The Argentine Supreme Court unanimously held Tuesday that possession of small amounts of marijuana for private, personal consumption that does not endanger or harm third parties is not punishable by law. The ruling reversed a lower court ruling that had convicted five defendants for possessing small amounts of marijuana. The court found the second paragraph [...]

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The British Department for Business Innovation and Skills on Tuesday proposed stricter sanctions against illegal file-sharing that would include restricting and suspending user Internet access. The proposed regulations would be managed by the Office of Communications (Ofcom) , which would report to Business Secretary Lord Peter Mandelson , recommending action against specific users. The proposals [...]

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The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Monday ruled against a Humanitarian Law Project (HLP) challenge to former President George W. Bush's Executive Order 13224 , which prohibits unlicensed US groups and individuals from providing services to certain terrorist organizations designated by the government. The HLP wanted to aid the Kurdistan Worker’s [...]

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A US military judge ruled Monday that lawyers for Guantanamo Bay detainee and accused 9/11 co-conspirator Ramzi bin al-Shibh will not be allowed to tour secret CIA prisons, known as "black sites" where al-Shibh was detained, the Miami Herald reported Tuesday. Al-Shibh's lawyers had sought access to the sites in order to determine whether he [...]

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Chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) Luis Moreno-Ocampo on Monday filed arguments against releasing former Democratic Republic of Congo (DCR) rebel leader Jean Pierre Bemba . The ICC ordered Bemba's conditional release earlier this month, a decision which Moreno-Ocampo immediately appealed . In court documents filed Monday, Moreno-Ocampo argued that Bemba should remain [...]

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The US will continue its practice of sending terror detainees to third countries for interrogation with increased oversight to prevent torture, the New York Times reported Monday. The practice, known as rendition , received worldwide attention during the Bush administration when many detainees alleged they had been tortured by the governments of the countries to [...]

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Two former Pennsylvania judges on Monday withdrew their guilty pleas on charges of accepting more than $2.6 million in kickbacks for sentencing teenagers to two private juvenile detention facilities in which they had a financial interest. Former Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan pleaded guilty in February to federal [...]

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