JURIST Guest Columnist Dr. Laurent Pech, Jean Monnet Lecturer in European Union Law at the National University of Ireland, Galway, says that the proposed European Constitution may be less than it's cracked up to be, and that its possible rejection by French voters in the referendum slated for late May could actually lead to a [...]

Re: Cheney, United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, May 10, 2005 . Read the full text of the opinion . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Tuesday that he hoped the Senate could take up the contentious issue of judicial nominations by next week. During a meeting with the press, Frist said the Senate could finish debate on a highway bill and on emergency funding for US operations in Iraq and Afghanistan by next week. [...]

State v. Ross, Supreme Court of Connecticut, May 9, 2005 . Read the court's opinion , a concurrence , and the dissent . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

The newly formed Iraqi government on Tuesday created a 55-member committee that will begin work on drafting the country's permanent constitution by the August 15 deadline prescribed by the Transitional Administrative Law (TAL) , the interim Iraqi constitution. The committee includes 28 members of the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance party, 15 from the Kurdish coalition, [...]

Kenyan prosecutors on Tuesday dropped charges against three men for plotting the 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi that killed 224 people. The three, Salmin Mohammed Khamis, Mohammed Kubwa Seif and Said Saggar Ahmed, still face charges for alleged conspiracy in connection with the 2002 bombing of an Israeli-owned hotel that killed 15 [...]

Russia and the European Union agreed to work on strengthening political and economic relations during a summit Tuesday, but the agreement was tempered by harsh language by Russian President Vladimir Putin on relations with the Baltic states. During a press conference following the summit, Putin said Russia was working on border agreements with Latvia and [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Tuesday unanimously rejected a lawsuit brought against Vice-President Dick Cheney for refusing to disclose internal communications of the National Energy Policy Development Group , Cheney's energy task force composed of government employees. The suit, filed jointly by watchdog group Judicial Watch and the Sierra [...]

The Connecticut Supreme Court late Monday night ruled that convicted serial killer Michael Ross was competent to end his death-row appeals , leaving the way open for him to be executed by lethal injection this Friday at 2 AM. Ross is convicted of raping and murdering eight women in Connecticut and New York in the [...]

Due to surging numbers of Iraqis held by the US in prison camps, US military commanders have undertaken a $50 million project to expand three existing prisons and build a fourth. The number of Iraqi prisoners has risen steadily, doubling since October and reaching over 11,350 last week. This figure is only expected to grow [...]