Important supreme court cases

SINGAPORE: The High Court has dismissed the Attorney-General's application to appeal in the Court of Appeal against a judge's decision to exempt an Hougang resident from paying legal costs. Both parties met in a closed-door hearing on Wednesday. The Attorney-General said in a statement last week that the objective in making the application was to give the Supreme Court the opportunity to consider and clarify this issue of public importance. Justice Philip Pillai had ruled earlier this month that Madam Vellama Marie Muthu will not have to pay costs even though she lost her bid to get the court to declare that the prime minister does not have "unfettered discretion" in deciding on whether and when to call by-elections. The Attorney-General had sought S$10,000 in costs from Madam Vellama Marie Muthu, who had initiated the case in March this year after former Hougang Member of Parliament Yaw Shin Leong vacated his post. However Justice Pillai said that public interest … [Read more...] about High Court dismisses AG’s appeal in Hougang by-election case

SINGAPORE: With the growing emphasis on intellectual property (IP), the Law Ministry has announced plans to develop Singapore into Asia's IP Hub and a committee will be tasked to look into this. Speaking in Parliament during the Committee of Supply Debate, Law Minister K Shanmugam explained that IP has become an important part of the global economy. This, as the value of intangible assets for S&P 500 companies, of which IP is a major component, is about 80 per cent. 30 years ago, it was just 17 per cent. Mr Shanmugam added that over the last decade, patent and trademark filings have increased by over 40 per cent worldwide. This meant that worldwide royalty and licensing revenue has more than doubled to over US$200 billion. With well-developed legal and financial systems and a workforce comfortable with science and technology, Singapore is poised to ride on this trend. Still, the country has a small domestic market, but Singapore can get around this by becoming Asia's IP … [Read more...] about MinLaw to develop IP Hub Masterplan

Presented by Facebook Welcome to The Hill’s Morning Report. Today is Friday! We get you up to speed on the most important developments in politics and policy, plus trends to watch. Alexis Simendinger and Al Weaver are the co-creators. Readers can find us on Twitter @asimendinger and @alweaver22. Please recommend the Morning Report to friends and let us know what you think. CLICK HERE to subscribe! Total U.S. coronavirus deaths reported each morning this week: Monday, 513,091; Tuesday, 514,657; Wednesday, 516,608; Thursday, 518,453; Friday, 520,356. Senate Democrats voted by the narrowest margin on Thursday to take up a sweeping $1.9 trillion coronavirus bill, teeing off what's expected to be a sprint through the weekend to help millions of struggling Americans. President Biden Joe Biden Trump State Department appointee arrested in connection with Capitol riot FireEye finds evidence Chinese hackers exploited Microsoft email app flaw … [Read more...] about The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by Facebook – Virus relief bill headed for weekend vote

Legislators in more than half the states are debating bills to limit access to sports or medical care for transgender people, opening a new front in the wars over LGBT rights that threaten to spill into the courts. Across the nation, at least 35 bills have been introduced to ban transgender students from playing sports in leagues that conform to their gender identity. Another 25 bills would prohibit access to gender-affirming medical care, in some cases with criminal punishments for parents who approve the care or doctors who perform it. ADVERTISEMENT © Flourish/Human Rights Campaign Only one state, Idaho, has passed a bill banning students from participating in sports under their gender identity, in 2020. None have passed measures that would block minors’ access to medical care, which usually involves medication to delay puberty. But for the first time this year, anti-transgender legislation is making significant progress in multiple states at the same time. The … [Read more...] about Majority of states considering bills limiting transgender access