In Monday's international brief, Spain has began an amnesty program that will allow a large portion of its illegal immigrant population to apply for legal resident status. The new legislation, promulgated by the ruling Socialist party, requires a work contract, registration with the local town hall and the social security office. Applicants have three months [...]

In the wake of last week's government takeover by Nepalese King Gyanendra and his subsequent controversial decrees, including a ban on "directly or indirectly" criticizing security forces and a statement that the government can seize private property and monitor all forms of electronic communication, Nepali human rights activists have announced that they will hold a [...]

Cuba , a country famous for its tobacco products, now has some of the toughest anti-smoking laws. New legislation that went into force across the country Monday will prohibit smoking in work environments, ban the sale of tobacco within a certain radius of schools, and outlaws all cigarette vending machines. While the regulations are stiff [...]

More than 200 foreign nationals currently being detained in US immigration facilities could be released under a recent Supreme Court ruling according to figures released Monday by Cheryl Little , executive director of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center . Last month in Clark v. Martinez , the high court held that illegal immigrants could only [...]

Lawyers representing UK terror suspects detained by authorities in Broadmoor high security hospital and Belmarsh prison have filed a case with the European Court of Human Rights , arguing that Britain's derogation from the European Convention on Human Rights , which normally prohibits the indefinite detention of individuals, is invalid as no 'threat to the [...]

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Monday that Israel's State Prosecution Office will later this week recommend to the country's High Court that it ignore the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel's security fence issued in 2004. The report, ordered by the Israeli Attorney General and now in internal governmental circulation after being finished nearly [...]

The son of late President Gnassingbe Eyadema was sworn in as the new president of the African state of Togo Monday after the country's parliament altered its constitution to permit his succession. Citing a need to eliminate any power vacuum and ensure a peaceful transition of power after Eyadema's almost 40-year rule, the longest of [...]

Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Monday, Feb. 7. The US Senate convenes today at 2 PM ET, with a live webcast available via C-SPAN. The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will hold a business meeting at 6 PM ET to consider the nomination of [...]

More than 300 inmates were released Sunday from the US-run Abu Ghraib prison on the outskirts of Baghdad. About 800 prisoners have now been released since the start of the year, and almost 4000 since August, when Iraq's Human Rights Ministry joined an American-run review board to determine prisoners' status. More than 8000 people are [...]

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Saturday that the city will appeal Friday's state court ruling that denying same-sex couples the right to marry violates the state constitution. Bloomberg had previously made conflicting statements about the issue. He said city lawyers had told him the state constitution does not allow for gay marriage, but [...]