Background: TXL, while driving an Alfa Romeo under the influence of drugs, mounted a pavement in August 2022, killing GXK and her father, LTW, and injuring other members of their family. TXL was later convicted of causing death and serious injury by dangerous driving and received a 16-year prison sentence. TXL and his parents also pleaded…
Held: Master Stevens refused TXL’s and RXS’s applications to withdraw admissions and amend their defences. The applications were late, inadequately explained, inconsistent with accounts maintained over several years, and contrary to the overriding objective. The court found that permitting the proposed changes would drive the litigation backward, increase expense, waste court resources, and undermine the administration of justice.
Background: Ahmad Ziyoud was charged in the Haifa Traffic Court with driving an off-road vehicle on a road for a purpose other than crossing it, contrary to Regulation 39E(a) of the Traffic Regulations, 1961. At the September 14, 2026 arraignment, the court received notice that attorney Makhlouf Jubran had transferred the representation to attorney Jaber Jabrin.…
Held: Supreme Court President Yitzhak Amit dismissed the appeal. The disqualification request made in the Traffic Court had been sparse and conclusory. Only on appeal did Ziyoud identify the alleged remarks and contend that the judge intended to punish him because of hostility toward his attorney. Because those specific allegations had not been presented below, the trial judge had no opportunity…
Background: DEK, aged 71, pleaded guilty to ten sexual-offence charges involving six young victims, including his daughter, two granddaughters, a niece and students at an enrichment centre. Another 23 charges were taken into consideration. The offences, committed over decades, ranged from sexual exploitation and outrage of modesty to sexual assault by penetration, penile-oral intercourse and rape.
Held: The High Court imposed a global sentence of 21 years’ imprisonment. It declined to exercise judicial mercy and found that DEK’s illness did not make imprisonment disproportionately onerous. The gravity and duration of the offending, his relevant antecedents, his rapid reoffending, the need to protect children and the objectives of retribution and deterrence weighed strongly against reducing the individual sentences…
Background: Masood Zakaria sought a permanent stay of his murder trial, alleging that Australian law-enforcement agencies had circumvented formal extradition procedures to secure his return from Türkiye. He alleged, among other things, improper sharing of his passport and intelligence with Turkish authorities, efforts to obscure Australian involvement, and unlawful restraint during his return.
Held: Muston J determined each public interest immunity and client legal privilege claim in a separate schedule. The Court applied the statutory and common-law balancing test for public interest immunity, weighing the public interest in withholding information against the interest in disclosure for the administration of justice. The claimed risks included harm to international relations and foreign-agency cooperation, exposure of investigative…
Background: Mme [G], a judicial expert registered with the Toulouse Court of Appeal, sought to transfer her registration to the Pau Court of Appeal for English- and Romanian-language interpreting and translation. On December 3, 2025, the general assembly of the Pau court’s sitting judges rejected her application because it had not been sent before March 1,…
Held: The Court of Cassation rejected the challenge. Reading Articles 10 and 16 of Decree No. 2004-1463 together, it held that an expert’s request to transfer registration from one court of appeal’s list to another is a request for five-year re-registration. The request therefore must be sent to the second court of appeal before March 1 for inclusion on that court’s…
Background: Employees at M&K Truck Centers’ Summit, Illinois dealership had been represented by Automobile Mechanics’ Local 701 for decades. In 2023, a majority of Parts Department employees—but not a majority of the combined Parts and Service Departments—signed a petition seeking to decertify the union. Laborforce withdrew recognition from the union as to Parts employees and increased…
Held: The Seventh Circuit affirmed because the Director failed to establish that irreparable harm was likely without an injunction. Applying the traditional preliminary-injunction test required by Starbucks Corp. v. McKinney, the majority held that generalized risks of declining union support and the temporary loss of collective-bargaining benefits did not identify the specific, irreparable injury necessary for extraordinary interim relief. The court…
Background: Pastor Mark Anthony “Tony” Spell and Life Tabernacle Church sued former Governor John Bel Edwards, East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff Sid Gautreaux, Central Police Chief Roger Corcoran, and private citizens Richard and Natalia Sherwin over COVID-19 restrictions and their enforcement. Spell alleged that the restrictions and six misdemeanor summons violated rights protected by the federal…
Held: The First Circuit affirmed the dismissal. It held that federal issue-preclusion principles barred Spell from relitigating whether Edwards was entitled to qualified immunity. The issue was identical to the one resolved in federal court, was actually litigated through appeal, and was necessary to the federal judgment. Spell’s decision not to challenge the qualified-immunity ruling on its merits before the Fifth…
Background: Ishares Europe ETF, a US collective investment undertaking treated as a regulated investment company, received dividends from Spanish companies during 2007–2010. Spain withheld tax at 15% under the Spain–United States double-taxation convention, while qualifying Spanish investment funds were subject to corporation tax at 1%. Ishares sought refunds of the difference.
Held: The CJEU held that Spain’s 15% taxation of dividends paid to the non-resident fund, compared with the 1% rate applicable to resident funds, constituted a restriction on the free movement of capital under Article 63 TFEU. Neither Ishares’ exemption from US tax under its transparency regime nor its transfer of the dividends and Spanish tax burden to its unit-holders altered…
Background: Tony Alan Harkness II, proceeding without counsel, filed a petition for a writ of prohibition against Randall W. Wilds and Cathy N. Wilds in the Florida First District Court of Appeal.
Held: The First District dismissed the petition. Judges Roberts, Bilbrey, and Nordby concurred in the per curiam disposition.
Background: WND is a 13-year-old child with complex disabilities arising from a rare genetic disorder. His needs include seizure management, feeding and hydration, bowel care, mobility support, and management of fluctuating neurological and behavioural symptoms. He is at high risk of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy and is cared for at home by his parents with…
Held: The High Court allowed the claim and quashed the panel’s decision. Applying conventional rationality review with close scrutiny because of the interests at stake, the court held that the refusal to provide 24/7 care was outside the range of reasonable responses. The panel’s reasoning also involved an error of logic and disregard of an obviously relevant consideration.
Background: The parties are former spouses involved in a property dispute. The Eilat Family Court entered judgment on August 26, 2025, and the Beersheba District Court dismissed the applicant’s appeal on May 31, 2026. That appellate judgment was electronically served on counsel for the applicant the same day, making June 30, 2026 the deadline to seek…
Held: Registrar Ron Goldstein denied the application because it failed to establish the “special reasons” required to extend a statutory filing deadline. The deadline ran from service of the District Court’s judgment, not from receipt of a transcript. The need to await transcription therefore did not excuse the late filing, particularly because the applicant had access through the Net HaMishpat system…
Background: Devmcoz Development Pty Ltd engaged Phoenix Fitouts and Construction Pty Ltd to construct a commercial development in Queensland. After Phoenix made a final payment claim, an adjudicator awarded it $958,483.37, plus interest and fees, under Queensland’s security-of-payment legislation. The adjudication certificate was registered as a judgment of the Supreme Court of Queensland.
Held: Nixon J rejected the contention that the demand was defective. Its schedule and supporting affidavit identified the components of the claimed debt and explained the interest calculation with sufficient precision. The Court nevertheless found a genuine dispute about whether registration of the adjudication certificate displaced the adjudicator’s $500-per-day rate in favor of the statutory Queensland post-judgment interest rate. Using Phoenix’s…