As US Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings commenced Monday for nominee John Roberts , Democrats and Republicans sparred over the appropriateness of questioning Roberts about controversial issues such as privacy rights and abortion....

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has extended the reasonable search and seizure rights established under the Fourth Amendment to defendants awaiting trial on criminal charges. The 2-1 decision held that police...

AP is reporting that FEMA Director Michael Brown has resigned from the agency after being replaced last week as the on-site head of federal Hurricane Katrina relief and recovery efforts.5:15 PM ET...

The Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Justice released a report Monday revealing that federal agents frequently violate the FBI's guidelines for dealing with confidential informants. After assessing...

US Pentagon officials are in the final stages of determining whether to implement a new weapons program that would mandate the production of a new era of landmines, dubbed "networked munitions", in the face of international opposition to such...

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia Judge Alphons Orie has confirmed and unsealed indictments against Croatian journalists Josip Jovic and Marijan Krizic. Jovic and Krizic, charged with one count each of contempt of...

Kyrgyz Prime Minister Felix Kulov said Monday that Kyrgyzstan will decide on the fate of 15 Uzbek refugees trilaterally through the opinions of the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees ...

Intensive talks directed at salvaging a consensus draft document for the 2005 United Nations World Summit broke down Monday over differences on human rights and management reform, according to a spokesman for the US UN mission [official...

The UN investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri moved to Syria Monday, after Lebanon charged four pro-Syrian generals with planning Hariri's death earlier this month. Chief UN investigator Detlev Mehlis...

Guy Mansfield QC , chairman of the Bar Council of England and Wales , told the Commonwealth Law Conference Monday that suspected terrorists must not be denied their legal and human rights. Mansfield said [prepared remarks,...