The Law Lords, the judicial members of UK House of Lords, Wednesday denied the Home Office the right to appeal a lower court ruling which granted government compensation to an Algerian-born pilot wrongly detained after the September 11 attacks . In February, the Court of Appeal ruled that Lotfi Raissi was entitled to payment because [...]

US President George W. Bush Wednesday signed into law a bill aimed at preventing employers and health insurers from discriminating against people who have a genetic predisposition to disease. The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) had passed with overwhelming majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate . Under the measure, [...]

Genetic Information Non-discrimination Act of 2008 (GINA), May 21, 2008 . Read the full text of the law . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Richmond Medical Center for Women v. Herring, US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, May 20, 2008 . Read the full text of the opinion . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

The future of a landmark discrimination case brought by black farmers against the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is uncertain after President George W. Bush vetoed the new Farm Bill Wednesday. The bill included a provision that would have reopened the class-action suit in which plaintiffs allege that the USDA improperly discriminated against them in [...]

The US Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a Georgia death row inmate's challenge to the state's method of execution Tuesday, ruling that he had missed the statute of limitations to file. Samuel David Crowe was convicted of murder and is scheduled to be executed Thursday. He could become the second condemned inmate in the [...]

Japan's House of Councillors passed a bill Tuesday that would allow the country's space program to be used for defense purposes, including the development of spy satellites. The law, passed by an overwhelming majority of 221-14, was passed by Japan's House of Representatives last week and by a lower house committee earlier this month. When [...]

Aleksandra (Sasha) Williams, Pitt Law '10, files from Kiev: On May 16, 2008, Ukraine became the 152nd country member of the World Trade Organization. Although the general Kiev population seemed rather unimpressed by this event, especially in light of the impending mayoral elections and the associated campaign bedlam, the legal community met the news both [...]

The Supreme Court of Switzerland Wednesday upheld the 2007 convictions of a married couple for supporting criminal activities by operating websites that published statements and video footage from al Qaeda, including the 2004 beheading of American engineer Paul M. Johnson, Jr . Moez Garsallaoui was sentenced to six months in prison, while his wife Malika [...]

Eight alleged al-Qaeda operatives were given life sentences by a Jordan military court Wednesday as punishment for their roles in a 2004 failed chemical weapons attack on the US Embassy and other sites in Jordan. The plot was allegedly funded by al-Qaeda's top leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi , who was killed in a [...]