As many of us know all too well, the coronavirus pandemic has forced companies and their personnel to shift their operations to a remote, work-from-home (or WFH) environment. This change has had a profound effect on outsourcing providers and their c...

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Introduction On 5 July 2019, the Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, Barbara Dallas Creecy, published a notice requiring that when submitting an application for environmental authorisation in terms of regulation 19 and regulation 21 of ...

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On the 15 October 2019 the government published its consultation on the future trajectory of the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard for commercial properties under the Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015 ...

HEALTH AND SAFETY In the courts - cameras to broadcast from the Crown Court for the first time The government has announced new legislation which will permit the sentencing remarks of High Court and senior judges in certain criminal cases to be film...

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ENVIRONMENT Long Awaited Environment Bill Back in Parliament The UK Environment Bill seeks to deliver “the most ambitious environmental programme of any country on earth” by setting a “gold standard” for environmental protect...

On 6 February 2020, the Government published the Street and Road Works (Amendments Relating to Electronic Communications) (England) Regulations 2020, which come into force on 1 April 2020. The Regulations support the delivery and implementation of &...

The Lagos State Government has discharged 48 more COVID-19 patients from its isolation centres.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu disclosed this via his official Twitter handle on Thursday.

This brings the total recovery case in the state to 406. 

The governor said the patients, who were all Nigerians, include 32 males and 16 females.

He said, “The patients, 28 from the Mainland Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba, six from Lekki, one from Onikan and 13 from LUTH Isolation Centre, were discharged having fully recovered and tested negative to #COVID19 in two consecutive readings.”

A document seen by SaharaReporters has exposed how serving and retired Nigerian judges are illegally preparing ways for their children and relatives to take over the country’s judicial system in future.

According to the document put together by Open Bar Initiative, out of the 33 names recently recommended to President Muhammadu Buhari by the National Judiciary Council for appointment as judges in the Federal Capital Territory High Court, only 11 met the criteria set out in the employment guideline of the council.

The NJC had on April 26, 2020 approved the appointment of 33 judges for the FCT High Court.

SaharaReporters gathered that 22 out of the 33 candidates presented to President Buhari made the list only because they were related to serving senior members of the judiciary or close aides and members of the NJC. 

Also, states that already have judges in the FCT High Court were reconsidered and given slots while no one was considered qualified for appointment in Ebonyi, a state that has no existing judge.

Section 255 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), pegged qualification for becoming a judge in the High Court of the FCT to a minimum of 10 years qualification as a legal practitioner. 

Also Rule 4 of the NJC appointment of judges’ procedure, indicated only four classes of lawyers, who are qualified to apply and be recommended to be appointed as judges of a high court.

These are legal practitioners in private practice, legal practitioners in public service, who are legal officers, chief registrar of a court, and chief magistrates.

Those listed in the document seen by SaharaReporters among the 33 nominees to be considered as judges by President Buhari but, who are not qualified include Njideka K. Nwosu-Iheme, a Grade 1 Magistrate, who is the daughter of Justice Mary Odili of the Supreme Court and daughter-in-law to Justice Nwosu-Iheme of the Court of Appeal, Agashieze Cyprian Odinaka, a Deputy Director at FCTA whose sister is the Presiding Justice, Court of Appeal in Akure, Ondo State, Fatima Abubakar Aliyu, a judiciary worker, who is the daughter of immediate-past President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Bulkachuwa, Kanyip Rosemary Indinya, a senior magistrate at FCT and wife of the President of the National Industrial Court and sister of a member of the National Judicial Council.

Others are Mimi Anne Katsina Alu-Apena, a senior magistrate and daughter of late Kastina Alu, former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Enenche Eleojo, Assistant Director at FCT High Court and Personal Assistant to the Chief Judge, FCT High Court, Madugu Mohammed Alhaji, Josephine Obanor Enobie, Kayode Agunloye, Nwabulu Ngozika Chineze and Abubakar Babashani, who are senior staff of the FCT High Court but have not attained the rank of chief registrar as stipulated by the constitution.

The list also includes one one Aliyu Halilu Ahmed, a Deputy Chief Registrar from Adamawa State judiciary, who has not attained the rank of a chief registrar.

The rest are Aminu Muhammad Abdullahi, Nwecheonwu Chinyere Elewe, Ibrahim Mohammed, Sadia Mu’azu Mayana, Aliyu Yunusa Shafa, Mohammed Zubairu, Binta Dogonyaro, Christopher Opeyemi Oba and Hafsat Lawan Abba-Aliyu, all magistrates from the FCT judiciary, who are not up to the rank of a chief magistrate as stipulated in Rule 4 of the NJC appointment of judges procedure.

SaharaReporters also gathered that one Olufola Olufolashade Oshin did not participate in the processes leading up to selection, interview or obtaining recommendation from a Chief Judge of a state but her name was inserted into the final list transmitted to President Buhari at the instigation of some senior judicial officers believed to be top members of the Supreme Court.

Reacting to the development, Open Bar Initiative said, “The suggestion that judicial service in Nigeria is an inheritance transmitted from parents to children is not supported by the constitution or any other instrument under Nigerian law. 

“This is an abuse of the constitution by those who must nominate judges for appointment.”

Co-convener of Open Bar Initiative and former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission in Nigeria, Prof Chidi Odinkalu, while reacting to the situation, said, “These are not just unqualified nominees, they are bad nominees because only bad people will want to become judges through smuggling. They will make bad judges, we should resist them and their sponsors.”

Voicing his displeasure on Twitter, a user with the handle @AbdulMahmud01, said, “Have you seen the list of newly appointed FCT judges approved by NJC? It is a parade of children of former CJN, retired Supreme Court justices and judges. NJC is simply put: a corrupt council of corrupt interests.”

Another user, @KennyAdazie, while sharing her thoughts on the issue, said, “The only people that can take back Nigeria are the youth. 

“If we don’t come out to stop this madness, the charade will continue. When they strategically place their own, they pave way for #impunities and come 2023, there is nothing you can do! The reason our legal system is in ruins.”

The Plateau State Government has discharged the state’s index case of Coronavirus from one of its isolation centres at Jos University Teaching Hospital after she made a full recovery.

Nathan Shehu, Consultant Physician, Infectious Disease, at JUTH, confirmed the recovery, saying she was fit to reintegrate into society.

He said, “The patient has recovered and is fit to reintegrate into the community. She no longer poses a risk. 

“The patient came asymptomatic; after treatment, her samples were taken and they all are negative, so she is discharged and can go home.

“The advice we will give her is the same we will give those in the community. She should maintain social distance, respiratory and cough etiquette and hand hygiene.”

The consultant, who was involved in managing the patient, urged the public not to stigmatise those treated and discharged.

Sixteen patients receiving treatment for Coronavirus in Kano State have been discharged after recovering from the disease.

This brings the total number of discharged patients in the state to 22.

Mallam Muhammad Garba, Commissioner for Information in the state, made this known in a statement on Thursday. 

Garba said among those discharged were Prof Abdulrazak Garba Habeeb of the Department of Medicine, Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Bayero University, who is also the Co-chair of the state’s Prevention Task Force on COVID-19, Dr Aminu Ibrahim Tsanyawa, the state’s Commissioner for Health among others.

The commissioner pointed out that all the patients have tested negative for the disease after the two follow up tests and have therefore reached full recovery.

Nigeria has recorded 381 new Coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of confirmed infections in the country to 3526.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control disclosed this in a Twitter post on Thursday. 

The agency said, “381 new cases of ‪#COVID19; 183 in Lagos, 55 in Kano, 44 in Jigawa, 19 in Zamfara, 19 in Bauchi, 11 in Katsina, nine in Borno, eight in Kwara, seven in Kaduna, six in Gombe, five in Ogun, four in Sokoto, three in Oyo, three in Rivers, two in Niger, one in Akwa Ibom, one in Enugu and one in Plateau.

“3526 cases of ‪#COVID19 in Nigeria. Discharged: 601, deaths: 107.” 

The COVID-19 pandemic and the associated "lockdown" poses completely new challenges for Swiss companies. This concerns, among other things, the numerous upcoming annual general meetings, which are usually held between April and June. According to th...

Eversheds Sutherland advises Glennmont on the sale of a minority stake in 211MW Finnish wind project Eversheds Sutherland has advised Glennmont Partners on its agreed sale of a 15% minority stake in Project Piiparinmäki, a 211.4MW wind farm, to...

Eversheds Sutherland has announced two changes to its senior management team in Germany. The global law firm has appointed Dr. Alexander Niethammer as new Managing Partner of its German office, while Hamburg-based Partner, Dr. Carola Rathke, takes u...

Eversheds Sutherland is pleased to announce the appointment of a new Partner in the fields of data protection and IT law. As an attorney and 2012 certified Senior Project Manager IPMA Level B, Markus Naef advises companies on legal safeguards and ex...

We acted as legal advisor when the shareholders of Oy Basso Media Ltd. sold all shares of Oy Basso Media Ltd. to Bauer Media Holding Oy. Other financial arrangements were also carried out in connection with the transaction. Basso Media will continue...

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The FCA has published information on its expectations of general insurance firms in relation to their treatment of consumers during the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. The FCA has also published information for consumers on what they sho...

The FCA has published information on its expectations of general insurance firms in relation to their treatment of consumers during the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. The FCA has also published information for consumers on what they sho...

By Wilmar Salim, Keith Bettinger, and Micah Fisher HONOLULU (June 21, 2019)—With a population of more than 30 million, greater Jakarta is the largest metropolitan area in Southeast Asia and one of the most densely populated urban regions in the world. The city is a major economic engine for Indonesia, accounting for approximately 25 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. Yet urban poverty remains an intractable problem, and Jakarta’s infamous traffic congestion paralyzes commerce, leaches productivity, and contributes to air pollution and associated health hazards.

This is a summary only. Click the title for the full article, or visit www.EastWestCenter.org/Research-Wire for more.

By Fan Lulu and Boy Luethje HONOLULU (July 31, 2019)—With more than 800 million Internet users, China has become the global leader in e-commerce—the buying and selling of products and services online. Taobao (roughly “treasure hunt” in English) is the leading Chinese online shopping and e-commerce website, founded by the Alibaba Group. As of 2018, more than 580 million active users visited Taobao and its sister website Tmall every month.

This is a summary only. Click the title for the full article, or visit www.EastWestCenter.org/Research-Wire for more.

By Andrew Mason, Sang-Hyop Lee, and Donghyun Park HONOLULU (8 May 2020)—Elderly populations in Asia are expanding more quickly than other age groups. Low fertility rates result in fewer children and eventually fewer working-age adults, while elderly populations are living longer.

This is a summary only. Click the title for the full article, or visit www.EastWestCenter.org/Research-Wire for more.

In Brief: According to the 2020 budget draft law n°7500, published on 14 October 2019 (the “Bill”), the validity of advance tax agreements (“ATAs”) granted prior to 1 January 2015 should now be limited to five years. Sinc...

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