Global Corruption Report 2005, Transparency International, March 16, 2005 . Download the report here. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

The House Judiciary Committee Wednesday approved the Senate's bankruptcy bill 22-13 in a vote largely along party lines, turning back a number of Democrat-proposed amendments. The legislation would require people with incomes above a certain level to pay credit-card charges, medical bills and other obligations under a court-ordered bankruptcy plan. The current system gives more [...]

The US Justice Department announced Wednesday it will award $100,000 to the National Center for State Courts to review judicial safety and security. The review will evaluate security-conscious designs for new courthouses, staff training for security equipment, emergency preparedness and common standards for protecting judges and others. Court security came to the fore earlier this [...]

The UK House of Lords and House of Commons clashed Wednesday over proposed legislation to effect key changes to the British legal system. The legislation aims to further separate the judiciary from politics by stripping the Lord Chancellor’s traditional authority and creating a Supreme Court to which judges would be appointed by an independent panel. [...]

JPMorgan Chase & Co. agreed to a $2 billion settlement Wednesday in order to settle claims in a class action suit brought after WorldCom's collapse. The plaintiffs, WorldCom investors, have now settled with all defendants named in the amended complaint , except auditor Arthur Andersen and former WorldCom board member Bert Roberts. US District Judge [...]

The US Department of Energy said Wednesday that government employees may have falsified documents related to Nevada's Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said that, while preparing for a license application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, several e-mails from a US Geological Survey employee were discovered in which the employee "indicated that [...]

Leading Wednesday's corporations and securities law news, staff at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will recommend the agency block Blockbuster Inc.'s prospective bid to buy Hollywood Entertainment Corp. saying the deal would hurt competition in the market for video rentals. The staff will make a formal recommendation to the agency's five commissioners in the next [...]

The US Senate voted 51-49 Wednesday afternoon to allow oil drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge . The Senate defeated an amendment that would have removed the refuge drilling provision from next year's budget. The provision will be included in the budget when Congress goes to vote on it later this year. President Bush [...]

CBC News is reporting that Ripudaman Singh Malik has been found not guilty on all charges stemming from the 1985 Air India bombing that killed 329 people and resulted in the longest and most expensive trial in Canadian legal history. Malik was also found not guilty of a separate bombing that killed two Japanese baggage [...]

Lakeland, Florida's Second District Court of Appeal Wednesday refused to block the removal of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube, which is currently scheduled to be removed Friday afternoon. The court denied a request by Schiavo's parents to delay removal while they pursue further appeals and also denied a request for a new trial. In the court's [...]