Canadian Justice Minister Vic Toews introduced two anti-crime bills Thursday in the Canadian Parliament as the new Conservative party government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper made good on its January election promises to get tough on offenders. The first bill, the Mandatory Minimum Penalties Bill would ensure that violent offenders receive a mandatory minimum sentence. [...]

Cambodia's Supreme Council of Magistracy on Thursday appointed 30 judges to preside over the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia , the joint Cambodia-UN tribunal that will try Khmer Rouge leaders for genocide. Seventeen Cambodian and 13 international judges were selected, and a tribunal spokesman said that trial proceedings will begin next year. Two [...]

US Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) , chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee , said Thursday that the committee will hold further hearings on the nomination of White House aide Brett Kavanaugh to the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. Democrats have called for another hearing on the nomination to determine the extent to [...]

Mexican President Vicente Fox has sent a bill that would decriminalize the possession of small portions of such traditionally-illegal drugs as heroin, cocaine and marijuana back to Congress, reversing a statement from his office the day before that Fox would sign the bill into law . Fox said Wednesday that he sent the bill back [...]

The UK High Court on Thursday rejected the petition of a group of British residents detained at Guantanamo Bay appealing against the government's decision not to press the US government to release the detainees. The detainees asked the court to compel the British government to try and negotiate their release and to declare the decision [...]

US District Judge Leonie Brinkema has accepted the jury's recommendation and sentenced Zacarias Moussaoui to life in prison without the possibility of release. After determining that Moussaoui was eligible for the death penalty during the first phase of his sentencing trial , the jury recommended Wednesday that Moussaoui be sentenced to life in prison rather [...]

The US House of Representatives has passed the Lobbying Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 , a bill to regulate lobbying and ethics, by a narrow 217-213 margin . The bill imposes stricter reporting requirements on lobbyists and requires lawmakers to have privately-sponsored travel and gifts approved. Opponents criticized the bill for not being strong [...]

Leading Thursday's international brief, US Ambassador to Zimbabwe Christopher Dell has denied claims by Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe that the US and other Western governments were intentionally destroying Zimbabwe's international reputation, instead blaming poor government planning by Mugabe for the once-wealthy country's rapid collapse into economic and political chaos. Dell told a gathering of students [...]

As the UN Committee Against Torture prepares to hold its review of US compliance with international laws banning torture, a US State Department lawyer said Thursday that the US does not outsource torture and claimed that allegations of secret flights and prisons are harming relations between the US and Europe. Speaking to the press before [...]

The US House of Representatives has passed a bill that, under the Federal Trade Commission Act, would impose stiff civil penalties and authorize jail sentences for officials from energy companies that engage in price gouging when selling gasoline or crude oil, by a 389-34 vote Wednesday. The Federal Energy Price Protection Act would require the [...]