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23 March 2022
Issue: 7972 / Categories: Legal News , International
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Justice for Ukraine

Former prime ministers Gordon Brown and John Major have joined 140 lawyers, academics and politicians to call for the creation of a Nuremberg-style international tribunal to investigate President Vladimir Putin and his associates for their actions in Ukraine

The trial, which would be modelled on the Nuremberg trials where 161 war criminals were prosecuted after the Second World War, would act in addition to the current investigations into war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The campaign, launched last week, is supported by the Ukrainian President Zelensky and Minister of Defence, Dmytro Koleba, professor of international law Philippe Sands QC, former prosecutor for the Nuremberg Military Tribunal Benjamin Ferencz, Helena Kennedy QC, and Sir Nicolas Bratza, former President of the European Court of Human Rights.

An accompanying petition has gained more than 1,348,000 signatures. It calls on world leaders to hold Putin and his accomplices personally accountable by creating a special tribunal for the punishment of the crime of aggression, and to fully support the ICC’s separate investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Brown said: ‘From Britain, which rightly prides itself in democracy and the rule of law, the message must go out.

‘At Nuremberg we held the Nazi war criminals to account. Now, eight decades on, we must ensure there will be a day of reckoning for Putin.’

Find out more and sign the petition at: justice-for-ukraine.com.

Meanwhile, the Charity Commission has published guidance aimed at charities and trustees that are responding to the conflict in Ukraine. It includes information on fundraising and Ukraine appeals, setting up a new charity, changing charitable objects to support the Ukraine crisis, safeguarding, compliance with financial sanctions and participation in aid convoys.

The commission suggests supporting local economies by buying goods close to the point of need rather than arranging aid convoys. Read the guidance here.

Issue: 7972 / Categories: Legal News , International
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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Switalskis—Naila Arif, Harriet Findlay & Ellie Thompson

Switalskis—Naila Arif, Harriet Findlay & Ellie Thompson

Firm awards training contracts to paralegals through internal programme

Ward Hadaway—Matthew Morton

Ward Hadaway—Matthew Morton

Private client disputes specialist joins commercial litigation team

Thomson Hayton Winkley—Nina Hood

Thomson Hayton Winkley—Nina Hood

Cumbria firm appoints new head of residential property

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Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
Family law must shift from conflict-driven litigation to child-centred problem-solving, according to a major new report. Writing in NLJ this week, Caroline Bowden of Anthony Gold outlines findings showing overwhelming support for reform, with 92% agreeing lawyers owe duties to children as well as clients
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