The US Department of Justice (DOJ) said Wednesday that it had mistakenly failed to brief the Supreme Court on the existence of a military law allowing capital punishment for child rape before the court decided the case of Kennedy v. Louisiana . In Kennedy, the court held 5-4 that a death sentence constitutes cruel and [...]

The US Department of Defense (DOD) announced Wednesday that it will transfer two Guantanamo detainees to Algeria. The unnamed individuals are among the more than 65 Guantanamo detainees that government officials have declared eligible for transfer. About 265 detainees remain at the base. Algerian Justice Minister Tayeb Belaiz indicated in March that officials from his [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Wednesday reversed a district court ruling and found that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may qualify as a disability under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 . The plaintiff in the case, Martin Desmond, alleged that he was forced to resign from the FBI New Agent [...]

The International Criminal Court (ICC) Wednesday ordered the release of Congolese ex-militia leader Thomas Lubanga after finding that past prosecutorial misconduct would prevent him from having a fair trial. The release order will go into effect in five days, barring an appeal by prosecutors and assuming the completion of transfer arrangements with a "state that [...]

Aleksandra (Sasha) Williams, Pitt Law '10, files from Kiev: The whole is often greater than the sum of its parts, especially if some of those parts do not make it into a suitcase during a 20 minute frantic packing effort with the airport taxi already waiting outside. Thus, a digital camera missing a battery charger [...]

Washington DC police are launching a new voluntary program to reduce the number of guns in the city after the US Supreme Court ruled last month that a city ban on private handgun ownership violated the Second Amendment to the US Constitution. Under the Safe Homes Initiative , police will ask residents for permission to [...]

Belgium's Court of Cassation Tuesday approved the transfer of former Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba to the International Criminal Court (ICC) where he will face prosecution for war crimes. Bemba, who was arrested by Belgian authorities in May, had challenged the move by alleging that authorities did not follow proper procedures. [...]

Private security contractors operating in Iraq will no longer receive immunity from prosecution under a US-Iraqi agreement now in negotiation, Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told AFP Tuesday. Contractors have worked largely above the law due to legal loopholes because the US government exempted its employees and contractors from Iraqi law when Iraq was still under [...]

ICE Policies Related to Detainee Deaths and the Oversight of Immigration Detention Facilities, US Department of Homeland Security – Office of the Inspector General, June 11, 2008 . Read the full text of the report . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

The Cambodian lawyer representing former Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu Samphan before the Extraordinary Chambers of the Court of Cambodia (ECCC) resigned Tuesday, citing health problems. Some have speculated that Say Bory's resignation is related to controversial tactics employed by French co-counsel Jacques Verges . In February, Verges said that Samphan was ending his [...]