The Uruguayan Senate voted 17-6 to approve a law legalizing adoption by same sex couples. The new law will permit adoptions by couples in both marriages and civil unions after four years of cohabitation. The bill includes other reforms to the Childhood and Adolescence Code , which governs adoptions, including giving the Children's and Adolescents' [...]

David Borden : "The resignation of Mexico's Attorney General in the midst of a veritable war between the government and drug traffickers – and amongst trafficking organizations – is unlikely to change much in the grand scheme of things. Prohibition will continue to divert billions of dollars from the licit economy into the organized criminal [...]

The trial of war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic is scheduled to begin October 19, according to a press release from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) Wednesday. Presiding Judge O-Gon Kwon said the trial of the former Bosnian Serb leader is likely to last between two-and-a-half to three years. Karadzic faces 11 [...]

The US Supreme Court reheard oral arguments Wednesday in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission to determine whether two precedent cases that uphold restraints on corporate election spending should be overturned. The two cases, Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce and McConnell v. Federal Election Commission , upheld the facial validity of Section 203 of [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Tuesday affirmed a district court decision upholding the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 (HLOGA) , which requires members of Congress to disclose more information about their fund-raising efforts and gifts they receive from lobbyists, and also prohibits former congress members [...]

Former Bosnian Serb leader Momcilo Krajisnik has been transferred to the UK to serve his 20-year prison sentence , the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) announced Tuesday. Krajisnik was originally sentenced to 27 years in 2006, but his sentenced was reduced to 20 years in March after the charges of murder, extermination, [...]

The Buenos Aires Appeals Court in Argentina overturned the dismissal of murder charges against former president Fernando de la Rua on Tuesday. The charges were dismissed in April by Judge Claudio Bonadio after he said that the prosecution had not established sufficient evidence to show that de la Rua initiated the chain of events that [...]

The German Bundestag unanimously passed a law Tuesday overturning the conviction of Nazi-regime "war traitors." Among those whose names have been cleared are resistance fighters, people who aided Jews, and even people who were convicted for speaking in critical terms about the regime. The law clears the convictions of an estimated 30,000 convicted German citizens, [...]

The UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) on Tuesday ordered Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission (IEC) to conduct a partial recount of votes from polling stations with high irregularities. According to ECC investigations: The overwhelming majority in which the ECC found clear and convincing evidence of fraud were also characterized by either an exceptionally high number of [...]

A judge in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York ruled Tuesday that the state of New York has violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by segregating mentally ill New York City residents in private homes under poor conditions. Disability Advocates, Inc. (DAI) brought the suit in 2003 arguing that [...]