Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Wednesday called on Cambodia’s donors to oppose a land titling campaign created by Prime Minister Hun Sen, alleging that it lacks accountability and transparency and is prone to abuse. Hun Sen announced on Monday that the program will be suspended until after the country’s national elections. HRW Asia Director Brad [...]

The US Supreme Court on Thursday issued a new regulation barring any demonstration within the Supreme Court building or grounds, excluding the surrounding sidewalks, if the activity is “reasonably likely to draw a crowd or onlookers.” In order to “maintain suitable order and decorum within the Supreme Court building and grounds,” the Court passed the [...]

Activist attorney and former government prosecutor Larry Klayman filed a class action lawsuit on Wednesday in the US District Court for the District of Columbia , challenging the government’s recently revealed phone data collection. Klayman, founder of the political advocacy group Freedom Watch , claims the surveillance practices violate citizens’ reasonable expectation of privacy, their [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay announced Thursday that the death toll in the Syrian conflict has now reached at least 93,000. According to the UN’s data specialists, this estimate represents only recorded deaths where the name, location and date of death were reported. For those casualties lacking one or more identifying values, [...]

Judge Edward Korman of the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York on Wednesday approved the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plan to make the Plan B emergency contraceptive available over-the-counter to women of all ages. In an effort to comply with the judge’s April ruling , the FDA has approved the [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled Thursday in United States v. Davila that judicial participation in plea negotiations does not automatically require vacatur of a defendant’s guilty plea. Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(c)(1) provides that “he court must not participate in discussions.” Rule 11(h) states: “A variance from the requirements of this rule is harmless [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday in Tarrant Regional Water District v. Herrmann that the Red River Compact does not preempt Oklahoma water laws. The Red River Compact regulates water rights from the Red River among the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. Tarrant Regional Water District, a Texas agency, claimed that it [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday in American Trucking Associations, Inc. v. Los Angeles that federal law preempts certain provisions of an agreement that trucking companies must sign before they can transport cargo at the Port of Los Angeles. In an opinion by Justice Elena Kagan, the court held, “that the Federal Aviation Administration [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday in Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc. that a naturally occurring DNA segment is a product of nature and not patent eligible merely because it has been isolated. The court also found that synthetically created DNA known as complementary DNA (cDNA) is patent eligible because it [...]

Jordan’s Parliament approved a treaty with the UK Wednesday that will lead to the deportation and fair trial of radical cleric Abu Qatada . The new treaty passed with support from both houses of parliament, provides for mutual legal assistance between the two nations and can include any persons from each country. Last month Qatada [...]