The Serbian parliament approved a new draft constitution for the country Saturday declaring Kosovo part of Serbia. The parliament's unanimous support for the draft, which still needs to be approved by a majority of voters, reflects the country's opposition to independence for the province. The preamble to the new charter reads:Starting from the fact that [...]

King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand Sunday approved a new 39-article constitution for the country drawn up by the military leaders who seized power from Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in a September 19 coup . The new charter provides for a civilian government but, as anticipated , preserves the military's say in policy through a Council [...]

Iran Sunday condemned a bill signed into law by President Bush Saturday authorizing US sanctions against foreign governments that provide support for Iran's nuclear program or contribute towards the country's armament. The Iran Freedom Support Act , HR 6198, specifically sets out the policy of the United States "not to bring into force an agreement [...]

Secure Fence Act of 2006, HR 6061, passed by the US Senate, September 30, 2006 . Read the full text of the bill . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Jamie McKenzie : "The rulings by Judge Kravitz on the case against Secretary Spellings touched not on the substance of the complaints, but largely on matters of jurisdiction, judicial ripeness and timing, as he argued in the first three counts that the dispute between Connecticut and the Secretary needed to move further through administrative procedures [...]

Australian Attorney General Philip Ruddock , speaking with reporters Friday after meeting with US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and other American officials about the case of Australian Guantanamo detainee David Hicks , said it is unlikely that Hicks will face trial this year. The US has promised that Hicks will be among the first detainees [...]

The US Senate early Saturday morning unanimously ratified the US-UK Extradition Treaty that was negotiated in 2003 and statutorily incorporated into UK law the same year. Earlier this year it was controversially used as the basis for extraditing three UK NatWest backers to the US to face charges in the Enron fraud scandal; a British [...]

Chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia Carla Del Ponte challenged the European Union Friday to fund the war crimes court if UN monies runs dry before the ICTY is able to bring to trial the two most-wanted war criminals indicted by the court, former Bosnian Serb leaders Ratko Mladic and [...]

The US House of Representatives passed a property rights bill Friday night that its proponents say will provide easier access to federal courts for landowners seeking to challenge governmental actions under the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment. The Private Property Rights Implementation Act of 2006 , which the House initially failed to pass on [...]

The US Senate passed the Secure Fence Act of 2006 Friday by a vote of 80-19 , authorizing the construction of a 700-mile fence along the US-Mexico border . President Bush is expected to sign the measure, designed to curb illegal immigration into the United States. A key provision of the bill dictates that the [...]