Rhode Island became the seventh state to ban smoking indoors Tuesday, as a state law took effect at midnight. The ban covers all indoor workplaces and almost all bars and restaurants, but certain...

China Tuesday criticized a US State Department report on its human rights record, accusing the United States of using human rights to interfere in the country's internal affairs. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman also alleged human rights...

In Tuesday's international brief, a UN report not yet released publicly has called for in-country courts martial of UN peacekeepers who are accused of sexual abuse, according to a UN official. The report, written by Jordanian UN...

The US military has appointed a three-star general to take over the investigation into alleged abuse of detainees at Guantanamo Bay and extended the deadline for completion until March 31. Air Force Lt. Gen. Randall "Mark"...

France has replaced the US as the industrialized nation receiving the most asylum applications from refugees, though overall numbers of refugees seeking asylum in Europe and North America have reached their lowest levels since 1988, according to report from...

Ziad al-Khasawneh, head of Saddam Hussein's legal defense team, said Tuesday that plans to try Saddam before the Iraqi Special Tribunal are illegitimate. Al-Khasawneh said that the tribunal does not meet the requirements for a fair and...

The UK House of Commons passed the Prevention of Terrorism Bill by a vote of 272-219 Monday, despite objections that the anti-terror bill didn't receive proper debate. Home Secretary Charles Clarke has said that he...

Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Tuesday, March 1.The US Supreme Court will hear arguments in two cases today. At 10 AM ET, the Court will hear arguments...

Padilla v. Hanft, United States District Court for the District of South Carolina Charleston Division, Judge Henry F. Floyd, February 28, 2005 [granting motion for a writ of habeas corpus. giving the Bush administration 45 days to either charge the...

County Reports on Human Rights Practices, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, February 28, 2005 [delivering sharp criticisms of rights situations in US Middle Eastern allies Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt. The document also censuring China, Russia and the...