Nepalese King Gyanendra Friday lifted the house arrest of Nepali Congress Girija Prasad Koirala and freed nearly 257 other people detained after he declared a state of emergency in February . Three weeks ago King Gyanendra lifted similar house arrest restrictions placed on former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba . Since disbanding the country's government, [...]

SB 25, Massachusetts House of Representatives, passed March 31, 2005 . Read the full text of the bill here. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

TSpain's Interior Ministry announced Friday that 12 more people have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the preparations of the March 11, 2004 Madrid train bombings that killed 191 people and wounded over 1500 others. Four of the suspects are Moroccan nationals, and brothers of the al-Qaida figure who claimed responsibility for the attacks, [...]

Sudan Friday announced its displeasure with UN Security Council Resolution 1593 adopted late Thursday evening that authorized the International Criminal Court to investigate and prosecute war crimes violations in Sudan. Sudan Foreign Affairs Minister Najeeb al-Kheir Abdul Wahab called the resolution "unfair, ill-advised and narrow-minded" and said it would frustrate Sudan's attempt to provide reconciliatory [...]

A US military court in Germany Friday sentenced US Army Captain Rogelio "Roger" Maynulet to be discharged from the Army after he was found guilty Thursday of assault with intent to commit voluntary manslaughter. He will not serve any jail time. Maynulet had been charged in connection with the shooting of a Iraqi truck driver [...]

The Massachusetts House of Representatives Thursday passed a stem cell research bill 117-37, such a wide margin that it cannot be vetoed by Republican Governor Mitt Romney. The controversial legislation authorizes reproduction of embryonic stem cells, which Romney had publicly condemned as "radical cloning" . The bill had previously passed the state Senate by a [...]

Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Friday, April 1. The US Senate and US House are in recess until April 4. The American Society of International Law is presenting a speech by US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the use of a comparative approach [...]

Resolution 1593 (2005), UN Security Council, March 31 2005 . Read the full text of the resolution, with explanatory statements from delegations. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Following a marathon UN Security Council session ending late Thursday evening, the US abstained from voting on a draft resolution authorizing the International Criminal Court to prosecute war crimes cases in Darfur, Sudan . The French-sponsored resolution passed with 11 Security Council members voting in favor and 3 other members (Algeria, Brazil and China) joining [...]

Gosselin, et al. v. Attorney General of Quebec, Supreme Court of Canada, March 31, 2005 . Read the full text of the judgment here. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.