#Law firms Netherlands

[ladygreytea76]

That pass existed for three months.

When public services are affordable and convenient, people will always choose those resources. They are not supposed to be a capitalistic profit-seeking initiative, they are developed for the benefit of the people, for a better life, just as government resources should be used. (tweet)

[thoughtlessarse]

Some of the Netherlands leading experts in privacy, ESG and class action cases have set up a new commercial law firm, to tackle a wide range of legal cases which “do no harm”. The focus of Amsterdam-based Rubicon Impact & Litigation will be “taking on high stakes litigation cases which align with our values,” says co-founder Frank Peters. “We want to operate with respect for people and the planet.” Peters has been involved in a number of high profile campaigns, including the recent KLM greenwashing case. He is currently involved in a privacy class action case against Google The company includes a new initiative, Rubicon Lab, which focuses on ESG and has been set up to look into and possibly litigate in cases which other people feel are worthy of investigation. These are cases which may seem to be too small or expensive to follow up, but which are having an impact on society. The aim of the lab, which will also involve outside experts, is to expose wrong doings and pursue those wrongdoings in court, the law firm says.

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[attorneyinthenetherlands]

Top rated international law firm in Amsterdam - the Netherlands

The Netherlands, celebrated for its rich heritage, vibrant economy, and welcoming environment, has emerged as a premier destination for expatriates and businesses globally. Yet, for newcomers, the intricate web of Dutch laws and regulations presents a formidable challenge. At this crossroads, the expertise of international law firms based in Amsterdam, such as MAAK Advocaten, becomes a beacon of guidance. Offering a spectrum of legal services from immigration to corporate law, these firms are the navigating stars for expatriates and international companies aiming to flourish in the Dutch legal landscape.

Tailor-Made Legal Services for Expatriates and Multinational Corporations

Expert Legal Consultation for Expatriates

Expatriates in The Netherlands face unique legal requirements, from securing residency permits to understanding employment contracts. Specialists in Dutch expatriate law, like MAAK Advocaten, provide invaluable advice to navigate these waters successfully. With expertise ranging from immigration law to tailored Amsterdam legal counsel, these professionals ensure expatriates have the support needed for a smooth transition into Dutch society.

Corporate and Commercial Law Mastery

Establishing or expanding international businesses within Dutch borders necessitates a deep dive into corporate and commercial law. Firms like MAAK Advocaten stand at the forefront, offering insights into the intricacies of corporate law in The Netherlands and broader commercial legal practices, ensuring complete regulatory compliance and maximized operational efficiency. Their extensive service range spans banking, finance, and intellectual property law, encompassing all facets of corporate legal needs.

Navigating Cross-Border Transactions with Ease

Today's global economy frequently demands cross-border transactions, each with its own set of legal intricacies. Legal firms proficient in international and cross-border transactions within The Netherlands are instrumental in providing the guidance needed for seamless international operations, ensuring businesses effectively navigate the complexities of global commerce.

Choosing Amsterdam for Premier International Legal Services

A Global Hub of Legal Expertise

Amsterdam's thriving business and expatriate ecosystem is matched by its reputation in the international legal domain. Leading law firms, including MAAK Advocaten, offer a rich reserve of knowledge and experience in handling global legal affairs, positioning the city as a prime location for seeking authoritative legal advice.

Multilingual and Culturally Inclusive Legal Support

Reflecting Amsterdam's diverse and multicultural essence, its legal services are equally varied. Law firms in Amsterdam, attuned to the city's international vibe, provide legal assistance in multiple languages, meeting the needs of a global clientele. This linguistic diversity is crucial for expatriates and international businesses needing guidance in languages other than Dutch.

Access to an Extensive Legal Network

Opting for an international law firm in Amsterdam opens doors to a vast network of legal professionals, each specializing in different legal realms. From understanding employment law nuances in The Netherlands to navigating the comprehensive Dutch law firm directories, clients gain access to a holistic suite of legal services, all from a singular, trusted source.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What legal services might expatriates in The Netherlands require? A: Expatriates may seek a variety of services, including but not limited to, immigration assistance, employment law guidance, contract reviews, and real estate transactions.

Q: How do international businesses benefit from collaborating with Dutch law firms? A: Dutch law firms aid international businesses in corporate structuring, tax optimization, regulatory adherence, intellectual property protections, and conflict resolutions.

Q: Can expatriates and international companies find English-speaking law firms in The Netherlands? A: Yes, numerous law firms in The Netherlands, especially within Amsterdam, offer services in English and other languages to cater to the diverse international community.

For expatriates charting a new course in The Netherlands or global companies venturing into Dutch markets, the labyrinth of Dutch and international laws mandates expert legal navigation. Amsterdam's premier international law firms, renowned for their dedicated service to expatriates and their global legal acumen, are prepared to offer the support you require.

Amsterdam is host to some of the globe's most esteemed law firms, providing seasoned legal advice across various sectors. Specializing in both Dutch and international laws, these firms deliver custom, strategic counsel to expatriates and international businesses aiming to successfully maneuver through the Netherlands' legal terrains.

[zlattorneys]

Hire Lawyers from Top Law Firm in the Netherlands for All Legal Matters

Are you looking for someone to file a case in court or to make your favor strong in court hearing?

Staying in touch with law professionals from the top law firm in Netherlands will be an ideal way to enhance your experience. There are a number of recognized names in this domain guiding you at every step and providing you with the right solutions for all legal matters. You have to choose the right one, go through the details and get the right solutions.

Online search will provide you with some better options – a helpful way to find professionals. Among some of the top names in this domain, you will find name of ZL Attorneys on top – a one stop trusted name. Some of the main practice areas of the professional lawyers in Netherlands include, but not limited to:

Contract Law, Corporate Law, and Employment Law

Administrative Law, Banking Law, and Bankruptcy Law

Family Law, Governmental Matters, and Immigration Law

Incorporation of Legal Entities, Inheritance Law, and Insurance Law

Intellectual Property Law, Labor Law, and Landlord & Tenant Law

In addition to this, they have expertise enough in providing you with the right solutions for other matters like Liability Law, Litigation, Management of Legal Entities, Maritime Law, Pension Law, Personal Injury, Seizure of Assets, Termination of Employment Law, and different other matters.

[employment-lawyer-netherlands]

Dutch employment law firm - Fennek Advocaten

Fennek Advocaten is a Dutch law firm - dynamic and forward-thinking.

We are a law firm that embodies the essence of lean, mean, high-quality legal services. Our team of seasoned attorneys is unwaveringly committed to providing solution-oriented counsel while ensuring accessibility to our clients. We pride ourselves on our ability to seamlessly blend our wealth of experience in both advising and litigating to deliver unparalleled results.

Our firm’s guiding philosophy is inspired by the characteristics of our namesake, the Fennec Fox—a small, agile, and resourceful desert-dweller, known for its sharp instincts and keen observational abilities. Like the Fennec Fox, we at Fennek Advocaten are tenacious in our pursuit of excellence, harnessing our collective intelligence and insight to navigate the complexities of the legal landscape on behalf of our clients.

At Fennek Advocaten, we believe that the true measure of a law firm’s success lies in its ability to understand and adapt to the unique needs of each client. As such, our approach is grounded in the principles of flexibility, responsiveness, and client-focused service. We listen carefully to our clients’ concerns, tailoring our strategies to their individual objectives while maintaining an unwavering commitment to professional integrity and ethical conduct.

Our team of legal experts is well-versed in a diverse array of practice areas, allowing us to provide comprehensive legal support across a broad spectrum of issues. We approach each case with a clear vision and a strategic plan, leveraging our in-depth knowledge of the law, innovative problem-solving skills, and keen attention to detail to secure favorable outcomes for our clients.

Fennek Advocaten is also deeply committed to the principle of accessibility, ensuring that our clients feel supported and heard at every stage of the legal process. We prioritize open communication and foster an environment of trust, transparency, and collaboration, allowing our clients to feel confident in our ability to represent their best interests.

In a rapidly changing world, Fennek Advocaten is steadfast in our pursuit of continuous improvement and growth. We invest in the professional development of our team, staying abreast of the latest legal developments and trends to ensure that our clients benefit from cutting-edge representation. 

By embracing the qualities of agility, adaptability, and relentless dedication exemplified by the Fennec fox, Fennek Advocaten is poised to lead the way in providing exceptional legal services for our clients, today and in the future.

[reasonsforhope]

"The Hague made international headlines for being the first city in the world to approve legislation prohibiting marketing of fossil fuel-related products and services. This major ruling, issued earlier this month, seeks to limit the promotion of items with a high carbon footprint, such as gasoline, diesel, aviation, and cruise ships. The ban, which goes into effect at the start of next year, will affect both government and privately funded advertisements, including those on billboards and bus shelters throughout the Dutch metropolis.

This groundbreaking legislation establishes an important precedent in the global fight against climate change. Other cities have attempted to limit the reach of high-carbon items through council ordinances or voluntary agreements with advertising operators, but The Hague’s prohibition is the first that is legally binding. It is a major step forward for cities around the world that want to reduce carbon emissions and combat climate change head-on.

A response to global calls for action

The prohibition comes after UN Secretary-General António Guterres called earlier this year for countries and media outlets to take tougher action to combat fossil fuel advertising, citing parallels with existing tobacco advertising bans. Guterres stressed that, as with the tobacco industry in the past, fossil fuel businesses are contributing to a worldwide public health crisis—in this case, climate change. Governments can help change public behavior and prevent the normalization of high-carbon lifestyles by limiting their capacity to market.

Several cities have already made tiny moves in this direction. Edinburgh, for example, approved a council vote in May prohibiting fossil fuel-related ads in city-owned venues. The Scottish capital also prohibits enterprises that sell these products from sponsoring events or developing partnerships. However, unlike The Hague’s legislation, Edinburgh’s ban is voluntary and only applies to council spaces.

A legally binding first

The Hague’s new law is significant since it is legally binding. The restriction affects not only specific items, such as gasoline, diesel, and fossil fuel-powered vehicles but also businesses such as aviation and cruise ships. However, the rule exempts fossil fuel firms’ political advertising or efforts supporting a generic brand, allowing these businesses to keep prominence...

The impact of advertising on behavior

Advertising’s impact on consumer behavior is well-documented, and many experts say that fossil fuel marketing undercut climate legislation by encouraging unsustainable behavior. Thijs Bouman, an associate professor of environmental psychology at Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, stated that “fossil fuel advertising normalizes the use of high-carbon products and services, making it more difficult to change consumer habits.” ...

Catalyzing change worldwide

The Hague’s move may have repercussions beyond its borders, spurring similar actions in other cities around the globe. Cities such as Toronto, Canada, and Graz, Austria, are already launching campaigns to outlaw advertising for fossil fuels. In the Netherlands, both Amsterdam and Haarlem have outlawed marketing for climate-damaging products like beef, but these measures have yet to become legislation.

Sleegers believes that The Hague’s move will act as a spur for other towns to follow suit. “More cities have a wish to implement the fossil ad ban through ordinance, but they were all waiting for some other city to go first. The Hague is this city,” she said, predicting that more local governments will now feel empowered to act...

As the world grapples with the rising costs of climate change, The Hague’s pioneering move provides a potential model for other cities looking to minimize their carbon footprints. With cities like Toronto and Amsterdam keeping a careful eye on things, this legislation has the potential to start a global campaign to prohibit fossil fuel advertising. 

More cities may follow suit in the coming years, hastening the transition to a more environmentally friendly and sustainable future."

-via The Optimist Daily, September 26, 2024

[communist-ojou-sama]

Okay so I'm gonna go ahead and put a disclaimer up top that these are the ramblings of a dilettante that shouldn't be taken too seriously, but I think that people (understandably) frustrated with with the ICJ ruling and convinced it will have no material consequences should consider some things before they say that.

The first thing I want to remind everyone is that the west is far from invincible. Their rule is not iron-clad and their ability to enforce their will on the world is far from complete and is waning apace.

I think a lot about how in the process of the transition to late capitalism (as I personally define it), one consequence of the mass financialization of the economy is the pricing-out of most common consumer commodity-based manufacturing enterprise in favor of transactions that are most elastic in price, and how the result of that is a mass outflow of raw productive capacity from the imperial core to the global periphery.

If I can frame that in another way, and forgive me in framing this in very neutral terms, but it turns these countries from production-rich countries to production-poor countries with economies defined by the phenomenon of asset-price inflation.

The resulting global situation is that, similar to the assertion that Africa for example is rich because it's where the natural resources that facilitate the global economy are located, Mexico is rich. Vietnam is rich. Bangladesh is rich. These countries are awash in raw capacity to create goods that have a use value. What is the one thing that keeps them relatively cash-poor?

That is, the law. There's a bit of poetry in the idea that just as how within imperial core economies the most important economic instruments are legal contracts to either some percentage of a company's equity or its debt, what sustains its (nominal) riches over the global periphery is a legal regime of ownership that entitles them to the rights to all of the profits going on in these incredibly production-rich countries in the Global South.

It is absolutely correct to say that at the highest level, these legal regimes are enforced at the barrel of the gun, we've seen how too much refusal to to honor these laws by heads of state can lead to mass disinvestment and eventually coups d'état, and even now it would not be a good idea to say, seize the productive assets of a bunch of US firms.

However, and this is where the ICJ comes back in to my point, let's not think about the US. Let's think about, for example, the Netherlands or Belgium. These countries maintain fantastic financial wealth via contracts of ownership with countries in the global south but they are also small and geopolitically unimportant, with little in the way of individual military power.

For little countries like these, genuinely the Only thing that secures their ability to act as a parasite on the global productive economy is the strength of legitimacy that international law affords them, and the position of overwhelming power the west Once had, decades ago.

But the power and prestige of the West continues, as I said, to wane apace. it's too early to happen now but these less militaristic countries are aware of how exposed their assets are to simple seizure if over time international law comes to be seen as a joke.

As awful and condamnable as the current global system is, it is not total dictatorship. It is only able to perpetuate itself because the overwhelming majority of countries that are parties to it have buy in and because, albeit much more slowly than they could have under socialism, they have been able to make dents in their own poverty with it.

The exposure of the international law framework as having absolutely no legitimacy, as being a naked tool of domination of rich countries over poor countries has knock-on effects that stand to be incredibly dangerous to less militarily capable countries that rely on them for their economic structures. On a long-term scale, especially as these countries become richer and more geopolitically influential in their own right, they may well begin to pose the question: why Shouldn't I seize these french factories in my country? Why Shouldn't I seize this Belgian-owned diamond mine? Why Should I pay back this IMF loan, if the ICJ framework can't even compel the Zionist Enemy to end a genocide? And I promise you, this is a reality of which at least some people in those countries are highly cognizant and wary, so I'd wait and see a bit before being Too pessimistic.

[coochiequeens]

Its chief executive officer instructed those members who have leadership roles within the organization — but who are employed by medical practices or universities — only to use personal email accounts for AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) -related correspondence. This could protect such emails from freedom-of-information requests and employers’ document-retention policies." 

Well that sounds like they have nothing to hide

By BENJAMIN RYAN Thursday, December 21, 202322:44:51 pm

The American Academy of Pediatrics, under fire for its policies on gender-transition treatment for minors, is taking steps that might limit its legal exposure — or at least minimize public scrutiny — in the face of a lawsuit by a woman who at 14 underwent a medical gender transition that she later regretted. 

This month, the highly influential medical association, which has about 68,000 pediatrician members, shelved a pending book on the care and treatment of children who identify as transgender. Its chief executive officer instructed those members who have leadership roles within the organization — but who are employed by medical practices or universities — only to use personal email accounts for AAP-related correspondence. This could protect such emails from freedom-of-information requests and employers’ document-retention policies.  

An AAP representative told the Sun that neither move was related to the litigation it faces and that the board’s decision to enact the new email policy predated the filing of the lawsuit in question.

“The AAP has been under scrutiny for a couple of years now because of its gender policies,” said a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, Leor Sapir. He speculated that the organization’s new email policy could have been motivated by such ongoing external pressures, which also predated the lawsuit. 

Dr. Jason Rafferty, a leading specialist in pediatric gender transitions, is named in the detransitioners’ lawsuit. He also contributed commentary to a forthcoming book that’s been pulled by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Brown University

Mr. Sapir argues that the AAP and the American medical establishment more broadly have failed to establish “in a thoughtful and scientific way” its guidelines for pediatric gender-transition treatments. Consequently, he said, he supports controversial state laws that ban the prescription of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children to treat gender dysphoria — a psychiatric diagnosis that involves significant distress over a conflict between an individual’s gender identity and their biological sex. 

A number of states with Republican-controlled legislatures have passed these laws since 2021 as part of a concerted pushback against medical care practices, first imported to the United States from the Netherlands in 2007, for children who identify as the opposite gender. The Republican-dominated Ohio legislature last week passed a bill that would make the state the 22nd to ban such medical treatment. The governor of Ohio, Mike Dewine, a Republican, has yet to decide if he will sign the contentious bill. If he does not sign or veto it by December 29, it will become law.

The AAP has maintained full-throated support for the availability – and legality – of medical gender-transition treatments for children. Its influential journal Pediatrics on Wednesday published an essay by a pediatrician at Seattle Children’s Hospital, Dr. Emily Georges, and two colleagues arguing that banning such medicine is “a form of child maltreatment.” 

“These legislative efforts operate under the guise of protecting children,” Dr. Georges and her coauthors wrote. “In reality, they punish caregivers and physicians when they choose to support children.”

The AAP Faces a Lawsuit

In October, a Dallas law firm filed a lawsuit against the AAP on behalf of a biological woman, Isabelle Ayala, who beginning at age 14 was treated for gender dysphoria with testosterone by a group of Rhode Island health care providers; they are also named as defendants. On this team was a child psychiatrist and pediatrician trained by and affiliated with Brown University, Dr. Jason Rafferty, who is the sole author of the broadly influential policy statement on pediatric gender-transition treatment that the AAP published in October 2018, a few months after Ms. Ayala left his care. 

“In hindsight, that makes me feel like a guinea pig,” Ms. Ayala, 20, said in a YouTube video posted last week by the Independent Women’s Forum, a conservative nonprofit. 

Jordan Campbell, Ron Miller, Josh Payne, and Daniel Sepulveda of newly founded law firm Campbell Miller Payne, PLLC. They say they established their firm to represent ‘individuals who were misled and abused – many as children – into psychological and physical harm through a false promise of “gender-affirming care.”’ Campbell Miller Payne, PLLC.

A retired pediatrician, AAP member and volunteer professor of pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Dr. Christopher Bolling, defended the AAP’s integrity from what he said was a “talking point from transgender care ban advocates” that Dr. Rafferty “somehow wrote the whole thing and forced everyone else to just sign it.” Dr. Bolling was not himself involved with developing the policy statement in question, but said, “Writing those statements are some of the most collaborative labor-intensive, careful processes I’ve ever been involved with.” 

Ms. Ayala ultimately “detransitioned,” reverting from considering herself a trans male to identifying as her birth sex. The law firm representing her, Campbell Miller Payne, was recently established by four white-shoe attorneys solely to represent such regretful so-called detransitioners. The firm is behind five of the nine known medical-malpractice detransitioner lawsuits.  

Time Magazine reported Thursday that the threat of such litigation is already driving up malpractice insurance premiums for providers of pediatric gender-transition treatment, shutting out some smaller gender clinics.

The lawsuit takes on the powerful American Academy of Pediatrics, which has enormous influence over pediatric care in the U.S. Campbell Miller Payne, PLLC

Ms. Ayala’s suit accuses Dr. Rafferty and his colleagues of malpractice for prioritizing treating her gender dysphoria over her myriad other psychiatric diagnoses and for allegedly causing her lasting physical harm. 

“I don’t even like to think about my fertility,” Ms. Ayala said in a voice over in the YouTube video as she looked at a baby crib, addressing concerns about the long-term impacts of testosterone treatment. “It is my greatest fear to go to the gynecologist and have them tell me I can’t have children over some decisions that were made when I was fourteen.”

The suit further alleges that Dr. Rafferty and others engaged in a conspiracy with the AAP to develop methods for treating gender dysphoric children while Ms. Ayala was the physicians’ patient that are not evidence based and are grounded in what a scathing peer-reviewed critique published in 2019 argued was a misrepresentation of the relevant scientific literature.

In their new Pediatrics essay, Dr. Georges and her coauthors countered such a premise. Referring  to what supporters of such treatment call gender-affirming care, they wrote: “Although some individuals make it seem that GAC is a new, experimental area of medicine, GAC is evidence-based.”  

They continued: “The benefits of GAC, most notably on mental health, self-esteem, and development, outweigh the risks in the majority of circumstances. GAC is, for many, lifesaving.” 

Isabelle Ayala appears with her attorney in a new YouTube video in which she discusses her gender transition treatment. Independent Women’s Forum

This a reference to suicide prevention. Advocates of medical gender transitions for children argue that gender dysphoric youth are at high risk for death by suicide if they are not able to medically transition if they so choose.

The AAP Pulls a Book on the Gender-Affirming Care Model

During the fall, the AAP began taking pre-orders for a 320-page book on pediatric gender-transition care and treatment that was set to be published on January 30. Dr. Rafferty was listed first among the authors of the book’s commentaries. 

On December 6, the day after the Sun published an article about Ms. Ayala’s suit and another malpractice suit filed against Dr. Rafferty and his colleagues by a detransitioned adult patient, the AAP emailed those who had pre-ordered the book, alerting them: “Due to an upcoming policy review on this topic, the publication of this book has been placed on hold.” 

A representative for the organization confirmed to the Sun that the email referenced the AAP leadership’s announcement in August that it would commission an independent systematic literature review — the gold standard for assessing scientific evidence — of the research regarding pediatric gender-transition treatment. The AAP said at the time that it was prompted to take this step out of “concerns about restrictions to access to health care with bans on gender-affirming care.”

An AAP member and a pediatrician at Carmel, Indiana, Dr. Sarah Palmer, criticized the academy’s expressed motivation, which she said centered the pending review “in the political realm instead of in the clinical and scientific realm where doctors should apply their expertise.” 

The AAP representative said that the book contains research previously published in the academy’s journals and no new guidance. It does, however, contain the new commentaries. The representative said the AAP decided to delay publication “to avoid confusion” during the “ongoing” work on the review, the findings of which the academy plans to share publicly. However, the book went on sale for pre-order well after the literature review was announced. The representative declined to respond to detailed questions about the review’s progress, including whether the AAP would observe typical scientific protocol for a systematic literature review and publish its criteria in advance.

In reference to the AAP’s publication of Dr. Georges’ unsparing and politically charged new Pediatrics essay, Mr. Sapir said, “It’s weird that they would pull the book on the grounds that there is an ongoing systematic review, but in their own peer-reviewed journal they would publish this document.”

The AAP’s move to conduct the systematic review came after three years of efforts led by an AAP member and Gresham, Oregon-based pediatrician, Dr. Julia Mason, to compel the organization to do so. ​​She, Dr. Palmer, and Mr. Sapir all expressed concern about what they characterized as the AAP’s lack of transparency during the four months since announcing it would commission the systematic review. 

“I think the pressure of the lawsuit led to their pulling the book. Because they suddenly realized that they might be held responsible for what that book said in a court of law,” said Dr. Mason, who is a board member of the Society for Evidence Based Gender Medicine. Founded in 2020, the society is a collective of clinicians and researchers who share concern that, as multiple systematic reviews of the relevant evidence have found, pediatric gender-transition treatment is based on a low or very low quality of scientific evidence while it comes with considerable risks, including infertility and sexual dysfunction.

In conflict with the Pediatrics essay, such reviews have also not found evidence that withholding puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones from gender dysphoric youth is associated with a higher suicide death rate. Additionally, Dr. Mason and numerous other critics have called into question the validity of the findings of a 2022 University of Washington and Seattle Children’s study often cited by supporters of such treatment, including in the new Pedatrics article’s authors, as evidence that medical gender-transition treatment reduces suicidal thoughts and behaviors in gender-dysphoric adolescents.

The American Academy of Pediatrics headquarters outside Chicago. The AAP is the target of a lawsuit about its policies regarding transgender care for minors. AAP

Transgender activists have called the Society for Evidence Based Gender Medicine an anti-trans group and highlight how commonly other medical treatments are backed only by low quality evidence. The type of randomized, placebo-controlled trials that would produce the highest quality of evidence, trans advocates argue, would not be ethical for pediatric gender-transition treatment.

A sprawling Southern Poverty Law Center report published December 12, “Combatting LGBTQ+ Pseudoscience,” places the Society for Evidence Based Gender Medicine at the nexus of what it portrays as an interconnected conspiracy by various organizations to undermine support for pediatric gender-transition treatment and harm trans youth. The Southern Poverty Law Center has come under criticism from social conservatives in recent years for, they argue, unfairly and egregiously classifying some conservative groups as “hate groups.” The Society for Evidence Based Gender Medicine, however, bills itself as an apolitical science organization. 

Maintaining Ownership of Internal Emails

Earlier this month, the AAP’s chief executive officer, Mark Del Monte, and chief medical officer, Dr. Anne R. Edwards, sent a letter to what the AAP representative reported was all of the academy’s staff and hundreds of non-staff members in leadership roles, alerting them to a new correspondence policy, effective January 1. It ordered the members only to use personal email accounts, such as Gmail, for leadership level AAP-related business. 

The AAP representative told the Sun that the decision to enact this new policy was unrelated to Ms. Ayala’s lawsuit and predates its filing, having been made at an AAP board meeting in May; minutes from the meeting indicate as much. 

Mr. Del Monte and Dr. Edwards differentiate in the letter between the public nature of the AAP’s “policy, advocacy positions, and educational resources” and the “confidential, internal discussions” pertaining to these documents’ development. 

“To protect the internal deliberations of our member experts,” the letter states, “the AAP Board of Directors has approved new prudent steps to keep internal communications under the control of the AAP and its member leaders.” 

The letter continues: “While we regret that this action is necessary, members do not ‘own’ their work email and so do not necessarily have the decision-making authority about whether or not to release it publicly.” 

The use of institutional or workplace email accounts, the letter further states, creates “multiple vulnerabilities for AAP and our members.” This includes the fact that “employer-sponsored email platforms are subject to the document retention and release policies of external institutions, including in response to subpoenas or Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) requests.” 

The board’s decision to enact this policy, the AAP representative said, “followed a lengthy deliberation by board members to ensure the AAP manages records in compliance with applicable federal and state laws, while meeting operational needs.” 

A medical doctor and tort law expert at the University of Baltimore School of Law, Dr. Gregory Dolin, said he anticipated that a shift from workplace to personal email accounts for such correspondence would not frustrate any attempts by Campbell Miller Payne to obtain internal AAP emails through discovery in its suit against the academy. However, Dr. Dolin said that by forbidding communicating via email accounts subject to FOIA requests, the AAP “may reduce non-litigation related, but nevertheless embarrassing disclosures” by, for example, journalists.

Protecting Children

A professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco, Dr. Vinay Prasad is an outspoken critic of what he has characterized as unscientifically sound Covid-19-mitigation public-health policies. On Monday, he published an essay on the Sensible Medicine Substack criticizing the AAP for asserting that for obese patients, pediatricians “should offer” adolescents and “may offer” children ages 8 to 11 weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic.

Meanwhile, the United States Preventive Services Task Force asserted in a draft guidance released December 12 that evidence was insufficient, in particular concerning the long-term impacts of such medications, to make such a recommendation. The task force called for more research. 

In an email, Dr. Prasad argued that the AAP’s policies regarding gender-transition treatment represent a pervasive lack of adherence to evidence-based standards. 

“I am deeply concerned that, across all their recommendations, the American Academy of Pediatrics does not rely on the highest quality of evidence, and worse, they do not call for better studies,” said Dr. Prasad. “Instead, they’re very happy to make strong recommendations based on their own biases in the absence of evidence. And that harms children.” 

Dr. Georges, by contrast, wrote in Pediatrics that any state law denying children gender-transition treatment “not only represents medical neglect, but it is also state-sanctioned emotional abuse.”

BENJAMIN RYAN

Benjamin Ryan is an independent health and science reporter who also contributes to The New York Times, The Guardian and NBC News and has also written for The Atlantic and the Washington Post.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Ireland's privacy regulator is a gamekeeper-turned-poacher

This Saturday (May 20), I’ll be at the GAITHERSBURG Book Festival with my novel Red Team Blues; then on May 22, I’m keynoting Public Knowledge’s Emerging Tech conference in DC.

On May 23, I’ll be in TORONTO for a book launch that’s part of WEPFest, a benefit for the West End Phoenix, onstage with Dave Bidini (The Rheostatics), Ron Diebert (Citizen Lab) and the whistleblower Dr Nancy Olivieri.

When the EU passed its landmark General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), it seemed like a privacy miracle. Despite the most aggressive lobbying Europe had ever seen, 500 million Europeans were now guaranteed a digital private life. Could this really be?

If you’d like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here’s a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/15/finnegans-snooze/#dirty-old-town

Well, yes…and no. Despite flaws (Right to Be Forgotten), the GDPR has strong, well-crafted, badly needed privacy protections. But to get those protections, Europeans need their privacy regulators to enforce the rules.

That’s where the GDPR miracle founders. Europe includes several tax-havens — Malta, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Ireland — that compete to offer the most favorable terms to international corporations and other criminals. For these havens, paying little to no tax is just table-stakes. As these countries vie to sell themselves out to giant companies, they compete to offer a favorable regulatory environment, insulating companies from lawsuits over corruption, labor abuses and other crimes.

All of this is made possible — and even encouraged — by the design of European federalism, which lets companies easily shift which flag of convenience they fly. Once a company re-homes in a country, it can force Europeans across the union to seek justice in that country’s courts, under the looming threat that the company will up sticks for another haven if the law doesn’t bend over backwards to protect corporate citizens from the grievances of flesh-and-blood humans.

Big Tech’s most aggressive privacy invaders have long flown Irish flags. Ireland is “headquarters” to Google, Meta, Tinder, Apple, Airbnb, Yahoo and many other tech companies. In exchange for locating a handful of jobs to Ireland, these companies are allowed to maintain the pretense that their global earnings are afloat in the Irish Sea, in a state of perfect, untaxable grace.

That cozy relationship meant that the US tech giants were well-situated to sabotage Ireland’s privacy regulator, who would be the first port of call for Europeans whose privacy had been violated by American firms. For many years, it’s been obvious that the Irish Data Protection Commission was a sleeping watchdog, with infinite tolerance for the companies that pretend to make Ireland their homes. 87% of Irish data protection claims involve just eight giant US companies (that pretend to be Irish).

But among for hardened GDPR warriors, the real extent of the Data Protection Commissioner’s uselessness is genuinely shocking. A new report from the Irish Council for Civil Liberties reveals that the DPC isn’t merely tolerant of privacy crimes, they’re gamekeepers turned poachers, active collaborators in privacy abuse:

https://www.iccl.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/5-years-GDPR-crisis.pdf

The report’s headline figure really tells the story: the European Data Protection Board — which oversees Ireland’s DPC — overturns the Irish regulator’s judgments 75% of the time. It’s actually worse than it appears: that figure only includes appeals of the DPC’s enforcement actions, where the DPC bestirred itself to put on trousers and show up for work to investigate a privacy claim, only to find that the corporation was utterly blameless.

But the DPC almost never takes enforcement actions. Instead, the regulator remains in its pajamas, watching cartoons and eating breakfast cereal, and offers an “amicable resolution” (that is, a settlement) to the accused company. 83% of the cases brought before the DPC are settled with an “amicable resolution.”

Corporations can bargain for multiple, consecutive amicable resolutions, allowing them to repeatedly break the law and treat the fines — which they negotiate themselves — as part of the price of doing business.

This is illegal. European law demands that cases that involve repeat offenders, or that are likely to affect many people, must be fully investigated.

Ireland’s government has stonewalled on calls for an independent review of the DPC. The DPC continues to abet lawlessness, allowing corporations to use privacy invasive techniques for surveillance, discrimination and manipulation. In 2022, the DPC concluded 64% of its cases with mere reprimands — not even a slap on the wrist.

Meanwhile, the DPC trails the EU in issuing “compliance orders” — which directly regulate the conduct of privacy-invading companies — only issuing 49 such orders in the past 4.5 years. The DPC has only issues 28 of the GDPR’s “one-stop-shop” fines.

The EU has 26 other national privacy regulators, but under the GDPR, they aren’t allowed to act until the DPC delivers its draft decisions. The DPC is lavishly funded, with a budget in the EU’s top five, but all that money gets pissed up against a wall, with inaction ruling the day.

Despite the collusion between the tech giants and the Irish state, time is running out for America’s surveillance-crazed tech monopolists. The GDPR does allow Europeans to challenge the DPR’s do-nothing rulings in European court, after a long, meandering process. That process is finally bearing fruit: in 2021, Johnny Ryan and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties brought a case in Germany against the ad-tech lobby group IAB:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/16/inside-the-clock-tower/#inference

And the activist Max Schrems and the group NOYB brought a case against Google in Austria:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/05/15/out-here-everything-hurts/#noyb

But Europeans should not have to drag tech giants out of Ireland to get justice. It’s long past time for the EU to force Ireland to clean up its act. The EU Commission is set to publish a proposal on how to reform Ireland’s DPA, but more muscular action is needed. In the new report, the Irish Council For Civil Liberties calls on the European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, to treat this issue with the urgency and seriousness that it warrants. As the ICCL says, “the EU can not be a regulatory superpower unless it enforces its own laws.”

Catch me on tour with Red Team Blues in Toronto, DC, Gaithersburg, Oxford, Hay, Manchester, Nottingham, London, and Berlin!

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/15/finnegans-snooze/#dirty-old-town

[Image ID: A toddler playing with toy cars. The cars are Irish police cars. The toddler's head has been replaced with the menacing, glowing red eye of HAL9000 from Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey.' The toddler's knit cap is decorated with the logos for Apple, Google, Facebook and Tinder.]

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

[reasoningdaily]

2022 - Enterprise giant Oracle is facing a fresh privacy class action claim in the U.S.

The suit, which was filed Friday as a 66-page complaint in the Northern District of California, alleges the tech giant’s “worldwide surveillance machine” has amassed detailed dossiers on some five billion people, accusing the company and its adtech and advertising subsidiaries of violating the privacy of the majority of the people on Earth.

The suit has three class representatives: Dr Johnny Ryan, senior fellow of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL); Michael Katz-Lacabe, director of research at The Center for Human Rights and Privacy; and Dr Jennifer Golbeck, a professor of computer science at the University of Maryland — who say they are “acting on behalf of worldwide Internet users who have been subject to Oracle’s privacy violations”.

The litigants are represented by the San Francisco-headquartered law firm, Lieff Cabraser, which they note has run significant privacy cases against Big Tech.

The key point here is there is no comprehensive federal privacy law in the U.S. — so the litigation is certainly facing a hostile environment to make a privacy case — hence the complaint references multiple federal, constitutional, tort and state laws, alleging violations of the Federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the Constitution of the State of California, the California Invasion of Privacy Act, as well as competition law, and the common law.

It remains to be seen whether this “patchwork” approach to a tricky legal environment will prevail — for an expert snap analysis of the complaint and some key challenges this whole thread is highly recommended. But the substance of the complaint hinges on allegations that Oracle collects vast amounts of data from unwitting Internet users, i.e. without their consent, and uses this surveillance intelligence to profile individuals, further enriching profiles via its data marketplace and threatening people’s privacy on a vast scale — including, per the allegations, by the use of proxies for sensitive data to circumvent privacy controls.

Commenting on the suit in a statement, Ryan said: “Oracle has violated the privacy of billions of people across the globe. This is a Fortune 500 company on a dangerous mission to track where every person in the world goes, and what they do. We are taking this action to stop Oracle’s surveillance machine.”

A spokesman for Oracle declined to comment on the litigation.

A couple of years ago the firm was facing class action suits, along with Salesforce, via a legal challenge to its tracking in Europe — which intended to focus on the legality of their consent to track web users, citing the region’s (contrastingly) comprehensive data protection/privacy laws.

However the European legal challenges, which were filed in the Netherlands and the U.K., have faced tough going — with a Dutch court ruling the suit inadmissible last year, because (per reports) it judged that the not-for-profit pursing the class action had failed to demonstrate it represented the alleged injured parties and so did not have legal standing. (Although earlier this year the organization behind the suit, the Privacy Collective, said it would appeal.)

The U.K. branch of the legal action, meanwhile, was stayed pending the outcome of an earlier class-action style privacy suit against Google — but last year the U.K. Supreme Court sided with the tech giant, blocking that representative action and dealing a blow to the prospects of other similar suits.

In the Lloyd v Google case, the court found that damage/loss must be suffered in order to claim compensation — and therefore that the need to prove damage/loss on an individual basis cannot be skipped — derailing the litigation’s push for a uniform “loss of control” of personal data for each member of the claimed representative class to stand in its stead.

The ruling was considered a hammer blow to opt-out class actions for privacy claims at the time — clearly throwing another spanner in the works of the Oracle-Salesforce class action’s ability to proceed in the U.K.

The challenges of litigating privacy class actions in Europe likely explain the push by digital rights experts to test similar claims in the U.S.

Oracle’s BlueKai tracks you across the web. That data spilled online

Oracle and Salesforce hit with GDPR class action lawsuits over cookie tracking consent

[liamlawsonlesbian]

tagged by @albonoooo, thank you, emy <33

what colour are your eyes?: brown (I used to say "chocolate brown" as a child)

tell me about your pets/your dream pet: my dog growing up was a shih tzu named merry (short for meriadoc, my family is incredibly nerdy) and he was the best boy in the world and thought he was a human. I would loooove a dog but the more realistic goal for my lifestyle atm is probably a rabbit

share some interesting fact about yourself: when I was 16 I was so hyperfixated on checking on certain actors/projects on imdb that when we had to do a challenge to be "closer to nature" for a creative writing project in 11th grade English, I wrote about trying to see how long I could give up imdb for (it was four days). My english teacher gave me an A but his only comment was a script for a conversation between me and Thoreau that ended w Thoreau saying "I'm going back to the woods"

what was the first fandom you were a part of?: hmmmm I was really intense about my interests from a very young age, but the first time I was part of an internet fandom in a participatory way was 1D

do you have any phobias?: I have an anxiety disorder but very few specific fears, weirdly

are you a picky eater? if so, what food can't you stand?: nope! I will try most things and have a pretty varied palate. I used to be a pretty snobby eater (which is NOT the same thing imo) but I've mostly gotten over that

do you eat the burger and fries at the same time or one after another?: usually mostly one after another, fries first, but I wouldn't say I'm strict about it

winter or summer: hmmmm see I really hate being overheated and don't mind being cold, so winter in a place where there are real seasons. but I grew up in a place where it's basically between 50F and 70F all year, so there I prefer summer bc I hate when it gets dark early

favourite fanfiction tropes: I love friends to lovers, I also love enemies to lovers.... basically I love any fic in which one character realizes they've been in love with a person they've been thinking about too much this whole time

are you studying or working? what do you study/is your job?: I'm a lawyer! I work for a law firm that does city attorney work for cities

what is the last country you visited: the netherlands, last february!! I went to amsterdam on a solo trip and I loved it so much

what country would you want to move to after retiring?: I think it really depends how my life turns out! but I would love to live in New Zealand at some point

who was your first crush?: this feels....difficult to answer in a concrete way bc of comphet lol but I'll say Hailee Steinfeld in True Grit

how did you get into f1 fandom?: @oscarpiastriwdc told me that I had to read the object in mirror series by @drivestraight at the beginning of May 2023 and then it was the Monaco gp and I decided to watch and well....here I am

no pressure tags for @formulahuh @piastrology @omigodyall @vegasgrandprix @argentinagp @chilegp if you haven't done it yet!

[nelyafinwe]

my ex boss from my last years of law school when i was doing an internship at a law firm just reached out out of nowhere bc he read that shit was going down in the netherlands (where he thought i still was at) but then i told him i was at [REDACTED] next to an active conflict zone and he just said 'well shit, fuck me for asking'

[attorneyinthenetherlands]

Arbitration law firm in the Netherlands

The Netherlands stands out as a premier destination for arbitration, offering a sophisticated legal framework designed to facilitate both national and international arbitration proceedings. This article delves into the intricacies of arbitration in the Netherlands, highlighting the role of Amsterdam-based arbitration practices, the significance of dispute resolution lawyers, and the expertise of Dutch arbitration law firms in managing litigation and arbitration matters.

Understanding Arbitration in the Netherlands

The Dutch Arbitration Community

The arbitration community in the Netherlands is a robust network of law firms, lawyers, and arbitration institutions, such as the Netherlands Arbitration Institute (NAI), which plays a pivotal role in promoting and facilitating arbitration in the country. These entities contribute to a conducive environment for dispute resolution, characterized by efficiency, confidentiality, and expert arbitration panels.

The Role of Arbitration Law Firms

Dutch arbitration law firms are at the forefront of providing specialized services in drafting arbitration clauses, executing arbitral awards, and representing parties in both national and international arbitration proceedings. Their deep understanding of Dutch and international arbitration law ensures tailored, strategic legal guidance for clients involved in complex disputes.

International Expertise in Arbitration

The international dimension of arbitration in the Netherlands is significant, with Dutch law firms possessing extensive experience in handling international commercial arbitration. This global perspective is crucial in today's interconnected business environment, where cross-border disputes are increasingly common.

Key Aspects of Arbitration in the Netherlands

Arbitration Clauses Under Dutch Law

Arbitration clauses form the foundation of the arbitration process, determining the framework within which disputes will be resolved. Dutch law provides clear guidelines for drafting these clauses, ensuring they are comprehensive and enforceable. Law firms in the Netherlands offer expert assistance in formulating arbitration clauses that align with both national and international legal standards.

Sector-Focused Litigation and Arbitration

The Netherlands offers specialized arbitration services for various sectors, including maritime and construction disputes. This sector-focused approach ensures that arbitrators with relevant industry expertise are available to adjudicate disputes, leading to more informed and appropriate resolutions.

Investment Arbitration Expertise

Dutch law firms also boast significant expertise in investment arbitration, representing clients in disputes involving state parties. This area of arbitration requires a deep understanding of international investment law and treaties, an area where Dutch legal practitioners excel.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What makes the Netherlands a favorable venue for arbitration?

A: The Netherlands offers a well-established legal framework, experienced arbitration practitioners, and reputable institutions like the NAI, making it an attractive venue for both national and international arbitration.

Q: How does arbitration under Dutch law differ from court proceedings?

A: Arbitration under Dutch law is more flexible, confidential, and often faster than traditional court proceedings. It also allows parties to choose arbitrators with specific expertise relevant to their dispute.

Q: Are arbitration decisions made in the Netherlands recognized internationally?

A: Yes, arbitration decisions made in the Netherlands are generally recognized and enforceable internationally, thanks to the country's adherence to the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards.

[zlattorneys]

Find a Top Law Firm in Netherlands for All Legal Matters

From filing a case of personal injury to legal documentation and from real estate matters to company establishment, you need support from law professionals at every level. For this, the best way is to search for the top law firm in Netherlands where experienced advocates and lawyers are working and providing you with the right solutions for your queries.

From a recognized law firm in Netherlands, you will get precise solutions for varied matters that are in different categories of law like personal injury law, administrative law, banking law and bankruptcy law, contract law Curacao, corporate law and employment law and different other types.

Different Types of Legal Matters Solved by Professional Lawyers in Netherlands

The selected law firm provides you with precise solutions in varied other matters too like

Immigration Law, Incorporation of Legal Entities and Inheritance Law

Family Law, Gaming Curacao and Governmental Matters

Management of Legal Entities, Maritime Law and Pension Law

Personal Injury, Seizure of Assets and Termination of Employment Law

Landlord & Tenant Law, Liability Law and Litigation

Insurance Law, Intellectual Property Law and Labor Law

You have to search for the right one, go through the details and type of services provided and leaves rest of the work on experts there. ZL Attorneys is a one stop recognized law firm in Netherlands solving your queries for all legal matters. You have to search for the right one, go through the details and leave rest of the work on experts working here.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Jacob McHangama

Published: Aug 9, 2023

In 2005 a Danish newspaper published a number of cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammed, which led to a global battle of values over the relationship between freedom of expression and religion. Despite multiple terrorist attacks—one of them deadly others thwarted—and concerted diplomatic pressure from the 57 Muslim-majority member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) led by countries like Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Iran, the Danish government held firm and refused demands to impose Islamic blasphemy norms.

However, recent events have shattered this resolve. Following months of of public Quran burnings in Denmark and Sweden, as well as renewed and increased pressure from the OIC and attacks on the Swedish embassy in Iraq and a Danish non-governmental organization in Basra last month, Scandinavian democracies are retreating from their liberal principles.

On July 30, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen announced that the government will seek to enact legislation for "special situations where other countries, cultures, and religions could be insulted, potentially resulting in significant negative consequences for Denmark." Sweden is mulling over similar actions. These capitulations have forced these countries to debate how far they are willing to go to defend their freedoms in the face of violence and international backlash.

On the one hand, there are good reasons to be critical of book burnings. It is a poor substitute for reasoned debate and one that will forever be associated with totalitarian states, such as Nazi Germany, in our collective history. But however noxious the ideas of the far-right protestors who torch Qurans, they are not state agents, they are not speaking for the government, nor do they have the power to censor or discriminate. They are private individuals whose non-violent symbolic expressions are intended to convey a message, which however, offensive to those who disprove, is part and parcel of free expression.

The violence that accompanies these events stems both from terrorist groups as well as from counter protestors who insist that religious taboos can only be enforced through mob intimidation and violence, but they are mistaken.

In July, an Iranian citizen burned the Danish and Swedish flags as well as the Bible and Torah in front of the Israeli embassy in Copenhagen, praising Ayatollah Khomeini in the process. But few Danes cared about this deliberate attempt to provoke. No one threatened to use violence, and the protester was not arrested. Rather than demonstrating Danish hypocrisy, the protester managed to show how a secular society committed to both free speech and tolerance can handle offensive ideas, and also how these values serve as the antithesis to violence.

Despite these and other demonstrable merits of free speech, the recent steps taken by Denmark and Sweden reveal a concerning trend. Bowing to intimidation from politically authoritarian and religiously oppressive states sets a perilous precedent and gives oppressive regimes potential leverage to further undermine democratic principles. To sweeten this bitter pill the Danish government has been less than factual in its messaging. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said that burning “sacred books” does not constitute an expression, despite established case law to the contrary. The government has also said that Denmark and Sweden are global outliers when it comes to permitting the desecration of “sacred books” even though both Norway and the Netherlands protect such symbolic expression. There are already also strong reasons to believe that the OIC will not be appeased by the proposed Danish legal restrictions, however rationalized.

The next day after the Danish government´s promise to explore legal remedies against Quran burnings, the OIC released a strongly worded statement admonishing Denmark and Sweden for failing to immediately criminalize them and pledging to continue to pursue the matter. The Turkish ambassador to Denmark also warned that the proposed Danish efforts were "insufficient." In other words, once democracies yield from principle, authoritarian states will not respond with gratitude and conciliatory attitudes but demand that the self-imposed restrictions on free speech be expanded more broadly. This is not only true in Scandinavia but also on the global stage.

Earlier this month, the OIC managed to secure a crucial win at the U.N.´s Human Rights Council with a resolution that calls on member states to, among other things, “address, prevent and prosecute acts and advocacy of religious hatred” as a direct response to the Scandinavian Quran burnings. The OIC argues that defamation of religious ideas and symbols constitutes incitement to religious hatred—a category of speech prohibited under international human rights law and in most European democracies. This would not just legitimize but also give legal teeth to the suppression of religious dissent, and would remove the stigma from countries where blasphemy and apostasy is severely punished.

This marks a radical departure from back in 2011, when the Obama Administration rallied democracies around the world and spearheaded a pivotal Human Rights Council Resolution to halt the OIC´s long-standing efforts to internationalize blasphemy laws. The 2011 resolution advocated education and counter-speech against religious intolerance, asserting the protection of people, not ideologies, under human rights law. It called for the penalization of "incitement to imminent violence based on religion or belief," underlining that free speech restrictions should shield individuals from tangible harm, not defend abstract religious ideas from criticism or mockery, however offensive. As then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the resolution was a step to overcome “the false divide that pits religious sensitivities against freedom of expression.”

While this broader, international perspective is critical, it is also important to consider the domestic implications of the laws Denmark and Sweden have on the table. The Danish government´s proposed legal remedy against insulting other countries doesn’t only threaten to restrict criticism of Islam. In fact, Danish Muslims protesting U.S. or Israeli foreign policy, or the mass internment of Uighur Muslims by China, could end up on the wrong side of the law, if they protest in ways deemed “insulting” to the U.S., Israel, or China and detrimental to the broad and nebulous concept of “Danish interests.”

Moreover, the Danish and Swedish governments’ misguided attempt to foster tolerance through censorship could inadvertently exacerbate social divisions within their own borders. Hard-nosed critics of Islam and Muslim immigration frequently argue that Islam is incompatible with democracy and freedom, painting Muslims as a fifth column. The external pressure from Islamic states, coupled with support for restrictive measures among some Danish Muslims, risks emboldening these divisive narratives. This stands to harm the many Scandinavian Muslims who appreciate the freedoms and equality that Denmark and Sweden offer, and which sets these countries apart from the Muslim-majority states of the OIC.

Free speech is a difficult principle to uphold consistently. Governments and citizens of democracies alike are frequently tempted to sacrifice this principle when faced with threats or adverse consequences of unpopular or extremist speech. But one only has to compare the vibrant democracies of Denmark and Sweden to the authoritarian regimes of Iran and Saudi Arabia to realize that, for all its flaws, free speech makes the world more tolerant, democratic, equal, and free. Denmark and Sweden’s defection from this core liberal principle is a dark day for the global fight for free speech.

==

You don't surrender or capitulate to bullies. Not even when they're pretending to be the victim.

[ausetkmt]

Essence: This Black Father And Daughter Named As Two of The Most Influential People of African Descent (MIPAD) In Law & ...

Aspiring Black attorneys face countless barriers to even become qualified practitioners of the law. When a father and daughter duo topple them together, it’s worth noting.

Attorney Zulu Ali and Attorney Whitney Ali were recognized for their contributions and were listed as two of the Most Influential People of African Descent (MIPAD), Law and Justice Edition.

Attorney Zulu Ali and his daughter, Attorney Whitney Ali, own and operate the Law Offices of Zulu Ali & Associates, LLP (zulualilaw.com), one of the largest Black family-owned law firms in California; and the largest Black-owned in the Inland Empire.

Attorney Zulu Ali drew inspiration from civil rights attorneys Charles Hamilton Houston, Thurgood Marshall, and Avon Williams, Jr. to become an attorney himself, and opened the Law Offices of Zulu Ali in 2007 to help marginalized groups seek justice after being wrongfully accused crimes, being victims of discrimination.

The firm also serves victims in The Hague, Netherlands and the African Court of Human Rights in Tanzania.

“It is always nice to be recognized for your work,” Attorney Zulu Ali said in a news release. “We face immense scrutiny from courts and others for challenging the system. I am deeply inspired by the late great civil rights attorney Avon Williams who was jailed more than once for not kowtowing to racist courts in the defense of his clients. Being in this fight with my daughter by my side ensures this type of advocacy spirit that was established by great black pioneers of the legal system continues,”