The American Bar Association (ABA) House of Delegates adopted new policies Monday reforming the Model Code of Judicial Conduct to limit certain political activities of judges. The adopted rules include a prohibition on campaign promises regarding cases that a judge may later hear and guidelines for receiving gifts. The new guideines also changed the old [...]

The South Dakota House State Affairs committee has approved a new bill that would criminalize abortions in the state, but grant exceptions for rape, aggravated incest and to prevent the death of the mother. According to the bill, "the state has a right and duty to protect the life of the unborn child, and to [...]

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) has urged Nepal to adopt an amendment in its interim constitution creating a fully independent judiciary. In a letter to Subhash Nemwang, the speaker of the Parliament, ICJ General Secretary Nicholas Howen recommended amending the interim constitution to clearly state that the judiciary is to be independent. The ICJ [...]

A British judge issued a ruling Tuesday in the case of seven British soldiers facing court-martial for charges relating to the abuse of Iraqi detainees. Justice Stuart McKinnon ordered the ruling to remain private, however, until it is read to a military board of officers acting as a jury. Since the courts-martial against the soldiers [...]

Draft legislation granting the District of Columbia a vote in the US House of Representatives is most likely unconstitutional, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) made public Monday. Article I, Section 2, Clause 1 of the US Constitution says: "The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second [...]

A top legal advisor to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) reported Tuesday that a German law protecting Volkswagen , Europe's largest carmaker, from takeovers is protectionist and should be repealed. Advocate General Damaso Ruiz-Jarabo said a law that prevents any shareholder from exercising more than 20 percent of the carmaker's voting rights, no matter [...]

The Mexican Senate will vote Wednesday on a bill to reduce the punishment for possessing "personal use" amounts of certain drugs for first-time offenders, Mexican lawmakers announced Monday. The bill imposes only a fine on first-time offenders found in possession of 1 gram or less of drugs like marijuana. According to Mexican Senator and Senate [...]

Republic of Guinea President Lansana Conte declared martial law Monday after several days of violence left at least 27 dead. The rioting began Saturday after Conte appointed a close ally from the Guinea cabinet, Eugene Camara, as prime minister. Opposition leaders said the appointment violated an agreement struck with trade unions last month to share [...]

Russian military prosecutors said Monday that they plan to launch a probe into allegations that young men serving their mandatory military conscription period are being forced into prostitution by fellow soldiers. The Union of Soldiers' Mothers Committees , a soldiers' rights group, brought the allegations to light by telling the story of an anonymous soldier [...]

Chicago Sun-Times columnist Robert Novak testified Monday that former vice-presidential aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby did not leak to him the identity of former undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame . Both Novak and Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward testified that it was former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage who had told them about Plame's [...]