[JURIST] WNBC in New York is reporting that US House Majority Leader Tom DeLay has announced a compromise with Senate leaders on a federal legislative initiative to keep Terri Schiavo alive by allowing her case to be appealed to the federal courts. The Senate will meet to consider the measure later today; the House will meet Sunday.

Earlier Saturday DeLay had criticized the US Supreme Court [DeLay press release] for turning down without reasons {SCOTUSblog post] a late Friday appeal [AP report] by the US House of Representatives asking the justices to modify Judge George Greer's order to remove Schiavo's feeding tube in order to allow her to appear as a subpoenaed witness at a House Government Reform Committee hearing on March 25.

4:55 PM ET - A full AP story on the federal legislative compromise is now available here. The text of Majority Leader DeLay's announcement earlier this afternoon is now online in a press release. Jackson's Junction video blog has recorded video of the DeLay press conference as originally broadcast live on C-SPAN.

5:45 PM ET - House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist have issued this statement on the legislative initiative:

This legislation will allow a federal district judge to consider a claim by or on behalf of Mrs. Schiavo for alleged violations of Constitutional rights or federal laws relating to the withholding or withdrawal of food, fluids, or medical treatment necessary to sustain her life. We want to thank Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid for working with us towards a legislative solution. The House and Senate will act as quickly as possible to send this legislation to the President for his signature.

The Senate will meet today at 5:00 p.m. to pass an adjournment. Passing an adjournment resolution will enable us to bring both the House and Senate back into session under our emergency powers. The House will meet at 1:00 pm on Sunday, March 20th in the hope of receiving unanimous consent to take up the measure. If unanimous consent cannot be attained, the measure will be considered on the House Suspension Calendar as early as 12:01 a.m. Monday, March 21. The Senate will continue to work through the weekend to ensure the bill can be passed shortly after the House has acted.

[JURIST] Ibrahim Jaafari, Iraq's leading Shiite candidate for Prime Minister, said Saturday that he would introduce Sharia Islamic law [Wikipedia overview] and federalism if selected. Jaafari's Daawa party [official website in Arabic] currently holds a majority of National Assembly seats from the January general election. A poll conducted by the US International Republican Institute [press release] shows public sentiment in Iraq on the application of Sharia law is split - 48 percent are in favor, while 46 percent support a separation of mosque and state. Jaafari also said that under the new law woman would be under no obligation to wear a veil, and the trial of Saddam Hussein would be completed by the end of the year. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Hong Kong Bar Association [official website] Friday criticized the Hong Kong regional government's recent declaration that under the Hong Kong Basic Law the successor of a chief executive who steps down early shall serve out only the remainder of the unexpired term, calling it the first time that mainland China's interpretative approach to the regional constitution had been preferred over the territory’s established common law tradition. The debate was sparked after chief executive Tung Chee-hwa announced plans to resign [JURIST report]. Tung took over as leader of the former British colony when it reverted to Chinese rule in 1997. His term was due to end in 2007. His deputy, Donald Tsang has taken over temporarily and has announced that elections to choose a successor who will serve out Tung's term will take place in July. Read the HKBA press release [PDF]. The Financial Times has more.

[JURIST] Saturday's Los Angeles Times reports that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan [official website] will propose significant changes to the organization at a General Assembly meeting Monday. According to a draft copy of Annan's scheduled Report on Larger Freedom [available on the UN website at 10 AM ET Monday] obtained by the newspaper, he will ask the General Assembly to approve an expansion of the Security Council from 15 to 24 members and the conversion of the controversial UN Commission on Human Rights [official website] into a smaller human rights council directly elected by the General Assembly itself. The report also calls for reinforcement of the UN's power to make world security and development decisions, and the framing of an anti-terrorism convention by September 2006. The General Assembly and world leaders attending a UN summit in September must approve the reforms before they take effect. Read the LA Times report here.

[JURIST] Former US attorney general John Ashcroft [Wikipedia profile] has accepted a part-time position as Distinguished Professor of Law and Government at Regent University [official website], the Virginia Beach Christian graduate school headed by evangelist Pat Robertson [Regent University President & Chancellor profile; evangelical profile]. Ashcroft's first course in April will be a week long and will cover "leadership in times of crisis." He is scheduled to teach a two-week version of the same course in the summer, fall, and the spring semester of next year as well as lecture on national security law. Regent University was started by Robertson in 1978 as a "center for Christian thought and action" and has graduated about 3000 students since that time. Read the Regent University press release announcing Ashcroft's appointment. The Virginian Pilot has more.

[JURIST] UK Home Secretary Charles Clarke [official profile] has ordered a review of the British government's decision last year [Evening Standard report] to downgrade cannabis from a regulatory B class to a C class, the same as anabolic steriods and anti-depressants. The review, disclosed Saturday [HOme Office press release], comes after a new study suggested a strong link between mental ilness and cannabis use. In a letter to the UK Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs [official website] (ACMD) Clarke hinted that a reversal of government policy may be in order. A former UK drugs tsar who resigned over the issue of reclassification claims Clarke is correcting "something that was put wrong 15 months ago." AFP has more.