Sources close to Libya's Supreme Judiciary Council told the Associated Press Tuesday that the death sentences of six foreign medics accused of knowingly infecting over 400 Libyan patients with the HIV virus have been commuted to life in prison. The families of the infected patients dropped their calls for the execution of the workers after [...]
Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal Tuesday upheld a 2006 lower court ruling that invalidated a law targeting public homosexual sodomy , ruling that the law's specific focus against homosexual sodomy is unconstitutional, discriminatory, and thereby violates Hong Kong's Basic Law and the Bill of Rights . The original ruling , issued last-September by the [...]
Some members of the European Parliament criticized Swiss Senator Dick Marty Tuesday for failing to cite sources in his June report to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe that accused Poland and Romania of assisting the US Central Intelligence Agency in operating secret prisons for terror suspects. One criticized Marty's report as essentially [...]
Australian Attorney General Philip Ruddock said Tuesday that the Australian government is considering whether to toughen existing terror laws following a Monday ruling by a magistrate granting bail to UK terror suspect Dr. Mohammad Haneef . Immigration and Citizenship Minister Kevin Andrews subsequently revoked Haneef's work visa and placed Haneef under immigration detention to effectively [...]
Russia's Constitutional Court Monday upheld a 2004 law requiring certified political parties to have at least 50,000 members. The decision upheld a May Supreme Court ruling that dissolved the Russian Communist Workers Party – Revolutionary Party of Communists (RKRP-RPK) , a party of approximately 35,000 members. The party's first secretary told reporters that the decision [...]
The European Court of First Instance announced Tuesday that it will deliver a judgment September 17 in Microsoft's appeal against the European Commission's (EC) 2004 landmark anti-trust ruling that hit Microsoft with a record €497.2 million euro (approximately $686 million) fine. Microsoft, which is seeking the "annulment of the decision or a substantial reduction in [...]
India's Ministry of Women and Child Development announced plans Tuesday to toughen existing laws prohibiting the archaic Hindu funeral custom of sati , in which widows are expected to self-immolate on their deceased husbands' funeral pyre, by holding entire communities criminally responsible and increasing the maximum punishment from the current seven years imprisonment to life. [...]
Secretary for Justice v. Yau Yuk Lung Zigo and Lee Kam Chuen, Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal, July 17, 2007 . Read the full text of the judgment. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.
The Indonesian Constitutional Court Tuesday voided Articles 154 and 155 of the Indonesian criminal code prohibiting acts of inciting hatred against the government or the distribution of materials voicing opposition against the government, ruling that Dutch colonial-era articles violated the freedom of expression guaranteed in the 1945 Indonesian Constitution . The ruling stems from an [...]
China's Shanxi province High People's Court Tuesday announced the completion of 7 trials and verdicts against 29 defendants accused of involvement in the use of slave labor at various brick kilns in the Shanxi and Henan provinces Tuesday, sentencing kiln bosses, foremen, and other workers to punishments ranging from 18 months to 9 year prison [...]
