The US House of Representatives on Wednesday voted 258-163 to approve a non-binding motion to instruct conferees to prohibit the transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees to the US for any reason, including prosecution and incarceration. The motion, introduced by Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY) , instructs House conference committee members to insist on the prohibition during [...]

A Myanmar court on Friday upheld a sentence of house arrest imposed on opposition pro-democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi . Suu Kyi was convicted in August of violating state security laws and sentenced to an additional 18 months of house arrest for allowing American John Yettaw to stay in her home after he swam [...]

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington v. US Department of Justice, US District Court for the District of Columbia, October 2, 2009 . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here. Latest commentary available here. JURIST has more on the the CIA leak case.

Prominent Zimbabwean rights activist Jestina Mukoko and eight others have sued the government for abduction, wrongful arrest, and torture, their lawyer said Thursday. The suit comes after Zimbabwe's Supreme Court on Monday dismissed charges of conspiring against President Robert Mugabe , an allegation that Mukoko has vehemently denied. Mukoko's lawyer said she and the other [...]

An Argentine judge on Thursday charged former president and current senator Carlos Menem for allegedly covering up evidence related to the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires. Menem, born in Argentina to Syrian immigrants, is accused of covering up the alleged involvement of Syrian-Argentine businessman Alberto Kanoore Edul. Judge Ariel Lijo [...]

Judge Tena Callahan of the 302nd Family District Court in Texas ruled Thursday that her Dallas family court has jurisdiction to hear the divorce proceedings of a Texas same-sex couple who were married in Massachusetts in 2006. In her ruling, Callahan also said that the Texas ban on same-sex marriage violates the equal protection clause [...]

Gino Raymond : "The recommendation that charges against Jacques Chirac be dropped should come as no surprise. In theory, the judge responsible for the final decision, Xavière Simeoni, is not obliged to abide by the finding of the prosecuting authorities, but to do otherwise would be an extraordinary surprise. In purely pragmatic terms, prosecuting Chirac [...]

US President Barack Obama on Thursday signed an executive order making it illegal for federal employees or government contractors to use text messaging while driving. The order encompasses employee use of government owned or leased cars, as well as privately owned cars used for government business. The order also bans use of government-issued devices for [...]

JURIST Contributing Editor Jordan Paust of the University of Houston Law Center says that to really deliver on his recent declaration at the UN that "international law is not an empty promise, and that Treaties will be enforced," President Obama should have pledged aggressive action to withdraw erroneous US reservations, understandings, and declarations and to [...]

Federal Leadership on Reducing Text Messaging While Driving, White House, October 1, 2009 . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here. Latest commentary available here. JURIST has more on the executive orders signed by President Obama.