A crisis meeting of top British judges Tuesday called for constitutional protections in the face of the British government's creation of a new Ministry of Justice . Members of the Judge's Council and judges on the UK executive judicial board agreed to press their case with new UK Secretary of State for Justice Lord Falconer [...]
A High Court in Kenya has denied government objections to a civil lawsuit brought by family members of the 365 confirmed victims of the 1984 Wagalla Massacre by Kenyan security forces. The Kenyan government had filed a motion seeking to dismiss the civil suit on the grounds that the plaintiffs lacked legal standing to initiate [...]
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger submitted a capital punishment proposal Tuesday in an effort to persuade US District Judge Jeremy Fogel to lift a moratorium on executions in the state. The proposal includes the construction of a new execution chamber and a revised protocol on the procedure for lethal injections in the state. Speaking on the [...]
Legislation proposed Wednesday by the European Commission will seek to decrease incentives for employers to hire illegal immigrants , threatening fines, closing of businesses, and possibly jail time for those that partake in human trafficking or repeatedly employ illegal immigrants. The proposals , if approved, will heighten enforcement and bar employers caught employing illegal immigrants [...]
US Marine Capt. Randy Stone testified Tuesday that he did not launch an investigation into the killings of 24 Iraqi civilians at Haditha because he believed that the killings occurred within the bounds of lawful combat. During Stone's Article 32 hearing , he also said that he never lied about his response to the incident, [...]
The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) announced Wednesday that the UN-supported Khmer Rouge genocide tribunal will meet for two weeks beginning May 31 to resolve remaining disputes between Cambodian and international judges concerning the internal regulations of the tribunal. Co-investigating judge Marcel Lemonde told AFP that "once the internal rules are adopted, [...]
Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos acknowledged Tuesday the existence of an illegal police wiretapping program that had targeted journalists, members of the opposition and government, but insisted that Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and his administration were unaware of the program and did not utilize transcripts created by the wiretapping. The scope of the illegal [...]
The US DC Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments Tuesday in a case brought by Guantanamo Bay detainees challenging their designation as 'enemy combatants.' Last year, Congress passed the Military Commissions Act of 2006 , which barred Guantanamo prisoners from challenging their indefinite detention but did allow them to appeal their "enemy combatants" status to [...]
Germany's Federal Constitutional Court Tuesday upheld a 2004 statute limiting lawyers fees unless payment is negotiated beforehand. The court ruled that because the lawyers are able to negotiate higher rates with clients, a statutory cap for unnegotiated fees is permissible and justifiable as a way to protect clients from excessive expenses. A lawyer for Kapellmann [...]
A military judge Tuesday postponed to August 20 the court-martial of the only officer charged with abuse in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. Lt. Col. Steven Lee Jordan , who at the time of the abuses was the second highest intelligence officer at the prison, argued at a Tuesday pre-trial hearing that he was never [...]
