The Superior Court of Quebec has ruled that some 20,000 cattle breeders can proceed with their class action lawsuit against the federal government of Canada for its handling of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) , otherwise known as "mad cow" disease . The suit, which could eventually include over 100,000 farmers, alleges that the Canadian government [...]

A White House spokesperson Sunday disputed claims by retired US Army Major General Antonio Taguba that President Bush "had to be aware" of the prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib before the photos of US interrogators abusing prisoners surfaced in April 2004, insisting that Bush first learned about the abuse on television. In an interview with [...]

Prominent human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith said Sunday he expects detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay to be closed after US President George Bush leaves office next year, adding that the recent dismissal of military commission charges against detainees Omar Khadr and Salim Ahmed Hamdan were "another nail in the coffin for Guantanamo." Smith also [...]

The US Supreme Court handed down decisions in three cases Monday, including Credit Suisse First Boston v. Billing , where the Court held that federal antitrust laws do not apply to a case where investors filed a class action lawsuit against underwriters and institutional investors for their alleged manipulation of initial public offerings. The Court [...]

UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) chair Luis Alfonso de Alba urged the 47-member body Sunday to approve a series of reforms designed to mandate periodic review of all UN member states. De Alba called for the internal rules to be adopted by the conclusion of the 5th session of the Human Rights Council on Monday, [...]

The Japanese Supreme Court has rejected the appeals of Chinese nationals seeking compensation for being forced to work in Japan as slave laborers during World War II, ruling that Japan's 20-year statute of limitations barred their claims. The 42 original plaintiffs, only half of whom are still alive, filed suit in 1997 seeking compensation from [...]

Thousands of Pakistanis cheered in support of suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry as he arrived in Faisalabad Sunday, completing a two-day procession from Islamabad. Speaking to the crowd, Chaudhry once again called for a more independent judiciary. He said: "The organs of the state cannot function properly unless there is separation of powers as [...]

Montenegro authorities Sunday arrested Vlastimir Djordjevic , a former Serbian police general, for the murder and persecution of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo in 1999. According to Djordjevic's indictment, he and six other high-ranking Serb officials are accused of the forced deportation of 800,000 Kosovars and the killings of hundreds of ethnic Albanians who had "no [...]

Anthony D'Amato : "Russia is the only Western power that champions Serbia's territorial claim over Kosovo. All other nations want independence for the former Serbian province. As I argued in a previous editorial for JURIST on this subject, I see no basis whatsoever in law for the UN Security Council's assertion of power to dispose [...]

Vietnamese state media Saturday reported the release of 36-year-old lawyer and political dissident Le Quoc Quan , the second pro-democracy dissident released by the Vietnamese government ahead of President Nguyen Minh Tribet's June visit to the United States. Quan, who has detained since March 8, was charged with violating Article 88 of the Vietnamese criminal [...]