Swiss ambassador to the United Nations, Peter Maurer told the UN Security Council's counter-terrorism committee on Wednesday that Switzerland believed that although targeted economic and travel sanctions against individuals were useful in countering terrorism, the scope of such sanctions must be more carefully defined. Maurer outlined ways for the sanctions to be both effective and [...]

During a press briefing on Wednesday, US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said Iraq would be making a "terrible mistake" if it severely limited women's rights, as hinted by a leaked draft of their new constitution . In the document, Iraqi women would be severely restricted in personal matters such as marriage, divorce, and inheritances. [...]

Prosecutors at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia want to reopen their case against former Yugloslav President Slobodan Milosevic to present new evidence, including a video of the Srebrenica killings that has resulted in several arrests . The defense has denied allegations about Srebrenica , and while the video was shown on cross-examination, [...]

Britain began negotiations with Jordan on Wednesday regarding the deportation of anyone who condones or incites terrorism, a new policy recommended after the London bombings . Prime Minister Tony Blair spoke of a need to keep such individuals out , and expel ones currently living in the UK. Previously, human rights laws prevented such deportations [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Darryll Jones, former criminal trial attorney for the US Army Judge Advocate General and now a law professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, says that the recent ruling of the US DC Circuit Court of Appeals on the validity of military commissions is not so much a victory or [...]

Following the deaths by gunfire of two prominent Sunnis involved in the constitution drafting process earlier this week, Sunni Arabs decided Thursday to continue boycotting the drafting committee, putting in jeopardy the August deadline set for the constitution's completion . Sunni committee member Kamal Hamdoun said the boycott would continue pending an international investigation into [...]

Bill C-38, An Act respecting certain aspects of legal capacity for marriage for civil purposes, signed into law July 20, 2005 . Read the full text of the law here. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Jurors in the trial of 5 former Enron Corp. broadband executives Wednesday acquitted three on some charges, including insider trading, money laundering, conspiracy and security and wire fraud, but failed to reach a verdict on the remaining charges. Former CEO Joseph Hirko , strategist Scott Yeager, and software engineer Rex Shelby were charged with a [...]

Following up on a story reported this morning in JURIST’s Paper Chase, AP is reporting that in the absence of the Canadian Governor General, Canadian Supreme Court Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin has signed Bill C-38 into law, making Canada the fourth nation in the world to legalize gay marriage.

Two just-released Guantanamo Bay detainees told reporters Wednesday that more than 180 prisoners at the US detention facility in Cuba are 14 days or so into a hunger strike. Habir Russol and Moheb Ullah Borekzai, both from Afghanistan, indicated that the prisoners are not eating or drinking in protest of their detention and alleged mistreatment [...]