The genocide trial for former Guatemala president Efrain Rios Montt came to a halt Thursday, potentially discarding nearly a year-and-a-half of court proceedings. According to Judge Patricia Flores, all actions taken on Rios Montt’s case since she was recused in November 2011 are invalid . However, Guatemala attorney general Claudia Paz y Paz says Flores’ [...]

An Argentinian appeals court on Wednesday struck down key parts of a 2009 media law that was designed to dismantle the media empire Clarin . The controversial bill, which would force Clarin to sell profitable business assets, was signed into law by President Christina Fernandez de Kirchner in October 2009. Kirchner claimed that Clarin was [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on Thursday dissmissed a copyright infringement lawsuit by Viacom against Google’s YouTube . Viacom, which owns Comedy Central, MTV and VH1, was seeking $1 billion in damages as well as an injunction against YouTube for clips that were posted on the [...]

The US House of Representatives passed a controversial cybersecurity bill on Thursday that allows corporations to share customers’ personal data with other firms and the US government, even in the face of a company contract prohibiting such activity. Known as the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), the legislation was approved by a vote [...]

Montana Governor Steve Bullock on Thursday approved a revision to the state code that formally decriminalizes same-sex intercourse in the state. The bill struck from the state code a phrase stating that deviate sexual relations entail “sexual contact or sexual intercourse between two persons of the same sex.” The revision passed through the Montana House [...]

The European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) on Thursday began the retrial of Fatmir Limaj , a prominent political figure in the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and former commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). Nine other defendants are also facing charges in the case. Limaj pleaded not guilty to war [...]

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Friday condemned Iraq’s execution of 21 prisoners this week, urging the country’s compliance with international human rights obligations. Pillay expressed dismay with the numbers of executions carried out in Iraq, noting that the country’s criminal justice system continues to “fall short of international standards.” Iraq [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Patrick Borchers of the Creighton University School of Law says that the Supreme Court’s opinion in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum overlooks recent relevant developments in the conflict of laws and may have unintended effects on future cases…

Pakistan’s former president Pervez Musharraf was placed under house arrest on Friday. He appeared before a magistrate after he was arrested in his home in the suburbs of Islamabad. Musharraf escaped the court premises on Thursday after an arrest warrant was issued against him on charges of detaining judges during his time in office. Musharraf [...]

A state judge in North Dakota said Thursday that he will rule that a 2011 North Dakota law that restricts drug-induced abortions is unconstitutional. Judge Wickham Corwin of the Cass County District Court announced that the law creates an “insurmountable barrier” to abortion and fails to adequately protect women’s reproductive rights. The abortion law, which [...]