Reading Time: < 1 minute Washington | Reuters — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected the latest challenge to California’s ban on foie gras, a delicacy produced from the enlarged livers of ducks and geese that have been force-fed corn. The court declined to hear an appeal by producers of foie gras, including the Association des Eleveurs de Canards […] Read more

U.S. top court won’t hear Quebec farmers over foie gras ban

Supreme Court finds for provinces in ‘Free the beer’ case
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — Canada’s top court on Thursday ruled against a New Brunswick man who had argued he had the constitutional right to buy beer more cheaply in a neighbouring province, saying that the law does not impose absolute free trade across the country. Dubbed the “free the beer” case in Canadian media, it […] Read more

Mexico court rejects appeal to lift GM corn ban
Reading Time: < 1 minute Mexico City | Reuters –– A Mexican court has rejected a company’s appeal to lift a ban on commercial planting of transgenic corn in Mexico, passing the matter to the Supreme Court, a lawyer for the firm said Friday. A federal court in Mexico City rejected the suit by PHI Mexico, a unit of U.S. […] Read more

U.S. top court lets Conagra cooking oil class action proceed
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to hear a bid by Conagra Brands to escape a class-action lawsuit accusing it of falsely labeling its cooking oil as 100 per cent natural even though it had genetically modified ingredients. Conagra had asked to the justices to hear its appeal of a […] Read more

Brazil’s Supreme Court won’t release JBS brothers
Reading Time: < 1 minute Sao Paulo | Reuters — Brazil Supreme Court Justice Gilmar Mendes on Friday denied a request to release from jail Joesley and Wesley Batista, the brothers who control the world’s largest meatpacker JBS SA. The Batistas’ defense challenged the detention of the brothers after their arrest last week by federal police in a probe into […] Read more

A co-trustee’s responsibility
Guide Legal: If asked to serve as a co-trustee, be aware that acting as a rubber stamp will not protect you if things go wrong
Reading Time: 4 minutes When drafting a will, parents often name more than one of their children as the trustees of their estate. Given the dynamics between siblings, it is not uncommon for one child to take on a more active role than another in administering the estate. However, in a recent decision, the Court of Appeal for Ontario […] Read more

India’s top court suspends ban on trade in cattle for slaughter
Reading Time: 2 minutes New Delhi | Reuters — India’s Supreme Court suspended on Tuesday a government ban on the trade of cattle for slaughter, a boost for the multi-billion dollar beef and leather industries mostly run by members of the Muslim minority. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government in May decreed that markets could only trade cattle […] Read more

Brazilian top court justice upholds barring JBS asset sale
Reading Time: < 1 minute Brasilia | Reuters — A Brazilian Supreme Court justice has upheld a lower court decision that ordered the world’s largest meatpacker, JBS SA, to halt the sale of US$300 million worth of South American assets to Minerva SA , according to a court document. Justice Edson Fachin agreed with a lower court’s ruling that JBS’ […] Read more
Supreme Court rules most animal sex acts not against bestiality law
Reading Time: 2 minutes Toronto | Reuters — Canada’s bestiality law only bans sexual acts that involve penetration, the country’s Supreme Court ruled on Thursday, a blow to advocacy groups who argued animals should be afforded the same protection from exploitation that humans are given. Supreme Court judges ruled 6-1 in favour of a man from British Columbia convicted […] Read more

U.S. top court rejects POM Wonderful appeal over ads
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — Businesses better have good evidence to back up claims of health benefits from their products, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said on Monday after the Supreme Court rejected POM Wonderful’s challenge to FTC findings that the juice maker’s advertising was misleading. The U.S. Supreme Court left in place a lower-court ruling […] Read more