The Russian Constitutional Court ruled Thursday that Russia does not have to comply with a 2014 European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) order to pay 1.9 billion Euros to former shareholders of Yukos, an oil company that was nationalized by the Russian government more than a decade ago. The court found that the ECHR ruling [...]
A Chinese court on Thursday sentenced Liao Yongyuan, the former general manager of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) , to 15 years for graft, finding corruption based on accepting bribes and holding large amounts of property with no identified source. The court also fined Liao 1.5 million yuan, approximately USD $220,000. Through various positions at [...]
The Jordanian government arrested eight activists last week, charging them with “insulting the King” and “incitement to spread chaos to undermine the political regime of Jordan using social media” as late as Tuesday. Those arrested include retired, top military and intelligence officials. Lawyers say that they have been unable to reach their clients, who will [...]
The Romanian justice ministry on Wednesday published a draft of a plan to lower prison overcrowding that involves pardons for thousands of prisoners , but the plan was met with protests around the country. Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu’s proposed emergency ordinance would bypass parliamentary and presidential approval and release approximately 2,500 prisoners. The main focus [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Wednesday refused to intervene to overturn a Defense Department decision to continue the detention of Algerian prisoner Sufyian Barhoumi . Responding to an emergency court petition , District Judge Rosemary Collyer declined to release Barhoumi, who had his repatriation granted by a [...]
The US Supreme Court on Wednesday heard argument on two issues: a First Amendment challenge to the disparagement clause of the Lanham Act on trademarks, and whether a government official can be held individually responsible for their role in a potentially unconstitutional detention. In Lee v. Tam , the justices heard arguments on whether Simon [...]
Attorneys General from nine states and the District of Columbia filed an objection with the US District Court for the Western District of Missouri on Wednesday to stop a proposed settlement of a class action suit against the gun manufacturer Remington. The lawsuit alleged that about 7.5 million riffles sold by Remington had a design [...]
The Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday refused a request by the prosecutor to issue a warrant of arrest against Jay Y Lee , the chief of South Korea’s largest company, Samsung Group. Lee is accused of giving large donations to non-profit organizations run by a close friend of the President of South Korea, in [...]
General Motors (GM) on Wednesday agreed to pay $1 million to resolve a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) inquiry. The SEC accounting case is in regards to a faulty ignition switch linked to 124 deaths and 275 injuries. This ignition switch defect resulted in vehicle recalls beginning in 2014. The settlement ends charges that [...]
JPMorgan Chase & Co agreed Wednesday to pay $55 million to settle a lawsuit by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) . The lawsuit accuses JPMorgan of discriminating against minority borrowers by allowing mortgage brokers to charge them more for home loans. The lawsuit accused the bank of violating the US Fair Housing Act and [...]
