Lawyers for suspended Pakistani Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said Tuesday that Monday's killing of Pakistani Supreme Court deputy registrar Syed Hamad Raza at his home in Islamabad was "targeted" and that Raza had been scheduled to appear as a witness on Chaudhry's behalf. The lawyers told AFP that Raza was under pressure from many [...]
US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales submitted the Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2007 to Congress on Monday, legislation meant to strengthen current copyright laws and provide harsher penalties for counterfeiters. The new measure would increase the maximum penalty for willful counterfeiting infringement to up to 20 years. At a speech to the US Chamber of [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Stephen Vladeck of the University of Miami School of Law says that for all the attention being paid to the trial of Jose Padilla, the proceeding will not address the critical legal question of whether the US government can subject one of its own citizens to indefinite military detention… The central problem [...]
Elections held in the Philippines to elect members of the Philippines Senate and House of Representatives proceeded Monday despite reports of violence and allegations of fraud. Government authorities attributed the death of 116 people, including 11 candidates since the election campaigning season began on January 14 to election violence directed towards candidates and voters alike. [...]
The Colombian high court ordered the arrest of five congressmen Monday for alleged ties to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) and authorities have listed an additional 15 current and former congress members and businesspersons as suspected of having ties to the paramilitary group. All of the political representatives are supporters of current Colombian [...]
US President George W. Bush issued an executive order Monday requesting that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the US departments of Agriculture, Energy, and Transportation cooperate to begin the regulation of vehicle emissions by the end of his term on January 20, 2009. The order comes as an executive response to last month's Supreme [...]
US Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty announced Monday that he will resign from his post as second-in-line at the Department of Justice (DOJ) as early as the end of the summer, or when a successor receives Congressional approval. In a letter submitted to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, McNulty said personal reasons affected his decision: "The [...]
The transitional government of Somalia has agreed to cooperate with a UN probe into alleged human rights violations that occurred during recent fighting in the country's capital, according to UN emergency relief co-ordinator John Holmes Monday. Despite that, the Somali government maintains that no abuses took place. Recent fighting between warlords and government-backed troops, most [...]
The Ukrainian Constitutional Court announced Monday that it will consider whether a second decree by Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko to dissolve parliament and hold early June elections was constitutional. The court is already mulling the constitutionality of Yushchenko's first decree dissolving parliament and calling for new elections. He issued a second decree last month, reiterating [...]
US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff met with the European Parliament Civil Liberties Committee Monday in his latest bid to convince the EU to allow the transfer of detailed information regarding passengers on US-bound flights to all relevant US government agencies. The current interim deal , which expires in July, allows up to [...]
