plan or facilitate attacks on the Tutsi population. Likewise, the Prosecution failed to prove any criminal responsibility for alleged involvement in the Interahamwe, or in killings on Rurunga Hill. Furthermore, the Prosecution failed to prove that he was responsible for the murder of the three gendarmes or of Stanislas Sinibagiwe.

However, the Trial Chamber found that Zigiranyirazo, also known as “Mr. Z”, whose younger sister was married to the late President Habyarimana, was guilty of having participated in a joint criminal enterprise with the common purpose of committing genocide and extermination of Tutsi at Kesho hill, as well as aiding and abetting genocide at the Kiyovu roadblock.

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We received a request from Richard Granat, who is presently co-chair of the eLayewring Task Force of the Law Practise Management Section of American Bar Association, to post the below contest: 

The James I. Keane Memorial Award for Excellence in eLawyering is awarded once a year by the Law Practice Management Section of the American Bar Association at the Annual ABA TECHSHOW in Chicago.

The  Award is named for James I. Keane, the founding Chair of the ABA eLawyering Task Force. The Task Force was created in 2000, when ABA President William G. Paul, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, took the unusual and creative step of asking a Section to assume responsibility for one of his presidential initiatives, namely an examination of ways that lawyers could use the Internet and other electronic resources to deliver legal services to people of moderate means more efficiently and effectively. Last year\’s recipient was the law firm of Cowell Taradash, P.C., based in Chicago, for the web site at Illinoisdivorce.com .

The ABA eLawyering Task Force of the Law Practice Management Section will review the nominations and select the recipient. The Award Guidelines and Nomination Forms can be found here. Law firms can nominate themselves.

The deadline for submission is January 15. 2009.

Please visit http://www.abanet.org/lpm/award/jimkeane/index.shtml for more information.

Incest – the act of having sexual relations with a family member. It’s a taboo that has lasted through the ages, and prevalent across the world. A taboo so strong that the law makes it illegal.

But recently, the debate on whether it should be decriminalized has arisen again. In early March 2008, a German man, known as Patrick S, had appealed to Germany’s highest court of appeal for his conviction on having an incestuous relationship with his sister to be overturned. His appeal failed.

According to the court, incest should be outlawed as it “do[es] not affect them exclusively, but also can have an effect on family and society and have consequences for children who arise from the relationship”. However, one of the judges dissented, arguing that the law “is based exclusively on moral beliefs rather than with the objective of legal protection”.

Is incest such a despicable act? History has shown that it is. For example, when the cruel King Henry VIII of England wanted to rid of one of his many wives, Anne Boelyn, he concocted a heinous crime against her – that she was sleeping with her brother. The only known civilization that ever accepted incest was ancient Roman Egypt, where relationships between brothers and sisters were common. Arguably, this has a lot to do with the idea of maintaining the purity of a bloodline.

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In March 2008, an 8-year old boy shocked the Brazilian legal fraternity by passing a law entrance exam, and initially enrolled by a private law school. The boy, Joao Victor Portellinha de Oliveira, attended his first class with his father. Upon realizing its mistake, the law school, Universidade Paulista cancelled Joao’s enrollment and returned his tuition fees to his family. It clarified that the mistake was made by one of its’ employees, and that a student must graduate from high school to be qualified to be enrolled.

On what inspired him to take the exam, Joao said “My dream is to be a federal judge. So I decided to take the test to see how I would do. It was easy. I studied a week before the test.”

In Brazil, students are required to take an entrance exam before enrolling into a college. Each college has its own exams, and it is commonly perceived that exams from private universities are easier than those from public universities, which offer free education.

Understandably, Universidade Paulista’s mistake of enrolling Joao has generated much uproar in the legal circles. The Brazilian Bar Association has stated that this serves as a warning about the low standards of some of the country’s law schools. Education Minister Fernando Haddad has since ordered an investigation.

Is such an unfortunate scenario possible in Malaysia? Maybe so. In Malaysia, there are no compulsory entrance exams. Both private and public law schools generally require students to have taken SPM and a foundation course (e.g. STPM, ‘A’ Levels, Diploma, Matric). But like Brazil, entry into private law schools are commonly perceived to be easier than that of public law schools.

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Since the dawn of humanity, women have always been bullied, dominated, and abused by men. But not anymore, with the rise of feminism in the last century or so. Day by day, more and more of their suppressed rights have returned, their stifled voices heard. Society has changed, and so has the law.

Sexual empowerment for women is getting better. But it can get funny and ugly, too.

In early March 2008, a 38-year old Japanese bikini model, popularly known by her professional name as Serena Kozakura, was facing criminal charges. But she was acquitted, for the simple reason that her breasts were big. Very big, in fact. It’s a case which proves that size DOES matter.

What happened was that she was charged for property destruction. A man accused her for kicking in the wooden door of his room, and crawled through the hole she had made. Apparently, he was with another a woman inside. No doubt, a typical love triangle, jilted feelings and revenge was thrown in the mix.

So how did her big breasts make the difference? Simple. In her appeal, her defence counsel brought a plate showing the size of the hole before the Tokyo High Court. He showed that it was impossible for her to fit through the hole with her 110cm breasts. Satisfied with such incontrovertible evidence, the court acquitted her.

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The Lawyer and The American Lawyer have produced a list of the Top 100 law firms globally, ordered by 2006 revenue.

It is no surprise that UK and USA firms lead the pack - with the number one firm - Clifford Chance - grossing £1,030.2 million (around RM6.5 billion).

To give you a flavour of these Top 100, we have listed the Top 10 below:

1. Clifford Chance, £1,030.2m – International law firm (headquartered in the UK)
2. Linklaters, £935.2m – International (UK)
3. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, £884.6m – New York City (USA)
4. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, £882.1m – International (UK)
5. Latham & Watkins, £776.1m – National (USA)
6. Baker & McKenzie, £742.9m – International (USA)
7. Allen & Overy, £736.3m – International (UK)
8. Jones Day, £706.0m – National (USA)
9. Sidley Austin, £617.6m – International (USA)
10. White & Case, £574.7m – International (USA)

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