The continuing dispute between Cambodia and the UN over the appointment of Judge Laurent Kasper-Ansermet to the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) threatens the legitimacy of the court , the Open Society Justice Initiative said Thursday. Kasper-Ansermet took over for Judge Siegfried Blunk who resigned in October due to Cambodian political interference [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled Thursday that heirs of victims of the Armenian genocide in Turkey cannot sue German insurance companies for failed life insurance payments from German insurance companies. Descendants of the genocide victims residing in California brought the suit nearly a decade ago, following the passing of a [...]

The Maryland Senate on Thursday approved the Civil Marriage Protection Act , which would legalize same-sex marriage in the state. The legislation passed by a 25-22 margin in the Senate, having already been approved by the lower house earlier in the week. The bill goes next to Governor Martin O’Malley (D) who has promised to [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Nancy Marder of Chicago-Kent College of Law says cameras should be kept out of the courtroom, because they are distracting and potentially disruptive, and there are plenty of other ways to keep citizens informed…

JURIST Columnist Charles Jalloh of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law says that the Special Court for Sierra Leone must set a date to release its ruling on the war crimes charges against former Liberian president Charles Taylor so that it can conclude its proceedings… The case against the former Liberian president Charles Taylor, [...]

A Guantanamo Bay detainee reached a plea agreement with military prosecutors on Wednesday that included an agreement to testify against other detainees. Under the agreement, detainee Majid Khan , a 31-year-old former Baltimore-area resident, will be required to testify at the trials of other detainees in exchange for a greatly reduced sentence and eventual freedom. [...]

JURIST Contributing Editor Amos Guiora of the University of Utah SJ Quinney College of Law says that in light of a recent UN report, and in the absence of clear international standards for humanitarian intervention, the US must intervene in Syria to ensure stability and consistency in the region and its own foreign policy…

JURIST Guest Columnist Sasan Fayazmanesh, Professor Emeritus of Economics at California State University, Fresno, says that President Obama’s latest sanctions against Iran over its alleged nuclear weapons program are part of an escalating trend in US foreign policy that began in the 1980s…

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Thursday ruled that Italy violated international human rights laws when a group of Somalian and Eritrean migrants traveling from Libya were intercepted by Italian authorities and returned to Libya. The court found that Italy violated Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights by exposing the [...]

International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo on Wednesday was granted permission by a pretrial chamber to expand his investigation of war crimes in the Ivory Coast to incidents dating back to 2002. Ocampo began his investigation in October, focusing on alleged post-election violence beginning in 2010. Ocampo requested to expand his investigation in [...]