Bulgaria will ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at the beginning of 2012, a member of the Bulgarian parliament announced on Sunday. According to Svetlana Angelova this ratification will result in several legislation amendments that will ensure that Bulgarian citizens with disabilities are treated as equal citizens and minimize discrimination against [...]

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast denied that Iran was actively involved in the 9/11 attacks after allegations in Thursday’s default judgment in Havlish v. Bin Laden . A Southern District of New York judge granted the plaintiffs’ motion for judgment against Iran, its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Hoseini-Kharmenei, former Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashemi [...]

A group of Attorneys General representing 24 US states and territories filed an amicus brief with the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Friday arguing that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) can require cigarette packages to display graphic images of the dangers of smoking. The AGs believe that the [...]

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon issued a statement on Friday, chastising both the government of President Bashar al-Assad and violent protesters regarding the continuous bloodshed in Syria. Approximately 44 people were killed Friday in two suicide car bomb attacks in Damascus. The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) has since linked the attacks to anti-government protests, while [...]

The Cuban government announced Friday that the country will grant amnesty to and free 2,900 prisoners including those convicted of political crimes. The announcement was motivated by humanitarian concerns , in an effort by President Raul Castro to establish good will in anticipation of a visit by Pope Benedict XVI to Cuba scheduled for next [...]

The European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on Saturday criticized the outcome of the appeals case for former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko , announced December 23. Ashton voiced concern over Tymoshenko’s prior trial, alleging that the appeals process did not address the failures of the original trial to provide a fair and independent [...]

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) Friday rejected a controversial South Carolina voter identification law . The DOJ has authority under the Voting Rights Act to screen new voter laws in states with a history of discriminatory voter practices. The South Carolina law, enacted to prevent voter fraud, would have required residents to present a [...]

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder Thursday signed into law a bill prohibiting public employers from providing medical or other fringe benefits to their employees’ domestic partners. Snyder provided a signing statement noting that a new definition of public employer in the bill excludes university employees. He said this is necessary based on various Michigan Supreme Court [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Virginia Keyder of the State University of New York at Binghamton and Sabanci University in Istanbul, Turkey, says that the recent decisions in EU case law shows a trend towards viewing intellectual property as a way to benefit society, rather than corporations, in contrast to the trends in the US seen in [...]

A US military court heard closing arguments Thursday at the pre-trial hearing for Pfc. Bradley Manning , which will determine whether he will face a court martial for his alleged role in the largest intelligence leak in US history. Manning, who served as an Army intelligence analyst in Iraq, faces 22 criminal charges and possible [...]