The US Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled unanimously in Hertz Corp. v. Friend that, for the purposes of diversity jurisdiction , a corporation's principal place of business shall be determined by the "nerve center" test. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit had affirmed the district court's application of the "place of operations" [...]

The French branch of the Arab Women's Solidarity Association (AWSA) initiated proceedings Sunday against the participation of a 'veiled' candidate in the upcoming French regional elections, following the dismissal of its initial legal action. The candidate, Ilham Moussaid, represents the New Anticapitalist Party , a radical left-wing party, in the southeast region of France, known [...]

UK rights group Reprieve on Tuesday initiated legal action against the UK government for its alleged use of torture policies overseas. Reprieve argues that the government's refusal to make such policies public suggests that the protocol is illegal and possibly allows torture. Reprieve will challenge the legality of the government's policies and will present information [...]

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday appointed US lawyer Brenda Hollis as the prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) . Hollis was appointed in consultation with the government of Sierra Leone, and the appointment was effective as of February 16. Prior to her appointment, Hollis was leading the prosecution against former Liberian [...]

US Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday praised the role of the civilian criminal justice system in obtaining a guilty plea from suspected terrorist Najibullah Zazi. Zazi pleaded guilty on Monday to three criminal charges of conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction in the US and to commit murder in a foreign country, as [...]

Reconciliation in Liberia hinges on the development of its national security and its legal institutions, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon emphasized in a new progress report released Monday. The UN report recognizes that the final report of the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and its recommendations have proven to be deeply divisive, with "he public [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Bruce Aronson of Creighton University School of Law says that Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota's current safety crisis – now the subject of Congressional hearings – should prompt the company to address its seriously flawed system of governance more than just its public image…. The next phase in Toyota’s crisis will be the [...]

Suspected terrorist Najibullah Zazi pleaded guilty Monday to three criminal charges of conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction in the US and to commit murder in a foreign country, as well as providing material support for al Qaeda. At Monday's hearing in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York , [...]

The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday in two cases. In Astrue v. Ratliff , the court heard arguments on whether an award of attorneys' fees and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) is payable to the prevailing party rather than to the party's attorneys so that is can be used [...]

UK Justice Minister Jack Straw announced Monday that the government plans to terminate to the inmate early release program initiated in June 2007 to ease prison overcrowding . In remarks before the House of Commons , Straw indicated that inmates eligible for release under the End of Custody Licence (ECL) scheme on or before March [...]