In a televised address to the nation Wednesday evening, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper promised to use "every legal means" at his disposal "to protect our democracy, to protect our economy and to protect Canada" on the eve of a critical meeting scheduled for 9:30 AM ET Thursday morning with Governor General Michaelle Jean . [...]
Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Luis Moreno-Ocampo Wednesday formally called upon states to prepare for the court's ruling on the arrest of Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al Bashir . Briefing the UN Security Council on the situation in Darfur, Ocampo urged members to ensure there is no political and financial support for [...]
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved rule amendments Wednesday that provide greater oversight and regulation of credit rating agencies. The rule amendments, which were passed to strengthen the Credit Rating Agency Reform Act of 2006 , will effect ratings agencies including Standard and Poor's and Moody's , who provide graded analysis of the [...]
US Department of Justice (DOJ) lawyers on Tuesday filed a challenge to a federal judge's decision to stay the execution of convicted murder suspect US Army private Ronald Gray. Judge Richard Rogers for the US District Court for the District of Kansas last week ordered the stay of the execution, which had been scheduled for [...]
The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday temporarily postponed proceedings against former Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba because another member of the pre-trial chamber was granted a leave of absence due to "grave family circumstances." The absence of a member of the chamber left an insufficient number of judges on the [...]
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in two cases. In Philip Morris USA v. Williams , the Court considered for a third time a $79.5 million punitive damages verdict against Philip Morris USA . The Court previously ruled that the punitive damages award based "in part on desire to punish the defendant for [...]
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled unanimously Tuesday that Finland violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights – the "right to respect for private and family life" – in a case involving a minor targeted by pedophiles. In K.U. v. Finland (application no. 2872/02), the court found that Finnish authorities [...]
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, Massachusetts announced Tuesday that it has settled 59 sexual abuse claims against the church through voluntary arbitration. The total amount for the settlements was $4.5 million with individual awards ranging from $5,000 to $200,000 for incidents of abuse from 1948 to 1986. Springfield bishop Timothy McDonnell said of the [...]
The Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) banning the use of most such weapons was opened for signature Wednesday at a conference in Oslo, Norway. More than 100 countries adopted the convention in May at a meeting in Dublin, Ireland. Several major users of cluster munitions, including the US, Russia, and China, have not adopted the [...]
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday proposed that Russian courts become more transparent in order to restore faith in the justice system and prevent people from turning to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) . Speaking at the seventh All-Russian Congress of Judges, Medvedev said that the ECHR cannot and should not replace Russian [...]
