June 8th
This week the Justice Beat looks at love, marriage, divorce and the law.
Love (Island)
1. You’d be forgiven if you thought you could escape the cultural phenomenon that is Love Island by sticking to legal news. This changed with the Law Society Gazette joining other media outlets writing about the newly qualified solicitor who joined the gang of personal trainers, models and instagram influencers looking for love (and fame).
Marriage
2. Love has won, again - say gay rights campaigners as Bermuda’s Supreme Court has once more struck down a law banning same-sex marriage, reports Pink News. Gay weddings began in May 2017 following a ruling by Bermuda’s highest court. In response the Government passed a bill that re-banned same-sex marriage. That legislation has now been found unconstitutional on human rights grounds, following a CrowdJustice campaign.
3. In another victory for LGBT rights, the European Court of Justice ruled this week that EU countries that have not legalised gay marriage must respect the residency rights of same-sex couples who want to live together in their territory, reports the Guardian. There are six EU member states that still do not recognise same-sex relationships: Romania, Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Latvia
4. Sadly, a hat trick of victories just wasn’t to be. The US Supreme Court on Monday ruled against a gay couple challenging the bakery that refused to make their wedding cake for religious reasons, reports CNN. The couple took a positive outlook on the narrow ruling however, saying “I feel like we’ve won in a sense because we’ve started a nationwide dialogue”.
And divorce
5. Another story to catch the attention of gossip columnists this week was the $500 million yacht caught up in the middle of Britain’s most expensive divorce. The New York Times reports that from November 2016, the yacht went on a whirlwind voyage, all of it on paper, in a feat of asset protection and financial engineering so elaborate that the judge diagrammed it in a court hearing.
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This week on CrowdJustice, the Association of Scottish Self Caterers seeks to preserve their right to rent out properties on Airbnb, residents of the Golden Lane estate challenge a development, conservationists campaign against a raven cull in Scotland, and a vegan whistleblower brings a discrimination claim after being dismissed by an Animal Welfare charity.