Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said he's willing to reopen Canada's perenniel constitutional debate. In an interview with CBC radio Sunday ahead of Monday's opening of the 39th Parliament in Ottawa, Harper said, "Ultimately, there will have to be constitutional changes, not just to accommodate Quebec but also to accommodate demands we have from [...]

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Defense lawyers begin their case this week in the trial of former Enron executives Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling . The prosecution's case ended last week with US District Judge Sim Lake dismissing four counts against the two, leaving 28 remaining counts against Skilling and six against Lay. The defense case against the fraud and [...]

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French union leaders and student groups hinted Monday that they might be willing to re-enter negotiations with the government of Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin a day after the law establishing the so-called First Employment Contract (CPE) took effect on its publication in France's official gazette . President Jacques Chirac signed the controversial statute, as [...]

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The United Kingdom launched its first non-police law enforcement agency Monday – the Serious Organized Crime Agency (SOCA) – modeled after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the US. SOCA will have 5,000 employees on staff and its main goals are to tackle organized criminal gangs such as drug traffickers, people-smugglers who exploit illegal [...]

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JURIST Special Guest Columnist John Pace, former Secretary of the UN Commission on Human Rights, says that the creation of a new Human Rights Council to replace the Commission could be a major step forward for human rights protection, but the Commission should not painted as a "discredited" institution and proponents of the new Council [...]

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