The UK Department for Culture, Media, and Sport Tuesday rejected a recommendation to push the EU for longer copyright terms for sound recordings, citing the 2006 Gowers Review of Intellectual Property . The Gowers Review found that "it is not clear that extension of term would benefit musicians and performers very much in practice," and [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin Tuesday rebuked UK Ambassador to Russia Sir Tony Brenton's suggestion that Russian authorities should interpret the Russian constitution's prohibition on extraditing citizens in "light of the circumstances" , calling it an "insult for our nation and our people" and characterizing the UK's insistence for the extradition of Andrei Lugovoy as "a [...]

A federal judge Tuesday refused to dismiss lawsuits brought by several states seeking more information from the federal government about the administration's domestic surveillance program . In his ruling, Judge Vaughn Walker expressed doubt about the merit of the federal government's arguments that the state-level investigations into the program "are barred by the Supremacy Clause [...]

US District Judge Shira Scheindlin of the Southern District of New York Tuesday certified a class action lawsuit brought on behalf of approximately 5,000 to 10,000 suspected panhandlers against 553 law enforcement agencies in New York state. The lawsuit alleges that the agencies illegally arrested or forced individuals off public property using a state anti-loitering [...]

Torture was the human rights abuse most commonly alleged in Uganda in 2006, according to a report expected to be released in August by the Uganda Human Rights Commission . The annual report, obtained by AP, found that 320 individuals filed formal complaints against the Ugandan government authorities for "cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or [...]

The Iraqi Accordance Front , the largest Sunni parliamentary bloc, said Wednesday that it is suspending participation as a coalition partner in the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and will permanently withdraw from al-Maliki's government unless al-Maliki pardons detainees not being charged with specific crimes and make a firm commitment to upholding human rights [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Benjamin Davis of the University of Toledo College of Law says that the President’s recent Executive Order interpreting Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions for US interrogations practice is an invalid and illegal act … On July 20, 2007, President Bush signed Executive Order 13440 – Interpretation of the Geneva Conventions [...]

There are approximately 2000 suspected terrorists living in Great Britain, up from last year's estimate of 1600, UK Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said Tuesday. She recommended that legislators pass new terror laws to allow police to hold uncharged terror suspects beyond the current 28 day limit. Prime Minister Gordon Brown is to set to propose [...]

The International Criminal Court judge overseeing the war crimes trial of Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga has expressed a desire to have the trial moved to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) , according to Tuesday reports. Judge Adrian Fulford said that, despite security concerns, he believed that the trial should be moved from The [...]

The United States v. David Matthew Hicks: Final Report of the Independent Observer for the Law Council of Australia, Law Council of Australia, July 24, 2007 . Read the full text of the report . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.