The German Federal Constitutional Court ruled Wednesday that the preventive detention of prisoners beyond the maximum sentences for their crimes is unconstitutional. The court held that the laws governing the practice of extending prison terms for prisoners deemed to be a public safety threat violates provisions of the German constitution . “he provisions on the [...]

US Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday that the killing of Osama Bin Laden by US forces on Sunday was lawful and justified . Testifying before the US Senate Judiciary Committee , Holder said that the shooting of Bin Laden was “consistent with our values,” and that the soldiers who killed him “conducted themselves totally [...]

A German court on Wednesday began the trial of Rwandan rebel leader Ignace Murwanashyaka and deputy Straton Musoni on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Murwanashyaka was the leader of the predominantly Hutu Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) . The two are accused of wielding “significant influence” over the militia’s [...]

JURIST Contributing Editor David Crane of Syracuse University College of Law says that the Obama Administration should resist pressure or temptation to release sensational photographs of Osama Bin Laden’s corpse taken after the firefight at his compound in Pakistan where he was killed Sunday… On May 2, 2011, after becoming a casualty during Operation Geronimo, [...]

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) ruled Wednesday that the war crimes trial of former Serb nationalist politician Vojislav Seselj can continue. Seselj, charged with 14 counts of crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war, had sought last month to have the charges dismissed. The ICTY rejected [...]

Thailand’s government should investigate crimes allegedly committed by both government officials and protesters during 2010’s violent political protests , according to a report released Monday by Human Rights Watch (HRW) . The report details the violence that resulted from the “red shirt” pro-democracy movement and specifically from clashes between security forces and anti-government protesters acting [...]

US Attorney Preet Bharara filed a civil suit on Tuesday against Deutsche Bank in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York accusing the bank of engaging in mortgage fraud. Through the suit, the US seeks more than $1 billion , including punitive damages and fines. Specifically, the complaint alleges that, from [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Ilya Somin of George Mason School of Law says the lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act are far from frivolous. They deserve to prevail and have a real chance of doing so… Twenty-eight states and several private groups have now filed lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the of the [...]

JURIST Special Guest Columnist David A. Westbrook, of the University at Buffalo Law School, says that Congress should announce that Koran burning and other inflammatory gestures are inconsistent with American values … Last month, Terry Jones, the pastor of a Florida church, had a Koran burned and posted the proceedings on YouTube. In response, a [...]

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) on Tuesday filed a class action lawsuit challenging Utah’s controversial immigration law . The bill, which has been compared to the Arizona immigration law , was signed into law in March by Governor Gary Herbert and requires police to check the immigration [...]