The US Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11-8 Thursday to approve legislation reauthorizing three provisions of the USA Patriot Act set to expire at the end of the year. The portions of the act to be renewed allow federal authorities to conduct "roving" wiretaps, compel the production of business, medical and library records, and designate suspects [...]
The UN Security Council agreed Wednesday to reschedule October's meeting on the Middle East in order to discuss the final report of the UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict . The meeting was pushed forward at the request of Libyan diplomats, with the support of many Arab members. US Ambassador Alejandro Wolff said [...]
S. 1692: A bill to extend the sunset of certain provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act and the authority to issue national security letters, and for other purposes, US Senate Judiciary Committee, October 8, 2009 . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here. Latest commentary available here. JURIST has more on the USA PATRIOT Act.
Former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan on Wednesday urged Kenya to establish a local tribunal to prosecute those who perpetrated violence in the wake of the 2007 presidential elections . Annan made the remarks at the end of a three-day visit to Kenya to monitor the progress of the peace agreement and coalition government that he [...]
The Australian public wants legislative protections for human rights in their country, according to a government report released Wednesday by the Human Rights Consultation Committee . According to the report, Australians believe that their country adequately protects human rights, but that further protections could be extended to a number of vulnerable groups. Among those groups [...]
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) is investigating IBM for allegations of antitrust violations stemming from their sales of mainframe computers, according to Wednesday media reports. Competitors allege that IBM is dominating the mainframe computer market by not allowing its operating systems to run on non-IBM mainframes. The Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) maintains [...]
The US Senate Judiciary Committee was urged Wednesday to adopt measures to address recent Supreme Court decisions interpreting the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act . Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) expressed concern that protections put in place by the ADEA would be undermined by the Court's June decision in Gross v. FBL Financial Services , [...]
Members of the Homeland Security Appropriations Conference Committee reached an agreement Wednesday that would allow Guantanamo Bay detainees to be transferred to the US for trial. The compromise would allocate $42.78 billion for the Homeland Security appropriations bill and would stipulate that current detainees may be transferred to the US for prosecution after information is [...]
A US military judge on Wednesday dismissed the military lawyer for Canadian Guantanamo detainee Omar Khadr in accordance with Khadr's request. During Wednesday's brief hearing, Col. Patrick Parrish accepted the resignation of Navy Lieutenant Commander William Kuebler , who will be replaced by former federal prosecutors and civilian lawyers, Barry Coburn and Kobie Flowers of [...]
The Italian Constitutional Court on Wednesday struck down the 2008 law granting immunity from prosecution to the four highest officials of the country, including Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi , finding it unconstitutional. The high court ruled 9-6 against the law, basing the decision on principles contained in article 3 and article 138 of the Italian [...]
