President Bush Tuesday signed into law a renewal of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 , providing $361 million over two years towards to investigation and prosecution of human trafficking cases, most involving the sex trade. The US Justice Department reported last year that it has prosecuted 271 human trafficking cases since the original [...]

One day before hearings resume before military commissions at Guantanamo Bay in the cases of two alleged terrorists, chief US prosecutor Col. Moe Davis Tuesday characterized defendant Omar Khadr , a Canadian citizen who was 15 years old at the time of his arrest, as a seasoned terrorist undeserving of special protection as a minor. [...]

US v. Georgia, Supreme Court of the United States, January 10, 2006 . Read the Court's opinion per Justice Scalia and Justice Stevens'concurrence. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Three ethnic Chechens charged with the murder of US journalist Paul Klebnikov pleaded not guilty Tuesday during a closed hearing in a Moscow court on the first day of their trial. Observers expect an emotional and time-consuming proceeding unfolding in coming months – the Russian government has written a 600-page case and expects to call [...]

The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in the consolidated cases Texaco v. Dagher and Shell Oil v. Dagher , where it will decide whether a lawful joint business venture between two or more companies violates the Sherman Act where the venture sets product prices. A group of 23,000 gas distributors brought suit alleging [...]

International Air Transport Association et al. v. Department for Transport (UK), European Court of Justice, January 10, 2006 . Read the full text of the ruling. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Spain's National Court (Audiencia Nacional) said Tuesday it will investigate whether seven former Chinese leaders committed genocide and other crimes in Tibet. The genocide suit was filed last June by three Tibet support groups and thrown out in September. Since then, however, Spain's Constitutional Court has invoked the principle of universal jurisdiction , ruling that [...]

Ukraine Justice Minister Serhiy Holovatyi on Tuesday warned that the country was plunging into "legal chaos" after the Ukrainian Parliament voted to fire Prime Minister Yuri Yekhanurov's government in a no-confidence motion . The parliament vote was in response to the government's recent deal with Russia which resulted in Ukraine paying nearly twice as much [...]

Leading Tuesday's environmental law news, the first Asia-Pacific Development and Climate Partnership Ministerial Meeting has opened in Sydney, Australia. The meeting brings representatives from the US, Australia, Japan, China, South Korea and India together to set up projects to create emissions reduction technology and promote the transfer of that technology between the nations. The US [...]

UK Home Secretary Charles Clarke has rejected criticisms by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour that Britain's proposed anti-terrorism bill violates basic rights and sets a "worrying precedent." Arbour sent a letter to the British government in November saying that several of the bill's clauses may violate the country's obligations under international human [...]