The government of the Philippines Tuesday rejected a request by the Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) that the 2007 Human Security Act be revisited , as Filipino presidential spokesperson Ignacio Bunye said the controversial law had already experienced "exhaustive debates" in the legislature and that delaying its July 15 implementation could "embolden terrorists." [...]

British Judge Adrian Fulford Tuesday discharged the jury in the trial of suspects implicated in the failed bomb attacks on London's subway and bus systems on July 21, 2005, after jurors indicated they were deadlocked in the deliberation of charges against defendants Manfo Kwaku Asiedu and Adel Yahya. Prosecutors have accused Asiedu of being a [...]

US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales received reports that the FBI had improperly used national security letters (NSL) prior to testifying before Congress in 2005 that "there has not been one verified case of civil liberties abuse," the Washington Post reported Tuesday. According to documents made available by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Gonzales received at least [...]

David J. Bershad , former name partner at leading class action law firm Milberg Weiss , pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy to obstruct justice in a plot in which Milberg Weiss allegedly paid up to $11.3 million in illegal kickbacks since 1984 to individuals to serve as lead plaintiffs in class action and shareholder derivative [...]

The court-martial of US Marine Corps Cpl. Trent D. Thomas for his alleged role in the 2006 kidnapping and murder of an Iraqi civilian in Hamdania began Monday, with the prosecutor asking jurors to convict Thomas on charges of premeditated murder and kidnapping. Defense lawyers, who asserted that "Marines in combat don't challenge orders," argued [...]

EU Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security Franco Frattini told the European Parliament Monday that protections afforded under the US Privacy Act will extend to European Union citizens as a part of a new airline passenger data-sharing agreement between the US and EU. Frattini, hoping to ease concerns from EU parliament members that the new [...]

The Thai Supreme Court agreed to hear corruption charges against former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra Tuesday, scheduling the first hearing for August 14 and ordering the exiled Thaksin and his wife Pojamarn to appear before the court. Thaksin is charged with abuse of power for personal gain, conflict of interest violations, and also dereliction of [...]

Zheng Xiaoyu, former commissioner of China's State Food and Drug Administration was executed Tuesday, as the Supreme People's Court denied Zheng's appeal for leniency. The court sanctioned Zheng's execution, saying that Zheng's acceptance of $850,000 in bribes and his serious dereliction of duty as a high-level official warranted the harsh penalty as it had a [...]

Eric Linge, Pitt Law '09, files from Mumbai: The directives and writs of PILs and the hearings of PILs in court are regular news in India today. The PIL movement was begun by the Supreme Court in 1978. The '70s were a troubled time in the history of India, but the judiciary emerged from this [...]

German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said it was imperative not to underplay the gravity of terrorist threats and raised the possibility of "targeted killings" of terror suspects like Osama Bin Laden and the indefinite detention of others in a controversial interview with Der Spiegel magazine published Monday. Pointing to similar United States policy, he noted [...]