The French Court of Cassation , the country’s highest appeals court, ruled that the corruption trial against former French president Jacques Chirac can continue, rejecting a constitutional challenge brought by one of his co-defendants. Chirac is being tried for allegedly misusing funds during his time as Paris mayor in 1990. Chirac’s co-defendant, Remy Chardon, his [...]
Belarus’ Minsk City Court delivered suspended sentences on Friday to two former presidential candidates, Uladzimer Nyaklyaeu and Vital Rymasheuski, convicted of organizing protests following the re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko in December. The two-year suspended sentences were handed down days after former presidential candidate Andrey Sannikau was sentenced to five years . The two remaining [...]
A military court in Taiwan indicted a one-star general who confessed to spying for China on Friday. General Lo Hsien-che confessed to accepting bribes and divulging state secrets since March 2004. Due to his confession and relinquishment of bribes, the prosecutors plan to seek life in prison rather than the death penaltyTa. Lo was the [...]
Texas Governor Rick Perry signed into law Thursday a bill that requires women seeking an abortion to first get a sonogram. The law requires doctors to conduct a ultrasound and display the images at least 24 hours prior to an abortion, and would strip them of their medical licenses should they fail to do so. [...]
Japan announced Friday that they will be signing the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction at next week’s G8 summit . Signatories of the Convention are required to return a child who has been “wrongfully removed” from his or her country of habitual residence, typically through international custody disputes. Chief [...]
Top US congressional leaders agreed Thursday to put forth a clean extension of controversial provisions of the USA Patriot Act until 2015. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) agreed to extend several key provisions of the Act with no amendments and will [...]
Uruguay’s House of Representatives failed to partially repeal the 1986 Expiry Law on Thursday in a vote of 49-49. The Senate voted to void the amnesty law last month, and, with the Broad Front party in control of the House, the bill was expected to pass. Broad Front Deputy Victor Semproni refused to vote and [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has asked challengers of the new health care reform law to defend the legality of their participation in the case. The Thomas More Law Center (TMLC) is challenging the constitutionality of the individual mandate which requires that all citizens purchase health insurance. The court asked the [...]
US State Department Legal Adviser Harold Koh on Thursday defended the killing of Osama Bin Laden saying it was “consistent with the laws of armed conflict and US military doctrine” in a brief statement published on OpinioJuris.org. Koh referenced a speech he made in March 2010 defending the use of predator drones to kill US [...]
The Rhode Island House of Representatives approved a civil union bill Thursday by a vote of 62 to 11 . The bill was voted out of committee earlier this week and is modeled after similar legislation in Illinois, Delaware and Hawaii , granting all rights of marriage to same-sex couples. While in the House, several [...]
