The US Supreme Court granted certiorari in two new cases on Monday. In Burt v. Titlow the court will consider several issues surrounding ineffective counsel under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA) . In the case, Vonlee Titlow was advised to reject a plea deal after acquiring a new attorney in [...]
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases on Monday. First, the court heard McQuiggin v. Perkins and considered if “actual innocence” is an exception to not pursuing a timely habeas claim under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA) . The attorney for Greg McQuiggin, a warden in Michigan, [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ruled Friday that permits to carry concealed weapons are not protected by the Second Amendment . The case involved a Washington state resident who filed a lawsuit against Denver and Colorado’s Department of Public Safety . He was denied a concealed weapons permit since he was [...]
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday reiterated his call for global support against the use of death penalty . The message was delivered by UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kyung-wha Kang in an event organized by the International Commission against Death Penalty . Ban stressed that death penalty should be abolished because it [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Nicholas Johnson of the Fordham University School of Law says that the US Supreme Courts’ potential handling of proposed assault weapons ban legislation is uncertain because of an increasingly popular two-step analysis that is more suited to legislation placing a burden upon gun ownership rather than legislation banning certain guns…
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Monday urged that the international community must continue to prevent human rights abuses and hold perpetrators accountable. Speaking at the opening of the 22nd session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva , Pillay specifically mentioned the ongoing situations in Rwanda, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Palestine, Iraq, [...]
Trial began Monday in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana between individuals affected by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill and British Petroleum (BP) . The other corporations involved are the rig owner Transocean Ltd. and well cement services provider Halliburton Co. . The parties bringing suit against BP include the [...]
The Abu Dhabi Federal Appeal Court on Monday upheld the sentences of 10 Somali pirates convicted of highjacking a UAE-owned bulk-carrier ship. In April 2011, the men reportedly commandeered the MV Arrilah-1 as it hauled aluminum in the Arabian Sea en route to Dubai from Australia. The pirates allegedly used small-arms and explosives to lay [...]
Philippines President Benigno Aquino III on Monday signed legislation to compensate the victims of human rights abuses committed 27 years ago under the regime of former president Ferdinand Marcos . The Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013 will allocate 10 billion pesos (USD $246 million) in reparations for approximately 10,000 victims eligible [...]
UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers Gabriela Knaul said Sunday that lawyers and judges in the Maldives are not adequately independent from outside influence . The special rapporteur pointed to the power struggle between parliament, the government and the judiciary, as having a negative impact on the rule of law. Knaul [...]
