The European Commission on Thursday proposed new rules for the 25 European Union nations to set up common standards on immigration and asylum. Franco Frattini , vice-president of the Commission, said the goal was to have a uniform and transparent policy for returning people to their countries of origin. In the wake of the London [...]
The investigator leading the UN inquiry into the assassination of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri said Thursday that there may be more suspects involved in the assassination, in addition to the five pro-Syrian men already arrested . On Tuesday, the investigation took a dramatic turn with the arrests of three former heads of Lebanese [...]
Carla del Ponte , chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia , on Thursday called for the EU to pressure Croatia and Serbia to take action on arresting suspects wanted by the UN tribunal and said the EU should not build closer ties with the countries until they do so. Del [...]
A US judge Wednesday denied Sami Al-Arian's request for a mistrial after suggestions emerged that the jury was tainted in the ongoing trial against the ex-professor . Sami Al-Arian and three other defendants are on trial in Florida related to charges that they used money from a local school and think tank to fund violent [...]
After legislators quashed the impeachment of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo , opposition lawmakers said Thursday that they are attempting to collect enough votes to continue the impeachment process. In proceedings boycotted by the opposition, Arroyo's congressional allies in the House Committee on Justice voted Wednesday to dismiss the three impeachment complaints, which included rigging [...]
Among many other things, Hurricane Katrina has devastated the legal system in New Orleans, causing major disruption of legal services across the state of Louisiana and beyond. The storm has interrupted business in local courts , including the state Supreme Court, although the extent of damage to its building on Royal St. in the French [...]
A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that Hawaii taxpayers may sue to halt state funding of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs for purported discrimination against non-native residents . A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit unanimously overturned a lower court ruling and affirmed standing for any non-Hawaiian who may [...]
US Supreme Court nominee Judge John Roberts has completed the last of ten practice sessions held to prepare him for his confirmation hearings, set to begin next week. The grueling sessions, which have been dubbed "murder boards," involved Roberts answering questions from over a dozen administration lawyers and officials who played the parts of Senate [...]
Four Navy SEALs who filed a lawsuit against the Associated Press (AP) for publishing pictures of the men posing with Iraqi detainees agreed Thursday to drop all claims and not appeal the July dismissal of the lawsuit . The lawsuit claimed that the AP and reporter Seth Hettena violated privacy and copyright laws when they [...]
The Shell Group agreed Thursday to pay $9.2 million to settle lawsuits brought last year by shareholders when the oil company admitted to overstating its oil and gas reserves by 20 percent in 2004. The lawsuits led to an overhaul of Shell's top management and the settlement requires the company to create policies and standards [...]
