Russian prosecutors are expected to rest their case Monday against former Yukos oil company CEO president Mikhail Khodorkovsky in his trial on charges of tax evasion and fraud. Prosecutors are expected to announce sentencing recommendations as well. Khodorkovsky faces up to ten years in Siberia if convicted. Khodorkovsky and co-defendant Platon Lebedev have maintained that [...]

The Himalayan nation of Bhutan , population 530,000, released the text of a proposed new constitution over the weekend that would transform the system of government from a Constitutional Monarchy into a two-party representative democracy. Bhutan has slowly been working towards a democratic society since the current monarch, King Jigme Singye Wangchuk , stepped down [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Jeffrey Addicott of St. Mary's University School of Law says that it is much better to have deposed Iraqi president Saddam Hussein put on trial in an Iraqi court than before an international criminal tribunal along the lines of existing models. Eight months after Baghdad fell, Saddam Hussein was captured from a [...]

Legal experts from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe will join other high level OSCE officials already in Kyrgyzstan early this week to attempt to resolve the country's current electoral crisis. Kyrgyzstan has been in a continuing state of unrest since contested elections in late February and the run-off elections in mid-March. The [...]

Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Monday, March 28. The US Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in two cases beginning at 10 AM ET today. In San Remo Hotel v. San Francisco , 04-340, the Court will consider whether a takings claim under the Fifth [...]

Richard Posner, University of Chicago Law School: "Congress is on the verge of passing and the President of signing a major overhaul of the Bankruptcy Code. (See Summary and Changes). The new bankruptcy law, popularly termed the "Bankruptcy Reform Act," has engendered passionate debate inside and outside Congress. The criticisms of the Act bespeak a [...]

Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail said Sunday that Sudan would reject any UN resolution calling for the prosecution of Sudanese nationals suspected of war crimes in a court abroad. The UN Security Council is expected to vote Wednesday on a French draft resolution that would send those charged with war crimes in the Darfur [...]

France's largest Muslim organization, the Union of French Islamic Organizations (UOIF) , has argued at a national conference of French Muslims that the state should reconsider its ban on Islamic headscarves in schools and recognize Islamic holy days. The French Education Ministry ordered the ban on "conspicuous religious signs" in state schools last March, in [...]

Australian attorney general Philip Ruddock has asked the US to expedite proceedings against Australian detainee David Hicks , the only Australian still held at Guantanamo Bay. Hicks was captured in Afghanistan in 2001 and suspected of working with Al-Qaeda. Ruddock and Australia's ambassador to the US say they want to avoid another case like that [...]

According to military and Bush administration officials, the US Department of Defense is considering substantial changes to the tribunal process at Guantanamo Bay for foreign terror suspects. The changes, designed in response to widespread criticism from foreign governments, human rights groups, and the federal courts, include strengthening the rights of defendants, establishing more independant judges [...]