A court in Istanbul on Thursday ordered the release and retrial of 230 prisoners convicted for their involvement in the Balyoz (Sledgehammer) coup plot . The scheme, which originated as early as 2003, was aimed at overthrowing Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan . The ruling came one day after Turkey’s Constitutional court determined the [...]

The Giza Criminal Court in Egypt sentenced the supreme guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Badie , to death on Thursday for the second time in three months. Badie was sentenced along with 13 other members of the Muslim Brotherhood for allegedly inciting violence that resulted in the death of 10 people near the al-Istiqamah [...]

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Wednesday issued a report on Ukraine that cites increasing evidence of abductions, detentions, torture and killings in the two eastern regions of the country where armed forces hold control. The report also cites a number of worrying trends emerging in Crimea. UN High Commissioner [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Griffen Thorne, Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Class of 2015, discusses the intricacies of double jeopardy and the point at which jeopardy is thought to first occur… Double jeopardy is among the most complex doctrines of constitutional criminal procedure and among the most important protections of the criminally accused. The Double [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday in Lane v. Franks that a public employee’s sworn testimony outside the scope of his ordinary job duties is entitled to First Amendment protection. Edward Lane was fired from his job at Central Alabama Community College (CACC) after he determined that an elected official was on the payroll [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday in United States v. Clarke that a taxpayer can only question Internal Revenue Service (IRS) officials about their reasons for issuing a summons when he can “point to specific facts or circumstances plausibly raising an inference of bad faith.” The case involves the IRS issuance of five summonses [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday in Alice Corporation v. CLS Bank International that an abstract idea is not patentable simply because it is tied to a computer system. In this case, Alice Corp. sued CLS for patent infringement of four of its patents: US Patent Numbers 5,970,479 (the ‘479 patent), 6,912,510 (the ‘510 [...]

An Egyptian court on Wednesday sentenced 12 men to death for the murder of former Deputy Director of Giza Security Nabil Farrag. The defendants were charged with the formation of an illegal militant group, the murder of the police chief and attacking police and armed forces, Christians and local churches. The convicted men were all [...]

A Turkish court on Wednesday sentenced two former generals to life imprisonment for leading Turkey’s 1980 coup d’etat that led to three years of military rule. The two retired generals, 96-year-old Kenan Evren , who held the presidential office for seven years following the military takeover, and 89-year-old former air force commander Tahsin Sahinkaya, are [...]

The Chambre des Deputes , Luxembourg’s national legislative body, approved a bill on Wednesday extending marriage and adoption rights to same-sex couples. The bill was passed by an overwhelming majority of 54 in favor, four against. Openly gay prime minister Xavier Bettel announced after his election last year that he would bring the bill before [...]