Category Archives: International

World News Legal developments from around the world. The following is a collection of the most recent posts from other blogs addressing topics of international law.

Dispelling some of the myths of international family law

The laws of the world concerning family relationships are still predominantly national but too often international families face problems, bureaucracy, misunderstandings and simple obstacles in just living as a family in a country.

A decade or so ago, marrying someone from abroad or living and working in another country was a rarity. Now many millions of people are moving across the globe to relocate as families and as individuals to live and work abroad.Living as a family in another country can be difficult at the best of times, but it is even more difficult when there are relationship difficulties. The laws of the world concerning family relationships are still predominantly national but too often international families face problems, bureaucracy, misunderstandings and simple obstacles in just living as a family in a country.England only applies English law but there are many countries, principally within Europe, that apply the law of another country in a process known as ‘applicable law’.Even within the UK there are different laws. England and Wales are one country for family law purposes. Scotland is a very different country in relation to family law matters and regarding the court structure. The Republic of Ireland is a separate sovereign state. The Isle of Man has its own legal system, although much of Manx law is based on the principles of English common law.Some countries like the US and Switzerland have quite different laws between the different states or cantons. Other countries such as Australia have one combined law for the whole country on some aspects regarding international families but different laws in each state on other aspects, whereas India and Israel have different laws dependant on religion. The EU does not include Denmark for some family law legislation. As international family lawyers we are regularly asked to explain what some have described as ‘myths’ about international family law. We have taken a number of the most common questions to try to dispel some of these issues.

I have to divorce in the country where we were married?

No. One can choose in which country to divorce if there is a connection. It does not have to be the country where you were married. When a couple divorce, apart from issues concerning any children which are paramount, the next big issue is to secure the best possible financial outcome. England has been described as the ‘divorce capital of the world’ as we tend to be generous especially to wives in terms of financial settlement. Each case is different.

I can move to another country to live with our children if our marriage is over?

If the other parent does not agree, no move can take place, not even for a short holiday. An application for permission needs to be made to the court before the move takes place. If the other parent agrees, this is fine but we recommend securing permission in writing stating that the move is permanent. If you are a single mother and the father does not have parental responsibility for the child and no contact provisions are in place, you can move but again we never advise this without notifying the other parent. If you take a child abroad, away from his home without consent, you may find yourself facing criminal proceedings for child abduction which may result in a fine or imprisonment. Huge powers are given to the court to track down parents who abduct children. The Data Protection Act has no status in a search for missing children.

Full Read – http://www.relocatemagazine.com/articles/partner-family-dispelling-some-of-the-myths-of-international-family-law

Italian Newspaper Claims Mafia Is Trading Weapons with ISIS for Stolen Libyan Artifacts

The Italian newspaper La Stampa claims the Camorra and ‘Ndràngheta mafia groups in southern Italy are giving weapons to the terrorist organization ISIS in exchange for rare cultural artifacts stolen from Libya, writes Hannah McGivern of the Art Newspaper.

The weapons are being smuggled into Italy from Ukraine and Moldova by Russian criminals. The artifacts––taken from Sabratha, Cyrene, and Leptis Magna in Libya, all UNESCO World Heritage Sites—are being shipped from the Libyan city Sirte, a former ISIS presidio, to Gioia Tauro in Calabria, a port that ‘Ndràngheta members have used for pumping cocaine into Europe.

La Stampa journalist Domenico Quirico posed as an antiquities dealer to infiltrate ‘Ndràngheta-controlled trade around Naples. He was offered a carved head from what seemed to be a second-century Roman statue for nearly $66,000 and saw pictures of a Greek god figure available for about $1.1 million. Objects from Italian necropolises were also being sold. The clientele for the mafia groups appear to be located in China, Japan, Russia, and the UAE.

Italy’s interior minister, Angelino Alfano, said in a recent interview, “The criminal turnover of the so-called Islamic state comes from a series of factors, including the sale of works of art that have escaped the iconoclastic fury of the militants.” But Syria’s antiquities chief, Maamoun Abdulkarim, told the Art Newspaper that seventy percent of the artifacts taken from anti-smuggling operations in Lebanon and Syria have proven to be inauthentic.

From – http://artforum.com/news/id=64056

Sanofi Files Suit Against Merck, Claiming Patent Infringements

French drugs firm takes legal steps to prevent the launch of rival versions of its diabetes treatment

A packet of diabetes drug Lantus SoloStar on the production line at a manufacturing site of French drugmaker Sanofi in Frankfurt, Germany. The French company has filed a lawsuit against U.S. peer Merck & Co. to prevent it from launching a rival version of its diabetes treatment. PHOTO: REUTERS

PARIS— Sanofi SA said it filed a lawsuit against Merck & Co. for alleged patent infringements to prevent the U.S. drugmaker from launching a rival version of the French pharmaceutical giant’s best-selling diabetes treatment Lantus.

In the filing in the U.S. District Court of Delaware, Sanofi said on Monday it claims that Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., Merck & Co.’s international division, violated as many as 10 patents held by the French company, including ones for its insulin Lantus and its insulin delivery device soloSTAR.

The Paris-based drugs company said it started the legal proceedings against Merck after the U.S. firm’s filing for new drugs applications with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.

A spokeswoman for Merck said the company’s product “doesn’t infringe Sanofi’s patents.”

Sanofi shares were 1.3% higher at €69.91 in midday trading.

The French drugmaker’s all-important diabetes business is under siege, as a flurry of pharmaceutical companies seek to sell knockoffs of its blockbuster insulin Lantus in the U.S. The expected launch of lower-cost copies of Lantus and growing pricing pressure on diabetes drugs in the U.S. is rapidly eroding earnings at Sanofi’s diabetes division, which accounts for about 20% of the firm’s total revenue.

In the first six months of the year, diabetes revenue fell by 6% to €2.9 billion ($3.2 billion), hit by a 15% drop in Lantus sales to €2.38 billion. The company has said it expects revenue from diabetes drugs to continue to decline this as competition among insulin makers intensifies.

In January 2014, Sanofi filed a suit against Eli Lilly & Co. to defend its patents on Lantus. It had reached a deal with the U.S. drugmaker nearly two years later, under which Lilly agreed to delay the launch of its insulin to December 2016 and pay royalties to Sanofi.

In a bid to replenish its new drugs pipeline and revive growth, Sanofifor months had pursued U.S. biotech Medivation—a Nasdaq-listed company that focuses on hard-to-treat cancers, markets one prostate-cancer therapy, Xtandi, and has two other oncology assets in clinical development.

But U.S. pharma giant Pfizer Inc. beat out Sanofi grabbing Medivation for $14 billion in August.

Sourced From  – http://www.wsj.com/articles/sanofi-files-suit-against-merck-on-patent-infringements-1474285467

Italy investigates after grandson of mafia boss closed traffic and landed a helicopter in wedding day spectacle

Prosecutors in Italy are investigating how the alleged grandson of a mafia boss managed to close down traffic and land a helicopter in the crowded main square of a small Calabrian town to celebrate his wedding day.

Antonio Gallone, 31, tied the knot with his bride Aurora before celebrating with a lavish seaside spectacle complete with red carpet, Ferraris, Maseratis, and a helicopter drop-off in the main city square to a throng of cheering onlookers.

After their religious ceremony, the bride and groom took off from a nearby airfield in a Robinson 44 Ipema helicopter for an hour-long scenic flight over the Aeolian islands at sunset.

When the couple returned, their helicopter flew right over the main castle square, hovered for a moment, then touched down right in the heart of town, where traffic had been closed off for three hours.

The ancient hilltop town of Nicotera in the Calabrian province of Vibo Valentia is a known stronghold for the ‘Ndrangheta, one of the world’s richest, most powerful crime syndicates.

Nicotera’s city administration was disbanded twice in the last decade for mafia association.

Full Read – http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/19/italy-investigates-after-grandson-of-mafia-boss-closed-traffic-a/

Man admits to role in $103M illegal gambling ring allegedly linked to Mafia, Hells Angels

Adrian Humphreys | September 12, 2016 10:36 PM ET

TORONTO — The man accused of running Internet services for a $103-million illegal sports betting ring that police say was linked to the Mafia and the Hells Angels pleaded guilty Monday.

Gordon Baird, 59, admitted he was the administrator of the Platinum Sports Book, a sophisticated betting operation in Ontario that set up its computer servers in Costa Rica.

The police probe of Platinum was first revealed in spectacular fashion when officers raided a lavish Super Bowl party north of Toronto in 2013, a catered event with an open bar for 2,700 guests who vied for expensive door prizes including a motorcycle and Sea-Doo.

It was a party thrown annually by Platinum as a customer appreciation event. Court heard it cost more than $100,000 to run.

The cost, however, was a drop in the bucket of what money organizers were bringing in, court heard.

With computer servers in Costa Rica, toll-free phone lines, a smart-phone app for gamblers to bet on all major sporting events, the operation was technologically savvy, sophisticated and lucrative.

Based on police wiretaps, it is estimated that Platinum employed hundreds of bookies servicing thousands of clients within the Toronto area. The bookies signed up their own clients, collected their debts and paid out their winnings on a weekly basis. The money flowed up the pyramid, court heard, with the top acting as “the bank.”

A financial audit of seized betting records show that between 2009 and 2013 Platinum grossed more than $103 million. Police seized $4.6 million in cash during its probe.

In 2012, $1.3 million in cash was found in the backpack of Erwin Speckert as he boarded a bus from Winnipeg to Vancouver. The source of the money was never revealed, but Monday’s court proceedings confirmed it was Platinum money being couriered west. Speckert was sentenced last year to three years for money laundering.

“The operation is best viewed as a highly sophisticated and organized pyramid-type structure. The pyramid structure involved a number of ‘cells’ consisting of bookies and their sub-agents signing up bettors/clients,” says an agreed statement of facts in Baird’s case.

“These cells in turn are all connected to the top of the pyramid structure by those managing the organization.”

The top — which Baird was not a part of — was not discussed in his proceeding. At the time of arrests, the RCMP said Platinum Sports Book was linked to members of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club and the Mafia.

Full Article – http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/man-admits-to-role-in-103m-illegal-gambling-ring-allegedly-linked-to-mafia-hells-angels