A judge for the International Criminal Court (ICC) said Wednesday that the trial of former Union of Patriotic Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga will likely be postponed for at least two months to allow defense lawyers sufficient time to prepare their case. In November 2007, the ICC set Lubanga's trial date for March 31, 2008, [...]
A media and financial tycoon who was recently charged with a conspiracy to overthrow the government of the Georgian Republic was found dead in his mansion near London Wednesday. A spokesman for Badri Patarkatsishvili said that Patarkatsishvili was believed to have died of heart failure, but police are treating his death as suspicious. In December [...]
US President George W. Bush Wednesday urged the House of Representatives to immediately pass the version of the FISA Amendments Act passed by the Senate this week. The US Senate voted 68-29 Tuesday to pass the legislation, which is intended to "modernize" the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and replace the temporary Protect America Act , [...]
The UK will likely not have a written constitution for another 10 to 20 years, UK Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor Jack Straw said in a BBC radio interview Wednesday. Straw confirmed that the Labour Party government of Prime Minister Gordon Brown is in the process of drafting a new "Bill of [...]
The Iraqi Council of Representatives passed an amnesty law as part of a package of legislation approved Wednesday, a day after speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani threatened to disband the legislature when Shi'ite and Sunni lawmakers walked out on budget hearings. In addition to the amnesty law that would release roughly 5,000 prisoners, lawmakers approved a 2008 [...]
Real estate businesses have filed a lawsuit against the New York City Campaign Finance Board claiming that a new law that greatly restricts the amount that city businesses can donate to city campaigns violates the US Constitution. The suit, filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on Monday, alleges [...]
Danish newspaper Jyllands-Poste reprinted a cartoon Wednesday drawn by Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard one day after Danish police arrested three people suspected in a plot to murder Westergaard for his characterization of Muhammad. Westergaard was one of 12 cartoonists who published cartoons of the Muslim prophet Muhammad in 2005 that sparked widespread protests across the [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Haider Ala Hamoudi of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law says that despite appearances, the Iraqi parliament's adoption of a budget and other key laws on provincial administration and amnesty emphasizes rather than diminishes the regional and sectarian divisions in the country… The Iraq Parliament has finally agreed on its budget [...]
The National Parliament of East Timor voted Wednesday to extend the state of emergency imposed this week after attacks against President Jose Ramos Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao , during which Horta was critically wounded and rebel leader Alfredo Reinado was killed. The parliament voted to extend the state of emergency until February 23 [...]
The US Senate on Tuesday voted 68-29 in favor of the FISA Amendments Act , legislation intended to replace the temporary Protect America Act in modernizing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The Protect America Act is currently set to expire February 15. The bill passed by the Senate Tuesday would provide immunity for telecommunications companies [...]
