All articles tagged with #high court
Sri Lanka's High Court sentenced 15 men to 220 years in prison each for their roles in the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, which killed 279 people. The verdict concludes a five-year trial involving 25 suspects, with nine acquitted. The court also ordered the confiscation of all assets belonging to the convicts.
Sri Lanka’s High Court found 15 men guilty for participating in the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings that killed 270 people and wounded more than 500, with nine defendants acquitted and the alleged mastermind, Naufer Moulavi, among those convicted; sentencing was postponed as the court case concluded, following earlier prosecutions of officials linked to negligence and ongoing investigations into intelligence lapses related to the attacks.
Sri Lanka's High Court convicted 14 of the 24 men accused in the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings (which killed 279); nine were acquitted, one was found guilty on some charges, and sentencing will be announced later. The charges included murder and conspiracy to commit terrorism.
A UK High Court has ordered Mitch Winehouse to pay almost £1 million to Amy Winehouse's former stylist Naomi Parry and friend Catriona Gourlay, plus their legal costs, after dismissing his claim that the pair profited from selling Amy's belongings at auctions in 2021 and 2023. The judge said his allegations were unfounded, pursued aggressively, and harmed the women's reputations; 155 items including clothes, handbags, memorabilia and jewelry were at issue. The ruling follows the April dismissal of the claim and comes ahead of the singer's 15th death anniversary.
UK High Court ruled Mitch Winehouse must pay nearly £1m to Amy Winehouse's friends Naomi Parry and Catriona Gourlay after his failed claim over the auctioning of her items sold in the US; the judge condemned his conduct as aggressive and unfounded, ordering interim costs of £569,330 to Parry and £394,521 to Gourlay, with indemnity costs to follow.
Kenya’s High Court has dismissed the Rastafari Society of Kenya’s bid to legalise cannabis for religious worship, upholding the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and finding no solid evidence that cannabis is an essential element of Rastafari faith. The judge said any exemption would require a sound constitutional basis and called for frank, national discussion on cannabis; the group plans to appeal the ruling as penalties for possession, cultivation, etc., remain under the current law.
A UK High Court ruling found that most claimed 'defeat devices' in diesel cars from Mercedes-Benz, Renault, Nissan, Ford and Peugeot-Citroën do not constitute prohibited defeat devices; only two isolated strategies were deemed illicit (a Mercedes software before 2015 and some Peugeot-Citroën calibrations). The decision narrows the allegations, while the 1.6 million motorists' wider case continues with further trials, including an October damages hearing; Mercedes said it may appeal on one vehicle.
Prince Harry and six other claimants lost their High Court case against Associated Newspapers Limited, publisher of the Daily Mail, with Mr Justice Nicklin dismissing all 97 claims; the ruling said privacy alone does not prove unlawful information gathering and that plaintiffs must show a specific unlawful sourcing route. The publisher said the costs totalled well over £50m and will seek recovery from the claimants, with further costs hearings expected around July 29. Harry later spoke at an Invictus Games event and did not address the judgment.
Prince Harry and six other claimants failed to prove that Associated Newspapers Limited unlawfully gathered their information; the High Court dismissed all claims in a lengthy 400-page judgment, with ANL describing it as an overwhelming victory for its journalists.
Buckingham Palace was handed a 30,000‑email archive in 2020—taken from a personal business contact of Prince Andrew—that includes details about his finances and alleged sharing of confidential government briefings from his years as trade envoy; court documents show copies were delivered to the Lord Chamberlain before reaching the Palace, with the emails dating up to 2013, a disclosure that has resurfaced as Andrew faces a police investigation and has sparked calls for greater royal oversight.
Ronson Chan, former chairman of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, was sent to prison for obstructing a police officer, as he spoke to reporters outside the High Court in Admiralty ahead of an appeal against the conviction, highlighting ongoing strains between authorities and the press in Hong Kong.
Britain is appealing a High Court ruling that the government's ban on the activist group Palestine Action was illegal, triggering a Court of Appeal hearing in London. The case follows judges calling the proscription “disproportionate,” and the ban remains in place during the appeal. Activists and rights groups argue the measure suppresses dissent and human rights, while the government defends counterterrorism measures and notes lawful ways to support the Palestinian cause. The outcome of the appeal remains unclear.
More than 4,500 residents near the River Wye and its catchment in Wales and England have launched what is described as the UK’s largest environmental pollution claim against Avara Foods and Welsh Water, alleging that spreading chicken manure and sewage spills have caused nutrient pollution and algal blooms that degrade river health and affect livelihoods. The case, brought by Leigh Day, marks a landmark in UK environmental litigation with a High Court hearing in London, while the defendants deny the allegations; Natural England has previously rated the Wye as unfavourable–declining, linking the issues to farming, wastewater and climate factors.
Sentebale has filed a High Court defamation suit against Prince Harry and former trustee Mark Dyer, alleging a coordinated adverse media campaign since March 2025 disrupted operations and harmed the charity’s reputation; Harry denies the allegations. The action follows governance tensions that led the founders to step down as patrons, with the Charity Commission later saying governance was weak but finding no bullying.
Prince Harry is being sued for defamation by Sentebale in London’s High Court, as part of a broader privacy/phone-hacking case against the Daily Mail.