US Attorney General Eric Holder reiterated the need for authorities to adhere to the rule of law when conducting investigations into potential terrorist activities in a speech Friday on the role the Department of Justice (DOJ) plays in investigating terrorism. Holder appeared to take issue with how such investigations were handled by the Bush administration, [...]
Germany's constitutional court on Thursday ruled that surviving partners in a registered civil partnership have a right to collect under the occupational pension scheme for civil service employees. The court found that affording such payments to surviving spouses in a marriage but excluding civil partners violated the equal treatment provision in Article 3.1 of Germany's [...]
The Supreme Court of Israel on Thursday ruled against a military order prohibiting Palestinians from traveling on a central West Bank road. Finding in favor of a petition submitted by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) , the court held that impeding the rights of several thousand Palestinians barred from the road was [...]
The US House Financial Services Committee voted 39-29 Thursday to approve a bill that would create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency. The agency would regulate mortgages, credit cards, and other consumer credit instruments. Businesses that offer financial services such as car and home mortgage loans would be monitored by agency authorities. Although the agency would [...]
The office of Czech Republic President Vaclav Klaus issued a brief statement Friday indicating that a proposal from the Swedish presidency of the EU satisfies demands Klaus has made for an opt-out on the bloc's Treaty of Lisbon . Klaus is seeking an opt-out clause that would shield his country from property claims by ethnic [...]
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) announced Friday the establishment of a new commission on human rights for the region. The body will be known as the Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) and was introduced by Thailand Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva at the annual ASEAN three-day summit in Cha-am, Thailand. The AICHR will [...]
UN Special Rapporteur for North Korea Vitit Muntarbhorn on Thursday criticized the country's "abysmal" and ongoing human rights violations in an independent report submitted to the UN General Assembly. Muntarbhorn said that the authoritarian government was responsible for various abuses, including torture, public executions, extensive surveillance, media censorship, women's rights violations, and widespread hunger. The [...]
The French Constitutional Council on Thursday approved a controversial Internet piracy law that would restrict access to individuals who use the Internet to violate intellectual property laws. The bill was approved by the French Parliament in September. Under the so-called "three strikes" law, the French government could send notices to Internet service providers to terminate [...]
The US Treasury Department on Thursday released a series of rulings that would restrict executive compensation at institutions that received special assistance from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) . Among the changes are a cash cap on compensation of $500,000 per year for most relevant employees, immediate vesting of stock options for those paid [...]
The US Senate on Thursday voted 68-29 to approve a bill that extends the definition of federal hate crimes to include crimes motivated by gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act is part of a $681 billion military appropriations conference report for fiscal year [...]
