Word: legal
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...death has triggered a wave of public discussion in Russia - reaching as high as the Kremlin - about the squalid conditions in the country's jails and bureaucratic incompetence. But it has also renewed focus on an odious criminal practice that embodies what President Dmitry Medvedev describes as the "legal nihilism" pervading the country. It's known as reiderstvo, or "raiding," a term that describes an array of illegal tactics - including identity theft, forgery, bribery and physical intimidation - used by corrupt policemen, tax officials, lawyers and financiers to seize a person's business or property. (See pictures of Hillary Clinton...
...agreements. Brazilian lawyers said Sean Goldman's stepfather, João Lins e Silva, has diligently followed due process in his attempt to retain custody of his late wife's son. (She died in childbirth earlier this year.) But there is still a sense that the already slow legal system is being swayed, in part, by money and influence. Sean's stepfather's family, the Lins e Silvas, is well known in Brazilian legal circles and they have so far used the system skillfully to retain custody of the child. (Can Rio's crime problem be solved before the Olympics...
...immediately affected by the amnesty's cancellation include Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Defense Minister Ahmed Mukhtar and top presidential aide Salman Farooqi. "These are the people most loyal to the President," said a Zardari aide. Prospects are increasingly uncertain for the survival of the already unpopular government. Leading legal experts argue that Zardari, who could face eight corruption cases in Pakistan, currently remains protected by presidential immunity. But his political opponents, building pressure on him to resign, now appear poised to mount fresh challenges to his eligibility as a candidate for the presidency in the 2008 election. (See pictures...
...legal setback for Zardari comes at a moment of low approval ratings and widespread allegations of fecklessness, along with mounting pressure on him to shed the executive powers claimed for the presidency by Musharraf and revert to its traditional, largely ceremonial role. Even within the government there is a slow, grinding power struggle between the President and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, who stands to benefit if Zardari recedes into the political background...
...violence has spurred proposals for reform. Legal experts say the current rules, which were passed in 2001, give authorities too much power to push through demolitions even before compensation disputes are settled. And the involvement of government officials in property development creates potential conflicts of interests, with the officials who make the decision to confiscate property sometimes benefiting from future developments on the site. The current law "completely overlooks the protection of private property in the process of housing demolition and it's strongly biased towards the local government by facilitating their management, while neglecting individual property rights," says Wang...