Judge Theodor Meron, president judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia , has ruled that two British lawyers appointed to represent former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic may not withdraw from the case, despite Milosevic's refusal to cooperate and insistence on representing himself. The ruling was released Tuesday as the trial resumed after [...]

Indonesian prosecutors presenting their case against Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir asked a court Tuesday to sentence him to eight years in prison for terror charges, including a link to the 2002 Bali bombings. Prosecutors' sentence request was much lower than the maximum available, which would have been the death penalty, leading some to question [...]

A spokesman for Shiite cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said Tuesday that Sistani is not demanding that Iraq's new constitution be based solely on Islamic sharia law . Sistani's spokesman said "Sistani reiterates his previous positions that the constitution should respect the Islamic cultural identity of the Iraqi people." Tuesday's statement is meant to refute reports [...]

Britain's Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has given permission to Professor Ian Wilmut, the creator of Dolly the sheep , a license to clone human embryos for medical research, only the second time the authority has given consent for therapeutic cloning . Wilmut will clone early stage embryos in order to study motor neuron [...]

New allegations of torture against detainees at Guantanamo Bay have been made at the trial of five former detainees in Morocco . The five Moroccan men, who were released by the US to local authorities last August, have all pleaded not guilty to charges of belonging to or assisting a criminal group that was preparing [...]

Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Tuesday, Feb. 8. In Washington today, the US Senate convenes at 9:30 AM ET for regular business and to consider S. 5 , the Class Action Bill. A live webcast is available via C-SPAN 2. The US House will open [...]

Qualls, et al. v. Rumsfeld, et al., United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Judge Royce C. Lambert, February 7, 2005 . Excerpt: Qualls has not shown a likelihood of success on the merits. While he has demonstrated irreparable harm, he has not shown that the Army would not also suffer harm. The [...]

According to a federal indictment unsealed Monday, W.R. Grace and Co. and seven of its high-ranking officials and managers knew as early as 1976 that a vermiculite mine operated by the company in Montana was releasing asbestos into the air and attempted to conceal the danger from workers and the surrounding community, which prosecutors claim [...]

Citing the potential for substantial disruption and diversion of military resources, US District Judge Royce C. Lambert refused Monday to issue a injuntion requiring immediate release from service of a US soldier whose active duty period had been extended under the Army's authority to extend enlistment in times of war or national emergency. Spc. David [...]

In Monday's environmental law news, California state officials have decided to begin to enforce the state's vehicle idling ban . The measure bans trucks from idling for over 5 minutes and busses for over 10, with some exceptions. Tickets will start at $100, and there is no maximum. The measure will apply to over 400,000 [...]