A Russian court on Thursday sentenced political activist and lawyer Alexei Navalny to five years in prison for embezzling USD $500,000 from a state-owned timber company. Navalny, a strong critic of President Vladimir Putin and a crusader against alleged governmental corruption, declared that the charges against him were baseless. The …
Judge Sang Hyun Song, the president of the International Criminal Court (ICC), on Tuesday urged the international community to commit to bringing perpetrators of war crimes and genocide to justice. Song's statement marked International Criminal Justice Day, July 17, which was the date that the Rome Statute was signed in 1998, …
Bangladesh lawmakers approved a new labor law this week in response the collapse of the Rana Plaza building, which killed about 1,129 garment workers in April. Although the new law broadens the scope of industries that can participate in union practices, it also places a high standard on the steps required to form a union in all industries. According …
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai ratified two new election laws on Wednesday. The UN had pressed the president to improve the election commission he had threatened to disperse after it disqualified 25 percent of the 2009 ballots, sparking violence across the country. By reinvigorating the Independent Election Commission and establishing an independent commission for voting complaints, …
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) on Tuesday filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Northern District of California against the National Security Agency (NSA). The lawsuit seeks an injunction against the NSA, Justice Department, FBI and directors of the agencies for allegedly violating plaintiffs' First Amendment …
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Wednesday granted the US government's motion for a temporary delay in enforcement of a court order banning genital searches at Guantanamo Bay. The searches at issue are being conducted any time a detainee is transported to the area for meeting with counsel regarding habeas …
The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Wednesday ruled that plaintiffs who were challenging an anti-terrorism law on grounds that it could stifle freedom of the press lacked standing to challenge the law, but noted that there are parts of the law that should be reviewed. The National Defense Authorization Act for …
Chinese activist and lawyer Xu Zhiyong was arrested by Chinese authorities on Wednesday on suspicion of having "gathered crowds to disrupt public order." Xu, a law lecturer at the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications and founder of the Open Constitution Initiative (Gongmeng), was placed under house arrest on April 12. Xu's arrest …
A judge for the US District Court Central District of California on Tuesday denied a motion by McGraw-Hill Companies and Standard & Poor's Financial Services (S&P), a unit of McGraw Hill Financial, to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the US government. The five billion dollar lawsuit accuses S&P of misrepresenting the credit risk …
