Background: The plaintiff purchased a disability insurance policy from AIG Israel Insurance Company, which provided for payment of 4 million NIS if the insured sustained permanent disability of 75% or more resulting in total incapacity to engage in any occupation. The policy took effect on 19 February 2020 and was expanded on 11 March 2020 to…
Held: Justice Ruth Ronen denied the plaintiff's appeal of the lower court's decision to permit the amendment. The Supreme Court held that while procedural amendments are generally within the trial court's discretion and appellate courts rarely intervene except in exceptional cases, the proper standard requires courts to balance multiple factors: the amendment's contribution to resolving the true dispute; the procedural stage…
Background: Julian Sweeney, aged 14, was found hanging in his bedroom on 13 April 2022. An inquest held on 29 September 2022 concluded that the medical cause of death was ligature suspension, with a narrative finding that he was found hanging, police confirmed no third-party involvement, no suicide note was found, and his family could offer…
Held: The High Court granted the application to quash the original inquest and ordered that a fresh investigation and inquest be held. Applying section 13(1)(b) of the Coroners Act 1998, which permits a fresh inquest where the High Court is satisfied that "it is necessary or desirable in the interests of justice that another inquest should be held," the court concluded…
Background: Odyssey Finance Holdings Pty Ltd is a special purpose vehicle established to borrow funds for purchase and management of a Chatswood, NSW property. In March 2026, the Court ordered convening of a scheme meeting to consider an initial scheme of arrangement between the company and its financiers under a Syndicated Facility Agreement. Although the scheme…
Held: At the first Court hearing on 25 June 2026, Black J ordered convening of a scheme meeting of the company's financiers. The Court was satisfied that preconditions under s 411(1) of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) were met and that the proposed scheme was of such a nature that, if approved at the meeting, the Court would likely approve it…
Background: The Hawaii Supreme Court issued its substantive Opinion in this criminal appeal on July 2, 2026, arising from Case No. 1CPC-23-0000318 in the Circuit Court of the First Circuit. The case involves four defendants-appellants — Joshua Nahulu, Erik Smith, Jake Ryan Bartolome, and Robert Gus Lewis, III — appealing from the lower court proceedings.
Held: Acting Chief Justice McKenna, on behalf of the court, issued this Order of Correction on July 14, 2026, directing that the July 2, 2026 Opinion be corrected in five specific respects. The corrections are non-substantive and ministerial in nature, addressing only typographical and formatting deficiencies in the original filing.
Background: Elena Petrovna Timchenko, a Finnish-Russian citizen, appealed a General Court judgment that upheld EU restrictive measures (asset freezes and entry bans) imposed against her. The measures were adopted in April 2022 and maintained in March 2023 pursuant to Council decisions targeting persons undermining Ukraine's territorial integrity following Russia's February 2022 invasion. Mrs. Timchenko was designated…
Held: The Court of Justice upheld the General Court's judgment on the central issue. On the definition and application of "association," the Court held that the concept, which depends on context and circumstances, covers persons linked by common interests going beyond their relationship to the sanctioned person. For family members, the link must exceed the family relationship itself but need not…
Background: Maikol Andrey Delgado Pinzon and Cindy Marcela Lopez Torres, both Colombian citizens, sought asylum in Canada in May 2022, claiming persecution by the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia). Delgado Pinzon had been a police officer since 2006 and participated in multiple successful operations against FARC's drug trafficking and weapons smuggling operations in various Colombian…
Held: Justice Gascon allowed the judicial review and annulled the SPR's decision on grounds of unreasonableness. The Court identified two fundamental errors in the SPR's reasoning. First, the SPR unreasonably drew a negative credibility inference against the applicants based merely on a formal omission. The applicants had not included in their initial asylum application form (FDA) allegations regarding suspicious individuals seen…
Background: Eight incarcerated individuals sued the Delaware Department of Correction's Commissioner, alleging that correction officers routinely use law-enforcement-grade oleoresin capsicum (OC) spray—a chemical agent derived from chili pepper compounds with an intensity of 2 million Scoville Heat Units—but fail to provide decontamination even after prisoners become compliant and disturbances are controlled. Exposure to OC causes intense…
Held: The court held that plaintiffs have standing to seek injunctive relief. Delaware law applies a more flexible "reasonable-apprehension test" than federal law. Rather than requiring a "real and immediate threat" of injury that is "certainly impending," Delaware requires only that the facts alleged create a reasonable apprehension of future wrong. The Complaint satisfied this standard: the Department lacked any written…
Background: Sessions Antraun Byrd appealed from a judgment entered in Clay County Circuit Court, where Judge James E. Kallaher presided over the trial proceedings. Byrd was represented on appeal by the Public Defender's office through Matthew J. Metz and Judson Searcy, while the State of Florida was represented by the Attorney General's office through James Uthmeier…
Held: The Fifth District Court of Appeal issued a per curiam opinion affirming the trial court's judgment. The court provided no written analysis, reasoning, or explanation for its decision—a practice known as a bare or summary affirmance.
Background: The Al-Hakawati Theatre Association is a cultural organization operating in East Jerusalem in the field of theatre and the arts. The Registrar of Associations petitioned the District Court in Jerusalem to dissolve the Association, alleging it operated in violation of its stated purposes and bylaws and suffered from serious structural defects. The District Court identified…
Held: Justice Gila Kanfi-Steinitz denied the Association's request for a continued stay. Under Israeli law, an applicant seeking a stay of execution must demonstrate two cumulative conditions: reasonable prospects of success on the underlying appeal and that the balance of convenience favors granting relief. The Court emphasized that the balance of convenience is the decisive factor. The Court found that the…
Background: Stuart Kluz-Burton, a dual British-Polish citizen and YouTube creator, was sought for extradition to Poland on allegations of sexual activity with minors and inducing minors to drink alcohol. He had moved to the UK in December 2021 to care for his mother and challenged the extradition order on grounds that Poland's judiciary lacked independence due…
Held: The High Court rejected the appellant's appeal and upheld the extradition order. Although systemic deficiencies in Polish judicial independence were established (step one), the court found that extradition was compatible with Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Applying step two of the test, the court held there were no substantial grounds for believing Mr Kluz-Burton would face…
Background: This is the second judgment in proceedings concerning the burial of Debby Karen Kollin in the Orthodox Jewish section of Rookwood Cemetery. The deceased died on 30 April 2025. Her husband, Robert Thomas Kollin (first plaintiff and executor), and her brother, Victor Berk (second plaintiff), sought burial in an exclusive cemetery plot. The defendants were…
Held: Justice Slattery held that Koncepolski was the principal instigator of the proceedings, responsible for 75% of the defendants' costs, while Victor Berk (the second plaintiff) bore 25% responsibility. The court rejected the defendants' argument that Koncepolski should bear 100% of costs, finding that Berk, though overseas, had authorized the proceedings via text message to the solicitors and explicitly accepted the…
Background: Gennady Timchenko, a Russian-Finnish businessman and longtime associate of Vladimir Putin, was placed on the EU's sanctions list in February 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The restrictive measures froze his assets and prohibited his entry into EU territory. The Council of the European Union maintained these sanctions in two subsequent decisions issued in March…
Held: The Court of Justice rejected Timchenko's appeal and upheld both the General Court's judgment and the EU sanctions. On the critical question of what constitutes "financial support" to Russian decision-makers under the sanctions criteria, the Court held that such support need not be provided directly by the sanctioned individual. Instead, support can be attributed to a person based on their…