The US State Department Tuesday cited the governments of 16 countries, including 11 predominantly Islamic states, for not making a "significant effort to combat human trafficking" in its annual report on modern-day slavery around the world Tuesday. Although Algeria, Bahrain, Burma, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Kuwait, Malaysia, North Korea, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, [...]

The New Jersey Supreme Court Wednesday ruled that for the state to constitutionally take private property, it must show that the property is blighted. The high court's unanimous ruling eliminates the use of eminent domain to take property that is merely "not fully productive." In Gallenthin Realty Development, Inc. v. Borough of Paulsboro, the town [...]

A joint report delivered to President George W. Bush Wednesday by the US Department of Health and Human Services, the US Department of Education, and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) on the ability of state and local officials to prevent community violence – including school shootings – has found that educational, health, and law [...]

Congressional investigators Wednesday issued subpoenas for former White House counsel Harriet Miers and former White House Political Director Sara Taylor in their ongoing probe of the US Attorney firing scandal . US House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) issued the subpoena for Miers, while Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) issued the subpoena for [...]

Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia: Internal Rules, Office of Administration of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, June 20, 2007 . Read the full text of the rules . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Citigroup, UBS, Morgan Stanley, and Deutsche Bank were charged Wednesday in Milan in connection with the collapse of Italian dairy giant Parmalat SpA . Judge Cesare Tacconi issued the indictments accusing the banks of a form of criminal negligence for not revealing to the market that Parmalat was not financially healthy. Thirteen employees working in [...]

Al-Skeini and others v. Secretary of State for Defense, UK House of Lords, June 13, 2007 . Read the full text of the judgment. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Prosecutors in Switzerland said Wednesday that they have decided to appeal last week's acquittal of all 19 executives and consultants charged in connection with the collapse of Swissair Group , the former Swiss national airline. Zurich prosecutors had been considering an appeal since the decision was handed down on June 7, and will file it [...]

The US House of Representatives Wednesday passed the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 , which closes a loophole that allowed Virginia Tech shooter Seung-Hui Cho to purchase firearms despite a court order mandating psychiatric treatment. The bill mandates improvements in state reporting to the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) , making [...]

European Data Protection Supervisor Peter Hustinx expressed concern in letters sent Monday to the Portuguese ministers for justice and the interior that privacy and data protection are increasingly being sacrificed in the name of security and national defense. The letter was sent just weeks before Portugal takes over the European Union presidency from incumbent Germany [...]