Feeds
45327 items (45327 unread) in 19 feeds
US
(8652 unread)
-
LawyersUSA
-
LawLibrary
(1694 unread) -
This Day at Law (1625 unread)
-
-
Cyber-Law (32 unread)
DE
(25956 unread)
IT
(472 unread)
-
Professionisti
(115 unread)
-
Legali
(357 unread)
FR
(3169 unread)
-
Village de la Justice (2956 unread)
-
Jurisexpert (213 unread)
CZ
(779 unread)
-
Liberalni institut
(180 unread)
-
Legalizace (599 unread)
BG
(750 unread)
-
Bulgaria Law News (750 unread)
NL
(1823 unread)
-
RvdJ
(120 unread)
-
Rechtspraak
(1703 unread)
ID
(356 unread)
-
Hukum Indonesia (356 unread)
TR
(3370 unread)
-
Turkish Law
(55 unread)
-
HukukiNetLaw (3315 unread)
Jurist (50 unread)
-
HRW urges India to prosecute border soldiers for torture
Posted: January 31st, 2012, 9:40pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] on Monday urged [press release] the Indian government to prosecute Border Security Force (BSF) [official website] soldiers that it has long implicated in torture and extrajudicial killings near the Bangladesh border. HRW's plea comes in response to the release of a YouTube video [warning: graphic content] capturing BSF soldiers stripping, tying up and beating a Bangladeshi national caught smuggling cattle from Bangladesh into India. Although Indian law requires the BSF to hand over such lawbreakers to the police, HRW contends that the soldiers "illegally detained and tortured" the man, then left him to return... -
France lawmakers seek ruling on genocide denial ban
Posted: January 31st, 2012, 9:26pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] A French genocide denial ban [materials, in French] passed last week [JURIST report] stalled on Tuesday after two groups of French politicians challenged the law's constitutionality. The opposition groups, which include members in both the Senate and the National Assembly, gathered the necessary signatures to require the Constitutional council of the French Republic [official websites, in French] to determine if the law is constitutional. While France has already recognized the 1915 killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide, the new law would punish anyone who denies that the killings constituted a genocide with up to a year in... -
Spain judge Garzon defends Franco-era probes
Posted: January 31st, 2012, 9:14pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] took the stand in his second trial [JURIST report] before the Spanish Supreme Court [official website, in Spanish] on Tuesday and defended his investigation into war crimes allegedly committed under Francisco Franco [BBC backgrounder] during the Spanish Civil War. Garzon has been charged with abusing power by ordering the exhumation [JURIST reports] of 19 mass graves in Spain in order to assemble a definitive national registry of Civil War victims, despite a 1977 law that provides amnesty for Franco-era crimes. While on the stand, Garzon refused to answer questions [CNN... -
Haiti ex-president Duvalier will not face trial for rights violations
Posted: January 31st, 2012, 9:03pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] Haiti's Investigative Magistrate Carves Jean ruled Monday that former president Jean-Claude Duvalier [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] will not stand trial for crimes against humanity, including torture, false imprisonment, rape and murder during his reign between 1971 and 1986. Jean dismissed the charges reasoning that there are not sufficient legal grounds and that the statute of limitations has expired. Based on this ruling, Duvalier will go on trial before a special court facing charges of corruption and misappropriation of public funds with at most 5-year imprisonment. Jean's ruling has not been made public. Numerous human rights groups, including Amnesty... -
ICTY war crimes suspect Seselj demands compensation for trial delays
Posted: January 31st, 2012, 3:35pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website] announced Monday that former Serb nationalist politician and war crimes suspect Vojislav Seselj [official website, in Serbian; JURIST news archive] is suing ICTY for USD $2.6 million in damages due to alleged unreasonable delays in his trial. The ICTY declined to comment [AP report] on the filings Seselj made earlier this month, in which he charges that the ICTY refused to give him materials in Serbian; denied him communication with family members, doctors, and legal counsel; delayed his trial interminably; and refused him a right to his own,... -
Romania high court sentences ex-PM Nastase to 2 years in prison
Posted: January 31st, 2012, 2:11pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] Romania's High Court of Cassation and Justice [official website, in Romanian] on Monday sentenced former prime minister Adrian Nastase [personal website, in Romanian] to two years in prison on charges of graft and corruption [lawyer notes, in Romanian]. Referred to as the "trophy quality" case, Nastase and five other members of the Social Democratic Party of Romania [party website, in Romanian] were convicted of raising money through taxation under a company called "trophy quality construction works" that then funneled USD $2.2 million to Nastase's failed presidential campaign. Some of Nastase's co-conspirators received sentences up to seven years, and all... -
Pakistan high court lifts travel ban on former US ambassador
Posted: January 30th, 2012, 10:03pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] The Pakistan Supreme Court [official website] on Monday ordered that a travel ban imposed upon the former ambassador to the US is to be lifted. The ban was imposed upon Husain Haqqani after an anonymous memo that implied Pakistani politicians were collaborating with US politicians was sent to Washington, DC, in May, after Osama bin Laden was killed by US forces [JURIST report]. Haqqani resigned from his position as ambassador to the US after he came under suspicion for being the author of the memo. The Pakistan Supreme Court created a commission in order to investigate the origin of... -
HRW concerned over aging US prison population
Posted: January 30th, 2012, 8:37pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] expressed concern [press release] Friday over aging men and women becoming the most rapidly growing group in US prisons and the ability of officials to provide appropriate housing and medical care to these individuals. The report [text, PDF], "Old Behind Bars: The Aging Prison Population in the United States," asserts that, depending on the state, the cost to effectively house and treat older prisoners is three to nine times higher than those for younger prisoners. The report found that 9.6 percent of prisoners are serving life sentences and an additional 11.2 percent have... -
Senegal high court allows president to run for third term
Posted: January 30th, 2012, 6:09pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] Senegal's highest court ruled Monday that President Abdoulaye Wade [official profile, in French] can run for a third term, rejecting an appeal by the opposition. The Senegalese Constitution [text, in French] had no term limits when Wade initially took office in 2000, but it was amended in 2001 to impose a two-term limit. The court found that Wade's "first term" under the 2001 constitution did not begin until he was reelected in 2007, concluding that he is eligible to run for another term. The court also rejected an appeal by popular musician Youssou Ndour, ruling that he will not... -
Norway men convicted of terrorism for plotting attack on Danish newspaper
Posted: January 30th, 2012, 5:17pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] A Norwegian court on Monday convicted two men accused of planning an attack against the Danish newspaper that published a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad. This is the first conviction under Norway's anti-terror laws [AP report]. Both defendants, Mikael Davud and Shawan Sadek Saeed Bujak, were found guilty in the Oslo district court, and sentenced to seven and three-and-a-half years, respectively. Although cleared of terror charges, David Jakobsen, will serve four months for helping the two defendants acquire explosives. The judge said that Davud orchestrated the attack with al Qaeda. Depicting the Prophet Muhammad is considered blasphemous by Muslims... -
Libya to take control of makeshift prisons
Posted: January 29th, 2012, 11:08pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] In response to international criticism the Libya Ministry of Justice announced on Sunday that it will be commandeering "makeshift prisons" around the country to prevent further prisoner torture. Deputy Minister Khalifa Ashour acknowledged that primarily loyalists to former dictator Muammar Gaddafi [BBC obituary; JURIST news archive] have been tortured in unregulated prisons [AP report]. Other detainees are citizens under arrest for murder or drug and alcohol possession. Ashour also stated that the Ministry has taken control of two prisons already, one in Tripoli and one in Misrata. Earlier this week, both Amnesty International (AI) and UN High Commissioner for... -
Bahrain to criminalize protester assault on police officers
Posted: January 29th, 2012, 10:18pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] State media for Bahrain announced on Sunday that new measures will be taken against protesters [BNA report] in light of recent violence against police officers. Acting under the orders of Prime Minister and Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa [official profile], the Cabinet of Bahrain [official website, in Arabic] will soon amend the penal code to include a 15-year prison sentence for "instigators and implementers" of physical assault against police officers. The BNA report denied that recent protests have been meritorious:The cabinet expressed sorrow in view of the increasingly growing provocative calls which instigate the targeting of security personnel—these... -
UN Secretary General demands Africa countries respect gay rights
Posted: January 29th, 2012, 7:34pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon [official profile] said in a statement [text] delivered Sunday to the African Union Summit that Africa must honor the Universal Declaration of Human Rights [text] by ending discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Many African nations still outlaw homosexuality. As of 2011, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) [advocacy website] State-Sponsored Homophobia report [text, PDF], 76 countries still criminalize same-sex relationships, and five enforce the death penalty against homosexuals. Ban called for an end to this discrimination as part of Africa's further "investments in civil, political, economic,... -
Tenth Circuit rules criminalizing false claims of military honors constitutional
Posted: January 29th, 2012, 3:50am MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] on Friday that the Stolen Valor Act (SVA) [text], which criminalizes the act of falsely claiming to have received a medal from the US military, is constitutional and not a violation of the First Amendment [text] right to freedom of speech. The SVA imposes a six month prison sentence on anyone who falsely claims to have received a military service medal or a one year sentence if the individual claimed to have received a Congressional Medal of Honor [official website]. The court stated that "knowingly... -
UN: Maldives must release or charge arrested judge
Posted: January 29th, 2012, 3:33am MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] The UN told Maldives on Saturday that Judge Abdulla Mohamed must either be charged or released from indefinite detention. Mohamed was arrested for corruption [JURIST report] in an unprecedented move by the military, following a ruling to release a government critic. Mohamed is also accused of obstructing police investigations and having ties to organized crime [Minivan News report]. The arrest has sparked street protests and prompted all the country's courts to boycott sessions. The Maldives Minister of Foreign Affairs [official website] asked the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights [official website] for help resolving the issue... -
Italy must end violence against women: UN
Posted: January 29th, 2012, 2:42am MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] A UN expert on violence against women urged [press release; official statement] Italy on Friday that it must do more to end violence against women, primarily by focusing at underlying causes of gender discrimination in Italian society. UN Special Rapporteur Rashida Manjoo [official profile] made her recommendation after a 12-day visit to Italy [UN News Centre report] during which she met with multiple survivors of domestic violence. Manjoo emphasized that the current poor economic climate in Italy is no justification for violence against women and that the country has many resources available to women, such as psychological and economic... -
Netherlands to ban burqa
Posted: January 29th, 2012, 2:07am MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] The Cabinet of the Netherlands announced on Friday that a ban on burqas [JURIST news archive] in the Netherlands will go forward later this year. The ban, proposed in September [JURIST report] and heavily supported by Geert Wilders' [personal website; JURIST news archive] anti-Islam Freedom Party, is aimed at prohibiting burqas and other face coverings. Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Verhagen [official profile, in Dutch] denied that the ban was meant for religious clothing [Reuters report] and noted that the ban will also include motorcycle helmets and balaclavas when they are worn in inappropriate locations. The proposed legislation will not... -
BP ordered to share partial liability with Transocean in oil spill claims
Posted: January 28th, 2012, 12:21am MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] Judge Carl Barber of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana [official website] Thursday issued an order [text, PDF] that British Petroleum (BP) [corporate website] will be held liable for a portion of the damages owed by Transocean [corporate website] stemming from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive]. BP will be required to indemnify Transocean against damages created by the pollution itself that are awarded throughout the litigation [materials] pending against it. BP will not be required to pay an punitive damages or civil fines as a result of these suits. The... -
Guatemala court orders ex-dictator to stand trial
Posted: January 27th, 2012, 9:22pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] Guatemalan Judge Carol Flores ruled Thursday that ex-dictator Rios Montt must stand trial for charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. The judge heard the prosecutor's initial statements Wednesday and decided Thursday that the evidence was sufficient to go to trial. Montt is being charged for crimes committed throughout the country's 36-year civil war [BBC timeline], which officially ended in 1996. Montt was a general in the military who became dictator after a coup in 1982 but lost power a year later as a result of another coup. His charges are based on 72 incidents that caused 1,771 deaths... -
US lawmakers request information on new Google privacy policy
Posted: January 27th, 2012, 9:20pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] US Representative Edward Markey (D-MA) [official website; press release] and seven other lawmakers Thursday sent a letter [text, PDF] to Google CEO Larry Page [NYT backgrounder] containing 11 questions regarding consumer privacy rights as affected by Google's new privacy policies [corporate website]. The letter states that the privacy policy and Google's consolidated data sharing system raise questions about whether consumers can opt out of the new system, either globally or on a product-by-product basis. As Co-Chairman of the Congressional Bipartisan Privacy Caucus, Markey also expressed concerns as to whether Google's new policies violate the settlement [JURIST report] reached with... -
Libya torture causing prisoner deaths: AI
Posted: January 27th, 2012, 6:51pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] Thursday reported the recent deaths of several Libyan detainees who were apparently tortured while in custody [press release]. The deaths come amid allegations of widespread torture and ill-treatment of detainees accused of being pro-Gaddafi loyalists and fighters during the Libyan conflict [JURIST backgrounder] last year. AI conducted extensive interviews with detainees in and around Tripoli, Misrarah and Gheryan, many of whom showed visible marks indicative of torture, and whose accounts of maltreatment are consistent with their patterns of injury. AI reports that both official military and security entities as well as the multitude of... -
Chevron officials to face criminal charges in Brazil for oil spill: report
Posted: January 27th, 2012, 6:39pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] Brazil prosecutors plan to file criminal charges, in addition to the $11 billion civil suit, against Chevron [corporate website] officials for the 2,400 barrel oil spill [Global Voices backgrounder] off the coast of Brazil in the Campos Basin in November. Brazilian officials state that Chevron acted irresponsibly [Reuters report] and took substantial risks in the Frade oil field in the Campos Basin. Up to 12 Chevron officials are expected to be indicted. In contrast, British Petroleum (BP) [corporate website] agreed to set aside $20 billion [JURIST report] for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive], which... -
Second Circuit allows Ecuador court's $18 billion judgment against Chevron
Posted: January 26th, 2012, 9:51pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit [official website] on Thursday lifted [opinion, PDF] an injunction won by Chevon Corporation [official website] to block enforcement of what the US oil company claims is a fraudulent, multibillion-dollar judgment in Ecuador for polluting the Amazon jungle. In reversing the decision [opinion, PDF] made by the US District Court for the Southern District of New York [official website], the Second Circuit held that Chevron may not challenge the approximately $18 billion Ecuadorian judgment against it before enforcement of that judgment has actually been sought by the Ecuadorian plaintiffs. In... -
Minnesota high court upholds mandatory DNA samples from convicted criminals
Posted: January 26th, 2012, 8:47pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] The Minnesota Supreme Court [official website] ruled Wednesday that a Minnesota statute requiring people convicted of crimes to submit a DNA sample does not violate [opinion, PDF] the Fourth Amendment [text] right to unreasonable search. The Minnesota law [text], which was enacted in 2010, requires an offender to submit a DNA test, upon sentencing, before release from prison and upon transfer from another state. The appellant had been charged with a felony but agreed to take a sentence reduction in response to entering a guilty plea. He claimed that the DNA requirement violated his equal protection and should be... -
Iraq to take legal action over Haditha killings
Posted: January 26th, 2012, 8:47pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] A media adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki [official website, in Arabic; JURIST news archive] said Thursday that the government will take legal action on behalf of the victims of the November 2005 Haditha killings [JURIST news archive], in which 24 Iraqi civilians were killed. Government spokesman Ali al-Moussawi expressed displeasure [Reuters report] with the outcome of the investigation and prosecutions in the US military court. On Tuesday, US Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich [advocacy website] pleaded guilty [JURIST report] to the charge of negligent dereliction of duty, making him the only marine convicted of misconduct related to the... -
UN rights chief concerned over Libya torture allegations
Posted: January 26th, 2012, 8:43pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official website] addressed [statement] the UN Security Council Wednesday, expressing concern over alleged current human rights violations in Libya. Pillay first noted that the Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) [official website] has expressed their commitment to human rights and has taken encouraging steps in that direction in the form of legal reform and new legislation. However, the interim government still has not gained effective control over the revolutionary brigades and a concern remains over the conditions of detention and treatment of detainees held by these brigades:The [International Committee of the Red... -
South Carolina appeals order blocking portions of immigration law
Posted: January 26th, 2012, 7:44pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson [official website] has filed an appeal in the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit [official website] asking the court to overturn the decision to block provisions of the state's new controversial immigration law [SB 20]. The state is asking the court to overturn the district court ruling blocking two provisions of the law and to allow the entirety of the law to take effect. The request comes after a judge for the US District Court for the District of South Carolina [official website] placed a hold on the lawsuit [JURIST report]... -
Romania constitutional court rejects controversial election law
Posted: January 26th, 2012, 6:52pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] The Constitutional Court of Romania [official website, in Romanian] on Wednesday ruled that a law allowing local and parliamentary elections to be held at the same time is unconstitutional. The Romanian Parliament [official website, in Romanian] passed the law in December [AP report], but objections from opposition leaders and anti-government protesters followed. The opposition argued that the law would facilitate fraud, cheating and confusion in the election process, while the government claimed the law would cuts costs by permitting one ballot for two elections. After the ruling, Romanian President Traian Basescu [official website, in Romanian] defended his administration [speech... -
Bosnia war crimes court upholds 31-year sentence for Srebrenica massacre
Posted: January 26th, 2012, 4:52pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) [official website] on Wednesday upheld the conviction [JURIST report] and 31-year sentence of Radomir Vukovic for his part in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre during the Bosnian civil war [JURIST news archives]. While Vukoic's appeal was denied, Zoran Tomic won his appeal on a lack of evidence. As a member of the 2nd Sekovici Special Police Detachment, the court found that Vukovic participated in executing 1,000 Bosniak men who were imprisoned in a warehouse. This was Vukovic's final appeal. Earlier this week, convicted Serbian war criminal Radovan Stankovic [JURIST report] was arrested in... -
Illinois high court to allow cameras in circuit courts
Posted: January 26th, 2012, 4:30am MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] The Illinois Supreme Court [official website] on Tuesday authorized [order, PDF] the use of television cameras and other recording devices in state courts [press release, PDF]. The order permits "extended media coverage" in courtrooms, which entails broadcasting of proceedings by the use of television, radio, photographic or recording equipment for the purpose of gathering and disseminating news to the public. While Illinois has permitted the use of news cameras in its Supreme Court and appellate courts since 1983, it has not allowed news cameras in trial courts until this decision. Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Kilbride championed the... -
Montenegro court sentences four former Yugoslav army Soldiers
Posted: January 25th, 2012, 9:01pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] A court in Montenegro on Wednesday sentenced four former Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) soldiers to up to four years in prison for war crimes committed during the Croatian conflict. In a retrial of a 2010 case, the court found the four defendants guilty of torturing prisoners [RFE/RL report] at a detention camp in Morinj between 1991 and 1992. The defendants were four of the six lower-ranking JNA soldiers who were convicted in May 2010 [Reuters report] for the torture of Croatian prisoners detained during a conflict in Dubrovnik. This decision was overturned on appeal [SETimes.com report], and two defendants... -
UN refuses to replace ECCC judge in Khmer Rouge trial
Posted: January 25th, 2012, 7:46pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] The United Nations (UN) [official website] on Wednesday refused to replace a judge presiding over investigations at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) [official website] after Cambodia attempted to block him. Laurent Kasper-Ansermet is the judge tasked with investigating two possible suspects believed to be involved in the deaths of around 1.7 million people during the reign of the Khmer Rouge [BBC backgrounder] regime. The investigation relates to ECCC cases 003 and 004 [materials]. The Cambodian government strongly opposes the investigation into the suspects' involvement with the Khmer Rouge. Cambodia attempted to block Kasper-Ansermet's return to... -
Maldives lawyers seek ICC intervention over detained judge
Posted: January 25th, 2012, 7:14pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] A group of Maldives lawyers this week submitted to the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] the controversial case of detained Maldives Judge Abdulla Mohamed, calling Mohamed's continued detention a violation of the International Convention on the Protection of all Persons against Enforced Disappearance [text]. The legal team is contesting [Minivan News report] the conditions of Mohamed's arrest and subsequent detention [JURIST report] by the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) after the judge attempted to block his own High Court police summons pertaining to allegations of corruption and political bias in his professional conduct. The national Judicial Services Commission... -
Federal court rules Montana medical marijuana law does not shield providers from federal prosecution
Posted: January 25th, 2012, 6:26pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] A federal judge in the US District Court for the District of Montana [official website] on Friday ruled [opinion, PDF] that the state's medical marijuana [JURIST archive] law does not protect providers of the drug from federal prosecution. Judge Donald Molloy [official profile] dismissed a civil lawsuit [AP report] brought by 14 medical marijuana providers who had all been raided by federal authorities in the last year. The plaintiffs argued that the federal raids violated their protection under the state law. Molloy, however, found that providers could be prosecuted under federal law, following the precedent set by the Supreme... -
Serbia rights group alleges war crimes by new military chief
Posted: January 25th, 2012, 4:32pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) [advocacy website], a Serbian human rights group, alleged [press release, in Serbian] on Tuesday that Serbian General Ljubisa Dikovic [official profile, in Serbian] committed war crimes [JURIST news archive] in 1998 and 1999 during the war in Kosovo [JURIST news archive]. The HLC pointed to evidence uncovered during the trial of former Serbian president Milan Milutinovic by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website; JURIST news archive]. They noted that Dikovic was in command of the 37th Motorized Brigade, in whose zone of control the ICTY found a "number of... -
Egypt military leaders announce partial lift of state of emergency
Posted: January 25th, 2012, 3:42pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, head of Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) [NYT backgrounder] announced Tuesday that Eygpt's state of emergency [JURIST news archive] that has been in effect for nearly 30 years would be lifted later this week. Tantawi did indicate that some of the powers from the state of emergency would remain in effect [AP report] against certain crimes. Tantawi made the announcement [BBC report] on the anniversary of the start of the Egyptian revolution [JURIST news archive], which led former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak [Al Jazeera profile; JURIST news archive] to step down from... -
Minnesota appeals court remands same-sex marriage lawsuit
Posted: January 24th, 2012, 9:23pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] The Minnesota Court of Appeals [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Monday that a trial court must review a lawsuit challenging a Minnesota law prohibiting gay marriage [Section 517.03 text]. The plaintiffs are three same-sex couples who were married in Canada and had been denied marriage licenses by Minnesota due to a statewide ban on same-sex marriage [JURIST news archive]. Plaintiffs argued [appellate brief, PDF] that Minnesota violated their equal protection rights by refusing to issue them marriage licenses. The appeals remanded the case to the trial court because the trial court had not adequately addressed plaintiffs' equal protection rights... -
UN rights chief: Iraq should stop all executions
Posted: January 24th, 2012, 9:14pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official website] on Tuesday condemned [press release] Iraq's execution of 34 individuals, including two women, last week. All 34 executions occurred on a single day for crimes described as terrorism-related offenses [Iraq Ministry of Justice, in Arabic]. Iraq maintains the death penalty for even non-fatal crimes, but there has been no report of a single case in which the death penalty was pardoned, according to Pillay:The total number of individuals sentenced to death in Iraq since 2004 is believed to stand at more than 1,200. The total number actually executed since... -
Fourth Circuit upholds dismissal of Padilla unlawful detention suit
Posted: January 24th, 2012, 9:14pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on Monday upheld the dismissal [opinion, PDF] of a lawsuit brought by US citizen and convicted terrorist Jose Padilla [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], who alleged that he had been illegally detained at a military jail in South Carolina. Claiming nominal monetary redress against Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta [official profile] and former secretary Donald Rumsfeld [BBC profile], among others, Padilla argued that the Defense Department's methods of detaining him as an "enemy combatant" were unconstitutional. The Fourth Circuit disagreed and held that Padilla could not use a lawsuit seeking... -
Canada deports Rwanda war crimes suspect
Posted: January 24th, 2012, 8:28pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] The Canadian government on Monday deported Rwandan war crimes suspect Leon Mugesera, after a Quebec Superior Court [official website] judge ruled that the court did not have jurisdiction to rule on immigration cases. Mugesera, who has been fighting deportation from Canada since 1995, is a former Rwandan politician accused of delivering a speech in 1992 urging fellow Hutus to murder members of the Tutsi minority. Many Rwandans believe Mugesera's speech directly led to the mass killings [BBC report] which occurred during the 1994 Rwandan genocide [JURIST news archive]. The Canadian government originally sought to deport Mugesera in 1995 after... -
Final marine tried in Haditha killings pleads guilty
Posted: January 24th, 2012, 7:10pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] US Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich [advocacy website] pleaded guilty [USMC case materials] Monday to the charge of negligent dereliction of duty, ending the final court-martial resulting from a five-year investigation into the 2005 deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians [BBC backgrounder]. Wuterich was charged with voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, obstruction of justice and dereliction of duty in court-martial proceedings that began less than two weeks ago. All of the charges except dereliction of duty have been dropped in return for his guilty plea. Wuterich was accused of overreacting [AFP report] to the death of another marine in a... -
Spain high court begins second trial of judge Garzon
Posted: January 24th, 2012, 7:04pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] The second trial of Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] began on Tuesday before the Spanish Supreme Court [official website, in Spanish]. Garzon has been charged with abusing power [JURIST report] by opening an investigation into war crimes allegedly committed under Francisco Franco [BBC backgrounder] during the Spanish Civil War. In 2008, Garzon ordered the exhumation [JURIST report] of 19 mass graves in Spain in order to assemble a definitive national registry of Civil War victims, despite a 1977 law that provides amnesty for Franco-era crimes. Garzon has consistently defended [JURIST report] the validity of the... -
France senate passes genocide denial ban
Posted: January 24th, 2012, 6:11pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] The French Senate [official website, in French] on Monday passed a bill that outlaws denial of genocide crimes [materials, in French], including the World War I-era killings of more than one million Armenians by Turkish soldiers. The Senate voted 126-86 [press release, in French] in favor of the bill, despite a Senate committee rejecting the bill [JURIST report] last week and raising constitutionality concerns. The French National Assembly [official website, in French] last month approved the bill [JURIST report], which imposes a one-year prison term, a 45,000-euro fine, or both, on individuals who publicly trivialize or deny genocide crimes.... -
Serbian war criminal arrested after more than 4 years on the run
Posted: January 24th, 2012, 4:10pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] Convicted Serbian war criminal Radovan Stankovic [Court of BiH materials] was arrested Saturday in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) after being on the run since May 2007 when he escaped from a Bosnia prison. Stankovic was convicted of multiple war crimes [JURIST report] in 2006, including rape, enslavement and torture. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website] prosecutor Serge Brammertz welcomed the arrest [press release], saying it "is significant for the victims of the grave crimes he has been convicted for." He also said he hopes this arrest "reflects an increased commitment of the authorities of Bosnia... -
Supreme Court rules on sex offender registration act
Posted: January 23rd, 2012, 10:49pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] ruled 7-2 [opinion, PDF] Monday in Reynolds v. United States [SCOTUSblog backgrounder] that the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) [final guidelines, PDF] does not require pre-act offenders to register before the attorney general validly specifies that the act's registration provisions apply to them. The attorney general determined in 2007 that all states would have to follow the federal rule to keep registration current. Billy Joe Reynolds pleaded guilty for failure to register his new address but attempted to challenge the application of SORNA against him because his sex offender conviction in... -
Maldives seeks UN help to resolve detention of senior judge
Posted: January 23rd, 2012, 9:26pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] The Maldives Minister of Foreign Affairs [official website] asked the UN Sunday to help them resolve [press release] what they are calling a judicial system failure over the detention of senior criminal court Judge Abdulla Mohamed. Mohamed was arrested for corruption [JURIST report] in an unprecedented move by the military, following the ruling to release a government critic. The arrest has sparked street protests and prompted all the country's courts to boycott sessions. The country's prosecutor general's office has said that under the constitution a judge can be arrested only after a supreme court decision to do so, and... -
UN rights chief urges US to close Guantanamo
Posted: January 23rd, 2012, 8:34pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official website] expressed disappointment [press release] Monday that the US government has failed to close the Guantanamo Bay [JURIST backgrounder] detention facility. President Barack Obama ordered the facility closed [JURIST report] by January 2010, but congressional opposition and administrative setbacks [JURIST reports] prevented the administration from meeting the deadline. In addition, the recently signed [JURIST report] National Defense Authorization Act for 2012 [HR 1540, PDF] effectively codifies indefinite military detention without charge or trial. Pillay said:While fully recognizing the right and duty of states to protect their people and territory from... -
Supreme Court rules federal law preempts state slaughterhouse regulation
Posted: January 23rd, 2012, 7:47pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] ruled unanimously [opinion, PDF] Monday in National Meat Association v. Harris [SCOTUSblog backgrounder] that the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) [text], which requires observation of animals that are unable to walk for possible disease, preempts a subsequent California law [Cal Pen Code § 599f text] requiring slaughterhouses to "immediately euthanize" on its premises any such animals. The court ruled that the FMIA preemption clause prohibits states from creating and enforcing laws that fall within the scope of the federal requirements, even if the state law does not conflict with the federal law:The FMIA... -
Supreme Court upholds emergency aid exception to Fourth Amendment
Posted: January 23rd, 2012, 6:41pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] issued a per curiam opinion [text, PDF] Monday in Ryburn v. Huff [SCOTUSblog backgrounder] allowing police officers to enter a private residence without a warrant if they have a reason to anticipate violence. The parents of a high school student brought the suit, arguing that the police department violated the Fourth Amendment [text] when officers entered their home without a warrant. The officers arrived at the home after the student's principal asked them to investigate the student's alleged shooting threat. The student's mother resisted answering the officers' questions, including whether there was a... -
Croatia citizens vote to join EU
Posted: January 23rd, 2012, 6:31pm MSK
Tags: [edit]
[JURIST] Croatian citizens voted in favor [press release, PDF] of joining the EU on Sunday, despite poor turnout for the referendum. With nearly all of the ballots counted [AP report], 66 percent voted in favor of Croatia's membership in the EU with 33 percent voting against. The remaining 1 percent of the ballots were invalid. Approximately 47 percent of eligible voters participated in the decision. Turnout was among the lowest of EU member states that held accession referendums prior to joining the EU. In response to the referendum, the EU released a statement: "with this vote, Croatia's citizens have given...