Leandro Despouy, the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights' Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, on Friday expressed "serious concern" over a recently passed Egyptian judicial reforms bill . Despouy said: Concerning the text of the law, the Special Rapporteur expressed particular concern over the fact that it does not set out [...]
The Chinese Ministry of Health has approved new regulations governing the use and international transport of corpses in an attempt to crackdown on the illegal trade of organs. China has been criticized in recent months for harvesting and selling the organs of executed prisoners without the consent of the prisoners or their families, but Chinese [...]
American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee et al. v. Riley C. Darnell et al., Supreme Court of Tennessee, July 14, 2006 . Read the full text of the opinion . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.
Citizens for Equal Protection et al. v. Bruning et al., United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, July 14, 2006 . Read the full text of the opinion . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.
Top UN officials Friday condemned Israel, the Palestinians and Lebanese Hezbollah militants for intentionally inflicting civilian casualties on one another contrary to international humanitarian law as violence continued to escalate in the Middle East, with Israel stepping up military action against Lebanese targets and Hezbollah militants attacking Haifa with rockets. Fighting has intensified in recent [...]
The Tennessee Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a challenge brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to a proposed constitutional amendment that would define marriage as only between a man and a woman. The Court held that the ACLU lacked standing to bring the challenge on behalf of three state representatives, ACLU members, and [...]
A legal advisor to Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said Friday that the plan of Yushchenko's political rival and former Ukrainian prime minister Viktor Yanukovych , to directly nominate a candidate to serve as prime minister could constitute an illegal seizure of power. Ukraine is in the midst of a political crisis as no government has [...]
Belgrade prosecutors filed criminal charges against ten Serbs on Friday, accusing them of hiding indicted war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic from authorities, according to Belgrade radio station B92 . The charges say the accused aided Mladic with the knowledge that he is wanted for trial by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [...]
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) told reporters Friday that he anticipates easy passage of a bill renewing expiring sections of the 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA) when it comes before the full Senate. Frist said the Senate will vote on the bill either by the end of June or after the month-long August break. [...]
Accusations against Guantanamo Bay detainees made in declassified documents contain basic factual errors and easily-refuted claims, the Boston Globe reported Friday. After reviewing declassified records, Globe journalists uncovered a number of simple mistakes that they said raised "questions about whether the US military has thoroughly investigated its cases against the roughly 400 inmates." Lawyers defending [...]
