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 [...]
State of California Lethal Injection Protocol Review, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, May 15, 2007 . Read the full text of the report here . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.
Vladimir Vukcevic , war crimes prosecutor of Serbia, told reporters Tuesday that the search for former Bosnian Serb military chief and UN-indicted war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic "has not stopped for even a moment" and hinted at progress that will "soon be able to seen." Vukcevic's statement follows statements by the European Union (EU) that [...]
Prominent Iranian-American scholar Dr. Haleh Esfandiari is being held and investigated by the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and National Security for "security" crimes, a spokesperson for Iran's judiciary said Tuesday. The spokesman did not provide details, but told reporters that "the latest information I have from the judge handling the case is that the investigation… [...]
Embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales told reporters Tuesday that the recommendations of resigning Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty were key in the firing of nine US Attorneys last year . In comments made to the National Press Club , Gonzales said that McNulty knew better than anyone else about the qualifications of the US Attorneys. [...]
Former US Deputy Attorney General James Comey testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday that in March 2004, in response to Comey's reservations about reauthorizing the controversial warrantless domestic surveillance program , then-White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales and White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card attempted to pressure the hospitalized Attorney General John Ashcroft to [...]
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon Monday, formally requesting that the UN Security Council establish an ad hoc tribunal to investigate and try suspects in the February 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri because "all possible means" to ratify a UN tribunal proposal in the Lebanese [...]
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDF) and American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Texas on Tuesday requested a temporary restraining order from the US District Court of the Northern District of Texas, seeking to block an anti-illegal immigration city ordinance scheduled to take effect next Tuesday in Farmers Branch, Texas. The ordinance, [...]
