Ecuador Congress fires Supreme Court again News
Ecuador Congress fires Supreme Court again

[JURIST] The Congress of Ecuador [government website in Spanish] voted Sunday to disband the country's current Supreme Court [official webiste in Spanish] following an earlier attempt on Friday [JURIST report] to do the same thing by Ecuador President Lucio Gutierrez [Wikipedia profile]. Congress decided in an emergency session Sunday night that, since they appointed the interim court members, only they had the power to dismiss them. Congress will begin hearings on Tuesday to decide how to fill the 31 now-empty judicial seats. The controversy surrounding the Supreme Court reaches back to Gutierrez's December dismissal of the previous court [JURIST report] as biased against him. In the four months since, Gutierrez has faced intense public and government pressure to restore the court as neutral, independent body. Reuters has more. El Comercio has local coverage in Spanish.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Indian National Congress founded

The Indian National Congress (INC) was founded on December 28, 1885 in Bombay (now Mumbai), India. In subsequent decades, the so-called Congress Party would advocate for Indian independence from the UK, which was eventually achieved in 1947. The first Prime Minister of independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru, was elected as a member of the INC. Learn more about the history and founding of the Indian National Congress.

Congress recognized Pledge of Allegiance

On December 28, 1945, Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance and encouraged its recitation in schools. The Pledge was supposedly written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus Day. The words “under God” were added by Congress in 1954. The revised version of the Pledge was the subject of litigation before the United States Supreme Court originally brought by Michael Newdow, a parent who unsuccessfully objected to his daughter's school district policy requiring daily recitation of the Pledge. The court ruled that Newdow had no standing.

Nepal ends monarchy, establishes republic

On December 28, 2007, the Kingdom of Nepal's interim parliament ended the country's monarchy and established the Republic of Nepal. Free elections were held on April 10 of the following year to elect a Constituent Assembly.

Learn more about the rise of democracy in Nepal.