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News : Legal and Judicial Affairs

Power in Kenya will be divided between a president and a prime minister under the new constitution. The draft, unlike the current law, is clear on the authority of the President and the PM. (AllAfrica)

A top official from the mainstream MDC on Thursday said there were doubts Robert Mugabe would implement the Global Political Agreement, even if party negotiators manage to strike a deal. (AllAfrica)

Nine former rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) last week surrendered to the Congolese army, bringing the total number of defectors in the last five months to 51. (AllAfrica)

The former chairman of the All Nigerian Peoples Party in Bauchi State, Alhaji Sani Shehu, has been expunged from the party by the state chapter of the party for alleged stealing of party funds which runs into millions of naira and allegedly conducting himself against the party constitution. (AllAfrica)

Six police officers were convicted on Tuesday, this week, by an Accra Circuit Court for robbing a businessman of various sums of money, and were sentenced to 20 years imprisonment each. (AllAfrica)

The former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Infrastructure, Vincent Gatwabuyege, was yesterday sentenced to three years in prison for embezzling state funds. (AllAfrica)

Charles Taylor was "not honest" with the United Nations Panel of Experts set up to investigate his alleged dealings with Sierra Leonean rebels, prosecutors told the Special Court for Sierra Leone today during cross-examination of the accused former Liberian president. (AllAfrica)

The government plans to deploy more security officers in the Mau forest amid threats by local politicians to lead evicted settlers back into the forest. (AllAfrica)

African countries have been urged to support the International Criminal Court to promote justice and peace. (AllAfrica)

Lawyers for MDC Treasurer General Roy Bennett on Thursday accused the police of pulling a 'PR stunt' by displaying weapons in court unrelated to his case, saying they are trying to whip up public sentiment against him. (AllAfrica)

Nigerian footballers under the auspices of the Nigerian Footballers Union have called on the Federal government of Nigeria to urgently intervene in the case Al-Merreikh player and former Enyimba FC star, Stephen Worgu who was recently charged with alcoholic consumption in Sudan and has been sentenced to 40 lashes of the cane. (AllAfrica)

The grandfather of two-year-old Randoline Fortune, who was raped and murdered, allegedly by a neighbour, has testified to the bruises on her naked body in the last moments he saw the little girl alive. (AllAfrica)

Lead prosecutor and American lawyer Brenda Hollis Thursday bombarded former president Charles Taylor with series of unstoppable questions regarding alleged atrocities of one of his Generals - General Coocoo Dennis. (AllAfrica)

Retrieval of state owned vehicles from ex-Ministers and other former government officials in the immediate past New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration became a topical issue in Parliament yesterday, when deputy Minister of Information, Agyenim Boateng appeared in the House on behalf of Zita Okaikoi, the substantive Information Minister, to answer questions pertaining to his Ministry. (AllAfrica)

The proposed amendments to the Land Act have divided MPs from Buganda region, forcing many to stay away from Parliament where the matter is currently being debated. (AllAfrica)

The Vice Chancellor, University of Ilorin, Professor Is-haq Oloyede, has canvassed for the collaboration of African Universities, Research institutes as well as the industries for better development of the continent. (AllAfrica)

A BITTER dispute between the widow and the former lawyer of the late German extradition target Hans Jurgen Koch made a return to the High Court this week, with Koch's widow scoring a courtroom win against her late husband's former attorney. (AllAfrica)

One Saul Ndure, a resident of Sanchaba Sulay Jobe, was recently, acquitted and discharged by the Bundung Magistrates Court, presided over by Magistrate Lamin George. (AllAfrica)

The Kanifing Magistrates Court, presided over by Magistrate BO Jobe, on Wednesday, issued a bench warrant for the arrest of one Lamin Jonga. (AllAfrica)

One Chambo Manneh, was recently arraigned before Principal Magistrate Kayode Olajubutu, of the Bundung Magistrates Court, charged with two counts of threatening violence and willful damage to property. (AllAfrica)

Justice Moses Richards of the Special Criminal Court in Banjul has called on defence counsel, Kebba Sanyang, to file brief in the matter involving one Ebrima Johm who is standing trial for rape. (AllAfrica)

The government has been given thumbs up for its plan to formulate a framework that will guide the oil industry in accordance with the demands of Extractive Industry Transparency Initiatives (EITI) principles. (AllAfrica)

A FORMER Premier Finance Group manager has filed a US$150 000 defamation lawsuit against his former employer. (AllAfrica)

AFRICAN Consolidated Resources (ACR), the country's focused mineral exploration company which recently had its claim for mining rights in Marange confirmed by the High Court, is raising US$16,8 million for the company's portfolio. The amount is going to be raised through the placement of new ordinary shares and would be used for exploration for gold, diamond and nickel. (AllAfrica)

THE chief investigating officer in the case of MDC-T treasurer Roy Bennett has admitted before the High Court that some of the firearms presented in court this week as exhibits were not found in the possession of the state's key witness, Michael Hitschmann. Bennett is on trial on allegations of possessing dangerous weapons and inciting acts of terrorism and insurgency. (AllAfrica)

Two months after the ministry of Health recommended a ban on production, sell, and consumption of alcohol packed in sachets allegedly because it had killed 18 people, the measure remains controversial in parliament, Cabinet, and the public. The Independent talked to the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) Manager for Quality Assurance Patrick Ssekitoleko. (AllAfrica)

The six accused persons alleged to have murdered the Imam of Kuntaur Wharf Town, Alhaji Amadou Jallow, on June 16, 2008 in the Central River Region, yesterday pleaded not guilty to four counts at the Special Criminal Court in Banjul. (AllAfrica)

On November 3, 2009, government announced a plan that will criminalise Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), a cultural practice among the Sabiny of Kapchorwa and Bukwo districts, and a few communities in Moroto and Nakapiripirit districts. FGM involves partial or total removal of a woman's external genitalia without medical recommendation or for non-therapeutic reasons. (AllAfrica)

In January 2008, Prime Minister Apolo Nsibambi gave the Auditor General James Muwanga a 30-day deadline to deliver audited accounts of expenditure on the Commonwealth Heads of State and Government Meeting (CHOGM) held in Kampala in November 2007. Two years later, and in spite of two reports by the Auditor General, nothing is clear yet about the cost and benefits from CHOGM. Now, the annual report of the Auditor General for the year ending June 30, 2008, is raising the issue again. (AllAfrica)

While section 140 of the colonial-era Penal Code Act already criminalises "carnal knowledge against the order of nature", this new legislation will attempt to give teeth to that dictum (AllAfrica)

THE Government has been implored to protect the judiciary from the incessant attacks by some politicians and other citizens. (AllAfrica)