• NATIONAL

Lex WITNESS'- India's First Magazine on Legal and Corporate Affairs Launched

'Lex WITNESS', India's First Magazine on Legal and Corporate affairs was launched on August 7th by Hon'ble Dr. Justice AR Lakshmanan, Chairman, Law Commission of India. A pioneering initiative of SriGro Interactive, WITNESS seeks to address topical issues from the legal domain in a subtle yet effective way. Even though the first issue had hit the stands on July 16, 2009, it was formally launched yesterday in V.K Krishna Menon Bhawan, Indian Society of International Law amongst an illustrious list of guest from the legal society. The inaugural issue of WITNESS accentuates the significance of mediation cells in today's scenario, its success in the West and the need for its adaptation in India. It also extensively covers the Limited Liability Partnership Act 2008 and the Pre-nuptial contracts. WITNESS would be an amalgamation of the view points of some of the country's eminent legal luminaries, judges, advocates, educationists and India Inc. and would provide content that is relevant to all stakeholders in this profession. Witness is a subscription based magazine and is currently being marketed in all metros," according to Mr. Shyam Grover, Group Editor and Chief Executive Officer. Highlighting the objectives of the magazine, the Editor-in.Chief, Mr. PBA Srinivasan said, "WITNESS would be an active forum for professionals who contribute to the growth of law, business policy making and other aspects of the Judiciary System. Our mission is to inform and empower the legal fraternity, corporate houses and public, through well researched articles, open forums, opinions and analysis".

HRD to update legal education system

Legal education in the country is set for a major overhaul. HRD ministry has set up a 12-member 'Round Table on Legal Education' with a mandate to suggest how legal education could not only meet the requirements of the legal system but also the needs of trade, commerce and industry, society and governance as well as in areas of research. The 12-member committee will "advise and make recommendations" on transforming the legal education system especially "curriculum design and delivery as well as the examination system" so that graduating students are "equipped with knowledge and confidence to fit in a wide range of roles vis-a-vis diverse traditional and emerging opportunities". The round table will also counsel the government on the measures required to inculcate a tradition of research in law schools. The round table will advise and make recommendations from time to time. Eminent jurist N R Madhava Menon, a member of the round table, told TOI that with change in the economy, there was a need for a fresh look at curriculum. "The current pedagogy of lecture method does not impart skills to train a lawyer. Lawyers need skills for negotiations, intervention and other things that is needed internationally. We need clinical legal education," Menon said.

NTPC set to slap legal notice on Technoprom

TPC Ltd, India's largest power generation utility, is set to escalate its one-and-a-half year dispute with Russia's Technoprom Exports (TPE), which had won the contract for supply of boilers to its controversial 1,980MW Barh project in Bihar. The utility plans to issue a legal notice to TPE after discussions brokered by diplomats and ministers in the background of India's healthy relations with Russia failed to yield results. While the contract value is around Rs 2,066 crore, TPE is adamant on an additional payment of Rs1, 700 crore, citing higher steel prices. "They (Technoprom) are not coming around. They are adamant and asking for compensation for which we are not ready. We will take contractual action according to the clauses laid down in the contract. We will issue (a) legal notice to them," said a top NTPC official who did not want to be identified.

Law Comm recommends legal sanction to surrogacy

The Law Commission in India has recommended giving legal sanction to surrogacy and to prohibit its commercial use by making it mandatory for one of the parents wanting to have child through it to be a donor. "Non-intervention of law in this knotty issue will not be proper at a time when the law is to act as an ardent defender of human liberty and an instrument of positive entitlement," the Commission headed by Justice A R Lakshmanan, a retired Supreme Court judge, said in its latest report. Emphasising on the need to have a legislation to deal with issues related to surrogacy, the Commission said legal issues related with surrogacy are very complex and need a comprehensive legislation.

• INTERNATIONAL

PCB unlikely to take legal action against former players

Pakistan Cricket Board is unlikely to take any legal action against former players who have voiced fears of national team players being involved in match-fixing in the ongoing tour of Sri Lanka. PCB chairman Ejaz Butt had said he was consulting legal advisors to take action but board insiders ruled out any defamation suit against the former players. The sources said this was not the first time former players had made such allegations and since the links of Pakistani players with bookmakers had been proven in the past, it was unlikely any action could be taken. "Sarfaraz Nawaz first made match fixing allegations in 1987 and he is still doing the same so what has happened. It is difficult to differentiate between slander and a person's personal opinion and viewpoint," one source stated. Pakistan board had earlier confirmed it had brought to the notice of the International Cricket Council an incident at the team hotel in Colombo where suspected bookies from India tried to make contacts with the players.

Lawyer's Detention Shakes China's Rights Movement

China's nascent legal rights movement, already reeling from a crackdown on crusading lawyers, the kidnapping of defense witnesses and the shuttering of a prominent legal clinic, has been shaken by the detention of a widely respected rights defender who has been incommunicado since the police led him away from his apartment 12 days ago. Xu Zhiyong, 36, a soft-spoken and politically shrewd legal scholar who has made a name representing migrant workers, death row inmates and the parents of babies poisoned by tainted milk, is accused of tax evasion. The charge is almost universally seen here as a cover for his true offense: angering the Communist Party leadership through his advocacy of the rule of law. If convicted, he could face up to seven years in prison.

Sex offender wins legal aid bid

A sex attacker who was once convicted of trying to rape an 11-year-old girl has been granted legal aid to challenge a ban on travelling by bus. John Bermingham, 43, faces being sent back to jail for allegedly breaching restrictions on his movements that were designed to protect children. The constraints were imposed at the end of a nine-year prison sentence for two sex attacks on the same day. Bermingham was found guilty in 2002 of attempting to rape an 11-year-old girl returning from a dance class and of a sex attack on a teenager in Edinburgh the same day. Following his release, a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (Sopo) was granted, which placed several restrictions on his movements, including the ban on travelling by bus when schoolchildren were likely to be on board.