A new protocol to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) intended to combat the illegal trade of tobacco products was unanimously approved on Monday. The protocol was approved by 176 countries during the Fifth session of the Conference of the Parties to the WHO FCTC , which is being held in South Korea this [...]
The Supreme Court of Brazil on Monday sentenced a former aide to ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to over 10 years of imprisonment for his involvement in a vote-buying scheme. Jose Dirceu, Lula’s former chief of staff, was convicted of using public funds to pay coalition parties for political support. In addition to serving [...]
The UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Monday elected 18 countries , including the US, to a three-year term on the Human Rights Council (UNHRC) beginning January 1. The secret ballot election was held at the UN headquarters in New York, and the following UNGA members were elected to serve: Argentina, Brazil, Ivory Coast, Estonia, Ethiopia, [...]
Italian prosecutors on Monday filed suit against five former employees of Standard and Poor’s (S&P) and two former employees of Fitch for allegedly manipulating the market and abusing privileged information that led to the rating agencies’ downgrades of Italy. Though magistrates in Rome and Milan have refused to support the claim, prosecutors from the southern [...]
The UK Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) on Monday granted the appeal of Muslim cleric Abu Qatada , allowing him not to be extradited to Jordan. The judge ruled to not extradite Qatada because he could not receive a fair trial in Jordan where he is accused of organizing bomb attacks . Qatada has been [...]
The trial of former Libyan prime minister Al Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmoudi began on Monday, but the hearing was postponed until December 10 to give counsel from both sides additional time to prepare for the case. Mahmoudi served as prime minister under Muammar Gaddafi from 2006 until he fled to Tunisia. Mahmoudi is charged with corruption [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Gregory Gordon of the University of North Dakota School of Law and Benjamin Brockman-Hawe of the Bosman Law Firm say that some measure of justice could be brought to the conflict in Syria by amending the statute for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon…
The Ugandan Parliament will pass a highly controversial anti-gay bill by the end of 2012, the parliament’s speaker said on Monday. Speaker Rebecca Kadaga told the Associated Press that the bill reflects the will of a majority of the Ugandan people. Religious figures in Uganda appealed to the parliament to pass the bill prior to [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Ian Hayes, St. John’s University School of Law Class of 2013, is the author of the eleventh article in a 15-part series from the staffers of the Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development. He argues for the application of Staub v. Procter Hospital to Title VII claims to promote justice for [...]
The Philippines Supreme Court said on Monday that it would not allow the live broadcast of the trial over the November 2009 Maguindanao Massacre . This decision reverses a 2011 decision to allow a live broadcast of the trial of several members of a clan accused of killing 57 people, including 31 journalists, who supported [...]
