Law Times

Page 20 September 30, 2013 Law Times • u The u Bizarre Briefs InsIde story By Viola James THIEVES ABSCOND WITH PRISON SAFE PAVIA, Italy — It's not surprising that people would break out of a prison but it's certainly unusual to hear about thieves breaking into one in order to steal money. But according to Reuters, that's what happened in Italy earlier this month. Thieves in northern Italy broke into a prison and made off with a safe containing thousands of euros in the early hours one day, Italian media reported. The audacious theft occurred shortly after midnight when the robbers eluded surveillance systems and entered the director's office at the prison in Pavia, near Milan, the daily Corriere della Sera reported. The safe, which the thieves removed whole from the wall and spirited away, contained approximately 5,000 euros ($6,700), Reuters reported. Police are investigating the incident. They might also want to ask why a prison would keep a safe full of cash on the premises. COUPLE JAILED AFTER MAID TIED, LEFT IN DIAPER HONG KONG — If there was ever a situation justifying added legal protections for domestic workers, this is it. According to Reuters, a Hong Kong couple is going to jail for torturing, beating, and abusing their Indonesian maid who said they once dressed her in a diaper and tied her to a chair for five days while they went on holiday. Tai Chi-wai, 42, an electric appliance salesman, received a sentence of three years and three months and his wife, Catherine Au Yukshan, 41, a public hospital assistant, got 5-1/2 after the court found them guilty of a total of eight charges, including assault and wounding with intent. The couple repeatedly assaulted and tortured Kartika Puspitasari, 30, over a two- year period until she escaped last October. They beat her with a bicycle chain and scalded her on the face and arms with a hot iron, the District Court heard. Kartika also said her employers left her in a diaper and tied her to a chair without food or water for five days while they went on holiday with their children to Thailand, although the judge said he believed she had exaggerated some of this testimony. The case had done harm to Hong Kong's reputation as a safe place to work and the court's decision was to "send a clear message that every worker is protected by the laws," said deputy district Judge So Wai-tak. The organization Mission for Migrant Workers said last month that a survey of more than 3,000 women conducted in Hong Kong last year found 58 per cent had faced verbal abuse, 18 per cent physical abuse, and six per cent sexual abuse. "We call on to the Hong Kong authorities and policy-makers to make the needed and urgent reforms that will mitigate the possibility of another Kartika in our midst," the Coalition of Service Providers for Ethnic Minorities in Hong Kong said in a statement. According to Reuters, Hong Kong has roughly 300,000 domestic helpers, largely from the Philippines and Indonesia, but also from places such as Nepal, India, and Pakistan. A union representing domestic helpers held a protest in March calling for an end to a law that requires maids to live with their employers. It says the rule exposes them to abuse. Also in March, Hong Kong's highest court ruled against granting residency to two Filipino maids, dashing the hopes of several hundred thousand other domestic helpers of ever gaining residency in the city. LT "A brilliant concept, Janice! Brilliant! And you're sure development charges apply only to free-standing buildings?" NEW JUDGES APPOINTED Two new judges are joining the bench of the Ontario Court of Justice this week. James Stribopoulos will preside in Brampton, Ont. A professor at Osgoode Hall Law School since 2006 and associate dean since last year, Stribopoulos specialized in criminal law while practising at Fleming Breen and Kapoor & Stribopoulos in Toronto. Also joining the bench in BrampJames Stribopoulos ton is Donald McLeod. A lawyer since 1998, he was senior managing partner of the McLeod Group where he focused on criminal trials and appeals as well as administrative law. The appointments are effective Oct. 2. ABORIGINAL JURY COMMITTEE LAUNCHED The Ontario government has announced a committee to address the lack of First Nations representation on juries. Committee members, led by co-chairmen Alvin Fiddler and Irwin Glasberg, will oversee the implementation of the recommendations in former Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci's report on the issue. Besides Fiddler, deputy grand chief of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, and Glasberg, assistant deputy attorney general, committee members include: Ontario Court regional senior justice Marc Bode; Sheila Bristo, a director with the court services division of the Ministry of the Attorney General; lawyer and former Indigenous Bar Association president Margaret Froh; lawyer Diane Kelly; Alison Pilla, an assistant deputy minister with the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs; and Jenny Restoule-Mallozzi, counsel with the Union of Ontario Indians. WEIRFOULDS EXPANDS GTA FOOTPRINT WeirFoulds LLP is expanding its presence in the Greater Toronto Area as it joins forces with a firm in Oakville, Ont. On Friday, WeirFoulds announced that Townsend and Associates would join the firm this month. Townsend and Associates will remain in Oakville but operate under the WeirFoulds banner. Townsend and Associates, a small planning and development firm, certainly has a complementary practice with WeirFoulds given its presence in the municipal law field. "Municipal is something the firm has done for years and years and years," says Kim Mullin, co-chairwoman of WeirFoulds' municipal and planning law practice. As part of the change, Townsend and Associates' three lawyers will join WeirFoulds. Lyn Townsend, who founded her own firm in 1991 after practising at Vice and Hunter, Soloway Wright LLP, and Pallett Valo LLP, received the Ontario Bar Association award of excellence in municipal law this year. Denise Baker, a former assistant town solicitor in Oakville who has been practising municipal law since her call to the bar in 2003, is chairwoman of the OBA's municipal law section. In addition, Jennifer Meader, who has worked as a planner as well, has practised with Townsend and Associates since becoming a lawyer in 2010. "We've been looking for some time to add some bench strength to our municipal group," says Mullin, noting the move will add to the group's current compliment of about 10-12 lawyers and two planners. But while the Oakville office is new, she notes the more than 150-year-old firm has had prior experiences with offices outside Toronto, including in Ottawa and Mississauga, Ont. "Lyn Townsend is somebody that a lot of us know," she says, calling Townsend a "great lawyer and a great fit" for WeirFoulds. The Oakville firm joins WeirFoulds effective Sept. 30. LT CANADIAN LAW LIST 2013 YOUR INSTANT CONNECTION TO CANADA'S LEGAL NETWORK Visit carswell.com or call 1.800.387.5164 for a 30-day no-risk evaluation Inside you will find: MORE THAN A PHONE BOOK Untitled-1 1 www.lawtimesnews.com 13-07-05 10:03 AM

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