Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said Monday that the country's newly elected Constituent Assembly will consider transforming the current Constitutional Tribunal into a Constitutional Court insulated from political pressure. While the new court would still determine the constitutionality of laws, its members would be selected on the basis of merit rather than by congressional appointment. The [...]
The United Nations Legal Counsel said Monday that an international convention may be the solution to jurisdictional problems of criminal accountability of UN officials and experts on mission . Addressing the General Assembly’s Sixth Committee, Under-Secretary-General Nicolas Michel said that offenders comprise a very small percentage of UN workers but remain a significant concern, particularly [...]
The US District Court for the District of Maryland ruled Tuesday that three of the five counts of a suit filed by the father of a fallen Marine against the renegade Westboro Baptist Church may proceed to trial. Albert Snyder sued Westboro in 2006 after the church led a protest at the funeral of his [...]
The Nevada Supreme Court Monday issued a stay of all executions pending a US Supreme Court ruling in a case challenging lethal injection as unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment. The order issued after oral arguments arrived just hours before the scheduled execution of convicted murderer William Castillo, currently the only Nevada convict facing a warrant [...]
US Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said Tuesday after a meeting with Attorney General nominee Michael B. Mukasey that the Senate will likely approve Mukasey without undue delay. Mukasey's confirmation hearings before the Judiciary Committee are scheduled to begin Wednesday . Mukasey is expected to face questions on controversial issues including the US [...]
The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) at The Hague Tuesday affirmed the November 2005 lower court acquittal of former Bosnian Army commander Sefer Halilovic on war crimes charges . In dismissing the prosecution's appeal, the five-judge panel held that prosecutors failed to demonstrate at trial that Halilovic exercised [...]
Microsoft said Tuesday that it will withdraw its Seoul High Court appeal of a 2006 antitrust ruling by the South Korean Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) . Last July, Microsoft said it would comply with sanctions imposed by the KFTC after the Seoul High Court rejected its request to stay the penalties pending an appeal and [...]
American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, Maro De la Rosa, and Ahora Newspaper, v. Howard Skolnik, Director, Nevada Department of Corrections, and Nevada Department of Corrections, Supreme Court of the State of Nevada, October 15, 2007 . Read the full text of the order . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.
The European Court of Justice upheld mandatory retirement ages in the European Union Tuesday, saying that mandatory retirement policies do not violate the prohibition against age discrimination if the policy is intended to further the legitimate public interest of increasing employment and the retirees are provided with full pensions. The European Union prohibits discrimination on [...]
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) wants access to thousands of people that have been detained in Myanmar in an ongoing crackdown on opponents of the ruling military junta, ICRC Director of Operations Pierre Kraehenbuehl said Tuesday. Kraehenbuehl said the ICRC has not been able to communicate with the ruling junta, and is [...]
