The Council of the District of Columbia passed legislation Tuesday increasing the requirements of gun owners in Washington, DC. The legislation contains a number of provisions that the city council hopes will make it more difficult for criminals obtain weapons and make it easier for law enforcement officers to track them down. The requirements include [...]

Pui-yin Lo : "The judgment of Mr. Justice Andrew Cheung of the Hong Kong Court of First Instance on December 8, 2008, held that: "the disenfranchisement provisions relating to voting and registration contravene the right to vote constitutionally guaranteed under article 26 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and article [...]

The US military reported on Tuesday the transfer of 39 high-value detainees from the custody of US-led multinational force to an Iraqi controlled prison. The detainees were all former members of the regime of Saddam Hussein , and have already been convicted or are scheduled to stand trial at the Central Criminal Court of Iraq [...]

US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Christopher Cox on Tuesday said that he would launch an immediate investigation into how the fraud allegedly perpetrated by Bernard Madoff went undetected for so long. The SEC filed charges last week in New York against Madoff and his firm, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC for an [...]

On the eve of a long-anticipated ruling in the Bagosora "Military I" genocide trial, JURIST Special Guest Columnist Roland Amoussouga, Spokesperson and Senior Legal Adviser at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), reviews the Tribunal's challenges and achievements as it moves towards completion of its mandate… Two judgements are scheduled for this week at [...]

The US Department of Defense (DOD) on Tuesday announced that three Algerian Guantanamo Bay detainees have been transferred to their adopted homeland of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The transfer follows a November ruling by Judge Richard Leon of the US District Court for the District of Columbia that five Algerian detainees must be released immediately. The [...]

Bangladeshi President and head of the military backed interim government Iajuddin Ahmed on Monday signed the Emergency Powers (Repeal) Ordinance 2008, lifting a two-year state of emergency in order to prepare for December 29 parliamentary elections. The state of emergency, declared in January 2007 , suspended democratic rights throughout the country. The Ordinance, which takes [...]

A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled Monday that nondisclosure requirements contained in national security letters (NSLs) sent by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to Internet service providers (ISPs) are violations of the ISPs' First Amendment free speech rights. The case, John Doe, Inc. v. Mukasey, concerned [...]

The Pentagon announced Monday that US Army Col. James Pohl , who presided over several court-martial proceedings resulting from the Abu Ghraib prison scandal , will be the new chief judge for the US military commissions . Pohl replaces Marine Col. Ralph Kohlmann , who announced his immediate retirement last month. Pohl noted Monday that [...]

US Marine Sgt. Jermaine Nelson pleaded not guilty Monday in a military court at Camp Pendleton to charges of unpremeditated murder and dereliction of duty in connection with the November 2004 killing of four detained Iraqi insurgents. Nelson and another Marine, Sgt. Ryan Weemer , face charges related to the killings during the 2004 battle [...]