Haji Bismullah and Haji Mohammad Wali v. Robert M. Gates, Secretary of Defense, US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, July 20, 2007 . Read the full text of the decision . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

The UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Friday that no charges would be filed against associates of former Prime Minister Tony Blair , some of whom had been arrested during an investigation into whether political honors were exchanged for monetary contributions to Blair's Labour Party . CPS Special Crime Division chief Carmen Dowd said that [...]

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) said Friday that it will conduct a joint trial of Bosnian Serb cousins Milan Lukic and Sredoje Lukic . This revokes the planned referral of Sredoje's case to the War Crimes Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina . The court justified the decision on [...]

Lawyers representing Canadian Guantanamo detainee Omar Ahmed Khadr filed a motion Thursday to suspend the proceedings of the Court of Military Commission Review , arguing that the appellate court's three military judges were illegally appointed. The motion alleges that Defense Secretary Robert Gates did not personally appoint the judges as required under the Military Commissions [...]

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi announced pardons Friday for 38 opposition members and journalists sentenced to prison for their roles in mass anti-government demonstrations . The pardons were issued after the government received letters of apology from the defendants. The opposition members, most of whom belong to the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) , [...]

Executive Order: Interpretation of the Geneva Conventions Common Article 3 as Applied to a Program of Detention and Interrogation Operated by the Central Intelligence Agency , President George W. Bush, July 20, 2007 . Read the full text of the order. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) heard oral arguments on the legal status of detainees at Guantanamo Bay on Friday, pursuant to a petition to renew precautionary measures initially granted in March 2002. Representatives from the Center for Constitutional Rights and the Center for Justice and International Law argued that the continued detention of [...]

Israel released 255 Palestinian prisoners Friday who belong to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Movement and other minor factions. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the prisoners were not directly involved in the killing or wounding of Israelis, and that all released prisoners were required to sign a pledge not to participate in [...]

A senior White House official said Thursday that the administration will not allow the Department of Justice to pursue any contempt of Congress charges brought against White House officials in the congressional probe of the US Attorneys firing scandal . The official said that Congress has no independent authority to force the US Attorney for [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled Thursday that the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) must pay retroactive benefits to Vietnam War veterans afflicted by chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) , rejecting the VA's contention that it is not required to re-adjudicate or provide benefits to veterans afflicted with the disease before 2003 [...]