Italian prosecutors on Friday sought to indict Italy Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on fraud and embezzlement charges involving his media company, Mediatrade, despite a new law granting the executive temporary immunity. The law passed in March and allows cabinet officials to postpone criminal proceedings against them for up to 18 months if the charges constitute [...]

The UK Parliament on Thursday approved legislation authorizing the suspension of internet service for those who repeatedly download copyrighted material illegally. The act also received Royal Assent and is now law. The Digital Economy Bill calls on internet service providers (ISPs) to block download sites, reduce a user's broadband speeds, and ultimately shut down a [...]

Resignation letter of Justice Stevens, Chambers of Justice John Paul Stevens, April 9, 2010 . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here. Latest commentary available here.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled Thursday that Azerbaijan violated parliamentary candidate Namat Aliyev’s rights to stand freely and fairly in the country's 2005 elections. Aliyev alleged that the government violated his rights under Article 3 of Protocol 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights , which ensures the free expression of [...]

Former South Korean Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook was acquitted Friday of bribery charges by the Seoul Central District Court. Han was accused of accepting $50,000 from former Korea Express CEO Kwak Young-wook in 2007 in exchange for helping him become president of Korea South-East Power Co., an affiliate of the state-run Korea Electric Power Corporation [...]

Justice John Paul Stevens of the US Supreme Court announced Friday that he plans to step down at the end of the court's 2009 term this summer. In a letter to President Barack Obama, Stevens wrote, "it would be in the best interests of the Court to have my successor appointed and confirmed well in [...]

US district court judge James Robertson granted Congress additional time Thursday to approve a $3.4 billion settlement against the government in a class action lawsuit brought for its alleged mismanagement of American Indian trust funds. The delay, the third since the settlement was reached in December, moves the congressional approval date from April 16 to [...]

The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on Thursday denied the latest attempt by former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic to delay his war crimes trial. Karadzic argued that there had been a violation of his right to a fair hearing because the court had rejected previous evidentiary challenges. [...]

A Thai court on Friday issued arrest warrants for at least 17 high-profile protesters in an attempt to put down violent protests. Among the accused are top leaders of the the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, also known as red shirts . The warrants are in addition to warrants issued Thursday for seven high-level [...]

Jérémie Zimmermann : "The recent decision from the US Court of Appeals is a blow to the defense of a free, open, and therefore neutral Internet, but it is not definitive. The FCC can and should reconsider its policy and reclassify broadband providers so as to assert its authority in mandating net neutrality. The internet [...]