The Appellate Court of Illinois ruled on Thursday that the state cannot force pharmacists to fill prescriptions for emergency contraceptives if they have religious objections to these drugs. The appeals court held that an Illinois law known as the Current Rule , which requires pharmacists to dispense contraceptives including Plan B , violates pharmacists’ rights [...]
The Constitutional Council of France on Friday rejected a challenge to the bullfighting exception contained in the animal cruelty provisions of the country’s criminal code. Article 521-1 of the Criminal Code provides for two years in prison and a 30,000 euro fine for the serious maltreatment or commission of an act of cruelty toward any [...]
A Turkish court on Friday delivered the first of more than 300 verdicts expected in the trial examining the 2003 Balyoz Security Operation Plan , or “Sledgehammer” plot , which included plans to bomb Istanbul mosques and provoke Greece into shooting down a Turkish plane in order to undermine the government. Three former military officers [...]
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Friday called on authorities in Georgia to investigate prisoner mistreatment after video footage earlier this week allegedly depicted the torture and rape of prisoners in the country’s capital of Tbilisi. A spokesperson for Pillay told reporters in Geneva on Friday that the High Commissioner has called [...]
Trinidad and Tobago Justice Minister Herbert Philip Volney was removed from office Thursday on allegations that he had deceived the country’s government regarding a controversial law that established a new system of pre-trial proceedings relating to indictable offenses. Created by Volney’s Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and passed by Parliament in December, the Administration of Justice [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit heard arguments Thursday on whether to grant a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to obtain information from the CIA on its use of unmanned Predator drones . The CIA argued that the US government has never [...]
The regional court in Baden-Baden, Germany announced on Friday that it is ending its inquiry into Aribert Heim, a wanted Nazi war criminal known as “Dr. Death.” Heim was accused of experimenting on Jewish prisoners during the Holocaust, including performing operations and amputations without anesthesia to test the limits of pain tolerance and killing thousands [...]
The Mexican government announced Thursday that it is reviewing a complaint by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) that Alabama’s immigration law violates the North American Fair Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC) . The SEIU argues that the law violates the NAALC, the labor side agreement to NAFTA, [...]
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay urged Algeria on Wednesday to remove restraints on civil society organizations in North Africa. Pillay applauded Algeria for vast improvements that the country has made since the 1990s when Algeria was entrenched in war. However, she also voiced concerns that security in the country has negatively impacted [...]
The Australian Senate on Thursday joined the House of Representatives in rejecting legislation to recognize same-sex marriage in the nation. The Marriage Amendment Bill , introduced by Senator Trish Crossin , was defeated in the Senate by a margin of 26-41. The vote was held just one day after the House of Representatives voted down [...]
