Mexican President Felipe Calderon Tuesday signed into law constitutional reforms which provide for public and oral trials, guarantee the presumption of innocence, and guarantee suspects representation by qualified public defenders. According to a press release  from his office, the Calderon said the new reform "offers a transparent system of justice that respects the human rights [...]

Former Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov lost an appeal in the Moscow Court Tuesday to force Russian authorities to register his People for Democracy and Justice party. Russian officials refused to register the party, alleging that the official party membership roster contained invalid names and violated various regulations. Kasyanov denied the existence of any problems [...]

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi wrote Monday that proposed amendments designed to suspend older trials for nonviolent crimes would allow the judiciary to consider more important cases and would give the government time to introduce judicial reforms. The amendments would affect a larger anti-crime package , and if passed would suspend trials for crimes that [...]

Japan carried out its thirteenth execution since Japanese Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama assumed office last August with the hanging of three condemned inmates Tuesday. Tuesday's executions are the latest in an increasing number of executions in the country. In recent years, Japan has experienced a sharp upswing in both violent crime and the perceived risk [...]

The Federal Court of Malaysia ruled Monday that former Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim can challenge the constitutionality of his 1998 removal from office by former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad . Anwar was widely expected to succeed Mahathir as prime minister, but Mahathir dismissed him following disagreement on the handling of the 1997 [...]

Former DOD General Counsel William "Jim" Haynes encouraged the use of harsh interrogation tactics on terror detainees, US Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) said at a Tuesday committee hearing . Refering to Haynes and others, Levin asked: So, how did it come about that American military personnel stripped detainees naked, put [...]

European Union foreign ministers said Monday that member states that have not yet ratified the EU reform treaty , formally known as the Treaty of Lisbon , should continue their ratification processes despite an Irish referendum which rejected the treaty last week . The agreement came during a special meeting held in Luxembourg, where the [...]

Katherine Southwick : "Refugees International (RI) is gravely concerned about actions taken by the Government of Egypt to deport as many as 1,200 asylum-seekers to Eritrea. Since last week, the Egyptian Government has reportedly scheduled several flights to Eritrea, taking the refugees back to the country they fled and where they face almost certain persecution [...]

The UN Security Council Monday issued a short presidential statement calling on Sudan to work with the International Criminal Court (ICC) to "put an end to impunity for the crimes committed in Darfur." Sudan is not a party to the ICC, but must cooperate to fulfill its obligations under Council Resolution 1593 , which established [...]

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown Tuesday spoke in favor of a controversial anti-terror bill that would allow authorities to detain terror suspects without charge for up to 42 days in a speech he presented to the Institute for Public Policy Research . Brown said that stronger safeguards are needed to protect national security: I agree [...]