Dismissed Pakistani Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry Tuesday urged lawyers in Pakistan to resist President Pervez Musharraf's declaration of emergency rule and "stand up for the constitution." Speaking by telephone to a gathering of lawyers in the capital Islamabad, Chaudhry, currently under effective house arrest, said according to an AFP report, "I want lawyers to spread [...]
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for countries to hold to treaties restricting chemical and explosive weapons in remarks at two separate meetings Monday. High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Sergio Duarte read Ban's statement during a conference on the Chemical Weapons Convention at The Hague. Over 180 countries have already joined the Convention, but Ban noted [...]
Florida death row inmate Ian Deco Lightbourne on Monday asked the state supreme court to reconsider its decision last week that Florida's revised lethal injection protocols do not constitute cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the US Constitution. The Florida Supreme Court issued two decisions last week in challenges filed by Lightbourne and fellow [...]
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday in Kentucky v. Davis , 06-666 , to determine whether a state violates the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution when it taxes bonds issued by other states, but does not tax its own bonds. The case was filed by a couple from Kentucky who allege that [...]
Iranian officials have halted formal attempts to stop an expected Interpol vote Wednesday to issue arrest notices for six men thought to be connected with the 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish Community Center , Interpol officials said Monday. Argentinean officials investigating the bombing, which killed 85 and wounded hundreds more, allege that Iran [...]
The Maryland Court of Special Appeals Monday rejected an appeal for a new trial brought by convicted Washington, DC-area sniper John Allen Muhammad . Muhammad had appealed the lower court's rulings that he was mentally competent to stand trial, and that he could represent himself. In the court's opinion affirming Muhammad's conviction Monday, Judge Charles [...]
Resolution Recommending that the House of Representatives find Harriet Miers and Joshua Bolten, Chief of Staff, White House, in Contempt of Congress for refeusal to comply with subpoenas duly issued by the Committee on the Judiciary, US House Judiciary Committee, November 5, 2007 . Read the full text of the report . Reported in JURIST's [...]
The Fiji government Monday charged three people with plotting to assassinate current self-appointed Prime Minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama in the wake of the 2006 military coup which ousted former Fijian Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase and installed Bainimarama last December. According to police Monday, sixteen men were arrested late Sunday and several, including some former military [...]
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour Monday criticized the weekend imposition of a state of emergency in Pakistan, saying that she was "alarmed by the suspension of fundamental rights" in the country. The former Canadian Supreme Court justice also questioned the propriety of imposing emergency rule in the face of alleged judicial interference [...]
The US House Judiciary Committee submitted a report Monday to the House clerk accusing White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten and former White House legal counsel Harriet Miers of contempt for repeatedly failing to comply with subpoenas relating to the committee's investigation into the US Attorneys firing scandal . The White House responded that [...]
