The Zimbabwean parliament began debate Tuesday on a draft constitutional amendment bill that could essentially give Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe the authority to appoint his successor. The changes would allow the parliament to appoint a new president should the incumbent step down before the end of his term; there is speculation that Mugabe will step [...]

Frank Conaway, et al., v. Gitanjali Deane, et al., Maryland Court of Appeals, September 18, 2007 . Read the full text of the opinion . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

French judicial officials indicated Monday that the judiciary is launching a new investigation into the 1999 assassination of Iranian deputy chief of the joint staff Brigadier-General Ali Sayyad Shirazi in Tehran. The probe, renewed at the request of Shirazi's family, will focus on the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) , which has claimed responsibility in the assassination. The [...]

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf will only resign as chief of Pakistan's army following his reelection, government lawyer Sharifuddin Pirzada said Tuesday during proceedings in the Supreme Court of Pakistan . The high court is hearing petitions from opposition parties challenging Musharraf's dual role as president and army chief , as well as Musharraf's bid to [...]

A federal judge in California dismissed a lawsuit Monday alleging that vehicle emissions of greenhouse gases have contributed to global warming constituting a "public nuisance" that has cost the state of California millions of dollars. Judge Martin J. Jenkins of the US District Court for the Northern District of California wrote that the case "presents [...]

Mexican drug lord Francisco Javier Arellano Felix pleaded guilty in the US District Court for the Southern District of California Monday to running a continuing criminal enterprise and conspiracy to launder money. Prosecutors alleged that Arellano Felix helped run the Arellano Felix cartel , based out of Tijuana, Mexico, which became notorious for its aggressive [...]

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have generally reacted favorably to President Bush's Monday nomination of former federal judge Michael B. Mukasey as the US Attorney General, showing support for Bush's bi-partisan efforts at nominating an independent mind for the nation's top law enforcement officer and paving the way for a relatively smooth confirmation. Many US senators [...]

Robert R. Amsterdam : "In the ongoing case of the Russian government's persecution of my client Mikhail Khodorkovsky, two historical precedents have recently been set: one in Switzerland, and one in the Russian Federation. In the case of Khodorkovsky vs. the Swiss Federal Public Prosecutor's Office, the Federal Tribunal in August issued a decision which, [...]

Closing arguments began Monday in the case against the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development , a Muslim foundation charged with financing international terrorism by supporting the Palestinian group Hamas . Once the largest Muslim charity in the United States, federal prosecutors shut down the Holy Land Foundation in 2001 and subsequently charged the [...]

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso Monday called on the UK to support the proposed EU Reform Treaty . During a speech to delegates of the UK Liberal Democratic Party , Barroso emphasized that the reform treaty is not simply a retread of the failed EU constitution rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005. [...]