The War Crimes Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has indicted former Bosnian Muslim military commander Sefik Alic for acting contrary to Article 3(1)(a) of the Third Geneva Conventions by subjecting prisoners to inhuman treatment and depriving them of their life. Alic allegedly took custody of four Serb prisoners from the Army of [...]

Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen issued an executive order Thursday, directing the Tennessee Commissioner of Corrections to conduct a "comprehensive review of the manner in which death sentences are administered… and provide new protocols and related written procedures in administering death sentences in Tennessee" no later than May 2, 2007. Executive Order No. 43 also grants [...]

The Bulgarian National Assembly on Friday adopted amendments to its constitution in an effort to increase the efficiency and transparency of the country's judiciary. The amendments, required for entry to the European Union , were passed on their third reading, 192-28, with six members abstaining. Under the new changes, judges, prosecutors, and state investigators will [...]

Montana filed a lawsuit Thursday against Wyoming in the US Supreme Court for allegedly violating a 1950 agreement allocating water rights to two tributaries of the Yellowstone River. In a motion, complaint and brief , Montana Attorney General Mike McGrath asserted that Wyoming had breached the Yellowstone River Compact by failing to keep consumption of [...]

JURIST Special Guest Columnist Faisal Kutty, vice-chair and counsel to the Canadian Council on American Islamic Relations and a doctoral candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School York University in Toronto where he also practices law, says that Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's apology to Maher Arar provides a unique opportunity to address the erosion of [...]

Liliana Segura : "The Campaign to End the Death Penalty applauds the decision of the North Carolina Medical Board to refuse physician participation in executions, leading Judge Donald Stephens to halt executions in the state. The North Carolina doctors are just the latest in a growing trend of medical professionals who refuse to carry out [...]

Norman J. Broussard et al. v. State Farm Fire and Casualty Company, US District Judge L.T. Senter, US District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, January 31, 2007 . Read the full text of the order . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

US Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald played portions of White House briefing room videos Thursday as the trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby continued. Fitzgerald said the tapes show Libby's eagerness to publicly conceal conversations he had with reporters about CIA official Valerie Plame. US District Judge Reggie B. Walton allowed Fitzgerald to play portions of [...]

Muhammad Salah and Abdelhaleem Ashqar, two of three men indicted in 2004 by a US federal grand jury on charges of engaging in a 15-year conspiracy of providing funds to Hamas , were found not guilty of racketeering Thursday. While the men were exonerated of the most serious crime alleged, they were convicted of lesser [...]

The Eminent Jurist’s Panel (EJP) , an arm of the Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) , announced the results of an inquiry into Russian anti-terrorism efforts Thursday, concluding after two days of public hearings that many recently adopted anti-terrorism laws are curtailing civil rights and leading to state abuses. Of the eight panel members, [...]