The International Criminal Court (ICC) took former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo into custody on Wednesday for his upcoming initial appearance before the court. He was surrendered to the ICC by the national authorities of the Ivory Coast on Tuesday and brought to the Netherlands in response to a warrant of arrest that was issued [...]
The Queensland Parliament passed legislation on Wednesday to legally recognize civil unions between same-sex couples. Queensland has joined its fellow Australian states of Tasmania, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) in recognizing same-sex unions. The bill passed with 47 MPs voting in favor and 40 voting against it. Speaking in support of the bill [...]
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Wednesday announced that the country has made the payment required to help fund the UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) , which has been tasked with investigating the assassination of a Lebanese statesman. According to Mikati, Lebanon transferred the $36 million it was required to contribute in an effort [...]
A judge for the New York Supreme Court for Livingston County has ruled that a constitutional challenge to the state law legalizing same-sex marriage may proceed. Judge Robert Wiggins refused to dismiss the lawsuit filed in July by New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms on the theory that there is a justiciable issue as to whether [...]
A Chilean judge on Tuesday issued an indictment against former US Navy Captain Ray Davis, which included a request that he be extradited to Chile. The indictment charges Davis with the homicides of journalist Charles Horman and US university student Frank Teruggi. Both crimes were alleged to have been committed during the 1973-1990 regime of [...]
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases on Tuesday. In Hall v. US , the justices heard arguments on a conflict between tax law and bankruptcy procedures, regarding the sale of family farms under Chapter 12 of the Bankruptcy Code . The Hall family, after filing bankruptcy for their farm, found a [...]
Nobel peace laureate Tawakkul Karman on Monday uged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to conduct an investigation into the violent crackdown on dissent and alleged human rights violations by the country’s former president, Ali Abdullah Sakeh . Although Karman presented ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo with a file on crimes she believes were committed by Saleh’s [...]
The Nigerian Senate passed a bill Tuesday that makes it illegal for same-sex couples to marry or for an individual to aid in the marriage of same-sex couples. The bill explicitly states that marriages entered into by persons of the same gender are prohibited and will not be recognized as valid, even if the marriage [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina ordered an injunction on Monday to prevent North Carolina from issuing specialty license plates that display a pro-life message, signifying a victory for the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina Legal Foundation (ACLU-NCLF) . The judge declared that the “Choose [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on Monday blocked a proposed $285 million settlement with Citigroup Inc over the sale of toxic mortgage debt. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) put no effort into learning what Citigroup did wrong, Judge Jed Rakoff wrote, adding that the [...]
