UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour Monday criticized the weekend imposition of a state of emergency in Pakistan, saying that she was "alarmed by the suspension of fundamental rights" in the country. The former Canadian Supreme Court justice also questioned the propriety of imposing emergency rule in the face of alleged judicial interference [...]

The US House Judiciary Committee submitted a report Monday to the House clerk accusing White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten and former White House legal counsel Harriet Miers of contempt for repeatedly failing to comply with subpoenas relating to the committee's investigation into the US Attorneys firing scandal . The White House responded that [...]

A suspect implicated in the July, 21 2005 failed bomb attacks on London's subway and bus systems pleaded guilty Monday and was sentenced to six years and nine months imprisonment. Adel Yahya, who had previously been on trial in July for conspiracy to murder, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of collecting information useful for [...]

The US Supreme Court on Monday granted certiorari in Arave v. Hoffman (07-110) to consider whether a death row inmate in Idaho should be able to accept a plea bargain after his conviction based on an argument that the deal was rejected because of bad advice from his lawyer. Convicted of murder in 1989, Maxwell [...]

Former US Attorney General John Ashcroft said in a Monday New York Times op-ed that he supports granting retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that complied with government requests for phone records following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Ashcroft's comments come as the Senate Judiciary Committee is considering the FISA Amendments Act of 2007 , [...]

Pakistani security services pressed ahead with arrests of leading lawyers across Pakistan Monday as the government sought to suppress dissent against Saturday's declaration of emergency rule by President Pervez Musharraf. In addition to hundreds arrested after riot police clashed with lawyers at the Lahore High Court , at least 25 lawyers in Karachi – including [...]

Parliamentary elections in Pakistan will be held in mid-January as scheduled, despite Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's weekend proclamation of emergency rule , Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said Monday. Aziz's comments came amid fears that the elections would be postponed because of the imposition of emergency rule and ensuing demonstrations by Pakistani lawyers throughout the [...]

A Pakistani law student from the Lahore University of Management Sciences describes the clash between lawyers and riot police at the Lahore High Court Monday: "Today, November 5th, the lawyers of Pakistan were to boycott the courts and protest at the promulgation of emergency and the issuance of the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO). What transpired [...]

Eleven more detainees have been transferred from Guantanamo Bay , the US Defense Department said Sunday. According to the DOD announcement, eight detainees were transferred to Afghanistan and three were transferred to Jordan. The names of the eleven men were not released. In October, another six detainees were transferred to Afghanistan . With the transfer, [...]

Italian opposition leader and former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Sunday urged Italy to ban Romanian workers from entering Italy, while conservative ally Gianfranco Fini suggested that Italy should expel 20,000 Romanian workers in response to a wave of violent crimes blamed on foreigners. Romanian workers have been detained in several recent crimes, and statisticians [...]