The Chinese government paper China Daily Wednesday reported that the number of Chinese couples seeking a divorce in 2004 rose to 1.6 million, a dramatic increase over previous years attributed to a 2003 law reform that dropped the requirement that would-be divorcees obtain the permission of their employer. The paper quoted a Chinese official who [...]

The UK Court of Appeal ruled Wednesday that a British high school decision to exclude from school a student wearing a jilbab, a traditional Muslim gown, was unlawful because the school denied 16-year-old Shabina Begum the right to manifest her religion. In its judgment , the court said that the school had a right to [...]

Judge Barwez Mohammed Mahmoud al-Merwani and his son, lawyer Aryan Barwez al-Merwani, both of whom were working with the Iraqi Special Tribunal were assassinated late Tuesday as they were exiting their Baghdad home. In the wake of contradictory wire reports that had initially misidentified the murdered judge as Raid Juhi al-Saadi, who had presided over [...]

Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Wednesday, March 2. The US Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in two cases beginning at 10 AM ET today. In the first case, Van Orden v. Perry, 03-1500, the Court will consider whether the display of the Ten Commandments [...]

Waterkeeper Alliance, Inc., et al. v. EPA, United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Circuit Judge Katzmann, February 28, 2005 . Read the opinion here . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Arce, et al. v. Garcia, et al., United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, Circuit Judge Tjoflat, February 28, 2005 . Excerpt: From a United States perspective, there are many countries that oppress their citizens today, and many countries that have oppressed their citizens in decades and centuries past. A lenient approach toward [...]

Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, et al. v. Leavitt, Supreme Court of the United States, Justice Breyer, March 1, 2005 . Read the full text of the opinion here . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Asylum Levels and Trends in Industrialized Countries 2004, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, March 1, 2005 . Read the full text of the report here . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Late reports from Baghdad say that US officials were incorrect in initially saying that Iraqi Special Tribunal judge Raid Juhi al-Saadi had been assassinated Tuesday, and that the judge actually killed was another man – as yet unnamed – serving as one of dozens of investigatory administrative judges working for the tribunal. FOX News has [...]

Stephen Bainbridge : "I'm increasingly opposed to the death penalty on both pragmatic and moral grounds, but I nevertheless found much to agree with in Justice Antonin Scalia's scathing dissent from the Supreme Court's 5-4 decision striking down the death penalty for offenses committed by juveniles (text of opinion): In Lawrence v. Texas, Justice Kennedy [...]