The US Supreme Court on Monday issued a summary opinion in Gonzales v. Thomas, 05-552, holding that the 9th Circuit had prematurely decided the asylum claims of a South African family. The 9th Circuit granted asylum to Michelle and David Thomas and their children based on claims that they were threatened due to their racist [...]

A federal jury has found former Illinois Governor George Ryan guilty on multiple counts of corruption and fraud . Ryan was charged along with lobbyist Lawrence Warner in connection with a bribes-for-licenses scandal originating in the Illinois Secretary of State's office which Ryan occupied for eight years before running for Governor in 1998. Ryan's former [...]

Leading Monday's international brief, Japan has raised concerns that a navigation ban on commercial ships in part of the East China Sea may actually violate Japan's sovereignty and international law under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea . China's navigation ban covers part of Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone , a demarcation that [...]

A controversial Russian law imposing restrictions on domestic and foreign nongovernmental organizations operating in the country took effect Monday. The new law, signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in January, implements strict registration requirements, imposes financial oversight on NGO operations, and provides for dissolution if an organization's activities "threaten Russia's independence or sovereignty" or if [...]

The US Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear the appeal of two Chinese Uighur detainees who continue to be held at Guantanamo Bay despite a determination that they are not enemy combatants. In December, US District Court Judge James Robertson ruled that the Uighurs' detention was unlawful, but that the courts had no relief [...]

Israeli police arrested seven Hamas members of the Palestinian Legislative Council in Jerusalem on Sunday, including top MP Mohammed Abu Teir. Jerusalem police claimed that the men were violating a decree banning a political rally in the city. The men were briefly interrogated and released without charges. Teir, who was the number two candidate on [...]

Members of the Serbia-Montenegro parliament have passed a law to authorize the freezing of assets of fugitives accused of war crimes in an effort to comply with requirements of the European Union and International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) . Serbia has promised the ICTY that it will turn over fugitive Ratko Mladic [...]

In a report read in court as the Saddam Hussein trial resumed in Baghdad Monday, handwriting experts testified that some of the signatures on documents connected with the execution of 148 Shiite villagers belonged to Hussein. The documents include an execution order allegedly signed by Hussein and Barzan Ibrahim , Hussein's brother-in-law and former director [...]

Nepal security forces on Monday fired on a group of pro-democracy protesters in Nijgadh, killing at least one person and wounding five, marking the fifth incident where police have fired upon protesters since widespread demonstrations against the rule of King Gyanendra began over a week ago. Gyanendra seized power in a bloodless coup last year [...]

JURIST Special Guest Columnist Kathleen Duignan, Executive Director of the National Institute of Military Justice, says that the prosecution and conviction of low-ranking soldiers like US Army dog handler Sergeant Michael J. Smith for abusing prisoners at Abu Ghraib should not be allowed to hide or distract from the legal accountability of officers higher-up the [...]