Lord Falconer , the Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom and the nation's highest legal officer, issued a written statement Wednesday that he was satisfied that the Marriage Act of 1949 allowed for the Royal Family to have civil ceremony weddings. Some doubt had been raised by BBC's Panorama program that the Royal Family was [...]

Mohamed Alanssi testified in court Tuesday that he was trying to put "the world on notice" by setting fire to himself outside the White House last November. Until his attempt at self-immolation, Alanssi was the government's star witness in its terror-funding case against Yemeni Sheik Mohammed Ali Hassan al-Moayad. Instead, he was called yesterday as [...]

An Iranian official has said that Iran's nuclear program does not violate international law and that Iran is merely exercising its internationally recognized right to produce nuclear material. Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said that Iran was following all of the requirements of the International Atomic Energy Agency in producing its nuclear material and that [...]

Relatives of Terri Schiavo face each other in court Wednesday over the status of Schiavo's artificial life support. On Tuesday, Schiavo's husband Michael was granted the right to proceed with the removal of Terri's feeding tube , which is all that is keeping her alive after a cardiac arrest 15 years ago starved her brain [...]

The International Criminal Court announced Tuesday that it will hold a hearing to discuss what action the Prosecutor's Office will be taking in light of its investigation of the abuses committed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The DRC government referred the case to the Office of the Prosecutor for investigation. Chief Prosecutor Luis [...]

A California public interest group filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to invalidate the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) , the $3 billion stem cell research funding institution authorized by California voters last November. The suit filed by Californians for Public Accountability and Ethical Science alleges that provisions in Proposition 71 that exempt CIRM members [...]

Britain's House of Commons will vote Wednesday on legislation that will allow the UK to place terror suspects under house arrest without trial. Under the Prevention on Terrorism Bill , which was published Tuesday , terror suspects may be ordered under house arrest by Home Secretary Charles Clarke , but they are entitled to an [...]

Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Wednesday, Feb. 23. The US Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in two cases beginning at 10 AM ET today. In the first case, Orff v. United States , 03-1566, the Court will review a circuit split on [...]

Iraq: Decades of Suffering, Amnesty International, February 22, 2005 . Excerpt: Women and girls in Iraq live in fear of violence as the conflict intensifies and insecurity spirals. Tens of thousands of civilians are reported to have been killed or injured in military operations or attacks by armed groups since the US-led invasion of Iraq [...]

United States v. Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, Eastern District of Virginia, February 22, 2005 . Read the full text of the indictment . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.