The Hague Court of Appeals in the Netherlands on Tuesday overturned a 2011 order of the District Court that required two major Dutch Internet providers to block customers from a list of addresses linked to The Pirate Bay. The Pirate Bay is an open source torrent search website that can provide users access to copyrighted [...]
Lawyers for Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett filed a post-trial motion Monday in the legal battle over the state’s voter identification law, alleging that the deciding judge in the case made “a host of mistakes.” The motion alleges that Judge Bernard McGinley of the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court made repeated mistakes of statutory construction and constitutional analysis. [...]
In response to the escalating civil unrest in the country, Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov resigned from office Tuesday as parliament repealed harsh anti-protest laws passed earlier this month. “For the sake of a peaceful settlement of the conflict, I took my personal decision to ask the President of Ukraine to accept my resignation from [...]
The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday declined to review its controversial decision to reinstate India Penal Code Section 377 which criminalizes homosexuality in the country. Judges on India’s high court dismissed petitions from government ministers and rights activists who argued the court’s decision, issued last month, is wrong. Activists now plan to launch a [...]
The Florida Supreme Court on Monday approved a citizen initiative to vote on an amendment to the state constitution on the legality of medical marijuana. In a 4-3 ruling, the Supreme Court determined that the ballot initiative met the requirements of the Florida Constitution, that it encompassed only one issue, and that the title and [...]
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled 11-6 on Tuesday that the state of Ireland is liable for the sexual abuse of a schoolgirl, aged nine, by a lay teacher in an Irish National School in 1973. Louise O’Keeffe brought the case to the European rights court after the Ireland high court ruled the [...]
The Parliament of Turkish-controlled Northern Cyprus passed a bill decriminalizing homosexual relations between men , making it the last European territory to do so. Like the anti-homosexuality laws of Isle of Man and Guernsey , Northern Cyprus’s law criminalizing homosexual relations was a holdover from British colonial rule, although the island became independent in 1960. [...]
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Monday expressed grave concern regarding the continuing violence wracking Egypt in the wake of the three-year anniversary of the Egyptian Revolution . Pillay encouraged both protesters and security forces to exercise restraint and renounce the use of violence, reminding Egyptian authorities of its international obligation to [...]
The US Supreme Court ruled Monday in Burrage v. US to relax sentencing guidelines for drug dealers. Marcus Burrage was convicted of distribution of heroin causing death under 21 USC § 841 , and he appealed by challenging the causation instruction the courts were using for § 841. Burrage argued that the statute required the [...]
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) , the UN’s highest court, issued a ruling establishing a new maritime boundary between Peru and Chile on Monday. The ICJ granted Peru some parts of the Pacific Ocean formerly controlled by Chile but left Chile prosperous coastal fishing grounds. The decision ends disputes over the 14,670 square miles [...]
