US Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI) introduced a bill Monday to reform the 2005 Real ID Act and enhance the security of driver's licenses. The Providing for Additional Security in States' Identification Act of 2009 (PASS ID) seeks to implement recommendations from the 9/11 commission concerning standards for the issuance of personal identification and would replace [...]

Kenyan prosecutors have charged 17 Somalis with piracy . The men, arrested by US Naval forces in the Gulf of Aden in May, were turned over to the Kenyan authorities last Wednesday and charged Thursday. Also last week, the Swedish Navy turned over seven suspected Somali pirates to Kenyan authorities. The European Union (EU) and [...]

Peruvian Prime Minister Yehude Simon announced Monday that the Executive Branch would ask the Peruvian Congress to repeal controversial land laws that led to indigenous protests and violent clashes last week when police attempted to disperse groups blocking access routes. Last week, the congress temporarily suspended legislative decree 1090, the Forest and Wild Fauna Law [...]

Former oil executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky called for a reform of Russia's court system in an article published Monday in the weekly magazine Kommersant Vlast . The jailed former Yukos chief executive said that putting an end to corruption and political pressure should be a governmental priority and is crucial for Russia's future. Khodorkovsky argued that, [...]

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on Monday released redacted documents that describe the alleged torture and abuse of Guantanamo Bay detainees in CIA custody, transcribed from Combatant Status Review Tribunal hearings. The documents, released pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) , concern detainees Khalid [...]

Iran's Guardian Council of the Constitution said Tuesday that it would conduct a partial recount of disputed presidential election results after the country's spiritual leader and highest authority, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered an investigation on Monday into allegations of voter fraud. Khamenei's order came after protests took place throughout the country following last weekend's announcement [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled Monday that Exxon Mobil owes interest on the more than $500 million in punitive damages awarded against it following the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill . The court found that the interest began accumulating following the original 1996 verdict in the plaintiffs' favor. The court [...]

The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday ordered former Democratic Republic of Congo (DCR) rebel leader Jean Pierre Bemba to stand trial for the alleged commission of violent war crimes. The prosecution contends that Bemba's actions in the Central African Republic (CAR) as military leader of the Congo Liberation Movement (MLC) from October 2002 to [...]

In re: The Exxon Valdez, US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, June 15, 2009 . Read the full text of the opinion . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Situation in the Central African Republic in the case of the Prosecutor v. Jean Pierre Bemba Gombo, International Criminal Court, June 15, 2009 . Read the full text of the judgment here. Read the full text of the order here . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.