Questions tagged [law]

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What are the implications of Hungary's emergency coronavirus bill?

Today, Hungary's parliament voted by 137 to 53 to enact the new COVID-19 bill, which apparently grants Prime Minister Viktor Orbán sweeping powers, in order to allow Hungary to deal with the crisis. ...
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What are the implications of the EARN IT Act?

On the face of it, the EARN IT Act of 2020 appears to be a bill to protect against online exploitation of children by creating a National Commission for that purpose. However, the Electronic Frontier ...
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Can President Trump ban all remaining presidential primary elections in an effort to contain the Coronavirus outbreak? [duplicate]

I am wondering if President Trump has the constitutional authority to ban all remaining presidential primary elections in all the states in an effort to contain the Coronavirus outbreak?
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4 votes
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Is the British Immigration health surcharge unique in the world?

People moving to the UK for longer than six months are required to pay an Immigration health surcharge. I.e., they pay a tax when they request a Visa to be allowed to use the National Health Service (...
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Why did HWR Wade write that passports have "no status or legal effect at common law whatever"?

Public Law: Text, Cases, and Materials (2019, 4th edition), page 316: Moreover, since Wade says that prerogative decisions must affect rights, he argues that a decision by the UK government to ...
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What exactly is the “rejections at the border” provision in the Spanish Citizens Security Law?

I've read that Videos and pictures of Spanish police forces getting people down from the top of the [Melilla] fence by all means possible, including violent use of force, began to flood the news. ...
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What legal recourse is available in the EU if it turns out that Greece has been doing "illegal pushbacks" of asylum seekers?

The Greek government is denying that any asylum seekers have been (illegally) pushed back to Turkey, which would contravene the UN Convention provision of non-refoulement, which is also incorporated ...
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Which US law transfered the power to declare war from Congress to the President? [closed]

The last few wars have been declared by Presidents without an act of congress. Yet the Constitution says that only congress can declare war. What is the specific legal justification that ...
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How binding is a sentencing recommendation by the Department of Justice? [closed]

Regarding the sentencing of Roger Stone, the original recommendation, which had been made according to official guidelines, was for a sentence of 7-9 years in prison. Then it was changed, and ...
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1 answer
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Do Polish citizens support law that allows judges to be disciplined for criticizing the system?

Polish President Duda has adopted on October, 2nd 2020 a divisive law that allows judges to be disciplined for criticizing the system. The legislation, which has drawn condemnation from the European ...
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1 answer
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Is there anything to prevent the U.S. Attorney General from helping political allies convicted of crimes?

Attorney General William Bar is in the news recently for pushing four federal prosecutors on the Roger Stone case to resign from the case. What, if any, checks and balances are there to prevent this ...
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Who has standing to sue for Emoluments violations?

Almost a week ago, the DC Court of Appeals threw out a lawsuit by two hundred out of five hundred thirty-eight congresspeople against the President, claiming that he has violated the Emoluments clause ...
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Can people who aren't exactly suffering more pain than the average citizen choose to legally end their life by active voluntary euthanasia?

Preliminary information: I have asked the question What age was the youngest person without any illness to die by euthanasia by own sane willingness? [closed] in the History Stack Exchange site and ...
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1 answer
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The political risk of a law that allows traffic camera be installed in all intersections [closed]

In all the cities I have lived in in Canada, I do not see a lot of traffic cameras in intersections. There seems to be only one or two in the intersections with the most traffic. That gets me thinking ...
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Does setting precedent automatically make something ok for subsequent politicians to do the same thing?

Surrounding the Impeachment trial of President Trump many news outlets have voiced that an acquittal will be setting precedent. Does this mean that subsequent presidents will be able to do the same ...
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Impoundment Control Act clarification

You can see the text of the article here: https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title2/chapter17B&edition=prelim Here's the relevant part for this post: Suits by Comptroller ...
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6 answers
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Why is Hunter Biden's testimony in the impeachment trial relevant?

During President Trump's impeachment trial the White House counsel have sought bringing Hunter Biden in several times for testimony. How is Hunter Biden's testimony relevant, opposed to that of John ...
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Is the senate trial legal or political?

The impeachment in the House was a political debate - not really a legal one. The rules that apply in a regular trial did not apply there. Is the same true of the Senate trial or is that more of a ...
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Which Democratic Presidential candidates favored making illegal entry only a civil violation?

Under Federal law, illegal entry into the United States is both a criminal violation and a civil violation. But historically, most people caught crossing the border illegally were not criminally ...
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1 answer
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Why exactly is Laïcité (the law on separation of church and state) not valid in Alsace?

I've read that Due to the special historical situation (Laïcité is not valid in Alsace), there is a university with a theology faculty (Catholic and Protestant). In 2009 a Master's degree in ...
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Why do so many pirated software apps and unlicensed copies of things come from China and the surrounding area?

I know this is a broad question but is there a reason there is so much copying of intellectual property in China and surrounding countries? It seems there's a stronger culture of copyright and patent ...
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4 votes
2 answers
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Are 'state religion' and 'official religion' the same things?

Are 'state religion' and 'official religion' the same things? For example, Pakistan has state religion while Sri Lanka has official religion. On https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_religion , it ...
6 votes
3 answers
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What exactly is "National Origin” with respect to US anti-discrimination laws?

In addition to the more familiar concepts of race, ethnicity, religion, disability, lawful immigration status etc., US anti-discrimination laws typically mention that it is also unlawful to ...
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1 answer
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Immunity from prosecution for heads of state

From what I understand so far, heads of state generally enjoy immunity from prosecution from the judicial system throughout the duration of their term of office. To give particular examples, ...
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Could a Senator commit perjury if they swear the oath at the impeachment trial in the senate?

A Senator is on record of having explicitly stated "I'm not an impartial juror" in regards to the upcoming impeachment trial in the Senate. Another Senator said, "I am trying to give a pretty clear ...
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2 answers
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Have their been any updates on Huber’s review since May?

In 2017, after the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Muller to oversee the FBI’s Trump-Russia investigation, Congressional Republicans asked the Department of Justice to appoint a second Special ...
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1 answer
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Does removing the US president from office through impeachment affect the validity of the decisions they made?

What happens to changes made by the president of the United States after her/his impeachment? Will executive orders and such automatically be invalidated, put on hold upon revaluation, revaluated, ...?...
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What's going on with the lawsuit against Concord Management? [closed]

Last year (2018), the US federal government indicted Concord Management & Consulting LLC in relation to the alleged Russian social media campaign to meddle/undermine/influence the 2016 US ...
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5 answers
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In Germany, why does the burden of proof fall on authorities rather than the company or individual when it comes to possible illegal funds?

According to this article Germany requires the authorities to prove that some funds are illegal instead of asking the company or individual for that proof: In Germany, the burden of proving that ...
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What does it mean to protect parliamentary papers if published ‘bonâ fide and without malice’? [duplicate]

In other words how can you publish Parlimentary Papers WITHOUT bona fide and WITH malice? Why not protect in this case?       Two other aspects of parliamentary privilege should be ...
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2 votes
0 answers
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Why was VP Biden not required to obtain a waiver to continue his influence over Ukrainian government policy? [closed]

In cfr §2635.502, paragraph (a) states: (a) Consideration of appearances by the employee. Where an employee knows that a particular matter involving specific parties is likely to have a direct ...
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At what point is emitting economic sanctions against a country an act of war?

At what point is emitting economic sanctions against a country an act of war? People mention that the U.S. blockading Japan during WW2 was an act of war, but if the U.S. and Western nations stopped ...
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3 answers
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Was Nixon right, and if so, to what degree was he right, when he said that "... but when the president does it, that means that it is not illegal."?

In the comments of this question, I came across this quote from Nixon: but when the president does it, that means that it is not illegal My common sense is telling me that logically, there must ...
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Can the US Senate's Hong Kong bill be treated as foreign interference?

Recently, the US Senate passed a bill about the situation in Hong Kong. Some core points from the bill: impose sanctions on Chinese officials review the special autonomous status it grants Hong ...
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7 votes
2 answers
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Why do American jurisdictions generally prohibit ex post facto laws as opposed to European countries which apply lex mitior ("the milder law")?

According to Wikipedia article related to Ex post facto law: While American jurisdictions generally prohibit ex post facto laws, European countries apply the principle of lex mitior ("the milder law")...
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2 answers
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What are the limits of parliamentary privilege?

From what I understand, parliamentary privilege affords MPs and Lords freedom of speech without fear of prosecution within their respective Houses of Parliament. I’ve only seen it come up into ...
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Are the other countries besides Romania that automatically reduce prison sentences for bad prison conditions?

Romania Insider news from 2017: The law allowing inmates serving time in bad prison conditions to get six days cut off from their sentence for every 30 days in prison was promulgated by President ...
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1 answer
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Which act of Congress authorized the Ukrainian aid which was allegedly withheld?

According to multiple media sources, U.S. aid to Ukraine was authorized by Congress. I am having difficulty identifying precisely which act would have authorized the specific aid which the Trump ...
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3 answers
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How much money would legalizing marijuana (both state and federally) save the US goverment on average?

One of the arguments for legalizing of marijuana is that it is suppose to save a significant amount of money spent in enforcing laws against the crime. Some of the cited supposed savings are: Not ...
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0 answers
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Is the OLC reconsidering its whistleblower informant opinion?

In August, the Inspector General for the Intelligence Commmunity (ICIG) sent the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Joseph Maguire a whistleblower complaint concerning President Trump’s phone ...
3 votes
2 answers
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Who has the power to dissolve the House of Representatives in the Netherlands?

Wikipedia says If the House of Representatives is dissolved, due to a severe conflict between the House of Representatives and cabinet, or within the cabinet, a snap election takes place as soon as ...
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Given the Kinnock amendment, is the Benn Act still legally effective?

According to one constitutional legal opinion, the Kinnock amendment makes the Benn Act impossible to satisfy: ‘The Prime Minister must seek … an extension of the period under Article 50(3) … in ...
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1 answer
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Can special prosecutor Dan Webb charge Jussie Smollet? [closed]

In a case that made political headlines, actor Jussie Smollett was charged with making false statements to Chicago police about a supposed hate crime he had experienced. But then the Illinois State ...
3 votes
1 answer
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What criminal referral did Michael Flynn’s lawyer have advance knowledge of?

Liberal journalist Marcy Wheeler just tweeeted this: [S]omeone should figure out via what means Sidney Powell knows exactly what John Durham is up to[.] And to be clear, I mean BOTH that she ...
5 votes
1 answer
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What gives presidents (President Trump) the right to negotiate bilateral trade agreements?

I know that there is some legislation that President Trump has cited allows him to raise tariffs, as well as "fast track" that applies to multilateral trade agreements, but what allows him to exercise ...
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1 answer
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Has the UK gone forward with its plan to designate northern Syria a "no-go" zone?

News from July was that The Home Office revealed in May that it planned to designate northern Syria a “no-go area” and that British citizens would have 28 days to leave or face a 10-year prison ...
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3 answers
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Why does Singapore criminalize abortion for foreigners?

According to AWARE Singapore, foreigners can only get an abortion in Singapore if they meet certain conditions: Foreigners are only eligible for abortion in Singapore if they meet one of the ...
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3 votes
2 answers
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What are the thresholds for an organization to be declared a foreign agent in Russia?

E.g. Wikipedia gives as example: Levada Center, Russia's only independent polling agency, received between 3 and 1.5% of its total budget from abroad.[27] It was issued with a public warning that ...
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3 votes
2 answers
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Can Johnson safely ignore the Benn Act assuming his deal passes next week?

What's the worst thing that can happen to Johnson or his government, legally, if he ignores the Benn Act (for now at least) given that he intends to bring legislation on the deal Tuesday, it seems? ...
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1 answer
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What was the ultimate fate of the 1985 defamation lawsuit against Rep. Don Sundquist?

In a pre-Westfall case (which might as well have motivated the 1988 law that increased Congresspersons' immunity against civil lawsuits), NYT reports (1987) A Federal appeals court panel has ruled ...
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