Members of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights have harshly criticized a proposal by Russian officials to detain relatives of terrorists to discourage hostage-taking. Such a proposal would violate international law, according to UN human rights experts Leila Zerrougui and Stephen Toope. The plan was put forth by Russian Prosecutor General [...]

The Washington state Supreme Court has overturned a death sentence, ruling that the jury may have been prejudiced by the sight of ankle shackles on the defendant, Cecil E. Davis. Davis was convicted of murdering a 65-year-old neighbor, but the court ruled in an 8-1 decision that the jury may have had a negative view [...]

A military lawyer has recommended that a Navy SEAL accused of abusing prisoners in Iraq should not be court-martialed, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Friday. The lawyer instead recommended a nonjudicial punishment for the SEAL. The decision on whether to prosecute rests with the commander of the unit at Coronado. If convicted, the SEAL, who [...]

A Saskatchewan judge has ruled that a Canadian federal law on marriage is unconsitutional, making it the seventh jurisdiction in the country to approve same-sex marriages. The Supreme Court of Canada is expected to rule on proposed legislation legalizing same-sex marriages throughout the country. CBC News has more.

The Japanese Ministry of Justice has warned in a report Friday that the country's prison system is overwhelmed, with some prisons unable to accommodate any more prisoners. The system is at about 117 percent capacity, which is the highest since the Justice Ministry began keeping records in 1972. The increase has been attributed to higher [...]

A website for Canada's Citizenship and Immigration agency was flooded with US visitors following the news of Tuesday's elections results. Officials said American traffic on the site was six times higher than normal, and the previous record for hits in a day was doubled to 179,000. The Canadian Press has more.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the Kyoto Protocol Friday, completing Russia's ratification of the treaty and giving the global warming accord enough signatures to come into force as early as next year. The treaty now has the backing of 126 countries, with the necessary 55 industrialized countries accounting for 55 percent of the world's greenhouse [...]

Incoming European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has finalized a new team of commissioners that appeared to put the power transition of the European Union back on track. Most notably, Barroso replaced controversial Justice portfolio nominee Rocco Buttiglione with Franco Frattini, now the Italian Foreign Minister. The new administration was supposed to take office last [...]

Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Friday, Nov. 5. The Cato Institute is holding a briefing on Congressional legislation of computer spyware, featuring Orson Swindle of the Federal Trade Commission. Audio from the briefing is available beginning at 12 PM ET. The US House and Senate [...]

Senior UN official Jan Pronk told the UN Security Council Thursday that unless African Union troops enter the Sudan's Darfur region soon, the entire region might fall into anarchy. Pronk, the UN envoy for Darfur, said that rebels were gaining territory and the whole region may soon see "a total collapse of law and order." [...]