New Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has told the Polish Parliament that his government will refuse to sign the European Charter of Fundamental Rights , part of the new EU Reform Treaty . Tusk said the decision, which follows a similar statement made earlier this month by the country's foreign minister, was taken out of [...]

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has officially indicated that it will be unable to complete its work before the expiration of its December 2008 mandate. ICTR spokesman Roland Amoussouga made the announcement at a press conference Saturday during the second day of the Commonwealth summit in Uganda, saying that there would be "at [...]

The Bolivian Constitutional Assembly approved the text of a new draft constitution for the country Saturday, according to Constitutional Assembly President Silvia Lazarte. Bolivian President Evo Morales has sought a full rewrite of the country's constitution to facilitate widespread social change since his election as Bolivia's first indigenous president in 2005. The Constitutional Assembly, dominated [...]

The Iraqi parliament Sunday conducted a preliminary reading of a proposed law that would allow former Baath Party members not convicted of any crimes to return to their previously held government positions, participate in the political process, and serve in the civil and military service. Hardline Shiite lawmakers allied with cleric Moqtada al-Sadr noisily rejected [...]

US District Judge Charles R. Breyer of the Northern District of California Friday stayed until March 24 a challenge to the implementation of new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regulations intended to make it more difficult for illegal immigrants to obtain US employment. Breyer granted a government motion seeking to halt the court proceedings while [...]

Letter from French prosecutor Jean-Claude Marin to FIDH lawyer Patrick Boudoin, November 16, 2007 . Read the full text of the letter . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

John Lott : "The District of Columbia's request for cert made a simple argument: Whatever one thinks of the Second Amendment, banning handguns is a "reasonable regulation" to protect public safety. Indeed, most of the city's brief focused on public safety arguments. The problem for the city is that anyone who can look up the [...]

Former chess champion and liberal United Civil Front leader Garry Kasparov was arrested Saturday at a demonstration in Moscow against President Vladimir Putin , two weeks before parliamentary elections. AP reports that Kasparov was sentenced to five days in jail for organizing an unsanctioned protest. He was also charged with resisting arrest, which he denied. [...]

Lawyers across Pakistan's populous Sindh province went on strike Friday to protest President Pervez Musharraf's emergency rule. Lawyers observed a strike call from the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) at the Sindh High Court in Karachi, causing cases to be rescheduled. Sindh lawyers had previously engaged in a token one-hour boycott of lower courts. Pakistan's News [...]

The UN Committee against Torture said Friday it was concerned about ill-treatment and torture of detainees by Uzbekistan law enforcement officials. The committee issued a report concluding a three-week meeting in Geneva where it reviewed the compliance of six countries with the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment [...]