Cambodia's decision to transfer an investigating judge away from the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) could lead to undue delays in bringing top members of the Khmer Rouge to trial, UN officials said Wednesday as they urged the Cambodian government to rethink the decision. Judge You Bun Leng was moved from the [...]

Texas Gov. Rick Perry Wednesday rejected a call by the European Union to halt all executions in the state . In a statement , a spokesman for the governor said: 230 years ago, our forefathers fought a war to throw off the yoke of a European monarch and gain the freedom of self-determination. Texans long [...]

The Bush administration violated US law by not producing a study on the effects of global warming, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. Rejecting government arguments that it had discretion as to when to produce the reports, US District Court Judge Saundra Armstrong held that the Global Change Research Act of 1990 mandates that a research [...]

The interim government of Bangladesh imposed a curfew Wednesday after three days of student protests against the military-backed interim government resulted in hundreds of injuries and one death. The riots first began at the University of Dhaka , when students demanded that a military post be removed from the campus, and then spilled out into [...]

A lawyer for recently released Iranian-American scholar Haleh Esfandiari said Wednesday that national security charges are still pending against Esfandiari and that a trial is expected. Esfandiari was released from Iranian custody on bail Tuesday, but human rights lawyer and 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi said that although Esfandiari has a right to [...]

The Iraqi High Tribunal judge presiding over the crimes against humanity trial of 15 former Iraqi officials ejected two defendants from the courtroom Wednesday for failing to follow the rules of court. During the first day of witness testimony, chief judge Mohammed Oreibi al-Khalifa threw out Iyad Fathi al-Rawi and Sultan Hashim Ahmad al-Tai and [...]

Sudan has issued a decree abolishing legal immunities that protect police from criminal prosecution, the Sudanese government said Tuesday. The decree, issued by the police director general, allows police officers to be tried for crimes but also guarantees quick legal proceedings. UN rights experts have long criticized Sudan for giving blanket immunity to police and [...]

Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on the 400th execution in Texas, August 21, 2007 . Read the full text of the statement. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

The Venezuelan National Assembly gave preliminary approval Tuesday to comprehensive constitutional reforms introduced by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez last week. No word was available on how many legislators voted for the reforms, but National Assembly president Cilia Flores said they received "majority approval." The proposed reforms extend the presidential term from six to seven years, [...]

The European Union (EU) on Tuesday urged Texas Gov. Rick Perry to halt all executions in the state , and to consider introducing a moratorium on death sentences in Texas. According to the statement from Portugal, acting as current Presidency of the EU: The European Union is unreservedly opposed to the use of capital punishment [...]