Results of a French poll to be published in Saturday's Marianne magazine show that 55% of French voters intend to vote against approving the European constitution . This is the third survey in recent weeks that indicate that French voters could reject the EU constitution in the upcoming May referendum. The percentage of those against [...]

In Friday's international brief, Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro told a press conference Thursday that despite a harshly worded 'letter to the people' released by South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun Wednesday, Japan would not respond aggressively to the current dispute over the ownership of the Dokdo/Takeshima islets; Chief Cabinet Secretary Hosoda Hiroyuki mentioned the International [...]

President Bush signed SB 384 into law Friday, extending the existence of the Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Records Interagency Working Group by two years, through March 27, 2007. The panel was established under the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act of 1998 , and is charged with declassifying federal documents pertaining to Nazi [...]

A French court Friday ordered former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Ridouane Khalid jailed, and former Gitmo detainee Khaled ben Mustafa, who was already in custody, to remain behind bars. Both men were detained at the US military prison since 2002 until their transfer to France earlier this month . Mustafa was taken into custody by France's [...]

The US Army has announed that it has reopened an investigation into the death of Mohammad Munim al-Izmerly, an Iraqi scientist who died after 10 months in US custody. Al-Izmerly was alleged to have experimented with the use of poisons on prisoners during Saddam Hussein's regime. When his death came to light last May, the [...]

Schiavo v. Schiavo, United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Judge James Whittemore, March 25, 2005 . Read the order . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

The New York Court of Appeals , the state's highest court, ruled Thursday that the New York City Fire Department must release portions of audiotapes and transcripts from 911 calls related to the 2001 terrorist attacks. Specifically, it held that the Fire Department must release the operator's side of the conversations, but due to privacy [...]

The UN Security Council Thursday unanimously voted to send over 10,000 peacekeepers to Sudan in an effort to monitor a peace deal intended to end a 21-year civil war. The resolution sidesteps issues regarding sanctions for war crimes in the country's Darfur region. In late January, a UN backed council declared that crimes against humanity, [...]

US District Judge James Whittemore has denied a second emergency request from Terri Schiavo's parents to reconnect the brain-damaged woman's feeding tube. Whittemore denied a first request on Tuesday , but after that was unsuccessfully appealed all the way to the US Supreme Court lawyers for the Schindlers filed an amended complaint on new legal [...]

Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Friday, March 25. Today is Good Friday, and most UN, EU and many US government offices and courts are closed for the holiday. The US Senate and US House are in recess until April 4.