UN Special Rapporteur Magdalena Sepulveda urged Guinea-Bissau authorities on Friday to address the needs of those living in the country in extreme poverty. Sepulveda called on Guinea-Bissau to “move the country’s politics away from short-term power struggles,” and address “the consistent decline of investment in critical social services such as health and education, dramatically impairing [...]

The Brazil Supreme Court overturned racketeering convictions of several former leaders of the Workers Party on Thursday by a 6-5 vote, which will result in lessened prison sentences. The convictions of corruption and money-laundering in the nation’s largest political corruption case will not be affected by the decision. The court found that the racketeering charges [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled Thursday that a California public school’s request for students to remove their American flag t-shirts on Cinco de Mayo was not a violation of their First Amendment rights. On Cinco de Mayo 2010, a teacher at Live Oak high School asked for certain students to [...]

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Friday condemned the recent political violence in Venezuela, and urged all parties involved to move towards meaningful dialogue in hopes of resolving the situation. In an official statement , Pillay expressed serious concern at the amount of violence that has taken place since the unrest [...]

California Attorney General Kamala Harris filed a petition on Thursday in the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit urging the court to reverse its decision that struck down a law requiring residents to show good cause to carry a concealed firearm. Earlier this month the court ruled that the San Diego law violated [...]

The Mannheim Regional Court on Friday dismissed a complaint by patent assertion entity IPCom against Apple . The suit alleged USD $2.1 billion in damages against Apple for infringement of European patent EP1841268 , which manages access to overloaded wireless communication channels. Although the European Patent Office has upheld IPCom’s patent on the technology in [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Judith E. Koons of Barry University School of Law situates in constitutional history the recent case by Florida same-sex couples, arguing that it is part of a compelling period in our nation’s history that is likely to lead to marriages of same-sex couples to be recognized in every state …

A German district court in Ellwangen ruled Friday that accused former Auschwitz guard, Hans Lipschis, is unfit to stand trial. The ruling was based on Lipschis’ early stages of incipient dementia, making him unable to comprehend the criminal trial. While Lipschis acknowledges being a member of the SS at Auschwitz, he maintains he only served [...]

Moscow’s Basmanny District Court on Friday sentenced Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny to two months of house arrest. Navalny is also banned from using communication devices or the Internet. Navalny has been a harsh critic of President Vladimir Putin through his blog and other social media. He is charged with unsanctioned protest, inciting chaos and [...]

The US Department of State (DOS) on Thursday released its annual country reports on human rights. In the preface to the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2013, Secretary of State John Kerry wrote that the DOS will “continue to press governments to uphold fundamental freedoms. We remain committed to advocating on behalf of [...]