The US Justice Department has responded to yesterday's district court ruling that the Guantanamo military commission proceedings are unlawful (reported here on JURIST's Paper Chase) by saying it will seek an emergency stay of the ruling and will immediately appeal. US District Judge James Robertson ruled Monday that the military commission proceedings against Salim Ahmed [...]

Steven Kay and Gillian Higgins, the two lawyers appointed to defend former Yugoslavian president Slobodan Milosevic in his war crimes trial before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, asked the court Tuesday to be dismissed as Milosevic's standby defense counsel. As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, the ICTY appeals chamber ruled last [...]

SEC Commissioners will vote Tuesday on whether to publish for public comment several proposed rules on the governance, ownership structure and required disclosures for national securities exchanges and registered securities associations that are self-regulating. The proposed rules were formulated following allegations of widespread violations by trading firms at the New York Stock Exchange and government [...]

Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Tuesday, Nov. 9. The US Supreme Court will hear 10 AM ET oral arguments in the consolidated case of Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma v. Thompson and Thompson v. Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma (case summary from Duke Law School). In that [...]

Salim Ahmed Hamden v. Donald H. Rumsfeld, United States District Court of the District of Columbia, Judge James Robertson, November 8, 2004. Excerpt: Salim Ahmed Hamdan petitions for a writ of habeas corpus, challenging the lawfulness of the Secretary of Defense's plan to try him for alleged war crimes before a military commission convened under [...]

Compensation for Losses from the 9/11 Attacks, Rand Institute for Civil Justice, November 8, 2004 . Read the full text of the 211-page report here . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Pharmaceutical giant Merck and Co., maker of the recalled pain reliever drug Vioxx, said Monday it had been served a subpoena by the US Department of Justice and that it is also the subject of an inquiry by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Merck began a voluntary worldwide withdrawal of the drug, which had entered [...]

Judge James Robertson of the US District Court of the District of Columbia has stopped Guantanamo military commission proceedings against Salim Ahmed Hamdan, Osama bin Laden's bodyguard and driver from 1996 to 2001, on the grounds that they are unlawful as presently constituted (see this previous report in JURIST's Paper Chase). Judge Robertson ruled that [...]

Ex-Enron Chief Executive Officer Jeff Skilling today filed a motion with US District Judge Sim Lake to move his trial from Houston. Skilling, who hired five experts to examine the publicity of the Enron collapse, asserts Houston-area residents are prejudiced against him and that the city has a personal, emotional and economic stake in the [...]

For the first time in its 214-year history, Pitcairn Island has selected a woman mayor. The island's former mayor Steve Christian was removed following his recent conviction for rape and sex attacks. Christian is one of six men convicted of the crimes who were handed sentences ranging from jail to community service. The new mayor [...]