Montana’s Lewis and Clark County District Court ruled Thursday that the state’s lethal injection method violates the provision of the Montana constitution that forbids cruel and unusual punishment. The lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana on behalf of two death row inmates. Judge Jeffrey Sherlock held that Montana’s execution procedure, [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the District of Arizona on Wednesday dismissed a complaint by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) challenging an Arizona state constitutional amendment that guarantees a vote by secret ballot for employee representation. The NLRB, an independent US agency that is charged with conducting elections for labor unions [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on Thursday approved a settlement agreement between the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and certain e-book publishers in a price-fixing suit under the Sherman Act . The DOJ alleges that Apple, Hachette, HarperCollins, MacMillan, Penguin and Simon & Schuster conspired to [...]
The head of the UN International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala presented a strategic work plan at the UN headquarters in New York on Thursday outlining efforts in four specific areas to improve the rule of law in the Latin American nation. The International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) has been based in Guatemala [...]
The Kosovo parliament on Friday voted 98-10 to eliminate the mention of a western-led supervisory commission from its constitution, effectively closing the office. The International Civilian Office (ICO) was created by a coalition of nations that recognized Kosovo’s independence from Serbia and had the power to fire public officials and block legislation that threatened the [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Thursday rejected new restrictions on lawyers representing Guantanamo Bay detainees who have had their habeas corpus challenges denied or dismissed. In hearing the challenge to the new rules last month, Chief Judge Royce Lamberth expressed skepticism about the restrictions , which in [...]
Myanmar’s parliament passed a new foreign investment law on Friday after months of debate and modifications. The final version of the bill reportedly dropped some of the most controversial provisions, including a requirement that foreign investors contribute at least $5 million when engaging in joint ventures with local businesses. Myanmar President Thein Sein had opposed [...]
A Chilean judge sentenced General Manuel Contreras, former chief of police under the reign of Augusto Pinochet , to 15 years in prison on Thursday for murdering an opposition activist. Left-wing activist Ramon Martinez was allegedly tortured and shot while in police custody in 1975. Martinez was a member of the Revolutionary Leftist Movement and [...]
All nine justices of Myanmar’s Constitutional Court resigned Thursday after Parliament voted for impeachment. President Thein Sein has reportedly accepted the resignations of all nine justices. The parliament was created as part of Myanmar’s constitutional reforms. Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDP) party, which is currently in [...]
The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) , Cambodia’s UN-supported war crimes tribunal, announced Thursday that it would declassify more than 1,700 documents including “victims’ ‘confessions’ and biographies, witness statements, transcripts of in camera hearings, and rogatory letters.” The documents being declassified are those which were part of “Case 001” which resulted in [...]
