The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled Friday that annotations that were “made an inextricable part of Georgia’s laws” cannot be copyrighted by the state. The court said that in general, laws cannot be copyrighted because they are “authored by the People.” After examining the identity of the authors, the authority of the annotations, and [...]

The US Supreme Court on Monday blocked the deposition of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in a lawsuit challenging the inclusion of a citizenship question on the 2020 census. Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the opinion where he explained that the district court’s decision to focus on a showing of “bad faith” by Ross was unusual and that [...]

Makati Regional and Municipal Trial Court Branch 148 Judge Andres Bartolome Soriano on Monday rejected a petition by Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte that sought to have Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, a known critic of Duterte, arrested. Duterte sought the arrest of Trillanes after voiding his amnesty, which was granted by former-President Benigno Aquino III in [...]

The High Court of Maldives overturned a bribery conviction against opposition leader Qasim Ibrahim on Monday. The charge was overturned due to procedural violations by the Criminal Court. Ibrahim was accused of bribing lawmakers in order to support a no-faith motion against the parliamentary speaker. The trial was accused of violating due process violations and being [...]

UN human rights experts on Monday welcomed a recent Guatemalan court ruling that the deaths of 1,771 ethnic Ixil Mayan people between 1983-1984 constituted a “genocide.” “Impunity for perpetrators is unacceptable,” said UN experts about the ruling. “It is essential that judicial processes respect international standards in determining the responsibilities of the perpetrators and masterminds [...]

The Supreme Court of the Maldives on Sunday rejected a petition from President Abdulla Yameen to annul the results of the September 23 election and start an investigation into vote-rigging and electoral fraud. The court ruling was unanimous. Yameen lost the election by 38,653 votes. There were a total of 233,877 votes cast in the [...]

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) called Sunday for the Trump administration to reverse plans to rollback protections for transgender people, in light of a New York Times report on a draft proposal. According to the report, the Trump administration intends to redefine “sex” to exclude transgender individuals from non-discrimination protections. The report stated that the [...]

Several Supreme Court Justices in Poland returnedto court on Monday after the Court of Justice of the European Union ordered Poland to immediately suspend the application of the provisions of national legislation relating to the lowering of the retirement age for Supreme Court judges. Twenty-three of the court’s judges were forced to retire in July [...]

US Chief Justice Roberts on Friday ordered a temporary hold on a climate change lawsuit until the plaintiffs provide a response to the government. The plaintiffs have until Wednesday to provide a response to the Department of Justice’s stay request. The case, Juliana v. US, was originally filed in the US District Court for the [...]

The Guinean Minister of Justice announced Friday that a location has been chosen and a provisional budget drafted for the trial of suspects implicated in a violent crackdown on political demonstrators at a Conakry stadium in September 2009. According to the report of the UN Commission of Inquiry charged with investigating the massacre, at least 156 people [...]