The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday in two cases. In Hamilton, Chapter 13 Trustee v. Lanning , the court heard arguments on whether, in calculating a debtor's "projected disposable income," a bankruptcy court may consider evidence suggesting that the debtor's income or expenses will differ from her prior income or expenses. The US [...]

Attorneys general from several states said Monday that they plan to file lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the health care reform bill passed Sunday by the US House of Representatives . Attorneys general from at least 12 states – Florida, South Carolina, Alabama, Nebraska, Texas, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Washington, Utah, North Dakota, South Dakota and Virginia [...]

] The US Supreme Court on Monday declined to reconsider a petition filed by former Panamanian military leader General Manuel Noriega to stop his extradition to France on money laundering charges. Noriega's lawyers filed the petition last month after the Supreme Court denied certiorari on the case in January. Noriega, who has been declared a [...]

The Bangladesh Cabinet on Monday ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) . The ratification will not aid in the nation's pending war crimes trials for the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War against Pakistan , as the ICC can only prosecute crimes that took place on or after the date the statute took [...]

The US Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a case involving a Massachusetts law prohibiting people from protesting directly outside of abortion clinics. Lawyers for the petitioners, parties "who regularly engage in pro-life counseling" outside clinics, were appealing a July ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit , which held [...]

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, US House of Representatives, March 21, 2010 . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here. Latest commentary available here. JURIST has more on federal health care reform.

The Turkish government on Monday unveiled a controversial new reform bill proposing amendments to 22 articles of the Turkish Constitution in hopes of making the government more democratic and strengthening the country's bid to join the European Union (EU) . The proposed amendments cover a wide range of issues , including the judicial system, women's [...]

Kazakhstan's government is failing to curb torture by law enforcement officers, according a report released Monday by Amnesty International (AI) . The report, which tracks Kazakhstan's progress in the area of human rights from the period of its adoption of the Convention Against Torture , is critical of several practices that seem to run counter [...]

Nepalese rights groups on Sunday praised two recent judgments by the District Court in Baitadi against caste-based discrimination. Earlier this month, the court sentenced a man accused of assaulting the father of the groom during a July 2009 wedding for practicing "rituals reserved for high-caste communities" to one year in prison and a fine of [...]

The US Supreme Court on Monday declined to rule in the case known as Kiyemba II, in which the court was asked to consider issues surrounding the transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees. Lawyers for four Chinese Muslim Uighurs detained at Guantanamo were appealing an April ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the District [...]