India court charges ex-MP in connection with anti-Sikh riots

[JURIST] An Indian court on Friday charged Sajjan Kumar [official profile], a former member of the Parliament of India in the ruling Congress Party [official websites], in connection with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots [TOI backgrounder]. Additional Sessions Judge Sunita Gupta of the Northeast District of Delhi [official website] charged [TOI report] Kumar and five others [...]

US Congress advances ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ repeal legislation

[JURIST] The US House of Representatives and the Senate Armed Services Committee [official websites] on Thursday advanced compromise legislation to repeal the military’s “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy [10 USC s. 654; JURIST news archive], sending it to a vote of the full Congress. The compromise would prevent the repeal from taking effect until the [...]

Amnesty annual report decries ‘global justice gap’

[JURIST] Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] on Thursday released its 2010 Annual Report [materials; press release], highlighting a “global justice gap” caused by influential governments avoiding accountability for human rights abuses. AI was critical of the actions of the Group of 20 (G20) nations, which it described as having a “particular responsibility to set an [...]

Federal judge orders release of Yemeni Guantanamo detainee

[JURIST] A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia [official website] on Wednesday ordered the release of Yemeni Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainee Mohammed Hassen [NYT profile]. Hassen had been initially detained [Miami Herald report] in March 2002 following a raid in Faisalabad by Pakistani security forces. He has maintained [...]

Israel high court chief criticizes government for violating West Bank building injunction

[JURIST] President Dorit Beinisch [official profile] of the Supreme Court of Israel [official website, in Hebrew] on Wednesday criticized the Israeli government for ignoring an injunction against building an access road on Palestinian lands. The road would connect two West Bank settlements [CSM backgrounder] – Hayovel, a settlement that is illegal under Israeli law, and [...]

Obama to send 1200 National Guard troops to US-Mexico border

[JURIST] The Obama administration confirmed Tuesday that it will send 1,200 National Guard [official website] troops to the US-Mexican border in an effort to deter drug smuggling and illegal immigration. They will join the 300 National Guard troops and 26,000 border and customs officials already stationed at the border. The troops will assist [AP report] [...]

Canada finance minister proposes national securities regulator

[JURIST] Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty [official website] on Wednesday introduced legislation [text; official backgrounder] that would establish a single national securities regulatory body to replace the current system managed by individual provinces and territories. The Canadian Securities Act would establish the Canadian Securities Regulatory Authority (CSRA) [fact sheet], replacing the current “passport” system, which [...]

Peru judge orders release of US woman held for involvement with rebel group

[JURIST] A Peruvian judge on Tuesday ordered the release of Lori Berenson [advocacy website], a US citizen held since 1995 for collaboration with a Marxist rebel organization. Judge Jessica Leon Yarango cited [press release, in Spanish] good behavior, Berenson’s renunciation of violence, and the completion of “re-education, rehabilitation and re-socialization,” in deciding to grant parole. [...]

Oklahoma voters to decide on health care opt-out amendment

[JURIST] The Oklahoma House of Representatives [official website] on Tuesday voted 88-9 to put a constitutional amendment purporting to exempt state residents from the federal health care law [HR 3590; JURIST news archive] on the November ballot. The vote comes after the Oklahoma Senate [official website] voted 30-13 [roll call, PDF] in favor of the [...]

Oklahoma legislature overrides veto of pre-abortion questionnaire bill

[JURIST] The Oklahoma Senate [official website] voted 33-15 [roll call, PDF] Tuesday to override the veto of bill [HB 3284 text, RTF] that would require women seeking an abortion [JURIST news archive] to complete a questionnaire. The vote comes a day after the Oklahoma House of Representatives [official website] voted 84-13 to override the veto, [...]

Africa groups urge greater cooperation with ICC

[JURIST] A collection of African civil society organizations on Monday issued a declaration [text] urging greater cooperation between the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] and African nations during the upcoming ICC review conference. The group of 124 organizations called on African governments to enhance their cooperation with the court and to make greater efforts [...]

Obama administration seeks dismissal of Virginia health care suit

[JURIST] The Obama administration on Monday filed a brief [text, PDF] urging the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by the state of Virginia challenging the constitutionality of the recently enacted health care reform law [HR 3590 text; JURIST news archive]. The suit [complaint, PDF] filed by Virginia Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli [official website] challenges the [...]

White House backs amendment to ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ repeal legislation

[JURIST] The Obama administration on Monday backed a proposal that would prevent a repeal of the military’s “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy [10 USC s. 654; JURIST news archive] from taking effect until the completion of a comprehensive review of the repeal’s effects. The amendment to the Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2010 [texts, PDF] [...]

Russia ex-PM testifies Khodorkovsky arrest politically motivated

[JURIST] Former Russian prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov [BBC profile] on Monday testified that former president Vladimir Putin [official website; JURIST news archive] ordered the arrest of former oil executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky [defense website; JURIST news archive] for political reasons. Testifying before the Khamovnichesky District Court, Kasyanov stated [Moscow Times report] that after questioning Putin on [...]

Obama introduces legislation seeking wider authority to cut spending

[JURIST] US President Barack Obama sent legislation [text, PDF] to Congress on Monday that would give the president the ability to force Congress to vote on a repeal of spending provisions once they have been signed into law. Under the Reduce Unnecessary Spending Act of 2010, the president would have 45 days after signing spending [...]

Supreme Court rules on plain error in alleged ex post facto violation

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] on Monday ruled [opinion, PDF] 7-1 in United States v. Marcus [Cornell LII backgrounder] that the lower court had misapplied precedent interpreting plain error in an alleged ex post facto violation. The court held that the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit had [...]

Supreme Court rules on mandatory minimum sentencing for federal gun crimes

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] on Monday ruled [opinion, PDF] unanimously in United States v. O’Brien [Cornell LII backgrounder] that the question of whether a firearm is a machine gun must be proved to the jury beyond a reasonable doubt and is not a sentencing factor to be considered by [...]

Australia government announces new military court

[JURIST] Australian Defense Minister John Faulkner and Attorney General Robert McClelland [official websites] announced Monday that the government will establish a new military court [press release] as part of a restructuring of the federal court system. The Military Court of Australia will be administered by the Federal Court of Australia and will have jurisdiction over [...]