A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on Tuesday denied a court-appointed bankruptcy trustee from seeking damages from banks and third parties for the victims of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. Irving Picard, who was designated by the court in 2008 as trustee of the assets seized from the [...]

Tunisian courts will review a request for the extradition of former Libyan prime minister Al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmoudi placed by the Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) on November 8, according to a statement made Wednesday by al-Mahmoudi’s lawyer Mabrouk Kourchid. Al-Mahmoudi has been held in Tunisia since September when he was detained while attempting to illegally [...]

Egypt will amend its constitution to allow citizens living abroad to vote in parliamentary elections, according to a Wednesday report by state-run media outlet Al Ahram. Chairman of the High Commission for Elections , Judge Abdel Moaz Ibrahim, suggested amending Article 39 of the constitutional declaration to allow for voting at embassies and consulates to [...]

Lawyers charged with defending detainees at Guantanamo Bay said Tuesday that procedures and practices employed by the US government make it impossible for them to do their jobs. In a letter directed to the attention of the Deputy Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs, the attorneys cited the problems they face in carrying out their [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on Tuesday upheld the convictions of five men for conspiracy to provide support to terrorist group al Qaeda in planning attacks in the US. Two of the men were also convicted of plotting to destroy the Sears tower in Chicago and FBI offices around the US. [...]

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday issued a letter to each school district in Alabama to serve as a reminder that they must provide equal access to public education for all children, regardless of their immigration status. The letter, authored by Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez , was sent because of the potential [...]

The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases on Tuesday. In Rehberg v. Paulk , the court considered whether government officials who act as “complaining witnesses” to initiate a prosecution by providing false testimony in a grand jury hearing are immune to civil suits. The government argued that a government agent is entitled [...]

The US government on Tuesday filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) alleging that Allied Home Mortgage Capital Corporation (Allied) and two of its top executives misled the government into believing that its loan qualified for federal insurance. In particular, the US claims that Allied engaged [...]

The International Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh (ICTB) on Tuesday ordered the prosecution to submit formal charges against four leaders of Jamaat e Islam (JI) who are suspected of war crimes committed during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War against Pakistan. The ICTB, a special court established by the Bangladeshi government and not endorsed by any international [...]

JURIST Legal News and Research Services, Inc. is pleased to announce the appointment of Matthew Shames as Executive Director. In this role, Mr. Shames will oversee JURIST’s business and development efforts, including outreach and educational initiatives, fundraising, and corporate management. Mr. Shames will also serve as JURIST’s in-house general counsel. “Matt brings to JURIST a [...]