AllAboutLaw Blog: Remember, remember the 5th of November and more.

This week’s edition of the AllAboutLaw Blog looks at the history of Guy Fawkes Night and the growing discontent around the topic of fireworks, a case brought by WhatsApp against a cybersecurity firm, and the implementation of a new internet law in Russia.

Remember, remember the 5th of November

The UK celebrated Guy Fawkes night with an abundance of firework displays and bonfires. The tradition stems from a failed plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605, in response to the persecution of Catholics by King James I.

The observance of Guy Fawkes night was surprisingly set down in law the following year, enforcing an annual public commemoration of the plot’s failure. The Observance of the Fifth of November Act (1605: 3 James 1 c.1) laid the foundations for centuries of celebrations around bonfires and fireworks.

Following a show trial in 1606, Guy Fawkes and his conspirators were charged with treason and sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered. The Treason Act of 1351 lists the various offences that qualify as treason, such as compassing the death of the King, Queen or eldest son, and adhering to the King’s enemies.

This year, the Guy Fawkes festivities are met with mounting pressure, as tens of thousands of people have signed a petition against the use of fireworks and their detrimental effects on pets and wildlife. The petition has more than 200,000 signatures, thereby requiring parliament to debate the issue.

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“Law is experience developed by reason and applied continuously to further experience”

Roscoe Pound

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Firms news

- Grant Thornton will be launching a £100-million fund for its insolvency and global asset recovery tracing.

- With an ambition to be the biggest firm outside London, Knights Group Holding plc has acquired Emms Gilmore Liberson (EGL) in a deal worth £4.7 million.

- Hogan Lovells has launched a crisis leadership team to advise clients in the “internet age”.

- HFW has expanded its new Abu Dhabi office with the hire of Richard Lucas from Bird & Bird.

- Clifford Chance is piloting a robotics training programme in Singapore, to help automate legal contracts and other tasks.

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WhatsApp is the driving force behind a claim for human rights abuses

WhatsApp has filed a suit against the Israeli surveillance company NSO, under the premise that the company allegedly helped governments to hack illegally into the mobile devices of more than 100 people. Supposed victims include journalists, human rights workers, lawyers and women who had been the subject of online attacks. WhatsApp’s lawsuit, filed in a California federal court, calls for a permanent injunction block NSO from accessing the messaging platform’s computer systems.

The Israeli government has denied any involvement in the alleged cyber-hack by NSO.

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The implementation of a new internet law in Russia

As of the 1st November, the Russian web is subject to a new law imposing tighter controls. The law authorises the Kremlin to switch off connections within Russia or completely to the worldwide web in an emergency situation. However, what constitutes an emergency situation is not yet clear.

This is not its first internet law—parliament also passed a bill prohibiting the disrespect of authorities and the spread of “fake news”. The new law has been met with hostility, with critics comparing these new controls to China’s internet firewall. The Kremlin has claimed it will improve cybersecurity. 

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Recommended Readings

- The proportion of convicted BAME children has doubled in eight years. Is the “whole justice system” to blame?

- Despite the resignation of Hariri and his third government, the protests in Lebanon show no sign of dwindling.

- Similarly, following weeks of violent protest in Iraq, the prime minister has agreed to resign.

- Initially in response to a rise in subway fares, the protests in Chile now symbolise the discontent with increasing inequality and the need for a new Consitution.

- Facebook faces a lawsuit challenging its allegedly discriminatory advertising. But the lawsuit is based on the California statute, the Unruh law, also known as a public accommodation law.

- The US House of Representatives has officially recognised the Armenian genocide, much to the objection of Turkish President Erdogan.

- “Who has legal jurisdiction over the internet?”

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