France’s government on Thursday pushed a surveillance bill that would give French intelligence services the authority to monitor metadata. The government’s hope is that such action would prevent an imminent terror attack . Parliamentary debate on the bill will begin next month. The measure has been criticized by privacy advocates, the Paris bar association and [...]
Cambodia’s Parliament on Thursday passed two controversial new election laws that rights groups are criticizing as ill-conceived and potentially damaging to free speech. The laws represent a compromise between the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) and the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) in an effort to avoid the kind of political gridlock that resulted from the [...]
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the New York Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in federal court on Thursday in an effort to obtain documents from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) regarding their behavior detection program used in airports across the country to spot suspect travelers. TSA officers trained in behavior detection observe [...]
The actions of the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq may amount to genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights reported Thursday. The report cites the killings of hundreds of Yezidi men and boys in the Ninewa plains last August. The men over 14 were allegedly [...]
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Wednesday requested, as part of their ongoing suit against the bill, that a federal judge block an Alabama law allowing fetuses legal representation in cases when minors seek abortions. The law, HB 494 , requires parent or judicial permission for a minor seeking an abortion, and permits judges [...]
The Thailand Supreme Court announced Thursday that former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra will stand trial for negligence over the government’s rice subsidy scheme. The hearing will take place May 19, and she could face up to 10 years in prison if found guilty. Yingluck denied culpability in a recent Facebook post, stating, “Throughout my time [...]
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein on Wednesday condemned the a trial of former Maldives president Mohammed Nasheed . The commissioner found several flaws in the trial process including: the trial beginning one day after Nasheed’s arrest and sentencing completed after only 19 days. The Maldivian Constitution states that anyone accused [...]
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Tuesday expressed deep concern at the ongoing political predicament surrounding the release of incriminating audio recordings of conversations between officials in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The content of the tapes raises concerns of election fraud, interference with the judiciary and mass [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Steven Schwinn, of The John Marshall Law School, discusses the growing problem in states to ban the use of foreign and international law… There is a growing trend in the states to ban the use of foreign and international law, including Sharia law, in state courts. At least seven states have enacted [...]
The Indiana Senate on Tuesday unanimously approved a proposal to give terminally ill patients access to experimental drugs that are not sold on the market. The bill would allow patients to access treatments before they receive federal approval , thus creating a three-phase process that takes roughly 10 to 15 years to complete. The Senate [...]
