JURIST Special Guest Columnist and British human and medical rights activist Dr. David Nicholl, a neurologist at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, says that the ethical dilemma posed by the continuing involvement of the medical profession in state executions should be resolved by changing the law and eliminating the death penalty once and for all… Doctors [...]

Leading Democrats on Capitol Hill on Thursday demanded that the US Department of Justice (DOJ) hand over two 2005 legal opinions that reportedly endorse severe interrogation techniques . Earlier Thursday, the New York Times first reported that the DOJ circulated internal memos, the first of which was released soon after Alberto Gonzales became US Attorney [...]

The Supreme Court of Canada Thursday ruled that police officers can be held liable for inadequate investigations, in a case that could have major repercussions for the way that Canadian police work is conducted. In a 6-3 decision, judges found that police owe a duty of care to suspects to conduct a conscientious investigation, and [...]

Amnesty International Thursday urged medical professionals worldwide to refrain from participating in executions. In a new report examining the practice of execution by lethal injection , Amnesty said doctors and nurses break their ethical oaths by assisting in lethal injections and urged them to withdraw their cooperation. Amnesty also criticized governments for putting medical personnel [...]

The US Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday voted 15-2 to send a federal shield bill , which would protect reporters from being compelled to disclose confidential sources, to the full Senate for consideration. The Bush administration and the US Department of Justice have continuously opposed the enactment of a federal reporter shield law citing national security [...]

Twenty-three family members and former associates of the late former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet were indicted in Chile Thursday on corruption charges. The 23 suspects include five of Pinochet's children, his widow, his longtime secretary, and three retired army generals. Judge Carlos Cerda said the charges stem from allegations that these individuals aided Pinochet in [...]

Nicholas Phillips , the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, urged Americans to respect human rights and embrace immigrants as a means of fighting international terrorism in an address to the International Law Section of the American Bar Association in London Wednesday. In a speech on the "Impact of Terrorism on the Rule of [...]

US District Judge Gladys Kessler of the DC District Court has ruled that Haji Rohullah , an Afghan citizen detained by the US military at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, is entitled to 30 days advance notice of any proposed transfer from that facility. The ruling signaled at least a temporary victory for detainees being [...]

The US House of Representatives voted 389-30 Thursday in favor of a bill to effectively end the "de facto immunity" enjoyed by many private contractors working for the US in Iraq. While Defense Department contractors are already subject to US court jurisdiction through the 2000 Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA) , the MEJA Expansion and [...]

A Fijian court Thursday began hearing the case brought by former Fijian Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase against Fiji's current acting government over allegations that the December military coup that ousted him was illegal. Central to the government's defense is the constitutional interpretation of the largely ceremonial powers of Fiji's president. A lawyer for Qarase has [...]