International Courts/Tribunals

Judge Nixes Plan to Drop Counsel Off Cliff in Cage Dangling from Crane

How far must a judge and jury go to hear the facts of a murder case? Dangling over the side of a cliff in a cage suspended from a crane, in order to view the scene of a claimed 1995 murder of a model allegedly thrown off a cliff by…

Apr 15, 2008 3:21 PM CDT

Man Charged With Assault in Weapon Case Involving Hurled Hedgehog

A New Zealand man is facing a criminal assault charge for hurling a weapon—that is to say, a hedgehog—about 16 feet at a 15-year-old victim, bruising and puncturing his leg. “It was unclear whether the hedgehog was still alive when it was thrown, though it was dead when collected as…

Apr 11, 2008 10:12 PM CDT

Former U.S. Detainees Convicted in One-Hour Trials in Afghanistan

Afghan detainees formerly held by the United States are being tried in Afghanistan in secretive trials that last one hour or less, human rights investigators told the New York Times. The detainees were housed at Guantanamo Bay and Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan before being handed over to their home…

Apr 10, 2008 3:07 PM CDT

Christians Sue Over U.K. Human-Animal Embryo Licenses

A Christian group that includes lawyers and doctors says it will sue to try to overturn licenses granted to academics at two United Kingdom institutions to create human-animal hybrid embryos for medical research purposes. One such embryo reportedly has already been created under the licenses granted by the Human Fertilisation…

Apr 9, 2008 8:39 PM CDT

Lawyer Gets 10 Years for Stealing $2.5M from Paralyzed Client

A lawyer who funded a lavish lifestyle by stealing most of the $3.5 million intended to fund a lifetime of care for a paralyzed client has been sentenced to a 10-year prison term by a United Kingdom judge. Covering his tracks with dummy bills, solicitor Thomas McGoldrick, 59, stole not…

Apr 8, 2008 3:55 PM CDT

ABA President Calls for Reinstatement of Pakistan Judges

Momentum appears to be growing for the potential reinstatement of dozens of Pakistan appellate judges who were removed from office last year by the country’s president as part of an emergency suspension of the constitution. The judges’ release from house arrest Monday, as the first act of the country’s newly…

Mar 26, 2008 7:35 PM CDT

Canada’s Top Court Considers Controversial Khadr Case

A controversial case concerning an al-Qaida terrorism suspect who has been held in U.S. custody since he was 15 years old is being argued in Canada’s highest court today, where counsel for Omar Khadr is contending that the defense should be given access to documents concerning an interview of him…

Mar 26, 2008 7:01 PM CDT

Foreign Courts Look Askance at Punitive Damages

The awarding of punitive damages has long been accepted in the United States, but it’s rare in other countries. Most foreign courts view punitive damages as a windfall for plaintiffs, the New York Times reports. These courts say punishments should be meted out by the criminal justice system or by…

Mar 26, 2008 3:17 PM CDT

Pakistan Judges Freed by New Prime Minister

In his first act as Pakistan’s new prime minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani today freed the country’s deposed supreme court chief justice and some 60 other jurists from the house arrest under which they have been held since November. “This is a historic moment, ushering in an era of democracy that…

Mar 24, 2008 8:36 PM CDT

Bad Hair Day Creates Sleek New Style for McCartney’s Divorce Lawyer

Despite her post-courtroom claims of being pleased with the not quite $50 million divorce settlement she was awarded, Heather Mills doused lawyer Fiona Shackleton, who represents her estranged husband, Paul McCartney, with a glass of water immediately after the ruling was announced yesterday, the London Times reports. Yet the bad…

Mar 18, 2008 6:09 PM CDT

Why Heather Mills Got Merely $50M from Ex-Beatle Paul McCartney

Excepts from a ruling in the divorce case of former Beatle Paul McCartney help show why his estranged wife, Heather Mills, got a little under $50 million. She had reportedly been seeking $125 million from the top pop singing star, who was found by the judge to have a net…

Mar 18, 2008 3:59 PM CDT

Rogue Trader in $7B SocGen Case Says Boss Watched

Jerome Kerviel says he used his manager’s computer at least one occasion as he racked up more than $7 billion in losses for French bank Société Générale. And, as he traded, he contends, his boss and colleagues sometimes watched, according to the London Times and Agence France-Presse. Kerviel also told…

Mar 17, 2008 4:36 PM CDT

Lisa Marie Presley Sues Paper: I Was Pregnant, Not Fat

Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of famed rock-and-roll singer Elvis Presley, has sued a British newspaper, contending that her privacy was invaded when it falsely claimed that she was fat. Rather than simply “piling on the pounds,” as the Daily Mail initially reported in an article criticizing her allegedly unhealthy…

Mar 11, 2008 8:05 PM CDT

ABA Files Amicus Brief Supporting Habeas Corpus in Iraq

Weighing in on an issue that has created concern among lawyers, journalists and human rights advocates, among others, the American Bar Association has filed a U.S. Supreme Court amicus brief on behalf of U.S. citizens arrested by the American military and held in Iraq without U.S. court proceedings. At issue…

Mar 1, 2008 2:43 AM CST

U.K. DNA Program Contested in European Court

In a case that could prevent the U.K. gene police from continuing with an ambitious program to collect DNA samples from as many citizens as possible, two arrestees who were never convicted are seeking a court order requiring their samples to be destroyed. Lawyers for Michael Marper, 45, and a…

Feb 28, 2008 5:16 PM CST