Judge Thomas E. Connolly of the Massachusetts Suffolk County Superior Court has ruled that the marriages of more than 170 same-sex couples from New York who married in Massachusetts before the New York Court of Appeals upheld a ban on New York same-sex marriage on July 6, 2006, are valid because a 1913 Massachusetts statute [...]

Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada , one of Pakistan's most renowned lawyers, presented the government's case against ousted Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry Wednesday to a panel of Supreme Court judges. Dismissing Chaudhry's claims that his March 9 suspension order was illegal and that Pakistan's Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) lacked competence to try him, Pirzada cited several [...]

US Ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad said Tuesday that the US will submit a draft resolution to the UN Security Council to establish a tribunal under Chapter VII of the UN Charter to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri . According to Khalilzad, the US decided to [...]

A panel of three judges on the London Court of Appeal Criminal Division reduced the sentence of convicted bomb plotter Dhiren Barot from a minimum of 40 years to life to 30 years to life Wednesday because Barot's conspiracy did not amount to an actual attempt and it was unclear whether the plot was viable. [...]

Nine defendants in the 2004 Madrid train bombings trial indicated in court Wednesday that they have begun a hunger strike, joining four other defendants who initiated the hunger strike last Thursday. The thirteen defendants are among eighteen who remain in custody during the trial, while eleven other defendants have been released on bail. Judge Javier [...]

Fifty-six former Harvard Law School classmates of US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales have signed an open letter published Tuesday, rebuking Gonzales for his "failure to stand for the rule of law" and failure at doing "the tough job of providing independent counsel" and urging Gonzales "to restore respect for the rule of law." The letter, [...]

Jonathan Samkange, senior lawyer for the legal team defending Simon Mann in his extradition proceedings, was released by Harare police in Zimbabwe Wednesday after being arrested Monday night for alleged violations of Zimbabwe's Immigration Act . Following applications by fellow lawyers seeking to have charges against Samkange clarified, Harare magistrate Lazarus Murendo ordered the lawyer [...]

A crisis meeting of top British judges Tuesday called for constitutional protections in the face of the British government's creation of a new Ministry of Justice . Members of the Judge's Council and judges on the UK executive judicial board agreed to press their case with new UK Secretary of State for Justice Lord Falconer [...]

A High Court in Kenya has denied government objections to a civil lawsuit brought by family members of the 365 confirmed victims of the 1984 Wagalla Massacre by Kenyan security forces. The Kenyan government had filed a motion seeking to dismiss the civil suit on the grounds that the plaintiffs lacked legal standing to initiate [...]

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger submitted a capital punishment proposal Tuesday in an effort to persuade US District Judge Jeremy Fogel to lift a moratorium on executions in the state. The proposal includes the construction of a new execution chamber and a revised protocol on the procedure for lethal injections in the state. Speaking on the [...]