JURIST Guest Columnist Roland Adjovi of Arcadia University in Arusha, Tanzania, says that to gain and maintain credibility in the wake of its first judgment, the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights should streamline its policy rationale and procedure, thereby expediting its decision-making process…. On December 15, 2009, the African Court on Human and [...]

The US has transferred 12 more Guantanamo Bay detainees to their home governments, the Justice Department announced Sunday. Describing the transfers as having taken place "over the weekend", the Department indicated that four Afghan detainees, Abdul Hafiz, Sharifullah, Mohamed Rahim and Mohammed Hashim, were transferred to the Government of Afghanistan. In addition, two Somali detainees, [...]

The Iranian government announced Saturday that murder charges have been brought against prison officials in connection with the deaths of three detainees involved in protests that followed the June 12 presidential election . Twelve officials will face murder charges , with three facing the charge of premeditated murder for their role in the incidents. The [...]

While no legally binding agreement was reached at the conclusion of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP15) in Copenhagen, Denmark, 192 UN member countries agreed Saturday to “take note” of a non-binding Copenhagen Accord developed by leaders of the United States, China, India, Brazil, and South Africa aspiring to limit the global temperature rise to [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled Friday that post-arrest detention is legal in cases where the detainees are reasonably detained. The case, Turkmen v. Ashcroft , challenged the alleged racial profiling, arbitrary detention and abuse of Muslim, Arab, and South Asian men swept up after 9/11. This most recent ruling affirms [...]

A French judge on Friday placed former French president Jacques Chirac under preliminary investigation over allegations that he misused public funds while serving as mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995. Chirac is accused of financing the Rally for the Republic (RPR), now renamed as the Union for a Popular Movement , by illegally establishing [...]

The number of executions that took place in the US in 2009 was down 47 percent from 10 years ago, according to the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) annual report released Friday. There were 52 executions in 2009, compared to 98 in 1999. The report also emphasized that the number of death sentences handed down [...]

The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) on Friday charged Khieu Samphan , the former head of state during the Khmer Rouge regime, with genocide for his involvement in the deaths of thousands of Vietnamese and ethnic Cham Muslims. While not denying the killings took place, Samphan has denied culpability , saying he [...]

A French court ruled Friday that Google violated French copyright law through its book-scanning initiative . The Parisian court fined Google €300,000 euros (USD $430,000) for digitizing books and making excerpts available on the web. The challenge was brought in 2006 by French publishing group La Martiniere, along with the French publisher's union Syndicat National [...]

The UK's 1.2 billion-pound e-Borders program initiated by Prime Minister Gordon Brown will likely be found illegal under European Union (EU) law, the British House of Commons Home Affairs Committee reported Friday. The program was intended to provide the UK Border Agency (UKBA) with a more effective and efficient security system by collecting and analyzing [...]