EU Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security Franco Frattini is moving forward with plans to create a single European Union prosecutor and strengthen the the EU's prosecutorial body Eurojust , according to an interview with EUobserver published Wednesday. Frattini indicated that once EU leaders agree to the Reform Treaty , the commission will proceed with [...]
Amnesty International Tuesday urged the Mexican government to initiate a probe into alleged abuses by government authorities during the 2006 uprising in the Mexican state of Oaxaca , saying that "ensuring that impunity for human rights violation is not allowed to prevail" will help to deter future abuses and be an opportunity for Mexican President [...]
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said publicly Tuesday that he has accepted the judgment of the judiciary to reinstate Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry , adding that the "four pillars" of democratic society consisting of the judiciary, legislature, executive, and media must be able to "conduct their roles without fear or favor." In July, the Supreme Court [...]
An Egyptian court rejected a petition from jailed opposition leader Ayman Nour for early release on medical grounds Tuesday, saying that evidence submitted by Nour failed to prove that his medical condition was life threatening or that his heart condition will be adversely affected by prison. Nour, who suffers from heart disease and diabetes, was [...]
Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell Tuesday defended Attorney General Alberto Gonzales against accusations of lying to Congress during testimony last week. In his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee last Tuesday, Gonzales insisted that a 2004 disagreement between administration officials concerned another undisclosed intelligence program and not the domestic surveillance program called the "terrorist [...]
The US House voted 225-199 Tuesday to extend the deadline for employees to sue their employer for payment discrimination. The new legislation, the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2007 , would allow employees to sue within 180 days of their last affected paychecks, effectively reversing the ruling of the US Supreme Court in Ledbetter v. [...]
Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel said Tuesday that Georgia's controversial voter ID law will begin to be enforced during Georgia's September 18 Special Elections. Handel also said that the state is filing a motion to lift a stay of proceedings in a federal challenge , which had been stayed pending a ruling from the [...]
The US House of Representatives voted 411-8 Tuesday in favor of the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 , which requires members of Congress to disclose more information about their fund-raising efforts and gifts they receive from lobbyists, and also prohibits former congress members from lobbying for a short period of time. Other [...]
The Iranian Judiciary confirmed Tuesday that Iranian Kurdish journalists Adnan Hassanpour and Abdolvahed "Hiva" Botimar have been sentenced to death for being "enemies of God." Rights groups, including Reporters Without Borders (RSF) had earlier reported the death sentences after initial reports emerged that the two journalists had been sentenced on July 16. RSF said that [...]
The New Jersey Superior Court on Tuesday affirmed a lower court decision that New Jersey is not an appropriate forum for 98 English and Welsh plaintiffs to proceed with personal injury lawsuits against the New Jersey-based pharmaceutical giant Merck . The court held that the UK was an adequate alternative home forum for the plaintiffs [...]
