Italy's Supreme Court of Cassation on Thursday overturned the bribery conviction of David Mills , a British barrister and former lawyer to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi . The court agreed with prosecutors who said the statute of limitations had expired , but fined Mills €250,000 for damaging the state's reputation and ordered Mills to [...]
A Turkish court charged an additional 11 military officers Friday morning as the investigation into the military's so-called "Sledgehammer plot" to overthrow the government continues, bringing the total charged so far to 31. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke at a Justice Development Party (AKP) meeting, vowing that all those involved in the plot [...]
French President Nicholas Sarkozy admitted Thursday that France and the international community made "mistakes" in handling the 1994 Rwandan genocide . Sarkozy spoke while on a visit to Rwanda to meet with President Paul Kagame , the first visit to Rwanda by a French president since the genocide of the Tutsi people by the Hutus. [...]
Spain's Senate on Wednesday gave final approval to a bill that will ease restrictions on abortions . The legislation passed once three veto proposals were denied by majority votes, after which 88 amendments were rejected. The new law allows for abortions to be performed up to 22 weeks with the confirmation of two doctors that [...]
The Federal Court of Australia ruled Thursday that former Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib can sue the Australian government for complicity in his ill-treatment while incarcerated in Pakistan, Egypt, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay. Habib claims he suffered sleep deprivation, electrocution, and drug injections during his detainment, some of which happened in collusion with or in [...]
Eric Montalvo : "The careless approach to the issues surrounding all things Guantanamo Bay is an affront to the Constitution and the credibility of our legal institutions. As the most recent "flip flop" by Attorney General Holder regarding the prosecution of Khalid Sheik Mohammed (KSM) demonstrates, the original quick and forceful end of Guantanamo has [...]
The Prosecutor v. Ephrem Setako judgment summary, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, February 25, 2010 . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here. Latest commentary available here. JURIST has more on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
Danilo Reyes : "The decision of the Department of Justice (DoJ) that 197 people can be prosecuted for multiple murders in the deaths of 57 people in the November 2009 Maguindanao massacre, based largely on "positive identification" could be a concern. In order for the case to have the possibility of securing a conviction in [...]
A Turkish court on Thursday released three high ranking military officials detained for questioning over an alleged coup plot, hours after top political and military officials met to discuss the escalating situation. The court released former chief of the Navy, Adm. Ozden Ornek, ex-chief of the Air Force Gen. Ibrahim Firtina, and Gen. Ergin Saygun, [...]
UK Director of Public Prosecutions (DDP), Keir Starmer , published a new policy on Thursday for prosecutors in regards to cases of assisted suicide . While the new policy does not legalize assisted suicide, it introduces six public interest considerations against prosecution, including compassion of the suspect, an effort to dissuade the victim, and reporting [...]
