Pakistani police and security services detained hundreds of lawyers, rights activists and opposition figures Saturday and Sunday in a clampdown following President Pervez Musharraf's Saturday proclamation of emergency rule . Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said Sunday that up to 500 people had been arrested in the previous 24-hour period. Among the current detainees are former [...]

New Pakistan Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar Sunday effectively set aside dismissed Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry's last-ditch attempt to block President Pervez Musharraf's Saturday emergency declaration and Provisional Constitution Order (PCO) , saying that the Supreme Court of Pakistan had issued no order on the matters. A declaration issued Saturday by an 8-member Supreme Court [...]

Order, Supreme Court of Pakistan, November 3, 2007 . Read the full text of the order . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

JURIST Contributing Editor Ali Khan of Washburn University School of Law says General Pervez Musharraf's declaration of emergency in Pakistan has created a situation of lawlessness in the country that may actually prompt another military coup… On November 3, Pakistan took its turn at playing the Dark Future — a lawless game of alternate reality, [...]

JURIST Special Guest Columnist Faisal Naseem Chaudhry, an advocate of the Lahore High Court in Lahore, Pakistan, says that the greatest danger to law and the constitution in Pakistan in the wake of General Pervez Musharraf's declaration of emergency rule is not the much-maligned judiciary, but the military dictator himself and those who would support [...]

Basil Nabi Malik : "An 8 member bench of the Supreme Court has held as illegal and unconstitutional the Proclamation of Emergency and the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) issued today by the Chief of Army Staff. The Supreme Court restrained the Government of Pakistan, composed of the President and Prime Minister of Pakistan, from undertaking [...]

Provisional Constitution Order No. 1 (PCO), Pakistan Chief of the Army Staff General Pervez Musharraf, November 3, 2007 . ——————– PROVISIONAL CONSTITUTION ORDER In pursuance of the Proclamation of the 3rd day of November, 2007, and in exercise of all powers enabling him in that behalf, the Chief of Army Staff under the Proclamation of [...]

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf defended his decision to suspend the country's constitution and impose emergency rule in a nationwide radio and television address delivered late Saturday local time. Musharraf said the step had been "painful" but because of an ongoing clash between the government and the judiciary the government system was "semi-paralyzed" even in the [...]

Proclamation of Emergency, General Pervez Musharraf, November 3, 2007 . Read the full text of the proclamation . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

US President George W. Bush praised attorney general nominee Micheal Mukasey in his weekly radio address on Saturday, predicting that the former federal judge would be confirmed by the Senate on Tuesday. Bush specifically defended Mukasey's stance on waterboarding , saying that because "the program" was classified, Mukasey was not in a position to give [...]