Salim Ahmed Hamdan was sentenced Thursday to five and a half years in prison following his conviction Wednesday of providing material support for terrorism through his association with Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders. Hamdan had pleaded for leniency after apologizing for the deaths caused by his counterparts, and was given credit for [...]

Former Enron executives convicted on charges related to the 2001 accounting scandal may be eligible for new trials, depending on the outcome of an appeal by former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling . Skilling was convicted under a theory of "deprivation of honest services," which allows for the prosecution of people who enabled fraud but did [...]

Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom on Thursday signed into law a new constitution for the country, providing for multi-party elections, an independent judiciary, and a more powerful legislature. The constitution also provides a number of enumerated rights for citizens and establishes several special commissions on issues including human rights and corruption. The document was drafted [...]

Pakistan's coalition government said Thursday that it would push to impeach current President Pervez Musharraf , a move that would require the endorsement of two-thirds of legislators in a joint session of parliament. Pakistan People's Party (PPP) head Asif Ali Zardari said Thursday that Musharraf had given a "clear commitment" to step down from office [...]

Carrie Cecil, Pitt Law '10, files from Kiev: In countries with stable legal systems, it would be nearly unthinkable to choose foreign law for a contract between two parties from the same country, but in Ukraine, this is common practice. Due to corruption in the court system and the instability of Ukrainian laws, attorneys are [...]

Elisa Mari, Pitt Law '10, files from Athens: The term lesbian comes from the Greek name of the Aegean Island of Lesvos. The island, known for its beautiful beaches and unspoiled landscapes, is also famous for being the island of the Ancient Greek female poet Sappho. Many scholars believe that Sappho's work was about the [...]

A Pennsylvania judge has ruled to allow Christian foster parent organization Bair Foundation to proceed with its lawsuit against the well-known law firm Reed Smith , rejecting four preliminary challenges by Reed Smith. The lawsuit alleges that Reed Smith overcharged Bair for representation in an employment discrimination lawsuit, billing Bair almost one million dollars despite [...]

Howard Berman (D-CA), Chairman of the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee , released a letter obtained by JURIST on Thursday in which he urged the Bush administration to postpone an international nuclear trade deal with India until the country is required to provide permanent security to nuclear facilities and stop nuclear weapons testing. [...]

Sara Burhan Abdullah, Pitt Law LLM '08, files from Sulaimaniya: A recent incident showed me that while the Iraqi Constitution has a great deal of material from which a society based on equality of the sexes can be built, there are significant legal and cultural obstacles to obtaining that goal. I left Iraq to go [...]

Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim on Thursday pleaded not guilty to sodomy charges based on allegations by a former aide. The presiding judge ordered Anwar released on bail, ruling that he was not a flight risk. Anwar has denied the accusations, saying that they are part of a government campaign to to upset his plans [...]