The Belgian Chamber , the lower house of parliament, approved a bill on Friday that will allow same-sex couples to legally adopt children. The bill must pass approval by the Belgian Senate before becoming law. The Senate is expected to hold hearings on the bill in March. If approved, Belgium would become the third European [...]

Leading Friday's international brief, the Ugandan government has rejected a call by the Pan African Parliament (PAP) to release Kizza Besigye as illegal and contrary to the aims of the African Union and the PAP. Ugandan government Spokesman and State Minister for Information Dr. James Nsaba Buturo told reporters Friday that the PAP's demand that [...]

Belgium Justice Minister Laurette Onkelinx said Thursday that Belgian anti-terror raids held Tuesday night, which resulted in 15 arrests , were accelerated in order to stem the effects of a leak reported in the French media. Authorities in France, led by French Justice Minister Pascal Clement , have begun an investigation into the leak which [...]

European Union justice and security ministers announced the adoption of a new anti-terror strategy and action plan at an EU Council meeting in Brussels Thursday. The UK-sponsored proposal is intended to fight radicalization and the recruitment of potential supporters into terrorist groups throughout Europe, and is a response to the terrorist bombings in Madrid (March [...]

Minister of Home Affairs and Another v Fourie and Another, Constitutional Court of South Africa, December 1, 2005 . Read the full text of the judgment . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Jordan's King Abdullah II has urged the Jordanian parliament to quickly approve new anti-terrorism legislation, drafted two weeks ago in the wake of last month's hotel bombing that left 57 people dead. During the Thursday opening of the third parliamentary session since 2003 elections, King Abdullah II said that "we do realize that Jordan's location, [...]

Convicted drug trafficker and Australian citizen Van Tuong Nguyen was executed by Singapore Thursday, despite a strong plea for clemency submitted by the Australian government to the president of Singapore. Nguyen was caught with 14 ounces of heroin at Singapore's Changi Airport in 2002, a crime invoking a mandatory death sentence under the Misuse of [...]

Conrad Black , press baron and former chairman of Hollinger International, pleaded not guilty to eight fraud charges during his arraignment in Chicago Thursday. Along with other former Hollinger executives, he is accused by the US government of diverting more than $80 million from Hollinger International and its shareholders during Hollinger's $2.1 billion sale of [...]

Leading Thursday's environmental law news, James Hardie Industries signed an agreement Thursday with the government of New South Wales to pay $4.5 billion to compensate Australian asbestos victims. Hardie, a building products company, will make payments capped at no more than 35 percent of the company's cash flow in any year into a compensation fund [...]

The Bush Administration Thursday asked the US DC Circuit Court of Appeals to reinstate the US Defense Department's mandatory anthrax vaccination program . The anthrax vaccine is currently labeled for use by individuals who are at high risk for exposure to the disease; however, the Bush Administration argued that that definition is broad enough to [...]