JURIST Guest Columnist Don Rothwell of ANU College of Law, Australian National University, says that while passage of the new Military Commissions Act in the United States presents new challenges for Australian Guantanamo detainee David Hicks, it also creates an opportunity for the Australian government to reconsider its erstwhile refusal to press for the protection [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday upheld a $10,000 fine levied by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) against a US man who willfully violated the 1990-2003 international embargo against Iraq to deliver medicine and other humanitarian supplies. Bertram Sacks sued OFAC , challenging the OFAC's ability to [...]

A new child labor law , which criminalizes the hiring of children under the age of 14 as house servants or restaurant workers , took effect in India on Tuesday. Offending employers are eligible for a maximum penalty of a year in prison and a $217 fine. Proponents of the law say it will encourage [...]

Nigerian Vice-President Atiku Abubakar was charged Tuesday with more than a dozen counts of corruption. The charges filed before the Code of Conduct Tribunal, a special corruption court that has the power to strip elected officials of immunity, were related to the alleged diversion of $125 million dollars of public money to private interests, as [...]

Lawyers representing the estate of former Enron chairman Ken Lay have filed papers asking US District Judge Sim Lake to rule on a nearly two-month-old request to clear Lay’s record , dismissing his 2004 indictment and subsequent conviction . In 2004, the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in US v. Estate of Andrew [...]

The whereabouts and fate of at least 40 prisoners captured by Canadian forces in and around Afghanistan and later transferred to local or US authorities since the invasion of the country by US-led forces in 2001 is unknown, according to a Canadian newspaper report. Montreal's La Presse learned about the handovers of the uncharged detainees [...]

Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) began hearing public testimony Tuesday, with several people testifying about the crimes and abuse that occurred during the country's 14-year civil war . One man testified that he was taken by rebel forces as a child soldier to help with terror raids around the country, while another explained how [...]

Lee Boyd Malvo pleaded guilty Tuesday to six Maryland murders that occurred during a three-week shooting spree in the Washington, DC area in 2002. A sentencing hearing for the pleas will occur on November 6, when Malvo is expected to receive six life sentences. Maryland prosecutors say that Malvo is seeking a deal in which [...]

The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in United States v. Resendiz-Ponce , 05-998, a case that asks justices to decide whether leaving an element of a crime out of an indictment is harmless error. Juan Resendiz-Ponce was deported because of a kidnapping conviction but was subsequently convicted after attempting to re-enter the United [...]

Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said Tuesday that his government will lift martial law "as soon as we can and when the situation is suitable." The promise came during the first cabinet meeting of the new government, which was installed Monday after receiving approval of Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Human rights groups and the US [...]