JURIST Guest Columnist Jonathan Tracy of the National Institute of Military Justice at American University Washington College of Law says President Obama's decision to reconstitute the US military commissions system runs contrary to basic American legal values and revitalizes the military tribunals structure absent any military need…. Four months later and we still cannot escape [...]

Canada's Supreme Court agreed Thursday to review an Ontario court decision upholding media restrictions on the Toronto 18 terrorism case. Under Canada's criminal code the media may attend pre-trial hearings but in some instances may not report on them to prevent biasing potential jurors. The plaintiffs, which include the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, CTV, the Toronto [...]

German legislators in the lower house of the Bundestag Thursday approved a bill that criminalizes training in terrorist camps, among other provisions. Under existing law, prosecution of an individual for involvement in a suspected terrorist organization requires membership in the organization or support of it. The proposed legislation seeks to broaden the definition of those [...]

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Thursday denied Belgium's request to compel Senegal to extradite former Chadian president Hissene Habre . Belgium had accused Senegal of violating international law, including Article 7 of the Convention Against Torture , by not trying Habre in Senegal, where he has lived under house arrest since 1990. In [...]

The Tokyo High Court granted an appeal Thursday to consider 30 people for official recognition as atomic bomb victims, ruling that 9 of the plaintiffs who were previously denied should receive the status. Officials said that the government will consider revising the way it determines which atomic bomb survivors are to receive free medical care [...]

Amnesty International (AI) Secretary-General Irene Khan said Thursday that the global economic crisis is exacerbating the world's human rights failures, urging governments to "invest in human rights as purposefully as they are investing in economic growth." Khan spoke at the release of the 2009 Annual Report , which says that wealthy nations have overlooked "massive [...]

A US federal judge Wednesday sentenced the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) and five of its officials pursuant to their convictions of providing material support to Palestinian group Hamas . District Judge Jorge Solis sentenced Shurki Abu Baker, Mohammad El-Mezain, Ghassan Elashi, Mufid Abdulqader and Abdulrahman Odeh to prison terms ranging from 15 to 65 years [...]

The UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution Wednesday "welcoming the conclusion of hostilities" in Sri Lanka, but failing to call for an investigation into war crimes committed during the conflict. Adopted during the 11th special session on human rights , the resolution condemned the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) attacks on civilian populations [...]

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Betta, et al., US District Court for the Southern District of Florida, May 28, 2009 . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here. SEC v Betta

Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Bekampfung des Aufenthalts in terroristischen Ausbildungslagern, Deutscher Bundestag , approved May 28, 2009 . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here. German terrorism training camp bill