Brazilian senate passes new forest code

The Brazilian senate has passed a new forest code which, according to environmental organisations, paves the way for increased deforestation in the Amazon. The bill passed in a 59-7 vote. An earlier, different version of it was passed last May by the lower house of the Brazilian Congress, which will now need to approve the latest version. As legislators debated, environmental activists called for Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff to veto the law. The new forest code, which
dates back to 1965 and applies to the nearly 5.2 million farmers and owners of rural land in Brazil, will reduce the amount of forest preserves farmers are required to keep when deforesting land, and pardon some past illegal deforestation among other measures.

European court bans patents when human embryos are destroyed

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has adopted a landmark decision in the case of Oliver Brüstle v Greenpeace eV (C_34/10) and held that a process that involves the removal of a stem cell from a human embryo, resulting in the destruction of the embryo, cannot be patented. The ECJ further held that European Union Directive 98/44/EC on the Legal Protection of Biotechnological Inventions, which prohibits the patentability of the use of human embryos for commercial or industrial purposes, also prohibits the use of embryos for scientific research. However, the ECJ made the clarification that the use of human embryos for therapeutic or diagnostic purposes, which are applied to the human embryo and are useful to it, are patentable. The bio-medical industry stated that the decision of the ECJ is ‘regrettable’ because it means that EU researchers who engage in permitted research on human embryos for scientific purposes cannot enjoy the fruits of their labour, while researchers in the United States and Asia will be free to do so.

Australia to bring in world’s toughest tobacco ad rules

The Australian Parliament has passed legislation that would prohibit tobacco companies from displaying their distinctive colours, brand designs and logos on cigarette packs in a bid to make smoking less attractive to the younger generation. The laws are expected to come into force in December 2012. Instead of company branded packaging, cigarettes would be sold in drab, olive green packs, with brand names dwarfed by health warnings and graphic images of smoking’s consequences. Offenders would face fines of up to A$1.1 million (HK$8.79 million) for a company and A$220,000 (HK$1.75 million) for an individual. Australia already bans advertising at the point of sale. Tobacco companies have argued that the move illegally diminishes the value of their trademarks and have threatened a court battle for billions of dollars in compensation. Hong Kong-based Philip Morris Asia Ltd, which owns the Australian affiliate Philip Morris Ltd, filed
a notice of claim against the government in an Australian court last June arguing that the legislation violates a bilateral investment treaty between Australia and Hong Kong. Philip Morris says the treaty protects companies’ property, including intellectual property such as trademarks.

UK Supreme Court dispenses with legal dress

Lawyers appearing in the UK’s highest court will no longer have to wear the traditional wig and gown. Supreme Court president Lord Phillips announced the move, saying it was ‘in line with the court’s goal’ to make its work ‘as accessible as possible’. If all advocates in a case agree, they may ask to ‘dispense with part or all of court dress’, following prior arrangement with a registrar. The relaxed dress code would also apply to advocates appearing before the Judicial
Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC), said the statement from the Supreme Court. Judges and lawyers appearing in criminal courts still wear traditional wigs and gowns but they can be dispensed in cases involving children. The Supreme Court move followed a request by the UKSC/JCPC User Group, which represents professional users of the court, for an extension of the practice already adopted in family cases ‘under which advocates customarily appear unrobed’. In 2008, judges in civil and family cases in England and Wales stopped wearing wigs. A simplified design of working robes in court was also introduced.

Indonesia’s ban on sending workers to Malaysia lifted

The Indonesian government has announced an end to the moratorium on sending migrant labourers to Malaysia. A ban was put in place in 2009 following reports of Indonesian domestic workers being abused in Malaysia. According to Muhaimin Iskandar, Manpower and Transmigration Minister, workers will be able to start migrating to Malaysia in March 2012. In order to protect its citizens from abusive situations resulting from the lack of legal protections, Indonesia has maintained bans on sending migrant workers to several other countries in recent years; no workers have been sent to Kuwait since 2009, Jordan since 2010, and Saudi Arabia and Syria since early 2011.