Ousted Pakistani Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry has characterized Pakistan's February parliamentary elections which resulted in the victory of opposition parties now joined in a coalition government as a popular verdict in favor of the country's constitution, abrogated in November when President Pervez Musharraf proclaimed emergency rule in the country and deposed its superior court [...]

Victor Dimaio v. Democratic National Committee, Florida Democratic Party, United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, March 21, 2008 . Read the full text of the opinion . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

The National Assembly of Bulgaria Friday voted 195-15 to approve the new EU reform treaty , properly known as the Treaty of Lisbon . Ten members of the nationalist Ataka party and five independent MPs voted against ratification, calling instead for a nationwide referendum. Bulgaria is the sixth EU member to ratify the treaty, after [...]

A district court in the Netherlands agreed Friday to hear a lawsuit filed by the Dutch Islamic Federation seeking to ban the release of a film that criticizes the Quran. Dutch right-wing lawmaker Geert Wilders plans to release a 15-minute movie titled "Fitna," said to depict Islam in a highly negative light. Dutch officials fear [...]

Protests resumed in the Armenian capital city of Yerevan after the government Friday lifted a 20-day state of emergency imposed earlier this month in the wake of the country's contested presidential election. Armenian President Robert Kocharian declared the state of emergency after protesters demonstrated against the result of the February 19 presidential election in which [...]

Russian prosecutors have opened separate murder investigations after two journalists were found dead Friday. Ilyas Shurpayev , a correspondent for Russia's state-run Channel One , was found dead with stab wounds and a belt around his neck when firefighters responded to a fire, apparently set after the attack. Hours before his death, Shurpayev reportedly made [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Friday dismissed a lawsuit against the Democratic National Committee for refusing to seat Florida's Democratic delegation at its national convention. Florida Democratic Party activist Victor DiMaio brought the lawsuit in September 2007, arguing that under Article II and the Fourteenth Amendment of the US Constitution he [...]

Joe Stork : "The conflict between Israel and Hamas-led forces in the Gaza Strip has taken a terrible toll among civilians. Palestinian rocket attacks that in late February killed one Israeli civilian and wounded others violated the international humanitarian law prohibition against deliberate or indiscriminate attacks against civilians. It is unlawful to fire into populated [...]

A quarter of criminal defendants in Cambodian courts are tortured or coerced into giving confessions, a statistic that has not changed since last year, according to an annual report released Thursday by Center for Social Development (CSD) . The report found that: Although duress is prohibited in Cambodia, CSD found a significant number of cases [...]

Chinese officials have ordered the closure of 25 video-sharing websites in a recent crackdown on Internet content considered pornographic, violent, or a threat to national security, the Chinese State Administration of Radio, Film and Television said Friday. Under rules that went into effect earlier this year, Chinese video-sharing websites must delete and report any content [...]