Algeria’s former counter-terrorism chief Abdelkader Ait-Ouarabi, also known as General Hassan, was sentenced to five years in prison Thursday for allegedly breaching orders and destroying documents. In 2013 he was forced to retire by a military judge, a move thought by many to be an attempt by Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to control the intelligence [...]
Beijing’s Third Intermediate People’s Court on Friday released journalist Gao Yu on medical parole after the Higher People’s Court upheld her conviction for leaking an internal Communist Party document to a foreign website. Though she did receive medical parole as a result of her health, the courts have refused to overturn her conviction which means [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Glenn C. Smith of the California Western School of Law discusses the latest challenge to the Affordable Care Act… All petitions to have a lower-court ruling reviewed by the US Supreme Court are long shots. Still, the recently-filed petition for certiorari in Sissel v. DHHS — contending that the Affordable Care Act [...]
Brazil’s highest court, on Wednesday, ordered the arrest of André Esteves , the chief executive of the country’s largest investment bank, and that of Delcídio do Amaral, a powerful senator of the country’s ruling party. Both individuals are accused of obstructing the course of the investigation into bribery and corruption affiliated with Petrobras , a [...]
The US Department of Defense (DOD) and Pentagon officials have completed their investigation into the October 3 bombing of the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan and announced on Wednesday that it was an “avoidable accident caused primarily by human error.” Commander of US forces in Afghanistan, General John Campbell , stated that [...]
Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder on Tuesday for the death of black teenager Laquan McDonald in October 2014. A graphic dashboard camera video of the shooting was also released Tuesday and sparked public outcry. City officials have been sharply criticized for waiting over one year since the incident to [...]
Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Tuesday that a proposed provision in Thailand’s constitution would permit the nation’s military to commit human rights abuses without fear of punishment in violation of international treaties. A new constitutional provision before Thailand’s legislative body, known as the the junta or the National Council for Peace and Order, would exculpate [...]
An appellate court in Wisconsin ruled Tuesday that the application of a state law that prohibits possession of certain knives violates the Second Amendment right to bear arms. The law in Wisconsin regarding the Possession of a Switchblade Knife prohibits possession of “any knife having a blade which opens by pressing a button, spring or [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Xiaoying Zhang of the University of Pittsburgh, School of Law discusses how patent ownership disclosure should be regulated… On June 4, 2013, the White House issued five executive actions designed to increase the transparency of the patent system, ensure the highest-quality patents, reduce abusive patent litigation and level the playing field for [...]
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein on Wednesday condemned the suspension of 10 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Burundi, calling it “an attempt by Burundian authorities to silence dissenting voices and to limit the democratic space.” The commissioner noted that these 10 NGOs join five media outlets suspended in June, which “reduces [...]
