The Extraordinary African Chambers (EAC) in Senegal upheld the life sentence of Chad’s former dictator Hissene Habre for crimes against humanity, war crimes, and torture. Habre was sentenced to life in prison for rape, various war crimes, and torture last year , however, his counsel appealed, believing that his sentence was too severe. On appeal, [...]

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi ratified a law Thursday that will allow him to appoint head judges in the country’s highest courts. The amended law, which was ratified when it was published in the official gazette , allows el-Sisi to chose one of three potential judges nominated by each court to be the head of [...]

The Second Intermediate People’s Court in Tianjin on Friday gave human rights lawyer Li Heping a three-year suspended sentence for subversion. He has been in jail since being detained in the summer of 2015. Heping represented many high-profile defendants including practitioners of the banned religion Falun Gong . His subversion conviction stemmed from a charge [...]

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice sued the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday after the FDA banned a shipment of lethal injection drugs to prison officials. Texas argued that the lethal injection drugs are lawful and comply with FDA standards, and that the FDA “erroneously concluded” that the drugs violate 21 U.S.C. § [...]

The Texas State House of Representatives approved on Thursday a strict ban on so-called “sanctuary cities.” The bill seeks to empower law enforcement to enforce federal immigration law against detainees and threatens to jail any police chiefs or sheriffs who refuse to follow federal law. The bill would allow the Texas government to withhold funding [...]

A French court on Thursday refused an extradition request for former Kosovo prime minister Ramush Haradinaj , who is facing war crime charges in Serbia. The court released Haradinaj shortly thereafter giving the parties five days to appeal. The Serbian government has stated the decision is unlawful and has recalled its ambassador in protest. Representatives [...]

The European Court of Justice ruled Wednesday that devices with pre-installed software that make it easier to stream pirated content may violate an European Union (EU) copyright protection directive . The court determined that the sale of such multimedia players, often including popular so-called “streaming sticks,” constitute a “communication to the public” that falls within [...]

The US Supreme Court heard arguments on Wednesday in Amgen Inc. v. Sandoz Inc. and Maslenjak v. United States . In Amgen Inc. v. Sandoz Inc. , the court is asked to determine how much patent protection should be afforded to drugs that are “biosimilar” to “biologics.” Biologics are complex bio-engineered drugs, and when their [...]

The Oklahoma Death Penalty Review Commission on Tuesday released a report in which they “unanimously recommend that the current moratorium on the death penalty be extended.” While the report noted that it was difficult to come to that decision, “ue to the volume and seriousness of the flaws in Oklahoma’s capital punishment system,” it advised [...]

US District Judge William Orrick from the Northern District of California on Tuesday issued a temporary injunction against Executive Order 13768, titled Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States which would have allowed the federal government to withhold funds from cities which have been designated as “sanctuary cities.” In the ijunction, Orrick [...]