The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday completed the confirmation of charges hearing against Sudanese war crimes suspect Bahr Idriss Abu Garda . During the hearing, prosecutors alleged that Abu Garda controlled rebel forces during the September 2007 attack against African Union peacekeepers in North-Darfur. Abu Garda is suspected of having led the Justice and [...]

A US Law Library of Congress (LLOC) spokesperson said Thursday that the LLOC will not retract its report on the military-backed coup in Honduras , according to a McClatchy Newspapers report . The statement came in response to demands from senior congressional Democrats to retract the report, which the lawmakers charge is based on flawed [...]

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania on Thursday overturned thousands of juvenile-offender convictions issued by a judge indicted on federal corruption charges for an alleged kickback scheme. The order voids about 6,500 convictions handed down by former Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas president judge Mark Ciavarella between 2003 and 2008. Ciavarella, along with former president [...]

Brown v. City of Pittsburgh, et al., US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, October 30, 2009 . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here. Latest commentary available here. JURIST has more on legal issues surrounding abortion.

Czech Republic President Vaclav Klaus said Friday that he will raise no further objections to the European Union (EU) reform treaty, known as the Treaty of Lisbon , after EU leaders reached an agreement on an opt-out clause. At European Council summit in Brussels, the Council agreed Thursday to add a protocol to the Lisbon [...]

An appeals court in China's Xinjiang province on Friday affirmed the convictions of 21 people found guilty of murder and other crimes such as arson and robbery for their roles in July's violent demonstrations in Urumqi that left about 200 people dead and many more injured. The Higher People's Court of Xinjiang upheld the sentences [...]

US President Barack Obama signed an executive order Wednesday giving the Intelligence Oversight Board (IOB) the authority to report suspected violations of federal law related to intelligence gathering to the US attorney general. The order amends an executive order signed by former president George W. Bush last February, which allowed the IOB to report suspected [...]

The Venezuelan National Assembly on Thursday gave final approval to a bill banning violent toys and video games. Those who violate the law could face fines and prison terms of three to five years, as well as the confiscation of merchandise. The law stipulates that Venezuelan government will use funds from fines towards educational programs, [...]

Judge Xaviere Simeoni on Friday ordered former French president Jacques Chirac to stand trial on charges of embezzlement and misuse of public funds. While serving as mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995, Chirac allegedly financed the Rally for the Republic (RPR), now renamed as the Union for a Popular Movement , by illegally establishing [...]

Veronika Szente Goldston : "With its decision to lift the remaining sanctions against Uzbekistan despite Tashkent's atrocious rights record, the EU has effectively abandoned any credible effort to achieve human rights improvements through its Uzbekistan policy. The EU had set clear criteria for lifting the sanctions, which the Uzbek government has not met. Moreover, in [...]