DALLAS – The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has reversed and vacated the convictions of two indigent Mexican nationals who have spent the last 12 years in prison on life sentences for the Aug. 6, 1996 killing of a convenience store clerk in the Texas Panhandle ...
The Florida Supreme Court has held that defective work performed by a subcontractor that damages a general contractor’s completed work constitutes “property damage” caused by an “occurrence” under a commercial general liability (CGL) policy. U.S. Fire Ins. Co. v. J.S.U.B., Inc., No. SC05-1295 (Fla. Dec. 20, 2007) ...
A federal district court judge in Pennsylvania ruled that first-party property claims for damages due to defective stucco arose from a single occurrence and, upon determining the date of loss, held that the coverage claims were barred by the insurance contract’s two-year suit limitations period. Smith, et al. v. Westfield Insurance Co., No. 06-3077; 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87431 (E.D. Pa. November 27, 2007) Case Background ...
What It Means: After 339 days of hearings over five years, and at a cost of almost $30 million, a court in British Columbia has expressed its opinion that the Tsilhqot'in Nation has aboriginal title to approximately 2,000 square kilometres of land, but stopped short of making that opinion legally binding by granting a declaration of aboriginal title ...
In recent years, Romania witnessed a continuously growing real estate market, along with a sustained rush of investors, including many foreign ones, eager to secure prime locations for their future development projects.On such a rapidly expanding market, it has been difficult at times to implement sophisticated real estate projects, as the country’s legal framework in the area of real estate did not change overnight, despite Romania’s recent accession to the EU ...
In response to certified questions from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the Texas Supreme Court held that unintended construction defects are an occurrence and that allegations of loss of use or damage to a home may constitute property damage under a commercial general liability (CGL) contract. Lamar Homes, Inc. v. Mid-Continent Cas. Co., No. 05-0832 (Tex. Aug. 31, 2007) ...
It is a given that any human endeavor will have effects that we do not expect. Robert Burns identified the problem with the best-laid schemes of mice and men, and investors in the mortgage banking industry are learning that lesson now. In recent years, many borrowers entered into adjustable-rate mortgages with low initial rates, trusting that rates would stay low or that they could refinance or sell a property before larger payments came due ...
At long last, the Government's proposals in relation to the development of a Single Equality Bill have been released for consultation. The proposals stem from the work of the Discrimination Law Review that was established in February 2005 to consider the existing framework of discrimination legislation and to develop proposals aimed at harmonising and simplifying the current law ...
On 16 March 2007, the National People’s Congress issued the Property Law of the People’s Republic of China. Effective on 1 October 2007, the Law defines the scope of property and property-related rights, such as use and possession, and sets out the protections afforded to State, collective and private property owners.BackgroundWork on the Property Law first began in 1993 ...
On 31 December 2006, the State Property Management Commission of the State Council and the Ministry of Finance jointly issued the Notice Regarding Relevant Matters in the Assignment of the State-owned Property Rights of Enterprises to further clarify issues arising from the implementation of the Provisional Measures for the Administration of the Assignment of State-owned Property Rights of Enterprises and the Notice on Relevant Issues in the Assignment of State-owned Property
On 22 January 2007, the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Commerce jointly issued the Regulations for the Administration of Construction Project Service Enterprises with Foreign Investment. Effective 26 March 2007, the Regulations outline the approval process for construction project service enterprises with foreign investment and set out the permissible types of business for these enterprises ...
Some things change, others never change. The choice of procurement route is still governed by three main factors:· Time· Cost· Quality It is hard, if not impossible to achieve the best of all these three but when choosing a procurement route consideration must be given to the list of priorities so that people's expectations are properly managed ...
The promotion of research, development and innovation (R&D&I) has been identified as a key obligation by both the European Union as well as it member states in recent years ...
The Office of Fair Trading has written to a number of undisclosed companies in the construction industry, in relation to its ongoing investigation into a suspected multi-billion pound bid rigging cartel. It is offering the "late comers" a last chance to mitigate the potential fines which might be ascending upon them in the biggest cartel investigation in UK history ...
Each time we give up a bit of information about ourselves to the Government, we give up some of our freedom. For the more the Government or any institution knows about us, the more power it has over us. When the Government knows all of our secrets we stand naked before official power.” [Introductory remarks of Senator Sam Ervin on S3418, Legislative History of the Privacy Act of 1974 ...
In December last year, the House of Lords handed down its judgment in the case of R (on the application of Laporte) v Chief Constable of Gloucestershire. The case considered the proper balance to be struck between an individual's Article 10 and 11 rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly and association under the European Convention on Human Rights ('ECHR'), and the Police's powers to prevent breaches of the peace ...
This month the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006 ('the Act') comes into force. It is one of the Government's key legislative proposals for 2006, designed to promote productivity and ease the burden of regulation. The Act replaces the Regulatory Reform Act 2001 and is part of the UK Government's Better Regulation Action Plan 2005 ...
On October 31, 2006, the Court of Appeal rendered two key decisions on the issue of neighbourhood annoyances in Quebec. It is greatly to their credit that these two judgments represent a return to more reasonable legal bases on this issue. The decisions are Ciment du Saint-Laurent inc. / St. Lawrence Cement Inc. v. Barrette and Cochrane(2) (hereinafter “St. Lawrence Cement”) and Comité d’environnement de Ville-Émard (C.E.V.E.) and Michaud v ...
When the government and a contractor negotiate a construction contract, they usually stipulate in the contract that, in case of any dispute arising from the contract, such dispute shall be submitted to the engineer or the architect for decision before such dispute is submitted for arbitration. This is what is commonly referred to as a¡§pre-arbitration¡¨ procedure ...
Amendment (6) to the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China was adopted at the 22nd Session of the Standing Committee of the 10th National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on 19 June 2006 and promulgated by President Hu Jintao on 29 June 2006. The Amendment, which entered into effect on the date it was promulgated, introduces penalties for a range of economic crimes ...
1 When Do We Need a Building Permit?As a rule, the construction of or any structural alterations to any building situated on theRomanian territory requires a building permit. Few are the contexts where this rule is notapplicable. These situations usually refer to the repairing and maintenance works to the existingbuildings, which do not involve changes in the initial features of the buildings ...
Pursuant to the so-called Four Years Act, owners may unilaterally increase the rent for certain apartments during the period of 2007 to 2010 for once a year up to the target value. The calculation method is set forth by law and the target value will be announced by the Ministry for Local Development in the Collection of Laws. The written announcement of the increase must be duly justified. The lessee may file an action in respect of invalidating the increase ...
As concerns the contents of the Act, we can say primarily that certain proven principle and institutes reappeared known from original Act No. 199/1994, Coll., on Public Procurement which Act No. 40/2004, Coll ...
The Sappier Decision: Supreme Court of Canada Recognizes Aboriginal Right to Timber for Domestic Purposes and Clarifies Requirements for Establishing an Aboriginal RightOn December 7, 2006, the Supreme Court of Canada handed down its decision in the cases of Gray v. R and R. v. Sappier and Polchies ...
During the past decade, project financing structures have been actively used in Colombia in connection with the construction and improvement of infrastructure facilities and the expansion of access to basic public services. In particular, private investment has been active in concessions, the privatization and capitalization of public entities, BOT, BOO and BOLT schemes and other financing techniques ...
