Law and Policy News
Terrorism Payouts to Be Boosted
The Moscow Times: On the seventh anniversary
of the Dubrovka theater siege, Justice
Minister Alexander Konovalov said Monday
that his ministry was working on legislation
to increase compensation for those injured
or killed in terrorist attacks “in
accordance with the practice of the European
Court of Human Rights.” The law currently
obliges regional authorities to provide
compensation to victims and their families,
and the amount is rarely more than several
thousand dollars per person.
27 October 2009
The decision to give these victims the same
kind of assistance as victims of the 7/7
bombings, brings Britain into line with
other major western countries, following a
four-year campaign by MPs, peers and the
victims' families.
October 20, 2009
Iraq to Compensate Victims of Terrorism, Military Operations
On October 1 the Iraqi Parliament passed a
law (Arabic) to compensate victims of
military operations and terrorist attacks.
The law states that compensation shall be
provided for those who are killed or wounded
by "military operations", "military errors"
and "terrorist operations." The law covers
death, total or partial disability, injuries
that require temporary treatment, property
damage and damage affecting work or study.
October 4, 2009
Supreme Court Grants Cert in Cases Related to Victims Compensation
In Holder, Attorney General v.
Humanitarian Law Project;
Humanitarian Law Project v. Holder
(Docket Nos
08-1498;
09-89)
the Supreme Court has issued cert on an
issue regarding 18 U.S.C. 2339B(a)(1) which
prohibits the knowing provision of service,
training, or expert advice or assistance to
a designated foreign terrorist organization,
is unconstitutionally vague. Also at issue
is whether the provision of “expert advice
or assistance” “derived from scientific [or]
technical … knowledge” and “personnel” are
unconstitutional with respect to speech that
furthers only lawful, nonviolent activities
of proscribed organizations.
In Samantar v. Bashe Abdi Yousuf, et
al.
(Docket No.
08-1555) the court will decide whether a foreign
state’s immunity from suit under the Foreign
Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA), 28 U.S.C. §
1604, extends to an individual acting in his
official capacity on behalf of a foreign
state and whether an individual who is no
longer an official of a foreign state at the
time suit is filed retains immunity for acts
taken in the individual’s former capacity as
an official acting on behalf of a foreign
state.
October 2, 2009
British Family Win £1m Terrorism Compensation from Turkey
A British family who were the victims of a
terrorist attack while on holiday in 2005
have been awarded more than £1m by the
Turkish government.
Helen Bennett, from Spennymoor, County
Durham, was one of five people killed in the
bomb attack, orchestrated by Kurdish
separatist group, the PKK, on a tourist
mini-bus in Kusadasi in July 2005.
October 1, 2009
N.Y. Law Opens One-Year Window for Time-Barred 9/11 Claims
Despite strenuous objections from New York City Mayor
Michael R. Bloomberg's administration, New York Gov.
David A. Paterson has signed a bill into law that opens
a one-year window in state court for the filing of
otherwise time-barred legal claims against
municipalities by people allegedly sickened while
working in and around Ground Zero following the 2001
terror attacks.
September 25, 2009
Sudan Ordered to Respond to Cole Families' Lawsuits
The families members of the 17 soldiers killed in the Oct. 12, 2000, attack in Yemen will seek millions from Sudan, after congressional action that opened a new legal door for them.
September 12, 2009
Board Releases Workers' Compensation Case Data for World Trade Center
Click here for the report.
September 11, 2009
Brown Backs Families’ Fight With Libya for I.R.A. Attacks
Prime Minister Gordon Brown announces that Britain would support efforts by families of people killed in Irish Republican Army bombings to extract compensation from the Libyan government, which helped provide explosives to the I.R.A. during the 1980s and 1990s.
September 8, 2009
House Judiciary Committee Approves Portion of 9/11 Health & Compensation Act
The legislation (H.R. 847) would provide long-term, comprehensive health care and compensation for those sickened or injured in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
July 29, 2009
Justices uphold rejection of 9/11 suit against Saudis
In a decision that creates broad immunity
for Saudi Arabia in terrorism lawsuits, the
Supreme Court yesterday let stand
lower-court rulings that the desert kingdom
and senior members of the Saudi royal family
are not liable for the 9/11 attacks.
June 30, 2009
Supreme Court: 9/11 Victims Can't Sue Saudi Arabia, Princes
The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to allow victims of the Sept. 11 attacks to pursue lawsuits against Saudi Arabia and four Saudi princes over charitable donations allegedly funneled to al-Qaida.
June 29, 2009
Seeking Justice: Canadian Victim of Hamas Bombers May Soon be able to Sue Rogue States
Sherri Wise is a Vancouver dentist who
juggles her family life with the demands of
her career. She describes herself as an
average, ordinary Canadian. She is also a
victim of terrorism. It happened in 1997,
while she was volunteering at a dental
clinic for underprivileged children in
Jerusalem.
June 20, 2009
Canada Bill Would Allow Terror Victims to Sue Perpetrators in Canadian Courts
Canadian Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan on Tuesday announced the introduction of legislation to the House of Commons that would allow victims of terrorism to sue perpetrators in Canadian courts. The Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act would allow any individuals who can prove a link between an act of terrorism and Canada to sue in a Canadian court, stripping immunity from foreign states that can be proven to support terrorism. If passed, the law would be retroactive to 1985, meaning Canadian victims of the 1985 Air India passenger jet bombing over the Atlantic Ocean could seek damages.
June 3, 2009
British victim of Mumbai terror tells of official neglect back in UK
Britain faced accusations of moral failure
last night as politicians from all parties
called for compensation for UK citizens who
have been injured or disabled in terror
attacks abroad.
The clamour for action was sparked by the
plight of the most seriously injured Briton
in last year's attack on Mumbai's Taj Hotel,
in which terrorists targeted people with
British or American passports. Will Pike, a
29-year-old Londoner who faces a lifetime in
a wheelchair, reveals in today's Observer
that he is having to cope with just £15,000
in help from a government-backed Red Cross
fund.
May 10, 2009
