Following up on a story reported earlier today in JURIST's Paper Chase, King Hamad of Bahrain commuted the year-long jail term of human rights activist Abdul Hadi al-Kharwaja shortly after his sentencing on Sunday. Although he did not pardon al-Kharwaja of the charges laid against him, he stressed the need to preserve democratic reforms made [...]

Rick Hasen, Loyola Law School Los Angeles: "The incumbent mayor, Dick Murphy, will be reelected unless one of the three lawsuits currently pending is successful, or unless there is a recount that will lead to a different result. News stories on the end of counting showing Murphy in the lead are here and here. I [...]

The defense team for more than 100 Mauritanian soldiers and civilians accused of a coup attempt said Sunday they will boycott a trial they view as unfair. The lawyers cite the appointment of 2 military officers as judges and removal of the trial to a distant military base. The lawyers put a halt to the [...]

Peru says it will ignore any ruling by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights advocating the release of American Lori Berenson. Berenson has been jailed in Peru since her 1995 arrest and 2001 conviction for terrorist collaboration with Marxist guerrillas, the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement. She was originally sentenced to life in prison, but was [...]

A Bahraini court Sunday sentenced human rights activist Abdul Hadi al-Khawaja to one year in prison for inciting hatred against the government. Al-Khawaja, the vice president of the now banned Bahrain Center for Human Rights, had accused the government of financial mismanagement and called for the resignation of the Prime Minister Sheik Khalifa bin Salman [...]

The Iraqi Electoral Commission announced Sunday that it has set January 30, 2005 as the date for national elections. Iraqis will vote for 275 members of a transitional parliament that will pick a new government and draft a permanent constitution to replace the interim document now in force. Once a constitution is enacted, the transitional [...]

Following up on a story reported earlier this afternoon in JURIST's Paper Chase, an apparent bipartisan deal to pass intelligence reform legislation based on recommendations of the 9/11 Commission collapsed on the House floor at the last minute late Saturday as Republicans blocked its passage, prompting sharp criticism from Democrats who thought they had an [...]

Following a statement last week by Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahearn that same-sex couples deserved "better rights" (reported here in JURIST's Paper Chase), Irish Justice Minister Michael McDowell said Saturday that Ireland should pursue civil partnerships for unwed couples, both heterosexual and homosexual, but should not institute a full process for 'gay marriage'. This was [...]

Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga announced Saturday that the government would create a special security force to protect the nation's judges and judicial personnel and would reinstate capital punishment. The announcement came at the end of an emergency session of ministers following Friday's assassination of High Court judge Sarath Ambepitiya and his bodyguard, reported here [...]

Congressional lawmakers announced Saturday that House and Senate negotiators have reached agreement on legislation that would overhaul the US intelligence structure pursuant to the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. The agreement is reported to create a new post that would jointly oversee all civilian spy agencies in the US, including the Central Intelligence Agency; a [...]