Petition Tag - justice

I have a dream that one day this forum will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the slopes of general nonsense, the sons of former banned members and the sons of former moderators will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even pie and bovril, a site sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that lichtieforlife will one day post on a site where he will not be judged by the stupidity of his questions but by the quality of his trolling.

I have a dream today.

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A MONTH-OLD baby boy was fighting for life last night after being raped and battered. He suffered a cardiac arrest brought on by his multiple horrific injuries.

In one of Britain's worst ever child abuse cases, every rib was fractured and the boy also suffered a broken arm, broken collar bone, punctured lungs and severe bruising.

There was also a sexual injury and internal wounds suggesting rape. A 46-year-old man was under arrest last night on suspicion of rape and grievous bodily harm. A woman was also in custody.

The child was taken to Darent Valley Hospital in Dartford, Kent, on Thursday. He had a heart attack there and was transferred to King's College Hospital in South London, where he was on a life support machine last night.

A source said: "These are the worst injuries the doctors and police have seen in someone so young. How the baby is alive is a miracle. He is still in a very serious condition and it's touch and go whether he survives."

The suspects are being held at North Kent police station. A police spokeswoman said: "A baby was admitted to hospital on Thursday. Its condition is critical but stable. "Police are currently investigating. A man and woman have been arrested."

Read more: http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/3976244/One-month-old-baby-raped-and-battered.html#ixzz1fVo7LDyl

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Zeng Hanlin is the former chairman of Guangdong Flying Dragon Group.

In Oct 1997, Guangdong Flying Dragon Group acquired 40% equity shares in Chengdu Lianyi Industrial Stock Ltd (a listed company) for a value of $68 million yuan, and in the meantime also injecting its high quality Flying Dragon High-speed Passenger shares into the listed company owned by Chengdu Lianyi Group.

End of 1999, due to the delayed payment to Chengdu Lianyi Group's for the acquisition, a simple civil dispute was transformed into a Contract Fraud case by the Chengdu police, placed Zeng Hanlin under criminal investigation, issued arrest warrant against him in just 1 week and followed by freezing of all his assets. In desperation, he borrowed HKD80,000 from a friend in Hong Kong and fled to Canada.

Since then, he was proclaimed by China mainland as "Major Economic Crimes Most Wanted" and one of China Police "Top 10 Fraud Suspects", his reputation discredited, condemned by the world and suffered reviled.

17 Feb 2011, Zeng Hanlin was repatriated, the 1st person to be forcedly repatriated by Canadian government back to China.

17 Nov 2011, given the attention by the social communities and foreign affairs department, Chengdu Intermediate People's Court started the case hearing secretly. During the trial, all outside contact was rejected; family members were being refused contact with any case information. In addition to the allowed 2 family members in the court, the rest present at the hearing are all local government officials.

During the trial, defendant's counsel defended Zeng Hanlin as Not Guilty.

Prosecutors and Defendant's Counsel hold opposite views on the fact findings made on this crime case.

Although it is a closed-door trial, there is plenty of substantial evidence to prove that Zeng Hanlin is not guilty.

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One of the most serious threats to the U.S. criminal justice system is the allegation that racism influences the imposition of death sentences.

I propose an overhaul of the sentencing process, using the best technology available.

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This petition is designed to put pressure on the Australian Government to encourage them to assist Julian Assange in regard to his current circumstances related to WikiLeaks in releasing sensitive information, the related sex charges and politically motivated attacks on him as an individual.

By collecting signatures on a petition we intend to demonstrate to the Australian Government of the large amount of support for Julian Assange. To show that people don't believe the political spin being used to try to discredit him and to justify the Australian Governments inaction.

Australian people expect their Government to support all of its Citizens and we want the government to know this.

Please watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1q9eqhT5UM&feature=player_detailpage

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-03/assange-adviser-calls-for-australian-intervention/3616170

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8866322/Julian-Assanges-lawyers-call-on-Australia-to-step-in-over-extradition.html

Supported by http://fleurcom.atspace.co.uk/Julian.htm

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I believe that to more effectively prevent violent crimes in the United States there should be a mandatory death penalty on any severe violent crime, such as murder, rape, child molestation, attempted murder and armed robbery.

I believe that this would not only solve our overcrowded jails, but also severely deter violent crime.

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The erstwhile Jarra parliamentarian and majority leader of the National Assembly, Baba K. Jobe has died in hospital. Mr Jobe was taken to the hospital from the notorious Mile 2 Central prison, where he was serving a 9 year jail term following his 2004 conviction of 'economic crimes'.

Mr. Jobe's death further raises suspicion that the Gambian president periodicallly eliminates key witnesses to the regime's crimes and clandestine operations. And for Baba Jobe, it must be noted, was trained in Libya as a mercenary, and he was the man who facilitated Jammeh-Gaddafi relationship that ushered in a feared vigilante group called the Green Boys and Green Girls of the Gambia.

Muammar Gaddafi was killed on October 20, and three days later, October 23, 2011, Mr. Jobe was hospitalised. He died today, October 29 of unknown illness at the country's main hospital adjacent to the presidential palace.

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The Palestinian people need our unconditional support. If you visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_State, you can find many countries and people are ready to declare their support for a Palestinian State.

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A recent United Nations report suggests that the United States and NATO allies are outsourcing torture and human rights violations in Afghanistan. The report concludes that there is a continuing pattern and practice of “systematic” torture in spite of repeated efforts at reform. (UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, October 2011)

Current US policy violates the Leahy Amendment to the Foreign Appropriations Act and Defense Appropriations Act (Sec. 563, P.L. 106-429 and Sec. 8092, P.L. 106-259, 2001).

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Nineteen years ago Nikki Allan, a seven-year-old girl, was murdered on Wear Garth estate in Sunderland. It was a crime of extreme brutality. Nikki's body was found in a derelict building - she had been battered over the head and stabbed 37 times. No one has ever been convicted of this most evil murder. The family need answers and the murderer must be caught !

George Heron, then 24, lived on the same estate, having moved in only weeks earlier with his sister. At first Heron denied knowing Nikki, but he admitted he did after witnesses came forward to say they had seen him with her on several occasions.

There was other evidence. The blade of a knife recovered from his lodgings matched the stab wounds. Blood splatters were found on Heron's shoe and other clothing. His sister told police that on returning home on the night of Nikki's murder, Heron had gone straight to the bathroom where, uncharacteristically, he spent "a good half hour" washing both himself and his clothes. Although Heron had at first denied going out that evening, four separate witnesses saw a man at the Boar's Head and Clarendon public houses fitting his description. The man was seen buying cheese-and-onion crisps - Nikki's favourite - which police believed the killer used to lure Nikki into the building where she died.

After three days of police questioning, Heron confessed to killing Nikki. He had previously denied it 120 times. The bulk of the evidence against him was circumstantial, but police and prosecutors maintained that several of the details in Heron's confession were corroborated by evidence gathered during the course of the inquiry. Police were confident of a conviction.

The trial opened in Leeds in October 1993. Community hatred towards Heron ran at fever pitch, making it difficult to guarantee a fair trial in Sunderland. The distance was no deterrent. Scores of local people, including Nikki's entire extended family, travelled daily to fill the public gallery and often had to be restrained from leaping into the dock to attack the defendant.

The judge in the case immediately identified a problem with the taped confessions. After two weeks of legal argument, he ruled that seven of the 12 interview tapes - thought by the Crown Prosecution Service to be crucial in proving the case - were inadmissible because officers had used "oppressive methods" to obtain the confession. After a six-week trial, the judge directed the jury to deliver a verdict of not guilty. Fighting broke out in the courtroom, Sharon passed out and several jury members were sobbing.

Heron was given a change of identity and moved out of Sunderland. Soon after the trial, his solicitor's office was firebombed. While Heron was in prison on remand, he was slashed across the face by an inmate and left badly scarred. Sharon was secretly invited into the prison to meet the inmate so she could thank him. "I was even sent letters from some of the jurors," says Sharon, "saying they would be haunted by Nikki's murder for the rest of their lives."

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The September 22 testimony of Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, may well “pave the way… to new unilateral military actions inside Pakistan,” including more drone strikes and, “even cross border raids into Pakistan to root out insurgents from their havens.” (New York Times, September 22-23, 2011)

After Mullen’s testimony, the Heritage Foundation immediately called for aggressive military and diplomatic escalation. (Christian Science Monitor, September 26, 2011) House Republicans are pushing an open-ended authorization for war against any insurgents anywhere in the world “associated” with the Taliban or Al Qaeda.

Enough is enough. Escalation in Pakistan is not in the national security interest of the United States. Already our drone attacks have provoked two terrorist near misses against American civilians, one at the Detroit airport on Christmas Day 2009 and another at Times Square on May 1, 2010. It is not in the economic interest of the United States; we cannot afford another trillion-dollar war. It is not in the moral interest of the United States; the drone attacks kill innocent people and inflame millions of Pakistanis against America.

The military pursuit of terrorist sanctuaries, first in Iraq and then in Afghanistan, has left behind thousands dead and wounded and only pushed the sanctuaries to new locations. Each escalation begets another. Besides Pakistan, our government is pursuing undeclared air wars against terrorist cells with drone attacks in Somalia and Yemen. (Washington Post, September 20, 2011)

It makes no sense to escalate attacks against the Pakistan sanctuaries of the Afghan Taliban while the US ends its combat role, gradually withdraws from Afghanistan, and supports a power-sharing arrangement with all parties. It is irrational to bomb the Taliban’s sanctuaries while inviting them to the peace table. A genuine diplomatic settlement requires a phased ending of the drone attacks as US troops phase out their role in Afghanistan.

Sending in ground troops backed by air power is as foolish as President Nixon’s 1970 invasion of Cambodia allegedly to wipe out Vietcong sanctuaries.

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Upon residing in my Windrift Apartment roaches, as well as other pests, have become a constant nuisance. I have lived on the premises for 9 months now and my lease and agreement is up on October 3, 2011.

I have made several attempts to resolve the issue to no avail. Not only to roaches occupy the home but also ear-wigs, waterbugs, knats, and worms.

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The sidelining by Cabinet and the National Assembly of Kenya of the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution, whose duties are clearly defined and enumerated in Article 262 of the Constitution (Sixth Schedule on transitional and consequential provisions) and was established by the Constitution to among others act as the peoples watchdog in ensuring the constitutionality of all supporting legislation while acting as liaison between non-state actors and the state, is mischievous, in bad faith and an affront on our sovereignty and will as the people of Kenya, and the supremacy of the Constitution of Kenya.

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يعرب أهالي القتلى والمصابين وجموع الأقباط عن استيائهم من مرور أكثر من تسع شهور حتى الآن على حادث التفجير المأساوي الذي وقع أمام كنيسة القديسين في الاسكندرية بعد مرور دقائق قليلة من بدء العام الميلادي الجديد 2011 واثناء احتفالات الاقباط بهذه المناسبة، مما اسفر عن مقتل 21 من الرجال والنساء والاطفال، وأصابة أكثر من مائة من المصلين جراء هذا الفعل الجبان.
وبداية يسعى كل فرد من أفراد أسر القتلى والمصابين منذ فترة طويلة الى محاولة التغلب على احزانهم والبدء بالعيش في سلام، وبالتالي فأنه يلزم من منطلق الحرص على الوحدة الوطنية واسم الاسلام، معرفة هوية الجناة واعتقال المسؤولين عن هذا التفجير.
يرجى الأخذ بعين الاعتبار ان أسر الضحايا والاقباط عموماً، متضررون ومتألمون بسبب عدم اتخاذ السلطات المعنية لأي رد فعل ايجابي تجاه ايجاد حل لهذه المشكلة وذلك بالوقوف على هوية الجناة وتقديمهم للعدالة.
لذلك نرى من الأهمية بمكان أن يسلم الاشخاص الذين اعلنوا ، بعد ثورة يناير 2011 ، أن لديهم معلومات مباشرة ووثائق متعلقة بالحادث للسيد النائب العام لاتخاذ الاجراءات القانونية بشأنها.
ويخشى الاقباط من عدم وجود رغبة واضحة لدى السلطات المعنية في اتخاذ اي اجراء قانوني لضبط الجناة وتقديمهم للمحاسبة امام القضاء، حيث أن هذا التجاهل من شأنه الاسهام في زيادة الهجمات ضد الاقباط. كما انهم يخشون ايضاً ان يعتبر السلفيون هذا التجاهل من جانب السلطات المعنية بمثابة الضوء الاخضر لهم لمواصلة وتكثيف الاضطهاد والقتل.
ان تحديد المسئولين عن هذه الجريمة النكراء، وتقديمهم للعدالة امام القضاء سيضع حداً للمعاناة اليومية لأسر الضحايا. لذلك يجب أن يتعين على العدالة أن تأخذ مجراها فوراً وبدون تأخير لا مبرر له.
لذلك نرفع التماسنا التالي توخياً للعدالة لضحايا كنيسة القديسين بالاسكندرية الابرياء:

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NUS must support ending the occupation of Palestine.

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Troy Davis has been on death row for about eighteen years now. However, there is a lack of evidence that he is guilty so he may well be innocent.

In this time, execution dates have been announced and changed. Often when the execution date is fixed, they will change it and tell him that he is not going to be executed.

However, his execution date has been fixed for 21/9/11 and he may be innocent!

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In the past 32 years, the Iranian fascist regime has executed tens of thousands of Iranians--mostly prisoners of conscience and members of minority religious groups. We believe that no one is entitled to take another person's life. This motivated us to start a 10,000,000-signature campaign to abolish death penalty in Iran.

در طی سی و دو سال گذشته رژیم حاکم بر ایران به نام دین دهها هزار ایرانی را اعدام کرده است که اکثر آنان دگر اندیشان مذهبی و زندانیان سیاسی بوده اند. ما معتقدیم تنها خداوند است که جان میدهد و حق دارد جان بگیرد. این کمپین به منظور جمع آوری حد اقل ده میلیون (10000000) امضاء برای لغو قانون اعدام در ایران راه اندازی شده است. به ما بپیوندید

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This petition is to request that the Judiciary is accountable to the voting population of Australia.
It is recognised that by Judiciary’s unaccountable interpretation of laws, laws made by the House of Representatives and the Senate, that implementation of laws can often not provide outcomes that are consistent with the wishes of the Citizens of Australia.

We believe that if Australia is a true democracy this needs to be changed. Historically at the time of our constitution the level of education of citizens and information to citizens was not as high as it is today.

With the changes in the knowledge and education of the citizens of Australia we believe the judiciary cannot remain unaccountable.

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Norman Scarth, born 1925, is a World War II navy and arctic convoy veteran. After he experienced imprisonment and even a psychiatric clinic in his 70s, he became a human rights activist - as many other Victims of White Collar Crimes.

As such he supported a defendant in Bradford Crown Court on 25 July 2011 and switched his audio recording device on, before he could get round to ask the Judge. Previously, such requests were granted to him by Lord Woolf due to him being hard of hearing.

A support worker reported him and he was taken away with very tight handcuffs. After the hearing he issued an apology via the court-appointed barrister and was sentenced the next day: six months and one year ban from entering court premises. A detailed report from a co-supporter is here.

However, the punishment does not fit the crime or the person, and the law enforcement agencies are inappropriately harsh without even following their own rules:

* he is in a prison for serious offenders
* his complaints are not actioned upon
* he does not receive his prescribed medication
* he is in solitary confinement that he defines as hell
* he has great difficulty in getting a sheet of paper
* he is allowed a visit every 2 days, if you call 0113 203 2995.

A demo took place outside Leeds Prison and moved to the War Memorial on Saturday 13 August. Justice for Norman Scarth is the campaign blog to free Prisoner A1903CF.

You can email Norman's MP Marsha Singh and ask that he writes to the Lord Chancellor to release Norman on compassionate grounds.

You can use Email a Prisoner quoting that number and you can phone the Prison Governor Paul Baker on 0113 203 2600. To book a visit, please call 0113 203 2995. He's allowed a visit every 2 days, without a need for a 'visiting order'.

You can use this online news release and twitter @FreeNorman, #FreeNorman and #FreeNormanScarth to make Norman Scarth a household name that stands for justice and human rights in courts.

Marvellous comments and an Executive Summary were collated from a comment analysis to distribute as "the voice of the Great General Public" in the "Court of Public Opinion", "a Jury of Signers" and "Advocates of the Public Interest". They are updated continuously.

Here are the "reasons for decision" about three refusals on August 25th. The appeal hearing will be on Friday, 9 September at the Royal Courts of Justice in London in Court 5 at 10.30am.

Please send the news release and / or executive summary to your MPs asking them to send them to the Ministry of Justice - as evidence by "We, the Jury of Petition Signers"!

PS. 100,000 signatures could give us a debate in Parliament and please consider signing Abolish the ban on recording court proceedings!

PPS. Please note that Sky News are trying to get cameras into court!

And today, 9 September 2011, he got freed - THANKS to public interest and a campaign of many levels - largely due only to the internet!

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On 07/07/2011, York based student Francis Fernie was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment.

Francis was involved in the anti-cuts protests that took place on March 26th in London.

When police attacked the crowd outside Fortnum and Mason, Francis was hit repeatedly (including over the head) by police batons.

In a moment of 'hot headedness', Francis threw two placard sticks towards a crowd of heavily armoured police officers.

It has not been proven that he hurt anybody.

Frank is a hard working student, with no previous offences, a solid background in voluntary and community work and to everyone that knows him, he is a brother.

Frank should not be in prison.

It is easy to see that Frank's sentence is disproportionate to the crimes that he has commited and his background is one of lifelong kindness.

The full story as reported by York's Press can be found on at the following link:

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/9128855.Talented_student_jailed_over_riot/

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The Visser family purchased their property 41 years ago because it was located out of town in a quiet place. Now, due to a new highway being built on three sides of their home, they no longer have the peace they once had, nor the value of their home. On two sides of the home there are giant ramps and a traffic circle and on the third side there is a giant overpass surrounding the home.

No attempt has been made by the government or any highway officials to compensate or purchase any of the Visser family property.

The government that we help fund has ruined our property and it's value and then tells us “We are perfectly within our rights”. Is it right to devalue a person’s home and property to nothing, let alone to make living there unbearable and dangerous? If we could sell and move we would have already, however we have been advised by our real-estate agent that our home is essentially unsellable. We have never felt so betrayed by our own government.

When we asked the government employee we spoke with how they would like to live where we live (surrounded on three sides of our home by highway), they replied” Mrs. Visser, I wouldn’t live there.”

When the government first mentioned twinning the highway, they assured us that if the noise became a problem, that they would put up a privacy sound wall to protect us. That never happened. Now, they say that they don’t have the funds for that. We have been told that such a privacy wall could cost over a million dollars to construct. Honestly though, which option makes more sense to the tax payers; 1) Buy our property and stop ruining our home life, or 2) spend approximately $1,000,000 to build a wall. It doesn’t seem like that difficult of a decision to make.

We have been very understanding about the necessary construction going on and have tried to be quiet and respectful about the situation we have been unfairly thrown into. However, it has now become unbearable, and simply unfair that we have been left with no options. Surely someone can understand and address this injustice.

Please sign our petition if you support our situation and our request for fairness. Thank you very much.

Links to Newspaper articles about the family's situation:

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1252629.html

http://www.ngnews.ca/News/Local/2011-06-19/article-2593831/Familys-sanctuary-disturbed/1

http://www.ngnews.ca/Opinion/Letters-to-the-Editor/2011-06-24/article-2611483/There%26rsquo%3Bs-a-reasonable-solution-to-family%26rsquo%3Bs-dilemma/1

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Caylee Marie Anthony (August 9, 2005 – c. June 16, 2008) was a child from Orlando, Florida, whose disappearance in June 2008 attracted national media attention. Caylee's skeletal remains were discovered December 11, 2008, five months after she was reported missing by her grandmother, Cindy Anthony.

Her mother, Casey Anthony, decided not to report her daughter missing, and was indicted on charges of felony murder. She continued to maintain her innocence throughout her trial.

On July 5, 2011, Casey Anthony was found not guilty of murder one (premeditated murder), aggravated manslaughter, aggravated child abuse, but guilty of four misdemeanor counts of providing false information to a law enforcement officer.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Caylee_Anthony

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It is 2011 and Australia is still in the dark ages when it comes to the sentencing of criminals, in particular those who commit sex crimes against children.

In a recent trial a judge in Victoria sentenced a woman who had incestual sex with her son for and allowing her husband to repeatedly molest her daughter for five years and three months and ordered she serve two years and three months before being eligible for parole.

This message shows the Australian public as well as the rest of the world that sex offences against children are not of much concern to our judicial system.

We need to call on the PM to bring back the death penalty and harsher sentencing for sex offenders.

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PLEASE NOTE: That the above publish date is the origin of petition cause. The petition below was been updated in the month of November of 2011.

The following statement is of my own personal opinion and true beliefs.

I spent less than a year as a licensed private investigator with little to no skill in order to discover what will no doubt soon lead to one of the most significant discoveries and or disclosures of judicial industry information regarding the Canadian family court system ever disclosed.

It is my true belief with respect to my simple discovery that there are no changes that could possibly ever be made to the present family court system that would reduce the enormous amount of suffering and death presently taking place.

With your support, this never before seen judicial industry information will be for the first time, gathered, compiled, then disclosed to the public.

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ما مجازات واحکام غیر انسانی اعدام، سنگسار،شلاق وشکنجه درهرشکل آن را درشأن مردم کشورمان ایران با پشتوانه تمدنی کهن نمی دانیم.

ما سرکوب و کاربرد خشونت، محکومیت ها و مجازاتهای وحشیانه را درخور شهروندان کشور خود ندانسته و خواهان لغو و محو اینگونه مجازاتها از سرزمین مان ایرانیم.

ما خواهان حقوق دمکراتیک برای زنان و جدایی دین از حکومت هستیم.

ما برآنیم که وابستگی دستگاه قضایی ودادگاه های انقلاب و دادسراها به سران حاکمیت جمهوری اسلامی و تبعیت آنها از منافع و مصالح سیاسی اقتصادی حکومتگران اسلامی، مانع از اجرای عدالت شده و درمقابل مطلق گرایی و سرکوبگری چنین دستگاهی، جان، مال و حیثیت هرشهروند ایران درخطر است.

ما خواهان لغو همه احکام غیرانسانی اعدام، سنگسار، وثیقه های ویرانگر و شکنجه درهرشکل آن هستیم.

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In 2004 Kathleen Boyle was lost to a Dangerous Driver, The Verdict of the Criminal Case was a Not Proven, an Acquittal. Later on in Civil Court it was shown he had been lying and many people agreed he was guilty of causing death by dangerous driving – Yet due to Double Jeopardy my family will never see the justice we deserve.

In Scotland the rule of Double Jeopardy has recently been through change, but not enough as the changes according to one procurator fiscal will only effect one case every five years. The threshold is extremely high.

Double Jeopardy prevents a person from being taken back to court, to give them 'peace of mind'. However, for those of us who are seeking justice, only to have been met with an unjust court case, we do not get another chance to prove their guilt – even if in civil court they admit it, or are found to be lying.

Those criminals who do get convicted, can appeal against their conviction. Yet families who have lost a loved one, and have gotten absolutely no justice at all due to lies or flaws all the way through a criminal court case get ignored and cannot appeal against an acquittal.

We put out faith in the law, we rely upon it to be fair and balanced, yet the criminal has more rights, the defendant seems to have more rights than the family who has just lost a loved one at their hands.

Double Jeopardy should be reviewed with such families and cases in mind.

( For more Information - http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2011/03/22142941 )

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The Justice For All campaign has been set up to cease the erosion of everyday people's right to free legal advice.

With the proposed cuts to legal aid and other associated funds free advice will become a thing of the past. We aim to stop this by voicing our dissent at a local and national level.

Please sign our petition to support the provision of free legal advice for all the people of Birmingham.

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In 1984 Petros I. Tsiros passed away after making the biggest ever donation to the Church of Cyprus, a property donation believed to be worth by today’s value, of well over One Billion Euros (600 Million Cypriot Pounds), with the express written condition that the Church of Cyprus should use the profits from the sale and development of that land, for public charitable causes and every time such funds were used to announce that they originated from Petros I. Tsiros donation fund.

After thirty five or so years and hundreds of millions of proceeds from that donation, the people of Cyprus are still anxiously waiting for the first of such announcements and the handling of the donation has remained an enigma to many.

For more info please view the blog
http://petrostsiros.wordpress.com/

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How does society allow a success story – a victory – to end in tragedy?

George Andre Axam was addicted to drugs for more than20 years, before he made up his mind to turn his life around and become again the man his family and his friends knew him to be. Every day in that time, he hustled a life on the streets to support his drug habit.

Twenty years earlier, he had been a loving son, a caring brother, and a devoted father. And then, to everyone’s surprise, he fell prey to drug addiction. He abandoned his children to his mother and father, and became someone his parents, his siblings and his own children hardly recognized as son or brother or father.

It was inevitable that he would become involved with the criminal justice system. Over his 20 year detour he has been convicted of several crimes – all petty, and none worthy of a 15 year sentence:
• He stole several cartons of cigarettes from a store.
• He was arrested for a possession of a very small
amount of cocaine.
• He committed fraud at Home Depot in the amount
of $500.00.
• He fired a hand gun in the air because he feared
for his physical safety.

Admittedly, all of these actions are wrong, but he has never endangered the life of another human being. After serving 2 years and 3 months for the probation violation, federal Judge Marvin Shoob reviewed Andre’s case and circumstances and declared, “the court finds that defendant is a small-time burglar suffering from a decade-long drug addiction, that he’s never been violent, and that he is in need of drug rehabilitation.” (page 5 of 18, Hearing Transcript February 2003). In February 2003, Andre was released by Judge Shoob and placed on probation. He was released and placed on probation and in that window of freedom he demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt that he had been rehabilitated.

Drug free, he reconnected with his family and friends. He bought a new home for his family of six sons, one daughter and 4 grandchildren. He became a productive entrepreneur supporting his re-united family with profits from a cleaning business he started while successfully reporting monthly to the probation office following his release.

In that window of freedom he was clearly re-building a lost life. He had a successful and growing business. He counseled his children to learn from his mistakes and not repeat them. He testified to all who would listen, that he was ecstatic to be himself again - the person his father and his siblings and his children knew so well, -- complete with dreams for his business and successful careers for his children. He demonstrated his successful rehabilitation by giving back; working with others who had a drug addiction, leading a Christian life and working very hard at being a good father.

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The adversarial legal system that we inherited from another country has numerous mechanisms which conceal or defeat the truth, and procedures which unnecessarily prolong civil and criminal actions.

Results: in criminal matters more than half of the guilty escape justice, while at the same time it is estimated that between 1-3% of people convicted in Australia (or several thousand people every year) are in fact innocent (source: Prof. Paul Wilson, Bond University), and in civil cases hearings can take months or even years.

In properly run truth-seeking systems as in France and Germany, the innocent are rarely even charged due to a series of pre-trial filters, while 95% of those who are ultimately charged are convicted, and most civil hearings take less than a day.

Therefore change to a truth-seeking system will both greatly increase justice as well as reduce costs and thus taxes.

Further:
• The adversarial system operates on the basis that truth does not matter; it is the only system which suppresses evidence.
• Lawyers are allowed to control the evidence and spin the process out.
• Judges are former lawyers, with no training as judges.
• The investigative system used in Europe and other countries is more just because judges trained separately from lawyers search for the truth, and costs less because they have no motive to prolong the process
• Cost: The current system is very damaging to families, children and individuals, and can lead families into poverty including loss of the family home.
• Fairness: A fair society brings about social cohesion instead of an unfair society that creates social disintegration.
• Timeliness: A resolution of a disagreement in a timely manner reduces the emotional damage to families, children and individuals who have to utilise the legal system.
• The UK, whose legal system ours was inherited from, is already moving towards an inquisitorial system. (see article on barrister James Richardson in NZ’s LawFuel 16 Dec 2010)
• A conservative estimate of 280 innocent Australians have been wrongly convicted and are currently serving jail sentences (based upon 1% of the 2009 statistic which claimed 28,000 in our prisons, while estimates of wrongful convictions in Australia by Criminology Professor Paul Wilson are between 1-3%).
• The best Investigative legal systems have a series of pre-trial filters that ensure that the innocent are rarely charged, let alone convicted and imprisoned, whereas at least 280 wrongfully convicted innocent Australians are currently in prison (as well as those in remand awaiting trial), at great cost to both themselves and their families, as well as to society in general, the taxpayer and to the community’s faith in our justice system.
• In our predominantly Adversarial legal system serial rapists, known killers and organised criminals are released back onto the streets to re-offend – money buys their brand of justice.
• The lawyers who run the current system are able to be incompetent and utterly remiss in their defence of people, especially those with a low education or intellectual or psychiatric problems (i.e. the vulnerable), Australia being the only developed country where lawyers "enjoy complete immunity" from being held accountable for incompetent court work.
• Australia has no Criminal Cases Review system to overcome the inexplicable limitations and failings of the Appeals and High Courts, as Britain now has.
• Under the current system, the only winners in most civil matters are the lawyers.

For further evidence see:
Civil Litigation in New South Wales: Empirical and Analytical Comparisons with Germany by Annette Marfording, 2010
http://ssrn.com/abstract=1641554

A Report on the Administration of Criminal Justice in the Pre-Trial phase in France and Germany by Professor Leonard Leigh and Lucia Zedner (Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1992)

‘Our Corrupt Legal System: Why Everyone is a Victim (Except Rich Criminals)’ by Evan Whitton (Book Pal, 2009)

Earlier books by Mr Whitton are online at:
http://netk.net.au/WhittonHome.asp

Dr Bob Moles site on miscarriages of justice:
http://netk.net.au/home.asp

If you like this petition you may also like two others I have started:
http://www.change.org/petitions/attorney-general-for-australia-remove-advocates-immunity

http://www.change.org/petitions/parliament-of-australia-senate-provide-australians-with-unbiased-and-effective-legal-disciplinary-bodies

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