Lieutenant-Colonel Ephrem Setako went to trial Tuesday before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) . Setako is the former director of the Judicial Affairs Division of the Rwandan Ministry of Defence, and served as a colonel for the Rwandan armed forces during the 1994 genocide . He is accused of inciting, ordering, or authorizing [...]
New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo announced on Monday that twelve states have filed suit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its alleged failure to enforce provisions of the Clean Air Act requiring oil refineries to adopt measures curbing the pollution contributing to global warming. The lawsuit, filed in the Court of Appeals [...]
US District Judge Joseph Tauro held Friday that a Massachusetts statute establishing a 35-foot buffer zone outside facilities which perform abortions does not violate protesters' constitutional rights. Tauro found that the law does not unconstitutionally burden First Amendment rights or the guarantees of equal protection or due process. In upholding the statute as a valid [...]
A change to Chinese criminal law which would strengthen insider trading prohibitions was introduced before the country's Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (SCNPC) on Monday. If adopted during the committee's week-long session, the amendment would prohibit employees from using not only classified, but also other non-public information to buy stocks. The committee will [...]
Swiss Prosecutor General Daniel Zappelli announced on Monday that he will not pursue money-laundering charges against Pakistani presidential candidate Asif Ali Zardari , who is the widower of the assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto . Zappelli explained that Geneva was left with insufficient evidence to continue after authorities in Pakistan dropped their own corruption [...]
Eleanor McCullen, et al. v. Martha Coakley, US District Court for the District of Massachusetts, August 22, 2008 . Read the full text of the opinion . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.
British nationals and former Guantanamo Bay detainees Shafiq Rasul, Asif Iqbal, Rhuhel Ahmed and Jamal Al-Harith have petitioned the US Supreme Court to hear a lawsuit in which they seek religious rights and protection from torture for those still at the facility. In the petition, docketed Monday, the men argue that a lower court's dismissal [...]
The US will begin providing direct financial aid to the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) once the genocide tribunal takes adequate measures against corruption, stated outgoing US Ambassador Joseph Mussomeli on Monday during his final press conference in Phnom Penh. The UN-sponsored court was established to try former Khmer Rouge leaders accused [...]
Arkansas Secretary of State Charlie Daniels has certified a ballot measure which could prohibit gays, lesbians and other unmarried cohabiting couples from becoming either foster or adoptive parents. Daniels announced Monday that the Arkansas Family Council Action Committee had submitted petitions containing the valid signatures of more than 85,000 registered voters – nearly 25,000 more [...]
JURIST Contributing Editor Ali Khan of Washburn University School of Law says that the nomination of Asif Zardari, the widower of assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, to contest Pakistan's next presidential election in the wake of General Pervez Musharraf's resignation is a disturbing development that would muddle the presidency's authority rather than restore its [...]
