DC Circuit refuses evidentiary hearing for Uighur detainees

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit [official website] on Friday refused to order a new evidentiary hearing [opinion, PDF] in the case of five Chinese Muslim Uighurs detained at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archives]. Instead, in a per curiam decision, the court reinstated its original opinion, which gives political [...]

Obama announces new regulations stemming from Gulf oil spill

[JURIST] US President Barack Obama [official website] held a press conference [transcript] Thursday to announce new regulations to mitigate future oil spill disasters and the current plan of action for resolving the crisis created by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill [BBC backgrounder] in the Gulf of Mexico. The government will be suspending several offshore [...]

Japan court begins trial of anti-whaling activist

[JURIST] The Tokyo District Court [official website] on Wednesday began [Sea Shepherd press release] the trial of New Zealand anti-whaling activist Peter Bethune on five criminal charges in connection with boarding a Japanese whaling vessel as part of a protest in the Antarctic. The Japanese court system does not accept pleas before trial, but Bethune [...]

UNICEF expresses concern over Guantanamo detainee Khadr

[JURIST] UNICEF [official website] expressed concern [press release] Wednesday over Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainee and former child soldier Omar Khadr [DOD Materials; JURIST news archive]. Khadr was arrested in Afghanistan in 2002 at the age of 15 after he allegedly threw a grenade that killed on soldier and injured another. The statement held [...]

US lawmakers mull bill to increase scrutiny of Guantanamo lawyers

[JURIST] US lawmakers are currently considering a Department of Defense (DOD) [official website] appropriations bill containing a section that would allow increased investigation by the Pentagon into the practices of lawyers representing Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainees. Section 1037 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011 [text, PDF] would allow the [...]

Lehman Brothers sues JPMorgan for billions over collapse

[JURIST] Lehman Brothers Holdings [corporate website] on Wednesday filed suit [complaint, PDF] against JPMorgan Chase & Co. [corporate website] for allegedly “siphoning” off billions of dollars in “critically-needed” assets days before the investment bank filed for a record-breaking bankruptcy. JPMorgan was Lehman’s main short-term lender before its collapse and acted acted as a middleman between [...]

ICC reports Sudan to UN for lack of cooperation with arrest warrants

[JURIST] The International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] on Wednesday reported [press release] Sudan to the UN Security Council [official website] for lack of cooperation in the pursuit of alleged war criminals [case materials] Ahmad Harun and Ali Kushayb [arrest warrants, PDF]. ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I released a decision [text, PDF] asking the Security Council [...]

Italy agrees to take two more Guantanamo detainees

[JURIST] Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini [official profile] announced Tuesday that Italy will take two more detainees from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility [JURIST news archive]. The announcement came during a meeting the US officials from the National Security Council, including National Security Adviser James Jones. Italy’s Interior Ministry [official website, in Italian] will review [...]

Ousted Thailand PM appeals arrest warrant

[JURIST] A lawyer for ousted [JURIST report] Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] on Wednesday filed an appeal against an arrest warrant [JURIST report] issued Tuesday on charges of terrorism. Thaksin is accused of involvement in the the recent political violence [JURIST news archive] in Bangkok, as the figurehead of the [...]

Mladic family seeks official death declaration

[JURIST] The family of war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic [case materials; JURIST news archive] will file a claim in the Belgrade District Court [official website, in Serbian] seeking to have the former military leader declared officially dead, according to Serbian media reports [Novosti report, in Serbian] Tuesday. This declaration would allow Mladic’s family to collect [...]

Pakistan high court rejects appeal to jail Mumbai attack suspect

[JURIST] Pakistan’s Supreme Court [official website] ruled Tuesday that a Pakistani cleric accused by India of plotting the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks [JURIST news archive] cannot be jailed due to lack of evidence. Hafiz Muhammad Saeed [Global Jihad profile] is the head of fundamentalist terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) [CFR backgrounder], which was allegedly behind the [...]

Thailand court charges ousted PM with terrorism

[JURIST] A criminal court in Thailand issued an arrest warrant on Tuesday for ousted [JURIST report] prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] on charges of terrorism. Thaksin is accused of involvement in the the recent political violence [JURIST news archive] in Bangkok, which left more than 80 dead and more than 1,000 [...]

Dutch court begins Europe’s first Somali pirate trial

[JURIST] The Netherlands District Court of Rotterdam [official website, in Dutch] on Tuesday commenced [press release, in Danish] the first European trial of Somali pirates [JURIST news archive] under charges of “sea robbery” for hijacking a cargo ship registered in the Netherlands Antilles. The five accused Somali pirates were arrested last year during an attempt [...]

Rights groups petition UN on behalf of Spain judge Garzon

[JURIST] Several international human rights and jurist organizations on Monday petitioned the UN [text, PDF] to support Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] in his inquiry into human rights violations during the Spanish Civil War [LOC backgrounder] and to ask Spain to end his criminal prosecution. Garzon was suspended last week [JURIST [...]

Kenya judges rule Islamic courts unconstitutional

[JURIST] A Kenyan constitutional court ruled [judgment, PDF] Monday that inclusion of Islamic “Kadhi” courts [official website] in the nation’s current constitution [text, PDF] is illegal and discriminatory. The Kadhi court system, which elevates Islam over the country’s other religions, was deemed unconstitutional because it does not coincide with Kenya’s secular mandate. The court also [...]

Supreme court upholds fee shifting in ERISA case

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] on Monday ruled [opinion, PDF] unanimously in Hardt v. Reliance Standard Life Insurance Co. [Cornell LII backgrounder; JURIST report] that fee claimants filing lawsuits under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) [materials] are not required to be a “prevailing party” in order to be [...]

Supreme Court grants certiorari in five cases

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] on Monday granted certiorari [order list, PDF] in five cases. In Williamson v. Mazda Motor of America [docket; cert. petition, PDF], the court granted a limited petition to decide whether a federal minimum safety standard [text], which authorizes automobile manufacturers to install a lap-only seat [...]

US violent crime rate drops for third straight year: FBI

[JURIST] The FBI on Monday released preliminary annual crime statistics for 2009, which indicated a drop in violent crime [press release] for the third year in a row. The FBI’s Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report [text] disclosed that violent crime in the nation decreased 5.5 percent, and property crime declined 4.9 percent, when compared with [...]

UN Haiti mission investigating prison shootings

[JURIST] A spokesperson for the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti [official website] announced Saturday that the mission has launched an investigation into the shootings of dozens of prisoners in a jail riot following the January 12 earthquake [JURIST news archive] which killed over 200,000 people and left some 1 million homeless. An earlier investigation [NYT [...]

DOJ drops criminal probe of AIG executive

[JURIST] The US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] has decided not to file charges against former American International Group (AIG) [corporate website] executive Joseph Cassano, according to prosecutors from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) [official website] on Saturday. The decision appears to end a two-year criminal investigation of several executives from AIG’sFinancial [...]

Obama commission to investigate BP Gulf oil spill

[JURIST] US President Barack Obama [official website] signed an executive order [text] on Friday establishing an independent commission [White House weekly address] to investigate offshore drilling and the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico [BBC backgrounder]. The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling will be charged with [...]

Rights group fears ill-treatment of imprisoned Thai protesters

[JURIST] Human Rights Watch (HRW) [official website] has expressed concern [press release] about the treatment of anti-government protesters detained during Thailand’s latest round of political violence [JURIST news archive]. The group is chiding the Thai government for enacting an emergency decree giving Thai security forces broad power to arrest individuals without formal charges and hold [...]

DC Circuit dismisses Bagram detainee habeas petitions

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Friday in Al Maqaleh v. Gates that detainees held at Bagram Air Force Base [official website; JURIST news archive] in Afghanistan cannot bring habeas corpus challenges in US courts. The circuit court reversed the district court’s ruling, which [...]

Rights group claims to have new evidence of Sri Lanka war crimes

[JURIST] Human Rights Watch (HRW) [official website] announced Friday that it has acquired new evidence to support allegations of wartime abuses [press release] against civilians by both the government and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) [JURIST news archive] during the final months of the Sri Lankan civil war [JURIST news archive]. HRW [...]

UK to launch investigation into torture allegations

[JURIST] UK Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Secretary William Hague [official profile] said Friday that the UK will launch an investigation into allegations that overseas UK operatives were complicit in torture. Hague stated that the new coalition government will initiate a judge-led inquiry into the allegations, but no details were outlined in the legislative program [text, [...]

UK to launch investigation into torture allegations

[JURIST] UK Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Secretary William Hague [official profile] said Friday that the UK will launch an investigation into allegations that overseas UK operatives were complicit in torture. Hague stated that the new coalition government will initiate a judge-led inquiry into the allegations, but no details were outlined in the legislative program [text, [...]

France authorities arrest suspected Basque separatist leader

[JURIST] Four suspected members of armed Basque separatist group ETA [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] were arrested [press release, in Spanish] Thursday in France, including suspected ETA leader Mikel Kabikoitz Carrera Sarobe. The officers raided a residential block of the French city of Bayonne and arrested Sarobe along with two Spanish accomplices. Sarobe, a Spanish [...]

US military launches investigation into Afghanistan civilian deaths

[JURIST] The US Department of Defense [official website] announced [press release] on Thursday that US Forces-Afghanistan has launched an investigation into allegations that a “small number” of soldiers are responsible for the unlawful deaths of three civilians in Afghanistan. The Army’s Criminal Investigation Command [official website] began the investigation earlier this month after receiving credible [...]

UN SG calls for global ban on cell phone use while driving

[JURIST] UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official website] on Wednesday banned all UN employees [UN News Centre report] from using cellular devices while driving in an effort to take the prohibition against cell phone use global. Ban is teaming up with US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, US Ambassador Susan Rice [official profiles], and Jennifer Smith, [...]

ICTY upholds contempt conviction of Serb nationalist leader

[JURIST] The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website] on Wednesday affirmed the contempt conviction [press release] of Vojislav Seselj [case materials; JURIST news archive], a Serbian politician and former president of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) [BBC backgrounder]. Trial Chamber II found Seselj guilty of contempt [JURIST [...]

Pakistan government blocks Facebook over Muhammad drawing competition

[JURIST] The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority [official website] on Wednesday ordered Internet service providers to block [press release] social networking site Facebook [website] in response to a competition created by a group of the website’s members entitled “Draw Muhammad Day.” The PTA issued the order following a decision by the Lahore High Court (LHC) [JURIST news [...]

ICTY upholds acquittal of Macedonia ex-interior minister

[JURIST] The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website] on Wednesday affirmed the acquittal [judgment, PDF] of former Macedonian interior minister Ljube Boskoski [case materials], while upholding the sentence imposed against Macedonian police officer Johan Tarculovski for alleged war crimes. In 2008, Boskoski was found not guilty [JURIST [...]

Senate committee sets Kagan confirmation hearings for June 28

[JURIST] Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) [official websites] announced in a committee hearing Wednesday that confirmation hearings for US Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan [official profile; JURIST news archive] will begin June 28 [press release]. Leahy’s confirmation schedule mirrors the timelines followed for recent nominations, including Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Sonia [...]

US immigration court orders deportation of ex-Nazi guard to Austria

[JURIST] The US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] announced Tuesday that the Philadelphia Immigration Court [official website] has ordered the deportation [press release] of former SS guard Anton Geiser to Austria for serving as an armed guard at the Sachsenhausen and the Buchenwald concentration camps during World War II. Geiser, who has been living [...]

Senate committee releases detailed Kagan questionnaire

[JURIST] The US Senate Judiciary Committee [official website] released a bipartisan questionnaire [text, PDF] on Tuesday submitted by Supreme Court [official website] nominee Elena Kagan [official profile; JURIST news archive] regarding her prior experience, financial status, potential conflicts of interest, and various other details of her past. The majority of the questionnaire is made up [...]

UK to review rights act after terror suspects avoid deportation

[JURIST] The UK coalition government will review the country’s Human Rights Act [BBC backgrounder] after two Pakistani terror suspects successfully avoided deportation by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission [official website] due to concerns for their safety. The commission identified both Abid Naseer and Ahmed Faraz Khan as terrorism suspects but concluded that it was not [...]

Report reveals potential war crimes by Sri Lanka security forces

[JURIST] The International Crisis Group (ICG) [official website] on Monday accused Sri Lankan security forces of war crimes [report text] during the last months of the Sri Lankan civil war [JURIST news archive]. The ICG claims that the violence of the 30-year civil war, which ended one year ago this month, escalated in January 2009 [...]

Yemen court sentences 6 Somali pirates to death

[JURIST] Yemen’s Ministry of Defense [official website, in Arabic] announced Tuesday that a Yemeni court has sentenced six Somali pirates [JURIST news archive] to death and six additional pirates to 10-year jail sentences for the hijacking of a Yemeni oil tanker in April 2009. The convicted pirates must collectively pay 2 million Yemen riyals in [...]

Federal lawsuit seeks to stop drilling at BP Gulf platform

[JURIST] DC-based consumer advocacy organization Food and Water Watch (FWW) [advocacy website] filed suit [complaint, PDF] in a US district court Monday against the US Department of Interior (DOI) and the Minerals Management Service (MMS) [official websites] for an injunction to halt drilling at the BP Atlantis Facility [corporate website] in the Gulf of Mexico. [...]

Haiti court convicts US missionary in orphan smuggling case

[JURIST] A Haitian court on Monday convicted US missionary Laura Silsby of attempting to illegally smuggle 33 Haitian children to the US through the Dominican Republic in the wake of the January 12 earthquake [JURIST news archive]. Silsby was found guilty of irregular travel [JURIST report] and sentenced to time served during judicial proceedings. At [...]

Iraq court overturns ban of nine new parliament members

[JURIST] The appeals court for Iraq’s Justice and Accountability Commission on Monday overturned a ban on nine newly elected members of parliament accused of having ties to the banned Baath Party [BBC backgrounder].The ad hoc commission was created to eliminate Iraqi officials with potential connections to regime of Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive], who led [...]

Supreme Court strikes down life sentences for juveniles facing non-homicide charges

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] on Monday held [opinion, PDF] in Graham v. Florida [Cornell LII backgrounder; JURIST report] that the Eighth Amendment [text] ban on cruel and unusual punishments prohibits the imprisonment of a juvenile for life without the possibility of parole as punishment for the juvenile’s commission of [...]

Supreme Court upholds indefinite detention of mentally ill sex offenders

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] on Monday ruled [opinion, PDF] 7-2 in United States v. Comstock [Cornell LII backgrounder] that mentally ill sex offenders may be civilly committed beyond their prison sentences. The court upheld the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act [18 USC s. 4248 text], which allows [...]

Pakistan court challenges president’s dual offices

[JURIST] Pakistan’s Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday ordered the principal secretary for President Asif Ali Zardari [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] principle secretary to appear before the court in order to explain how Zardari is able to effectively serve as president while also leading the country’s ruling party. The petition was filed [Reuters report] [...]