Spokesmen for European governments Tuesday publicly deplored the way the execution of Saddam Hussein was conducted, adding criticism of the process revealed by an unofficial video – and the making of the video itself with a camera phone – to their previous criticism of the application of the death penalty in the case. The official [...]

A New Jersey state commission recommended Tuesday that the state abolish the death penalty, replacing it with a life sentence without the possibility of parole. A report endorsed by 12 of the 13 members of the New Jersey Death Penalty Commission concluded that there was "no compelling evidence that the New Jersey death penalty rationally [...]

JURIST Contributing Editor Nancy Rapoport of the University of Houston Law Center says that recent revelations about stock option backdating at Apple Computer suggest that it may be time for corporate board members even in the most highly-respected companies to make some needed New Year's resolutions to protect their enterprises, their reputations, and their investors… [...]

JURIST Contributing Editor David Crane of Syracuse University College of Law, former Chief Prosecutor for the UN Special Court for Sierra Leone, says that the execution of Saddam Hussein for crimes against humanity brought to a close a watershed year for international justice characterized by only tempered success… A trapdoor in Baghdad swung open on [...]

New UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday that resolving the crisis in Darfur was "very high" on his agenda and would be one of his top priorities. Ban, whose tenure as secretary-general officially began Monday, said that he has already spoken to Jan Eliasson, former UN General Assembly President and current Special Representative for Sudan [...]

A top Iraqi legal official whose presence at the Saddam execution was required by law told Reuters Tuesday that he threatened to walk out of the execution after Shiite supporters began jeering the ousted leader. Munkith al-Faroon said that hecklers began chanting support for militant Shiite cleric and head of the Mehdi Army militia Moqtada [...]

Massachusetts lawmakers Tuesday pushed forward a proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. Sixty-two members of the Massachusetts legislature voted for the measure and 132 against on a second vote, putting it 12 votes over the 50 vote threshold it needed to stay alive for further consideration by the next legislative session, which can then put [...]

Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi said Tuesday that he would push the United Nations to adopt a universal ban on the death penalty after this weekend's execution of Saddam Hussein . Italy, which assumed a two-year non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council Monday, was one of 85 UN member states that in December joined [...]

Australian Attorney General Phillip Ruddock said Tuesday that Australian Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks will be among the first of the Guantanamo detainees to be brought to trial before new US military commissions. In a news conference , Ruddock said that US counterpart Alberto Gonzales had assured him that Hicks would be charged soon after [...]

A government official in Nepal said Tuesday that the country's interim constitution will be promulgated by the middle of January when the requisite arms management process outlined in the Nepalese peace plan begins. Nepal's House of Representatives must first approve the interim constitution, which simultaneously provides for the creation of an interim parliament and the [...]