US District Judge Terrence Boyle from the US District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina has ruled that David Passaro , the first US civilian charged with prisoner abuse of a terror detainee, can present evidence at trial to show that he was following government orders. Passaro, a former Army special operations soldier [...]

A formerly secret opinion released by the US DC Circuit Court of Appeals reveals that I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby , former Chief of Staff to Vice President Dick Cheney told prosecutors that the Vice President had informed him directly of the identity of Valerie Plame, at the center of the CIA leak investigation . The [...]

Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) , the Republican chairman of the US Senate Intelligence Committee , Friday expressed his strong support for President Bush's controversial domestic surveillance program in a 19-page letter addressed to the Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee , Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) . Attorney [...]

Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Rwanda, International Court of Justice, February 3, 2006 . Excerpt: While the Court has come to the conclusion that it cannot accept any of the grounds put forward by the DRC to establish its jurisdiction in the present case, and cannot therefore entertain the latter's Application, it stresses that [...]

Address by Denmark Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen to Muslim ambassadors. February 3, 2006 . Excerpt: We are faced with a problem, which can grow to a more global problem. The cartoons have now been reprinted in a number of newspapers all over Europe. And if the protests in the streets escalate further we maybe [...]

H.R.4659, United States Senate, passed February 2, 2006 . Read the full text of the legislation. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

The Kansas Supreme Court on Friday temporarily stopped Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline from accessing private abortion clinic records until a lower court determines whether Kline actually has a right to see the records. The state supreme court feared that Kline's insistence on access to records from two abortion clinics for his investigation of potential [...]

US District Judge Marcia Cooke said Friday that Jose Padilla should not wear handcuffs and ankle chains during court appearances unless US government officials can show that Padilla poses an immediate safety threat. Cooke also ordered federal prosecutors to provide defense attorneys with final transcripts of thousands of intercepted telephone conversations by March 10, evidence [...]

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) , the judicial arm of the United Nations, ruled Friday that it does not have jurisdiction over a case filed by the Democratic Republic of Congo against Rwanda on charges of aggression and human rights abuses stemming from the 1998-2003 civil war . The ICJ asserted that Rwanda has [...]

Scholars' response to US Department of Justice domestic surveillance memo of January 19, 2006; February 2, 2006. Read the full text of the letter .