Washington, DC Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and Attorney General Linda Singer announced Monday that the city will appeal a ruling invalidating the District of Columbia's handgun ban to the US Supreme Court. The city has until August 7th to file an appeal with the high court and will be able to maintain the handgun ban [...]

Lawyers and human rights advocates called for more rigid procedures governing the investigation of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines at a Monday conference organized by the Supreme Court of the Philippines . Edelina dela Paz, chairwoman of human rights group Karapatan , called for a stronger witness protection program, pointing to the murder of a [...]

US District Judge Lewis Kaplan Monday dismissed charges against 13 of 16 defendants in an ongoing criminal tax shelters case against former employees of the accounting firm KPMG , ruling that federal prosecutors violated the constitutional rights of the defendants by pressuring KPMG not to pay for the defendants' legal fees. Kaplan wrote that the [...]

A bipartisan group of 44 former US state attorneys general have asked the US House and Senate Judiciary Committees to investigate whether the prosecution of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman (D) , was politically motivated, according to Monday reports. Last month, Alabama attorney Jill Simpson, who had worked on the campaign of Siegelman's opponent, current [...]

Pakistani government lawyer Sharifuddin Pirzada informed the Supreme Court of Pakistan Monday that prosecutors are dismissing a single charge of judicial misconduct against suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry . Pirzada said that President Pervez Musharraf made the decision, but did not specify the reasons behind it. Other unspecified charges of misconduct are still being [...]

A spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Monday confirmed the impending Israeli release of 250 Palestinian prisoners belonging to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Movement and other minor factions. The release, approved by the Israeli cabinet last Sunday and expected to take place Friday, is an effort to strengthen the moderate Fatah against the [...]

An Ethiopian court sentenced 35 opposition members to life in prison Monday for their roles in mass anti-government demonstrations . The opposition members, five of whom were sentenced in absentia were convicted last month of treason and inciting violence. Prosecutors had sought the death penalty . The court also sentenced six opposition members to sentences [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled Monday that spouses and unmarried partners of women who face inhumane treatment under rigid Chinese population control measures do not automatically qualify for asylum in the United States. The court said section 601(a) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 explicitly [...]

United States of America v. Jeffrey Stein, et al., US District Court for the Southern District of New York, July 16, 2007 . Read the full text of the decision . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Six opposition members and former constitutional delegates have criticized the efforts of the military government of Myanmar to reconvene negotiations on a new constitution . The six accused the military junta Sunday of handpicking most of the delegates to the country's National Convention to ensure it remains in power. Khun Myint Tun, a National League [...]