Commander Suzanne Lachelier : "The ruling against the defense motion for resources highlights, once again, the obstacles defense counsel face in assisting their clients, whether as full-fledged or as stand-by counsel. It also underscores the illusory nature of the right to proceed pro se, which the Congress explicitly codified in the 2006 Military Commissions Act [...]

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Saturday named Susan Herman , a law professor at Brooklyn Law School , as its new president. Herman, a constitutional and civil rights scholar , previously served as the ACLU's general counsel. ACLU executive director Anthony Romero commented on her appointment: is a deeply principled and talented leader [...]

Iran has banned the execution of minors for drug-related crimes, but will still allow the sentence to be imposed against juveniles convicted of murder, according to a statement made by Iran's Assistant Attorney General for Judicial Affairs Hossein Zabhi on Saturday. Zabhi announced a new directive limiting the use of the death penalty for crimes [...]

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has signed a decree making permanent certain extensions on press freedom for foreign journalists that were temporarily adopted in the run-up to the July Beijing Olympics. Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao announced late Friday, just before the temporary regulations were scheduled to expire, that henceforward foreign journalists would be able to [...]

A Moscow arbitration court Friday overturned most of Russian government's tax claims against the British Council , the British government's cultural relations arm, over the organization’s in-country operations in 2004-2006. The claims were made in late 2006 in the midst of strained relations between Russia and the United Kingdom over the demanded extradition of former [...]

The US Supreme Court on Friday vacated a temporary restraining order (TRO) requiring Ohio's secretary of state to establish a system that allows county elections boards to confirm newly registered voters' eligibility. The Court granted a request by Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner to stay the TRO, which was upheld on Tuesday by the [...]

The Russian Foreign Ministry has released a statement downplaying the recent order of provisional measures against both Russia and Georgia by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in respect of the breakaway Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and challenging the court's jurisdiction to proceed to the merits of the case. The ICJ issued [...]

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Thursday ruled that France had violated the human rights of a psychotic inmate by failing to prevent his suicide. The court unanimously found that French authorities had breached Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights by failing to protect Joselito Renolde's right to life and [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) Thursday condemned what it called obstruction and interference by the government of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe in the investigation and prosecution of far-right militias in the country. A new report released by the rights group entitled "Breaking the Grip: Obstacles to Justice for Paramilitary Mafias in Colombia," criticized Uribe's actions with [...]

The European Commission has launched a series of legal actions in the European Court of Justice against EU member states for failures to abide by EU laws, according to press statements released by the Commission on Thursday. Filings ranged from infringement proceedings against Poland and Sweden for failing to fully implement rules providing common conditions [...]