Proyecto de Ley Organica de salud sexual y reproductiva y de la interrupcion voluntaria del ebarazo (Project of Organic Law of sexual health and reproduction and of the voluntary interruption of pregnancy), Spanish Congress of Deputies, December 17, 2009 . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here. Latest commentary available here. JURIST has more on abortion.

Spain's lower house of parliament, the Congress of Deputies on Thursday approved a bill that would ease restrictions on abortions . The bill passed by a vote of 183-158 with two abstentions. Current Spanish abortion law dates from 1985, after the end of the Franco regime. Abortions are permitted only in the case of rape, [...]

The chief justice of the Russian Supreme Court on Thursday ordered a review of the 2003 arrest of Platon Lebedev , business partner of former Yukos oil executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky . The decision came after the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled in 2007 that Lebedev's arrest and pre-trial detention violated his right to [...]

Tom Parker : "The Obama administration's announcement that it intends to move "War on Terror" detainees not cleared for release to the Thomson Correctional Facility changes very little beyond enabling President Obama to honor the letter, if not the spirit, of his pledge to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. What this decision in fact [...]

A South Korean court on Wednesday issued an arrest warrant for former prime minister Han Myeong-sook on bribery charges. Han is accused of accepting USD $50,000 from former Korea Express CEO Kwak Young-wook in 2007 in exchange for helping him become president of Korea South-East Power Co., an affiliate of the state-run Korea Electric Power [...]

The leader of France's conservative party, the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) announced Wednesday that he will introduce legislation banning the burqa in public. Jean-Francois Cope's announcement comes at the end of a six-month investigation by a special commission into the causes, effects, and ramifications of Muslim women wearing the burqa in France. Also [...]

Credit Suisse , Switzerland's second largest bank, agreed Wednesday to pay more than $500 million in fines to both the US government and New York state for violating US sanctions against Iran and other countries. According to a criminal information filed Wednesday, Credit Suisse violated the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) between 2002 and [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Wednesday granted Yemeni Guantanamo Bay detainee Saeed Hatim's petition for habeas corpus, ordering his release. The US Department of Defense alleged that Hatim trained at the al Farouq paramilitary camp in Afghanistan. Judge Ricardo Urbina's ruling remains sealed , and lawyers have [...]

US Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday that the decision to purchase the Thomson Correctional Center (TCC) in northwestern Illinois to house inmates from Guantanamo Bay could help close the facility over the next several months. Holder told a press conference that the purchase of the TCC removes a significant obstacle for closing the facility. [...]

R (on the application of E) (Respondent) v Governing Body of JFS and the Admissions Appeal Panel of JFS (Appellants), Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, December 16, 2009 . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here. Latest commentary available here. JURIST has more on school discrimination.