The co-chair of Pakistan's governing Pakistan People's Party (PPP) pleaded for calm Thursday with members of the nation's vocal lawyers' movement, cautioning that "hidden forces" could seize on any perceived unrest to reimpose martial law and destroy democracy in Pakistan. Speaking to members of the People's Lawyers Forum (PLF), Asif Ali Zardari reiterated his support [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Wednesday ruled to remand a set of consolidated tort claims brought against military contractors in Iraq, holding that further factual development is necessary before determining whether the cases were nonjusticiable political questions. The plaintiffs allege that military contractor Halliburton and then-subsidiary Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR) [...]

California Deputy State Registrar and Chief of the Office of Vital Records Janet McKee issued a memorandum Wednesday setting June 17 as the start date for issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The California Supreme Court's May 15 ruling in In re Marriage Cases overturned a ban on same-sex marriage. After June 17, county clerks [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Wes Rist of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law says that the recent creation of a Ugandan war crimes court to deal with alleged war crimes committed by the Lord’s Resistance Army is not a challenge to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, but is actually a victory for the [...]

Zubair Butt Hussai : "It is with great regret and indignation that it has come to our knowledge that the Danish government now wishes to intervene in the Administration of Justice Act . The government has chosen to disregard all reasonable arguments and traditions of freedom in Denmark under the guise of a need for [...]

Diplomats reached an agreement Wednesday on a draft treaty banning the use, manufacture, and stockpiling of cluster munitions following ten days of negotiation at the Dublin Diplomatic Conference on Cluster Munitions . The treaty forbids signatories from acting in a way that would assist, encourage, or induce "anyone to engage in any activity prohibited" under [...]

Courtney E. Jones : "Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia welcomes the US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals' decision to strike down Virginia's burdensome ban on late-term abortions. The Court stated that the onerous 2003 law "imposes an undue burden on a woman's right to obtain an abortion." This is the second time Virginia has disregarded [...]

Draft treaty to ban the use, manufacture, and stockpiling of cluster munitions as agreed at the Dublin Diplomatic Conference on Cluster Munitions, May 28, 2008. Read the full text of the draft treaty . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

PHS Community Services Society v. Attorney General of Canada, Supreme Court of British Columbia, May 27, 2008 . Read the full text of the opinion . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Amnesty International Report 2008: the state of the world's human rights, Amnesty International, May 28, 2008 . Read the full text of the report . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.