Saddam Hussein will be immediately executed and possibly buried in secret if his death sentence is approved by the court currently considering his appeal , according to an Iraqi government official speaking to AFP on...

US District Judge Lawrence Karlton said Monday that the state of California has six months to remedy overcrowding in the state's prison system, which is 70 percent overcapacity with 173,000 total inmates, before he will decide whether...

The US Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland has settled child sex abuse lawsuits with about 150 people, court-appointed mediators US District Judge Michael Hogan and Oregon Circuit Judge Lyle Velure announced [news...

Outgoing UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Monday urged the US not to abandon "its own ideals and objectives" in the war against terrorism, stressing that "human rights and the rule of law are vital to global security...

A federal judge has accepted the prosecution's latest proposal to limit the amount of detail former vice presidential aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby can introduce at trial concerning classified intelligence. In a sealed ruling...

An Italian court has set a hearing for January 9 to determine whether to issue indictments for over 30 US and Italian intelligence agents in the alleged kidnapping and extraordinary rendition of Egyptian cleric Hassan Mustafa...

Human Rights Watch urged China Monday to "repeal restrictions on lawyers handling collective disputes and representing protesters." In a new report , HRW slammed rules adopted by the government-controlled All China Lawyers Association [group website,...

The US Supreme Court handed down decisions in two cases Monday, including Carey v. Musladin , where the Court held that a federal appeals court improperly overturned a state...

Over 20,000 people protested in Pakistan Sunday calling on the government to withdraw new legislation that allows rape cases to be tried in either secular or Islamic courts. The Protection of Women Bill, signed by Pakistani President...

Thousands of Romanian prisoners protested Sunday demanding improved conditions in overcrowded prisons after a bill was rejected last week by a committee of the Romanian Parliament . The bill would have granted early release to approximately 10,000 prisoners...