The long-awaited debate over the fate of the judicial filibuster began Wednesday in the US Senate. Republican majority leader Senator Bill Frist opened the floor debate and accused the Democrats of using the obstructive tactic as an attempt to “kill, and defeat” President Bush’s federal judicial nominees. Republicans are opposed to the use of the [...]

Following up on a story previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, a jury in West Palm Beach Florida has ordered investment giant Morgan Stanley to pay $850 million in punitive damages to billionaire investor Ronald Perelman . On Monday, the jury ordered Morgan Stanley to pay Perelman $604 million in actual damages for misrepresenting a [...]

Leading Wednesday's international brief, Spain officially ratified the EU Constitution today after the Spanish Senate voted 225 – 6 to approve the document. Spain held a non-binding referendum in February that demostrated strong popular support for the proposed Europe-wide constitution. Spain's lower house of parliament, El Congreso de los Diputados approved the Constitution 28 April. [...]

The main opposition parties in Ivory Coast signed a deal Wednesday in Paris ahead of the general elections to be held later this year. The prospective alliance would see a distribution of power between the opposition groups if current President Laurent Gbagbo is defeated. The alliance initially started as a reaction to the civil war [...]

Kuwait will begin cracking down on illegal weapon possession after an amnesty period ends on Thursday. In February, Kuwait passed a law giving police broad powers to search for unlicensed weapons. The law allows the police to more easily obtain search warrants to look for weapons in private residences and allows women officers to search [...]

Speaking publicly for the first time since her husband and mother were murdered , US District Judge Joan Lefkow on Wednesday asked the Senate Judiciary Committee to condemn public attacks against judges by some commentators and politicians, claiming it fostered disrespect for the judiciary. A man whose civil case was dismissed by Lefkow claimed responsibility [...]

The American Civil Liberties Union has obtained records from the US Army describing mock executions being used against Iraqi detainees, which are forbidden. An army captain ordered a detainee to dig his own grave then ordered troops to pretend to shoot him. In a similar incident, a soldier fired a gun over a detainee's head. [...]

A Palestinian court has thrown out election result in parts of Rafah , a town in the Gaza Strip where Hamas had made a strong showing. Supporters of the Fatah movement, led by President Mahmoud Abbas , praised the court's decision to cancel the results in 51 of the 141 polling stations after finding irregularities [...]

Cambodia's National Assembly came to an agreement with the US government Wednesday regarding the nonsurrender of current or former US government officials and employees to the International Criminal Court . The US Embassy in Phnom Penh praised the decision and reaffirmed its commitment to pursue justice for crime committed by its citizens. The measure is [...]

British Prime Minister Tony Blair unveiled a new plan Tuesday to introduce national ID cards for the first time since World War II. The proposed ID cards, which would carry biometric details such as fingerprints or iris scans, have come under criticism from human rights group Liberty . Blair cited the need for the cards [...]