Mark Koenig, former executive VP of investor relations at Enron , testified in the early stages of the prosecution case Wednesday that founder Kenneth Lay and former CEO Jeffrey Skilling , both on trial for fraud and conspiracy , knew about changes to quarterly earnings reports in January and July 2000 made in an attempt [...]

New US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito cast his first vote on the country's highest court on Wednesday in a decision to deny a request to vacate the stay of execution for Missouri death row prisoner Michael A. Taylor. The Court also denied certiorari in Taylor's case in which the inmate challenged the Missouri death [...]

Quebec Justice John Gomery Wednesday released the second report of his judicial commission of inquiry into the Canadian sponsorships and advertising program scandal that developed during the term of former Liberal Party Prime Minister Jean Chretien in the mid-1990s and later rocked the Canadian political establishment. The 240-page report entitled "Restoring Accountability" includes 18 recommendations [...]

Leading Wednesday's environmental law news, the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers have reached an agreement to set a cut off date of December 31, 2012 for EU nations that wish to impose more stringent standards for fluorinated gases than the standard adopted for the EU in general. The gases are used in a [...]

The European Union will fund a program to establish appellate courts within the existing Turkish juridical system, EU officials announced Tuesday. At an estimated cost to the EU of 1.4 million euros, Turkish Ministry of Justice officials working with experts from the Council for the Judiciary in the Netherlands and the Swedish National Courts Administration [...]

In an interview with Paris newspaper Le Figaro published Wednesday, the chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugsoalvia urged European Union officials to suspend membership talks with Serbia in order to pressure Belgrade to arrest wanted war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic . Carla del Ponte wants Brussels to delay plans towards [...]

Ugandan court officials announced Wednesday that a jury has recommended that Ugandan opposition presidential candidate Kizza Besigye , currently beset by several legal actions he claims are politically-motivated, be found not guilty of raping a woman in 1997 and 1998. Besigye's fate nonetheless remains unclear, as a High Court judge must still announce the final [...]

Over 1,000 protestors gathered in Tokyo Wednesday to rally against a proposed change to the 1947 Imperial Household Law , which would allow women and their children to ascend to Japan's Chrysanthemum throne , one of the world's oldest monarchies. Last year, in response to a succession crisis created because no male heirs having been [...]

A Chilean appeals court ruled Wednesday that former dictator Augusto Pinochet is healthy enough to stand trial for alleged human rights abuses stemming from the 1975 Operation Colombo massacre. The ruling, one of several concerning whether Pinochet will stand trial for abuses committed during his regime, clears the way for prosecutors to bring Pinochet to [...]

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane has offered a $45.7 million settlement to 75 clergy sex abuse complainants. Some observers wonder how the diocese can afford the settlement since filing for bankruptcy from previous sex abuse lawsuits. The settlement offer must be approved by the US Bankruptcy Court and each of the individual victims within [...]