World Court gives lighthouse island to Singapore
Legal World
The International Court of Justice on Friday awarded Singapore sovereignty over a disputed island at the eastern entrance of the Singapore Straits.
The two-acre island hosts a strategic lighthouse that has been a landmark for 150 years and a beacon of safety for hundreds of ships passing daily.
The U.N.'s highest court, however, gave Malaysia ownership of a smaller uninhabited outcropping. Sovereignty over a third disputed cluster of rocks was left to be determined later between the countries when they sort our their territorial waters, the ruling said.
Malaysia had disputed Singapore's rule of the island listed on most maps as Pedra Branca and known by Malaysia as Pulau Batu Puteh.
Singapore, a former British colony, said it inherited the island, which it said was ceded to the British to build the lighthouse in the mid-1840s.
Malaysia said the sultan of Johor, whose ownership of the island was recognized as early as the 1500s, had merely given the British permission to build and operate the lighthouse but had never given up sovereignty.
The 16-member court agreed that Johor, now a Malaysian state, had historical ownership, but said whether it had legally transferred sovereignty was unclear.
It ruled in favor of Singapore's argument that it had exercised sovereign powers over the rock since 1851, with no protest from Malaysia until 30 years ago.
Related listings
-
Iraqi court resumes trial of Saddam lieutenant
Legal World 05/20/2008An Iraqi court has resumed hearing the case against Tariq Aziz and seven other former regime officials who face charges in the 1992 execution of dozens of merchants.Aziz, 72, is the former deputy prime minister and one of Saddam Hussein's best-known ...
-
Japan court rejects US nuclear carrier suit
Legal World 05/11/2008A Japanese court Monday rejected a lawsuit demanding a halt to harbor work to accommodate a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier that is to be based south of Tokyo starting in August, a court spokeswoman said.The suit by 635 plaintiffs aimed to stop...
-
Court ruling gives hope to Alzheimer's sufferers
Legal World 05/02/2008More patients could get access to Alzheimer's drugs on the NHS after two drug companies won a landmark court victory.The Court of Appeal ruled that the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) -- the body that controls the prescri...
Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC
A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party
Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party
However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.