The federal judge who earlier this week ruled that Guantanamo Bay prisoners may not be deprived of liberty without due process of law and that military tribunals set up to review their detentions fall short of the due process standard put her ruling on hold Thursday and allowed for an immediate appeal of her decision [...]

In Thursday's environmental law news, the EPA has filed a complaint against Puerto Rican agriculture company Martex Farms for violations of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) . The complaint lists 338 counts of violations that include not properly posting information on pesticides being used and not providing adequate decontamination supplies and protective [...]

The US Senate has voted 60-36 to confirm White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales as US Attorney General, succeeding John Ashcroft. He will be the first Hispanic to hold the office. 5:17 PM ET – AP now has more. 7:28 PM ET – The Senate has posted the full roll call vote. No Republicans voted against [...]

Speaking late Thursday afternoon on behalf of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Chef du Cabinet Mark Malloch Brown said that the UN would take immediate disciplinary action against staff named as wrongdoers by the Volcker commission interim report into the UN Oil for Food Program, and would waive diplomatic immunity as appropriate. Brown also said [...]

Interim Report, Independent Inquiry Committee into the UN Oil-for-Food Program, February 3, 2005 . Read the full text of the report. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

The Bush administration plan to curb class action lawsuits gained a victory today as the Senate Judiciary Committee left intact language that would send many class action lawsuits from state courts to federal courts. The committee approved the bill, dubbed the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 on a 13-5 vote and the full Senate [...]

Following up on a story reported this morning on JURIST's Paper Chase, the Independent Inquiry Committee (IIC) into the UN Oil-for-Food program has released its interim report . The report concludes that the conduct of program head Benon Sevan in soliciting oil deals on behalf of a Panamanian-registered trading company was a grave conflict of [...]

Leading Thursday's corporations and securities law news, prosecutors have announced that former HealthSouth Corp. president and director James P. Bennett has been indicted on charges of fraud, conspiracy, insider trading, money laundering and lying to the FBI in connection with a scheme to sell company stock worth $17.4 million. The charges come during former HealthSouth [...]

Zimbabwe's main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) will field candidates in the country's parliamentary elections to be held next month. MDC contends, however, that the polls will not be fair and free and will participate under protest:More than ever the electoral playing field remains uneven and unequal. Rule of law concerns have [...]

A group of conservative European Union lawmakers from eastern Europe have proposed an EU ban on communist symbols, including the red star and the hammer and sickle. The ban would match a proposed EU ban on the display of Nazi symbols. Members of the European Parliament from Estonia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Hungary, and the Czech Republic [...]