Retired chief justice for England and Wales Lord Woolf has criticized large-scale litigation by companies that often spend in excess of 100 million pounds on lawyers' fees. Woolf, a longtime proponent of mediation and alternative dispute resolution while on the bench, told the Financial Times that he viewed cases that cost millions of pounds and [...]

UK-based human rights group Liberty has said that remarks by UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw that the US had not requested clearance for any flights relating to rendition only served to demonstrate that the British government was turning a 'blind eye' to the practice. Straw said Monday that no requests by the US had been [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Chandra Lekha Sriram, Chair of Human Rights at the University of East London School of Law (UK) currently visiting at the University of Maryland School of Law, says that tensions between Europe and the US over American rendition policy and practice reveal a disturbing cultural chasm over the perceived significance of human [...]

Letter to certain US Senate Judiciary Committee members concerning the conference report on Patriot Act renewal legislation, Senator Arlen Specter, December 12, 2005. Read the full text of the letter.

Prosecutors have asked that the the trial of US Rep. Tom DeLay be postponed while they appeal the dismissal of felony conspiracy charges against him. Texas Judge Pat Priest threw out the conspiracy charge last week but refused to dismiss two charges of money laundering. DeLay is accused of funnelling $190,000 in corporate donations to [...]

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty said Monday that outbreaks of racial violence that began in Sydney Sunday could undermine the country's strict new anti-terror law by making it more difficult for police to build bridges with Muslim youth who might already feel targeted by the legislation. On Monday, eleven more people were arrested and [...]

The Afghan government has adopted a plan to investigate war crimes and human rights violations committed from 1978 until the end of the Taliban rule. The Action Plan for Peace, Reconciliation and Justice in Afghanistan comes after months of pressure from international human rights groups . Members of the new parliament are among those accused. [...]

Statement of Decision denying clemency for Stanley Tookie Williams, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, December 12, 2005 . Read the full statement of decision . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

AP is reporting that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has refused to grant clemency to Crips gang co-founder and convicted murderer Stanley Tookie Williams , set to be executed just after midnight tonight. In denying clemency, Schwarzenegger wrote: Williams claims that he is particularly deserving of clemency because he has reformed and been redeemed for his [...]

German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis Monday submitted a new report to the UN Security Council on the February bombing assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri , including additional evidence of Syrian involvement in the murder. Mehlis will brief the Council Tuesday on the latest report of his ongoing investigation , the text of which [...]