The US District Court for the Northern District of California on Wednesday heard closing arguments in Perry v. Schwarzenegger , challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 8 . During closing arguments, the attorneys for the plaintiffs argued that the state ban on same-sex marriage violates the Equal Protection Clause and the Due Process Clause of the [...]
The Icelandic Parliament on Wednesday voted 50-0 to pass sweeping media reform laws aimed at increasing protections for journalists and promoting freedom of speech and transparency in government. The Icelandic Modern Media Initiative (IMMI) was developed by lawmakers in conjunction with Wikileaks , a non-profit website focused on exposing corruption and unethical actions by governments [...]
The Swiss Federal Assembly on Thursday gave final approval on an agreement with the US that will allow Swiss bank UBS to disclose account information of clients suspected by the US government of tax evasion. The approval came at a conciliation meeting between the two houses of parliament at which the Swiss National Council , [...]
Amnesty International (AI) on Wednesday issued a report urging the Israeli government to stop demolishing Palestinian homes found to be constructed illegally in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) . AI cited incidents over the past five years where Israeli forces demolished Palestinian homes and schools, leaving more than 600 Palestinians homeless. The demolitions are carried [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Chandra Lekha Sriram of the University of East London says that a stocktaking of the impact of the ICC thus far should have been given priority during the ICC review conference given that this is likely to shape perceptions of the court for years to come…. The first major review conference of [...]
US President Barack Obama announced Wednesday that BP will subsidize a $20 billion compensation fund to indemnify the workers and business owners harmed as a result of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The announcement follows a meeting with BP chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg to discuss containment strategies and the timeline and resources [...]
The UK Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a control order imposing a 16-hour curfew and requiring the appellant to live 150 miles from his family was a violation of his rights. The appellant, known only as AP, was subjected to the control order in 2008 after being suspected of involvement in terrorism. The order required [...]
The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) heard arguments Wednesday in an appeal filed on behalf of former Rwandan Armed Forces Colonel Tharcisse Renzaho . Renzaho was sentenced to life in prison last year after he was convicted of crimes relating to the 1994 Rwandan genocide . Renzaho's lawyer argued that [...]
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday announced that a grand jury has indicted the former CEO of mortgage company Taylor, Bean & Whitaker (TWB) on charges of fraud related to the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) . The indictment alleges that Lee Farkas and his co-conspirators engaged in a USD $1.9 billion complex [...]
Two Sudanese men suspected of committing war crimes related to the ongoing violence in the Darfur region of Sudan surrendered Wednesday to the International Criminal Court (ICC) . Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain (Banda) and Saleh Mohammed Jerbo Jamus (Jerbo) are suspected in connection with the September 2007 attack on African Union (AU) peacekeeping troops at [...]
