Brief Amicus Curiae of Former Senior Justice Department Officials, Ali-Saleh Kahlah Al-Marri v. Wright, November 20, 2006 . Read the full text of the brief . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

The UN Security Council Tuesday approved a proposal for an international tribunal to try suspects in the February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri . In a letter from the 15-person body to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the Security Council accepted the terms of the tribunal as agreed upon by Annan and [...]

US Marine Lance Cpl. Jerry E. Shumate Jr. was sentenced to a maximum 21-month confinement Tuesday after pleading guilty at court-martial to aggravated assault and conspiracy to obstruct justice in connection with the alleged murder and kidnapping of an unarmed Iraqi civilian in Hamdania on April 26. More serious murder and kidnapping charges were dropped [...]

Audio recordings of proceedings from several US Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT) hearings conducted at Guantanamo Bay in 2004 were made public for the first time Tuesday by National Public Radio after being released to lawyers for two Guantanamo detainees acting under provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The detainees, Hadj Boudella and [...]

US UN Ambassador John Bolton has urged quick agreement on the creation of an international tribunal to try suspects in the February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri in the aftermath of Tuesday's assassination of anti-Syrian Lebanese Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel, who was gunned down in his car in Beirut. The murder [...]

Nepalese Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and Maoist rebel leader Prachanda signed a peace agreement Tuesday formally ending the decade-long Maoist guerilla insurgency against the government that left over 13,000 people dead. The deal clears the way for Maoists to serve in the country's interim parliament and in the new interim government by December 1. [...]

The Supreme Court of the Democratic Republic of Congo in Kinhasa was set on fire Tuesday by protestors supporting Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba , who on Saturday filed a challenge to the results of last month's presidential run-off election , which he officially lost to incumbent Joseph Kabila by 16 percentage points. Bemba's supporters , [...]

A Fiji High Court judge Tuesday declared a mistrial in the case against former Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka , charged with inciting a military mutiny . Although High Court Justice Gerard Winter did not disclose his reason for declaring a mistrial, local media speculated that the prosecution had failed to fully disclose evidence. The [...]

The tax fraud trial of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and British lawyer David Mills was adjourned Tuesday after the defense applied to have one of the judges taken off the case. Judge Edoardo d'Avossa was involved in other Berlusconi trials, including the "Medusa" case, which resulted in the former prime minister's acquittal on [...]

A judge in the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court on Monday urged prosecutors to either charge hospital workers accused of killing four patients in the wake of Hurricane Katrina or drop the case. Judge Calvin Johnson said he is concerned that no formal indictment has been brought against the workers and said that the case [...]