The Florida Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that Republican Governor Charlie Christ could not delay a decision on filling a vacancy in Florida's Fifth District Court of Appeal in order to consider more diverse candidates. In November, Crist was provided a list candidates by the Judicial Nominating Commission of Fifth District Court of Appeal (JNC) [...]

Both Hamas and Israeli forces committed war crimes during fighting in Gaza in December 2008 and January 2009, according to Amnesty International (AI). A report issued by Amnesty Thursday alleges that Israeli attacks killed 1,400 Palestinians, including 300 children. The report says Israel is bound by the international human rights treaties it has ratified, including [...]

Italy’s Senate voted 157-124 Thursday to pass a controversial law making illegal immigration a crime , punishable by a fine of between 5,000 and 10,000 euros. The law also increases from two months to six the amount of time law enforcement officials may detain suspected illegal immigrants before deporting them. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has [...]

Pleus v. Crist, Florida Supreme Court, July 2, 2009 . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here. Latest commentary available here.

Disegno Di Legge, Senato della Repubblica (Italian Senate), July 2, 2009 . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here. Latest commentary available here. JURIST has more on Italian immigration law and policy.

The Delhi High Court on Thursday decriminalized homosexual conduct by declaring India's anti-sodomy law unconstitutional. In a petition originally filed and rejected by the court in 2004, the Naz Foundation challenged the applicability of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code , a colonial-era law that punishes "carnal intercourse against the order of nature" with [...]

A federal judge on Thursday set a trial date for terrorism suspect and former Guantanamo Bay detainee Ahmed Ghailani of September 13, 2010. Ghailani, the first Guantanamo detainee to be transferred to the US for a civilian trial, faces charges for his alleged involvement in the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. [...]

A British appellate court on Thursday recognized a pre-nuptial agreement for the first time in the UK, where they have been generally disregarded by courts hearing divorce proceedings. The UK Court of Appeal of England and Wales overturned a lower court ruling that awarded £5.8 million to the ex-husband of German heiress Katrin Radmacher despite [...]

The political parties that make up Germany's coalition government agreed Wednesday on a proposal to set aside all Nazi-era treason verdicts. The Socialist Democrats (SPD) and the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) of Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed to draft a law bypassing the current system, in which treason convictions must be considered on an individual basis, [...]

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency on Wednesday issued inspection notices to 652 businesses in an increased effort to target employers that use illegal labor. ICE notified selected employers that they would be auditing their I-9 employee eligibility forms, which employers are required to file and retain for each employee. Assistant Secretary of Homeland [...]