In a speech delivered to the National Press Club Tuesday, Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson accused the federal judiciary of usurping legislative and executive power, called for the Senate leadership to force votes on President Bush's judicial nominations , and suggested that Democrats blocked those nominations at their electoral peril: Even as we opposed tyranny [...]

US officials have announced that six more Guantanamo Bay detainees will be released after military Combatant Status Review Tribunals determined that they are not "enemy combatants". The review panels, set up in response to last year's Supreme Court ruling that Gitmo prisoners had the right to challenge their indefinte detention, have now said that a [...]

The Kyoto Protocol takes legal effect Wednesday, 90 days after Russia ratified the treaty , providing the necessary number of ratifications for the treaty to come into force. Before becoming effective, the protocol, which aims to slow global warming by cutting greenhouse gas emissions, required countries representing 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions to ratify [...]

Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Wednesday, Feb. 16. The US Senate convenes at 9:30 AM ET today, and it will consider S. 384, the Nazi War Crimes Working Group Extension Act. Watch a live webcast of proceedings. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is [...]

In re: Grand Jury Subpoena, Judith Miller, United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Circuit Judge Sentelle, February 15, 2005 .Excerpt: e agree with the District Court that there is no First Amendment privilege protecting the evidence sought. We further conclude that if any such common law privilege exists, it is [...]

The US Senate late Tuesday afternoon approved the nomination of federal appeals judge Michael Chertoff as the new Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. The vote, originally scheduled for last week, had been delayed while Senate Democrats unsuccessfully sought further information on an FBI internal memo written in 2004, after Chertoff had left the [...]

The European Court of Justice ruled Tuesday that a merger between Tetra Laval and Sidel can proceed over the objections of the European Commission's antitrust office . The decision is one of the first setbacks to the EU's antitrust division and is expected to reduce its influence somewhat. In its opinion, the court said the [...]

Microsoft has denied reports in the Danish media that Chairman Bill Gates threatened the Danish prime minister that the company would eliminate jobs in the country if it did not back an EU patent law proposal. Danish publication Børsen reported Tuesday that Gates told Danish Prime Minister Fogh Rasmussen that he would move jobs from [...]

The Iranian Judiciary Tuesday denied accusations by Nobel Prize winning lawyer Shirin Ebadi that it had harassed her and placed restrictions on her representation of political prisoners. A judiciary spokesman said that no restrictions were placed on Ebadi, and that Iranian citizens had a right to legal advice from lawyers, including Ebadi. Ebadi said Monday [...]

Leading Tuesday's corporations and securities law news, the judge in the trial of former Enron Chairman Ken Lay and ex-Chief Executive Jeff Skilling is asking defense attorneys and prosecutors for potential scheduling conflicts between June and September. The dates indicate the judge is eyeing a summer start for the trial. Defense attorneys are already citing [...]