The Australian government said Tuesday that it is planning to review the country's Federal Privacy Act to assess current policies and also technological changes since the act was passed in 1988 that may impact the law's application. Australian Attorney General Philip Ruddock announced the review by the Australian Law Reform Commission and said that situations [...]

Two of six men convicted in October 2004 for committing sex offenses on the small Pacific island of Pitcairn appeared in court Tuesday to appeal their sentences at the Pitcairn Court of Appeal in Auckland, New Zealand. Lawyers for the two men say they were unaware that they committed a crime because they did not [...]

The ruling military junta in Myanmar has closed constitutional talks until late 2006, delegates said Tuesday. The convention to draft a constitution has been held intermittently since 1993, and is the first step on a seven-stage road map aimed at unification, democracy, and free elections for the country. There has been speculation as to when [...]

The California Senate has approved legislation banning state agencies' production of news releases designed to look like objective reports. Senators approved SB 740 by a 21-11 vote. The legislation mirrors a court ruling made last month in which a Superior Court judge ruled that the administration of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had to remove state-produced news [...]

Afghan Judge Abul Basit Bakhitari has postponed the trial of Assadullah Sarwari for twenty days so that he may hire a lawyer. Sarwari, the former director of Afghanistan's intelligence service, faces charges stemming from his operation under the country's Soviet-supported communist regime in 1979, where he allegedly killed and tortured regime opponents. Sarwari claims that [...]

The US Senate has approved the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to serve as an Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court by a vote of 58-42 . Alito will replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who announced her retirement last July. 12:08 PM ET – Alito will be sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts [...]

Human Rights Watch criticized Uzbek officials for blocking access to the trial of rights activist Mutabar Tojiboeva , in a statement issued Tuesday. Uzbek police have blocked off the court building and set up checkpoints on the roads leading into the town where the trial is taking place. Tojiboeva openly criticized the Uzbekistan government for [...]

Australian anti-terror laws force courts to close off too much information to the public and prevent fair trials, a group of media organizations argued Tuesday before the New South Wales Supreme Court in the first constitutional challenge to the federal government's anti-terrorism laws. According to a lawyer for the media groups, the National Security Information [...]

Defense lawyers for Saddam Hussein have vowed to continue a boycott of the former Iraqi leader's trial unless the judge presiding over the trial is removed, one of the defense lawyers said Tuesday. Saleh al-Armuti, one of four defense lawyers representing Hussein, challenged the authority of newly-appointed chief judge Ra'uf Rasheed Abdel Rahman and said [...]

State officials and politicians in Georgia have indicated that there are no immediate plans to add death penalty reform to the legislative agenda, despite the highly critical Georgia Death Penalty Assessment Report released Monday by the American Bar Association (ABA) . The assessment pointed out several flaws in the current system and recommended a moratorium [...]