The Constitutional Court of Colombia has ruled that same-sex couples must be accorded the same property rights as other unmarried couples. With eight votes in favor and one abstention, the court held unconstitutional a 1990 law creating a presumption that property held by "a man and a woman" who lived together in de facto marriage [...]

The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California filed a class action lawsuit against the federal government Thursday, alleging that "its practice of indefinitely delaying citizen applications" violated due process rights protected by the Constitution and federal statutes and regulations governing immigration. The immigrant plaintiffs in the case, all long-time lawful permanent residents of the [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour filed an amicus curiae or "friend of the court" brief with the Iraqi High Tribunal Thursday arguing that imposing the death penalty on former Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan would be a violation of Iraq's obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights . [...]

The US military's determination that there is not sufficient evidence to support allegations of abuse at Guantanamo Bay prompted Amnesty International Thursday to renew its calls for an independent investigation into the allegations. In a statement , Amnesty called the military's investigation into the abuse allegations "flawed" as no actual detainees were interviewed and said [...]

US Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald rested the prosecution's case Thursday in the trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby . As the prosecution's final witness, Tim Russert , Washington bureau chief for NBC News, testified Wednesday that he was unaware of former undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity until reading Robert D. Novak's July 14, 2003 [...]

Italy's Cabinet approved a controversial proposal Thursday that would give legal rights to unmarried heterosexual and same-sex couples . The proposal, which has been harshly criticized by the Italian justice minister and the top Italian bishop , would give unmarried couples combined medical insurance, the right to visit their partner in prisons or hospitals, inheritance [...]

Charges against Omar Khadr under the Military Commissions Act, US Department of Defense Office of Military Commissions, February 2, 2007. Read the full text of the charge notice, the charge sheet, and the full charges . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Charges against David Hicks under the Military Commissions Act, US Department of Defense Office of Military Commissions, February 2, 2007. Read the full text of the charge notice, the charge sheet, and the full charges . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Charges against Salem Hamdan under the Military Commissions Act, US Department of Defense Office of Military Commissions, February 2, 2007. Read the full text of the charge notice, the charge sheet, and the full charges . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

A French judge has charged two police officers connected to a case that sparked three weeks of rioting outside Paris and in other parts of France in 2005. The officers were charged Wednesday with “non-assistance to people in danger”, and face up to 5 years in prison and up to a $97,400 fine for their [...]