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.

Judge Royce Lambeth of the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Wednesday released a 191-page opinion expressing frustration with the inability of victims of Iranian-sponsored terrorism to receive their court-ordered judgments. In the opinion, Lambeth discussed the more than 1,000 plaintiffs who have received awards totaling over $9 billion, and the lack [...]

The Criminal Chamber of the Peruvian Supreme Court on Wednesday sentenced former president Alberto Fujimori to six years in prison for multiple counts of illegal wiretapping and bribery. Fujimori is to serve his sentence concurrently with the sentences from his three other convictions. In the fourth and final trial pending against him, former Fujimori was [...]

Georgia violated international law when it shelled the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali in August 2008, according to a report released Wednesday by a European Union-backed commission. The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Conflict in Georgia (IIFFMCG) concluded that "it is not possible to accept" that the armed response by Georgian forces to the [...]

The Obama administration on Wednesday informed Congress that it objects to a proposed journalist shield law that would protect journalists who refuse to disclose sources that leak national security information. Under changes proposed by the administration, a reporter who provides leaked information that is deemed relevant to national security would not be protected by the [...]

Kimlya and others v. Russia, European Court of Human Rights, October 1, 2009 . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here. Latest commentary available here. JURIST has more on the human rights issues in Russia.

Sindh High Court Bar Association through its Secretary, et al. v. Federation of Pakistan through Secretary, Ministry of Lawand Justice, Islamabad, et al., Supreme Court of Pakistan, October 1, 2009 . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here. Latest commentary available here. JURIST has more on Pervez Musharraf.

Associated Press CEO Tom Curley told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that passage of the OPEN FOIA Act is a necessary first step to counter the "secrecy reflex at some agencies." At a hearing , Curley said that the use of section b(3) of the Freedom of Information Act , which allows Congress to [...]