Saddam Hussein was formally charged Monday with murder, torture and illegally arresting 399 people in Dujail as part of a crackdown in the town after an assassination attempt on Hussein's life. Hussein's trial began in October, but under Iraqi criminal law , defendants are not formally charged until after the prosecution has presented its evidence. [...]

Leading Monday's international brief, several civil and human rights groups have criticized the Indonesian government for its refusal to prosecute former Indonesian dictator General Suharto . Public officials say that Suharto's continuing medical problems keep him from being competent to stand trial, but civil rights groups contend that the government is refusing to follow through [...]

Leading UK human rights lawyers and activists are protesting the Blair government’s readiness to limit the application of the Human Rights Act in the wake of a High Court decision last week that permitted nine Afghan hijackers to remain in the UK. Speaking to the Guardian newspaper late Sunday, Anthony Lester QC , a Liberal [...]

Stephen Hadley , President Bush’s national security advisor, defended the recently-exposed government program to collect data on private phone calls Sunday on CBS's Face the Nation, saying that it was legal and narrowly tailored. He said that the program does not involve listening to individual phone conversations, since its aim is to reveal terrorist-linked patterns [...]

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has sent a letter to new Home Secretary John Reid suggesting that "we…need to look again at whether primary legislation is needed to address the issue of Court rulings which over-rule the Government in a way that is inconsistent with other EU countries interpretation of the European Convention on Human [...]

The Supreme Court of Israel on Sunday issued a 6-5 decision upholding the legality the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law , which limits the rights of Palestinians to live in Israel. The law, passed by the Knesset in 2002, allows only Palestinian women 25 years or older and men 35 years or older to [...]

US Vice President Dick Cheney and his legal advisor and current chief of staff David S. Addington argued after Sept. 11 that the National Security Agency should listen in on domestic phone calls and emails without warrants, the New York Times reported Sunday, citing two senior intelligence sources. During debates regarding the legality of such [...]

Over 10,000 pro-immigrant protesters marched through Paris on Saturday to demonstrate against a proposed immigration bill that would effectively allow border officials to choose who will be admitted into the country. Specifically, the bill creates a "competence and talent" card that would identify "assets for the development and influence of France" possessed by the cardholder. [...]

Notice of appeal by Zacarias Moussaoui of order denying motion by Zacarias Moussaoui to withdraw guilty plea, and judgment, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, May 12, 2006. Read the full text of Moussaoui's notice of appeal . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

A spokesman for Thailand's three highest courts Saturday called for the current members of the country's much-maligned Election Commission to resign ahead of new elections ordered earlier this week by the country's Constitutional Court after the results of the April 2 general election were annulled . Press reports quoted Virat Chinvinijkul as saying "Chaos and [...]