The Philippine House of Representatives Monday defeated an impeachment bid against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for alleged bribery, graft, corruption, and human rights abuses. The impeachment petition, filed by opposition lawmakers earlier this month, needed approval of one-third of the House before the Philippines Senate could initiate a trial. However, 184 out of 240 lawmakers [...]
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday urged the government of Pakistan to return to the rule of law and restore democracy in the country, now under emergency rule . At a press conference a day after his return from a seven-year exile in Saudi Arabia, Sharif also called for the restoration of the [...]
The Bangladesh Supreme Court Monday ordered a stay of the bail granted to former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed , who has been charged by Bangladesh's anti-corruption commission with corruption, and most recently, bribery . A lower court had granted Hasina bail on November 4 while also staying the case proceedings; the appeals court affirmed [...]
Munir Malik , a former president of Pakistan's Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) who was taken into custody by police in the wake of President Pervez Musharraf's November 3 declaration of emergency , was reported to be in critical condition in hospital Monday after his detention order was lifted. On Sunday Malik was transferred from [...]
Xiao Yang , chief justice of China's Supreme People's Court has said that court reforms over the last 10 years have achieved judicial efficiency and improved the quality of trials and rulings in China, the China Daily reported Monday. Xiao noted that judicial committees, the highest decision-making bodies at each level of the Chinese judicial [...]
The Pakistani government said Sunday that all of the Supreme Court of Pakistan judges ousted by President Pervez Musharraf when he declared emergency rule in early November must vacate their government-provided accommodations by Friday and return to their own homes. Previously, the Interior Ministry had said the deposed judges were welcome to stay in their [...]
Former Canadian Chief Justice Antonio Lamer , 74, passed away on Saturday of natural causes, the Globe & Mail reported Sunday. Lamer led the Supreme Court of Canada from 1990-2000, and served on the high court for a total of two decades. On the bench, Lamer vigorously promoted the 1982 Charter of Rights and Freedoms [...]
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif successfully returned to Pakistan after seven years in exile Sunday to lead his party in the upcoming parliamentary elections. He flew from Saudi Arabia into the international airport in Lahore, his hometown and traditional power base. A spokesman for Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf insisted prior to Sharif's arrival that [...]
New Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has told the Polish Parliament that his government will refuse to sign the European Charter of Fundamental Rights , part of the new EU Reform Treaty . Tusk said the decision, which follows a similar statement made earlier this month by the country's foreign minister, was taken out of [...]
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has officially indicated that it will be unable to complete its work before the expiration of its December 2008 mandate. ICTR spokesman Roland Amoussouga made the announcement at a press conference Saturday during the second day of the Commonwealth summit in Uganda, saying that there would be "at [...]
