Justice Jon Kamanda was elected on Monday to a one-year term as the president of the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) . Kamanda had served as a SCSL vice-president since 2007. Prior to his involvement with the SCSL, Kamanda enjoyed an extensive legal career , including time in the Sierra Leone government as the [...]
Former Argentine president and general Reynaldo Bignone went on trial Monday for crimes against humanity allegedly perpetrated during Argentina's 1976-83 "Dirty War" . The allegations, which include illegal arrest, torture, and killing of dissidents, stem from the 56 confirmed cases of torture at the Campo de Mayo military base outside Buenos Aires. An Argentinian judge [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on Monday denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit challenging patents on human genes, allowing the case to proceed. The suit was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT) on behalf of patients and [...]
Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic appeared before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on Tuesday for the first time since his trial commenced last week to renew his plea for additional preparation time. Presiding judge O-Gon Kwon again denied the request: This trial chamber and the appeals chamber have carefully considered [...]
Fijian Chief Justice Anthony Gates issued a statement on Sunday criticizing the Australian and New Zealand governments for placing travel restrictions on Fijian officials including the judiciary. The controversy began last month when a Fijian judge was granted an expedited visa from the New Zealand High Commission in Fiji for a child that required international [...]
Judges of the Supreme Court of India on Monday voluntarily made public disclosures of their financial assets . The assets of 21 of the current judges have been posted on the official court website in an effort to increase judicial transparency. This voluntary listing of assets comes after months of harsh criticisms from the legal [...]
Judge Eloy Velasco of the Spanish National Court on Monday indicted seven people for their alleged involvement in helping the suspected perpetrators of the 2004 Madrid train bombings flee Spain after the attacks. Six of the seven have been charged with belonging to a terrorist organization and the seventh person has been charged with collaboration. [...]
Affaire Lautse c. Italie, European Court of Human Rights, November 3, 2009 . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here. Latest commentary available here. JURIST has more coverage pertaining to religious freedom in Europe.
The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled Monday that Canadian citizen Maher Arar cannot sue the US government for damages based on his detention in the US and his detention, interrogation, and torture in Syria after he was mistakenly identified as a terrorist. Arar attempted to challenge the US government's policy of [...]
JURIST Contributing Editor Haider Ala Hamoudi of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law says that a comprehensive solution to the status of Kirkuk must be reached soon lest it become for Iraq the type of intractable and fundamentally corrosive problem slavery had become for the United States by 1861…. As is commonly reported, when [...]
