A group of independent UN rights experts on Wednesday expressed concern over reports that Chinese human rights activists have been subject to harassment for their attempts to participate in a UN human rights assessment of China. The activists have reportedly been prevented from participating in protests or leaving the country as this month’s second review [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan on Wednesday decided not to rule on the constitutionality of the state’s ban against same-sex marriage. Judge Bernard Friedman stated that there are still issues to be resolved and set a trial date for February 25, noting that plaintiffs have the right [...]
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases Wednesday. In Kansas v. Cheever the court heard arguments on whether it violates the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination if a defendant offers expert testimony to show he or she lacked a requisite mental state at the time of the crime due to drug use [...]
A Russian appeals court on Wednesday upheld the embezzlement conviction of Alexei Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s chief political opponent, but suspended his five-year jail sentence, allowing him to walk free. Navalny was sentenced to five years for embezzling 16 million roubles (USD $500,000) from a timber firm in the Kirov region in 2009. While Navalny [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Nicole Megale, St. John’s University School of Law Class of 2014, is the author of the fifth article in a 10-part series from the staffers of the Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development. Megale calls for an abrogation statute to protect a wrongfully executed individual’s Eighth Amendment rights…
Lawyers for two Portland same-sex couples on Tuesday filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the District of Oregon challenging the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. The plaintiffs’ claim is based on violations of due process and equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment. They claim that Article 15 Section 5a of the Oregon [...]
France’s highest appeals court on Wednesday upheld the 2009 fraud conviction of the Church of Scientology . The Cour de Cassation , the country’s court of final appeal for civil and criminal matters, rejected the organization’s request that the conviction be overturned on the grounds it violated religious freedom. The original ruling convicted Scientology’s Celebrity [...]
The Supreme Court of UK on Wednesday upheld the Representation of the People Act of 1983 , which prohibits inmates from casting votes. The challenge was brought by Peter Chester and George McGeoch, two inmates who are serving life sentences for murder. The seven judges unanimously rejected the claims that European law gives them the [...]
A Budapest prosecutor on Wednesday charged Bela Biszku, former leader of the Hungarian Socialist Workers’ Party (MSZMP) , with war crimes. The charges stem from when Biszku was a member of the party’s Temporary Executive Committee after the failed revolution in 1956 . The committee established its own police force, which is accused of routinely [...]
The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) on Wednesday began hearing closing arguments in the case against two former Khmer Rouge leaders. Nuon Chea, also known as “Brother Number 2,” and Khieu Samphan, former head of state, are accused of leading the Khmer regime, which caused the death of 2 million people during [...]
