US Army Lt. Col. Mark Keith, the investigating officer with recommending whether 1st Lt. Ehren Watada will face a military trial for refusing to deploy to Iraq, will recommend Friday that Watada face court-martial on charges of missing his unit's movement, contempt toward officials, and conduct unbecoming an officer. A spokesman for Fort Lewis said [...]

The US Defense Department said Thursday that Murat Kurnaz , a Turkish citizen who is also a legal resident of Germany, has been transferred from Guantanamo Bay into German custody. Kurnaz's release, which was expected , comes at the recommendation of a Guantanamo Administrative Review Board . The panel recommended last year that Kurnaz be [...]

In re: Nomination Paper of Ralph Nader and Peter Michael Camejo as Candidates of an Independent Political Body for President and Vice President in the General Election of November 2, 2004, Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, August 22, 2006 . Read the full text of the opinion . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

The US Second Circuit Court of Appeals Thursday upheld the constitutional authority of the US president to regulate financial transactions with foreign countries involving the United States. The court rejected a claim by a Jordanian man, Osameh Al Wahaidy , that former President George H.W. Bush improperly invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to [...]

British police charged 24-year-old Umair Hussain Thursday with failing to disclose information that could have prevented a terrorist attack, specifically an alleged plan to blow up US-bound planes over the Atlantic. Hussain is the 12th suspect charged in connection with the reportedly-thwarted plot. Crown prosecutors charged eight British Muslims Monday with conspiracy to murder and [...]

A Burundi politician whose statements about an alleged coup plot to overthrow the African nation's government led to a security crackdown told radio stations on Thursday that he was tortured by the Burundi police and intelligence bureau Documentation Nationale and threatened with death if he did not tell the intelligence service that a coup plot [...]

A judge in Kentucky Thursday dismissed with prejudice charges against Gov. Ernie Fletcher in the wake of a settlement agreement, meaning that prosecutors are barred from continuing the criminal case against Fletcher in connection with alleged corrupt hiring practices. Fletcher pleaded not guilty in June to charges of criminal conspiracy, official misconduct and political discrimination [...]

South Africa's cabinet on Thursday sent a civil unions bill to the parliament that would place same-sex partnerships on equal footing with traditional marriages. The parliament is expected to approve the bill, which was mandated by a December 2005 ruling of the South African Constitutional Court holding that the 1961 Marriage Act prohibition against same-sex [...]

Jordan Paust : "Recent litigation re: GTMO detainees in a Circuit Court has raised the issue whether the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) is relevant to requirements of the 1949 Geneva Conventions that provide detainee rights and Executive duties. As noted in a previous JURIST Forum essay, Not Authorized By Law: Domestic [...]

Negotiators for Maoist rebels in the Nepal constitutional talks expressed reservations Thursday that the draft interim constitution, to be presented Friday, does not address the key issue of whether the new government should retain elements of the former monarchical system. The six-person Interim Constitution Drafting Committee (ICDC) was formed in July in an historic contract [...]