Court Cases

Court Orders Starbucks to Pay $105 Million Tip to Baristas
In a court ruling this week, a judge ordered coffee giant Starbucks to pay $105 million back to California baristas whose tip jars were dipped into by shift supervisors.

Man Fired for Using Medical Pot Can’t Sue, Rules Top Court
A California man with a prescription for medical marijuana was fired for failing an employee drug test, so he sued his employer; now the California State Supreme Court says he has no case.

Alabama Couple Celebrate 80th Anniversary, Still in Love
When they married on October 2nd, 1927, he was 17, she was 14. Their families didn’t approve, so they had a friend drive them to the courthouse 50 miles away.

Anita Hill Stands by Her Words – Again – as Thomas Book is Released
The new book by Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas, "My Grandfather’s Son," was released this week, sparking debate anew about his 1991 confirmation hearings.

Mother Succeeds in Court Fight to Get Placenta Back
A Las Vegas mother who wanted to keep her baby’s placenta, planning to eat it, won a court fight to get it back from the hospital where her baby was born.

Racist, Homophobic Prospective Juror Can’t Be on Jury
A potential juror from Cape Cod found himself in trouble with the judge when he told the court he can’t serve jury duty because he’s a lying, homophobic racist.

"Bong Hits 4 Jesus" Loses Supreme Court Appeal
An appeal regarding a student’s right to display a "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" banner was ruled against in Supreme Court today.

Despite Family’s Wishes, Hospital Plans to End Baby’s Life Support
A Texas hospital is scheduled to end life support for a 17-month old baby on Tuesday, as his parents continue to battle the hospital’s decision in court.

Army Court Martial Begins for War Objector Ehren Watada
The case against the first military officer court martialed for refusing to ship out to Iraq began Monday in Fort Lewis, Washington.

Prosecutors: Mom Faked Son’s Retardation, Collected $111,000
Prosecutors told a federal court Tuesday that a Washington mother collected disability benefits for her son for nearly 20 years by lying and saying he was retarded.

Lawyer Punished for Exclaiming "Lord" in Court
A North Carolina lawyer was censured by a judge when he reacted to the judge’s comments by getting frustrated, raising his hands, and saying, "Lord!"

Common-Law Marriages in Colorado May Be Valid at Age 15
A state appeals court issued a ruling Thursday that common-law marriages could be legal for girls at age 12 and boys at age 14.

Supreme Court Hears Arguments About Assisted Suicide in Oregon
In a hotly debated case, the Supreme Court began hearing arguments Wednesday about whether or not the government can prevent doctors from helping terminally ill patients end their lives.

Defiantly Unrepentant Eric Rudolph Sentenced To Life In Prison
As a judge sentenced him to life in prison for bombing an abortion clinic seven years ago, Eric Rudolph defiantly tried to justify his actions as he faced his victims in court.

Supreme Court Rules Against America In Ten Commandments Displays
The Supreme Court said Monday that public displays of the Ten Commandments in two Kentucky courthouses promote a religious message and should be removed, even though most Americans support such displays.

Supreme Court Rules Against Rights Of Homeowners
In a shocking decision announced Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that local governments can legally seize private property if they want to, just to make way for condominiums, office buildings, or resort hotels.

Supreme Court Outlaws Medical Use of Marijuana
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that state laws allowing for the medical use of marijuana will not protect sick people from federal prosecution.

Supreme Court Considering Constitutionality of Ten Commandments Displays
For the first time since 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether displays of the Ten Commandments on government property constitute a conflict between church and state, an ongoing battle that has consumed lower courts for more than two decades.

Destiny’s Child Destined for Court
Two of Destiny’s Child’s original members filed a federal lawsuit claiming they were caused "irreparable harm" by lyrics in the song "Survivor."

Stevie Wonder Sued by Ex-Girlfriend, Angela McAfee
Stevie Wonder’s ex-girlfriend, Angela McAfee, filed a $30 million palimony suit on October 4th in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Johnnie Cochran Rests His Case
After some speculation about his future in the courtroom, Johnnie Cochran appears ready to step away from his storied career as an attorney.

Napster: Mad Rush to Download Spurred by Courts
Napster, again in the news as a ruling looms in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, sends servers into overdrive as users download songs.

U.S. Supreme Court: Keeping the Faith
As U.S. Supreme Court Justices ponder the fate of the presidential candidates, a nation waits anxiously for closure from a trusted source.

Marijuana Case Taken to "High" Court
In what could eventually be a landmark ruling involving U.S. drug policy, the Supreme Court has agreed to address the issue of medical marijuana.

Florida Supreme Court Expands Its Role
In handing down perhaps the most important ruling during the 2000 election fiasco, Florida's highest court may have overstepped its bounds.

US States Take Agency to Court Over Emissions Standards
A group of states are attempting to force the Environmental Protection Agency to comply with a Supreme Court ruling

Pizza's Party Could Stop Poll
Next month's general election in Italy could be postponed as political party wins court ruling

French Mission to Aid Ailing Jungle Hostage
Humanitarian mission to head to Colombia in attempt to deliver medical aid to Ingrid Betancourt

Supreme Court Threatens Islamic Party's Government in Turkey
11-judge court to hear case calling for the closure of the ruling Justice and Development party for trying to impose Islamic law

The Ticking Timebomb: Un Tribunal Gears Up to Try Lebanon Pm's Killers
Hague court has caused panic among some Syrian officials, say analysts

Farc's Prize Hostage is 'ill and Losing Will to Live'
Hostage Ingrid Betancourt, held by Colombian rebels, is rumored to be ill in the jungles of remote Guaviare province

The Ticking Timebomb: Un Tribunal Gears Up to Try Lebanon Pm's Killers
Hague court has caused panic among some Syrian officials, say analysts

Supreme Court Rules Us Courts Are Independent of Hague
US courts are not bound by the international court of justice or by direct orders from the president, the supreme court ruled today when it refused to allow a fresh hearing for a Mexican on death row

US Courts Given Leave to Bypass International Legal Rulings
Supreme court rules state courts not obliged to follow International Court of Justice

Old Habits Die Hard
Although India has been supposedly "liberalized" for over 15 years now, the new reality does not seem to have percolated down to our politicians and our labour courts.

US Court Appears Unlikely to Challenge Individual Gun Ownership
But the supreme court appeared to be divided on whether to uphold a ban on handguns in Washington DC

Turkish Court to Consider Call to Ban Ruling Party
Turkey's constitutional court considers ban on ruling party for allegedly trying to turn country into Islamic state

Charles Taylor Told Fighters to Eat Their Enemies, Court Hears
Commander in Charles Taylor's militia tells trial at The Hague that he oversaw horrific crimes while serving under the former Liberian president

Museveni Refuses to Hand Over Rebel Leaders to War Crimes Court
The Ugandan president is headed for a confrontation with the international criminal court after saying he will not hand over the leaders of his country's rebel Lord's Resistance Army indicted for war crimes

Uganda Defies War Crimes Court Over Indictments
Uganda's president, Yoweri Museveni, is headed for a confrontation with the international criminal court over its first war crimes indictment after saying he will not send leaders of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) to the Hague for trial

Four Us Marines to Face Courts Martial Accused of Gang Rape
US military to court-martial four marines accused of the gang rape of Japanese woman

Conrad Black Fails in Bid to Delay Jail Term
An US appeals court has rejected a last-ditch application by Conrad Black for a delay in the start of his prison sentence. By Andrew Clark

Groin Turns Into No-go Zone for Luckless Italians
Superstitious Italian men fear ill luck as appeal court rules public genital-patting a criminal offense

Uncertain Future for a Controversial Database
The European court of human rights is set to decide the future of the world's largest DNA database

Whistle While You Work
From government to big business, if you have a dirty secret, Wikileaks is your nightmare. David Leigh and Jonathan Franklin on the site a US court this week tried to muzzle

Whistle While You Work
From government to big business, if you have a dirty secret, Wikileaks is your nightmare. David Leigh and Jonathan Franklin on the site a US court this week tried to muzzle

Jowell's Husband Criticised for Absence From Court Hearing
Italian judge criticizes David Mills for refusal to be questioned over alleged bribe from Silvio Berlusconi

US Prosecutes Greenpeace Under 1872 Law
Greenpeace will appear in court in Miami on Monday in what is believed to be the first criminal prosecution in the United States of a campaign group for the activities of its members.

Abortion Libel Claim By Cardinal's Former Aide
Catholic spokesman 'robbed of moral authority' and lost job after Daily Mail article, high court hears

Britain Powerless in Face of Saudi Threats, Court Told
British government made no attempt to resist 'unlawful' threats

A Cover-up Laid Bare: Court Hears How Sfo Inquiry Was Halted
Saudi threats meant 'no other choice' but to stop investigation in BAE

BAE: Secret Papers Reveal Threats From Saudi Prince
Spectre of 'another 7/7' led Tony Blair to block bribes inquiry, high court told

French Court Freezes Sale of Saddam's £17m Yacht
Move is latest effort to seize assets of the dictator and his regime in France, including two villas near Cannes

Irish Cardinal Attempts to Block Publication of Child Abuse Files
Two of Ireland's top Catholic clerics clash in court over secret church files

UK Tycoon to Face Harare Court on Currency and Porn Charges
Nicholas van Hoogstraten, the British property tycoon who is close to the Zimbabwean president, Robert Mugabe, is expected to appear before Harare magistrates today on charges of breaking foreign exchange laws and possessing pornographic pictures of himself having sex with a Zimbabwean woman

Canadian Farmer Forces Gm Giant Back to Court
Monsanto accused of pollution over stray plants· Campaigner believes case could trigger global claims

Battle to Save Nearly 100 Horses After 31 Animals Are Found Dead in Field
· Charities describe scene of unprecedented cruelty · Man to appear in court on criminal damage charge

Lethal Injections Challenged in Us Supreme Court
The use of a cocktail of drugs to execute prisoners came under examination by the US supreme court yesterday, in a case that could determine the future of the practice

A Deal Under Siege
Leader: Dinner ladies are rarely viewed in military terms. But when a union that has made 25,000 equal pay claims faces court for discriminating against its own members, friendly fire comes to mind

Two Guantánamo Britons to Appear Before Magistrates
Two of three British residents released from Guantánamo Bay will appear before magistrates today as protesters plan to gather outside the court to demand their immediate freedom

Fight for 'honour' at 92 Reveals a Nazi's Past
Court action over claims of fathering a baby leads to new Holocaust link

Diary
Hugh Muir: Lively events at Westminster Central Hall, courtesy of the Scarman Trust, and an eclectic guest list

Black Faces Lengthy Jail Term
The disgraced media mogul, Conrad Black, faces a lengthy stretch in an American jail after a court convicted him of looting millions of pounds from his Hollinger media empire through a fraudulent scheme to embezzle funds from shareholders.

'Blasphemy' Teacher Found Guilty
A British primary school teacher was jailed for 15 days tonight by a Sudanese court after being convicted of inciting religious hatred for allowing children in her class to name a teddy bear Muhammad

Berezovsky Jailed in Absentia
Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky was yesterday sentenced in absentia to six years in prison for fraud by a court in Moscow. The London-based businessman, who called the prosecution a 'farce', was found guilty of embezzling nearly 215m roubles (£4.3m) from the Aeroflot airline

'Blasphemy' Teacher Appears in Court
British primary school teacher in Sudanese court after being charged with 'insulting religion and inciting hatred' for allowing her pupils to name a teddy bear Muhammad

Judge Jailed Entire Court for Phone Interruption
Doors locked after ringing mobile enrages magistrate· 46 sent to cells in moment of 'inexplicable madness'

Wife Asks Court to Declare Missing Tycoon Fossett Dead
Wife asks Chicago court to set in train the distribution of missing adventurer Steve Fossett's assets

Fossett's Wife Wants Him Declared Dead
The wife of Steve Fossett has petitioned a court in Chicago to declare him legally dead, almost three months after the millionaire adventurer went missing in a small plane over the Nevada desert

Court Politics
Leader: The supreme court of Pakistan yesterday threw out the final challenge to General Pervez Musharraf's re-election as president

Hey Big Spender: the £3m Spree That Landed a Saudi Prince in a London Court
It is a remarkable shopping list by any standards. And it has landed the Saudi ambassador to Britain with a possible £3m debt

US Author Mounts 'libel Tourism' Challenge
A ferocious attack on the 'chilling effect' of the English law of libel and its use by wealthy 'foreign tourists' will be mounted in a top US court today

Appeal Court Ruling Against Zuma Intensifies Anc Power Struggle
The bitter power struggle between President Thabo Mbeki and his former deputy, Jacob Zuma, for control of the ruling African National Congress intensified yesterday when a South African court opened the way for Mr Zuma to be charged with corruption over a multi-billion dollar weapons deal.

Closure of Crossings Traps Students in Gaza
Hundreds studying abroad unable to resume courses · Petition to Israeli supreme court seeks right to travel

US Supreme Court Calls a Halt to Executions
Judges to consider legality of lethal injection · Moratorium after inmate wins last-minute reprieve

FBI Used Mafia Capo to Find Bodies of Ku Klux Klan Victims
The FBI recruited a mafia enforcer to help solve the slaying of three civil rights workers by the Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi in the 1960s, according to evidence provided in Brooklyn state court by a mobster's moll.

'Killer Keller' Rebuked Over Death-row Plea
A Texas judge faced a widespread rebuke from lawyers yesterday for refusing to keep her courthouse open after 5pm to hear a last-minute death-row appeal.

How Top London Law Firms Help Vulture Funds Devour Their Prey
Indebted poor countries are being taken for millions of dollars in the courts.

Sarkozy's Wife in 'exile' As Divorce Rumours Grow
Couple are expected to announce the start of court proceedings in the next few days.

Palestinian Students Continue to Face Exclusion
The Israeli army is continuing to bar Palestinian students from Israeli universities, in spite of an order from the Israeli high court that it relax its restrictions.

Man Admits Kidnapping Two Children
A former manager of a pizza parlor in Missouri who held two boys captive in his home, one of them for four years, yesterday pleaded guilty to kidnapping and armed criminal action, in the first of a series of court appearances.

Lawsuits Are No Substitute for the Pioneering Spirit
Zoe Williams: Taking the NHS to court is not the solution to our shameful record on stillbirths. Women must focus on collective action.

Lethal Injection Review May Halt Us Executions
America, which has some 3,350 prisoners on death row, yesterday seemed to be moving towards an unofficial moratorium on executions after the supreme court granted a rare last-minute reprieve to a condemned man in Texas.

Teenager Released on Bail After Civil Rights Protest in Louisiana
A black teenager whose prosecution over the beating of a white classmate in a Louisiana school prompted a big civil rights protest walked free from court on bail last night after a prosecutor dropped an attempt to try him on adult charges.

Court Battles Loom in Fight to Save Site
Ancient Tara Hill is under threat from plans to build a motorway extension.

European Appeal Court Opens Windows to the World and Shakes the Superdominant
· Brussels sets benchmark for competition cases · Commissioner sounds warning to other big firms

He Was As God to Us, Woman Tells Court at Sect Leader's Rape Trial
The key witness in the trial of the American polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs has testified that she had been indoctrinated to believe she must obey church leaders to preserve her place in heaven.

Palestinians Celebrate Rare Victory Over Hated Barrier
Supreme court vindicates weekly protests and forces Israel to re-route security fences and roads.

Briton Freed From Thai Prison After Court Overturns Drug Conviction
· Father served six years for crime he did not commit · Death sentence had been commuted to life in jail

The Hills Are Alive
Palestinian lawyer Raja Shehadeh has fought Israeli settlers in the courts. Now he's taking the battle to the countryside, with his boots on. By Rory McCarthy.

Appeal Court Quashes Media Gag Over White House Meeting
An attempt to prevent the press from repeating British concerns about US military tactics in Iraq was quashed by the appeal court yesterday.

Portugal's Cross-dressing 'general' Dies After 20 Years As a Man
The protagonist of one of Portugal's most gripping courtroom dramas has died after almost 20 years in which she fooled everyone, including her live-in companion, that she was actually a male army general.

Thou Shalt Not Judge
Bible Belt judge Roy Moore's insistence on having a granite block carved with the Ten Commandments in his courthouse led to his dismissal. But his cause became a rallying point for the Christian right, and in 2006 he ran for the governorship of Alabama. In this extract from his new book, Stephen Bates catches up with him on the campaign trail.

British Girl Kidnapped in Nigeria is Released
Nigerian kidnappers have tonight released Margaret Hill, a three-year-old British girl they had seized in the city of Port Harcourt on Thursday.

British Girl, Three, Kidnapped in Nigeria
Foreign Office demands immediate release of toddler abducted at gunpoint in the Nigerian oil city of Port Harcourt.

Former Liberian Leader Charles Taylor Ends Boycott of War Crimes Trial
Charles Taylor appears at Liberian court in The Hague after demand for more senior lawyer is rejected.

Vanunu Jailed Again After Talks With Foreigners
Mordechai Vanunu, the man who revealed Israel's nuclear secrets to the world, was yesterday jailed again by a Jerusalem court for talking to foreigners in breach of his parole conditions.

Trouserless Judge Fails to Take Dry Cleaners to the Cleaners
After two days in court and a legal judgment running to 8,448 words, a judge in Washington has finally reached a verdict on whether a dry-cleaning company should pay $54m (£27m) in damages and compensation to a client who lost his trousers.

Court Sentences 'chemical Ali' to Hang
Saddam Hussein's cousin, known as 'Chemical Ali', was sentenced to hang today, along with two other men, for their roles in a genocidal military campaign against Iraq's Kurds in the 1980s.

Can We Have Our Chairs Back? Belgian Royal May See Different Court
Belgium's controversy-hit royal family is facing a new debacle over antique chairs.

Rulings Leave Guantánamo in Legal Limbo
The US government faced renewed calls today to abandon the separate legal system at Guantánamo Bay and to try detainees at existing military and civilian courts.

Guantánamo Tribunal Rulings Put Pressure on Separate System
George Bush's administration faced renewed demands yesterday to abandon the separate legal system operating at Guantánamo Bay and to try detainees at military and civilian courts.

Don't Listen to What the Rich World's Leaders Say - Look at What They Do
Take the thousands of Filipino children who die every year courtesy of the formula milk corporates, backed by US lobbying. By George Monbiot

The Political Trail of Charles Taylor
Mark Tran traces key events in the political life of the former Liberian president Charles Taylor, who faces war crimes charges at an international criminal court in The Hague.

Political Reform is Essential, Beckett Tells Chinese Cadres
The British foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett, yesterday called on China to relax its grip on the media, religion and the courts so that it could take a stronger leadership role in global affairs.

TV Makeover Fails to Paper Over Cracks
American family in court as home improvement causes rift with 'adopted' siblings.

Haditha Marine 'watched Superior Kill Surrendering Civilians'
US marine tells a court that he "pissed" on the head of a dead Iraqi civilian killed by his unit and watched a superior officer kill five Iraqis as they tried to surrender.

Chinese Colliery Boss Gets Life for Cover-up
A Chinese court has jailed a colliery owner for life in a groundbreaking move to improve safety standards in the world's deadliest coal industry.

Turkish Court Halts Gul Presidency
Turkey's constitutional court today annulled a parliamentary vote in support of the country's foreign minister, Abdullah Gul - accused by his opponents of hiding an Islamist agenda - as a presidential candidate.

Chinese Mine Owner Jailed for Delays That Killed Workers
A Chinese court has jailed a colliery owner for life in an unprecedented move to improve safety standards in the world's deadliest coal industry.

DC Madam Gleeful As Client List is About to Go on Air
The mighty and wealthy of Washington were braced for scandal yesterday after the woman known as the DC Madam said she hoped to expose dozens of clients of her exclusive escort service at her trial. Deborah Jeane Palfrey appeared in court on charges of running a prostitution ring that operated among the upper echelons of the US capital for 13 years.

German Court Allows Screening of Thalidomide Drama After Cuts
A television drama about the thalidomide scandal which led to thousands of women giving birth to disabled children, has sparked a bitter row between the film-makers and the creators of the drug, 50 years after the anti-morning sickness pill came on to the market.

Serb Paramilitaries Found Guilty in War Crimes Trial
Four convictions in first court case linked to massacre of 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica.

Billionaire Offer to Clean Bhopal Derided As Front for Chemical Firm
One of India's richest men has been lobbying for the Indian government to drop a court case against an American multinational to pay for the clean up costs of the world's worst chemical accident, according to letters obtained by campaigners.

Court Threat As Ukraine Power Struggle Grows
Ukraine's leadership crisis deepened yesterday as President Viktor Yushchenko threatened government officials with prosecution if they did not hold early elections.

Anti-Musharraf Protesters Rally Outside Court to Defend Judge
Thousands of boisterous opposition supporters massed outside Pakistan's supreme court yesterday in the largest show of support yet for the beleaguered Chief Justice, Muhammad Iftikhar Chaudhry.

Astor Penury That Became £67m Fortune
Court findings contradict claims of destitution - Family dispute between mother, 104, and son, 82

David Hicks Becomes First Guantanamo Inmate to Go Before the Bush Administration's New Military Tribunals
David Hicks, an Australian detainee at Guantanamo Bay, is to appear before a war crimes court at the US detention centre today, the first inmate to go before the Bush administration's new military tribunals.

Kremlin Cracks Down on Opposition Ahead of Protests
Russia's next parliament is likely to be entirely without any genuine opposition after a court in Moscow today banned a leading liberal party from standing in elections.

Cartoons Did Not Incite Hatred, French Court Rules
A French court yesterday ruled in favour of a satirical weekly that printed cartoons of the prophet Muhammad, rejecting accusations by Islamic groups that the newspaper incited hatred against Muslims.

German Drill Sergeants on Trial for Abuse
A court case over the biggest scandal in the German army's post-war history opened yesterday when 18 training officials went on trial for abusing dozens of recruits.

Lord Black Rebuffs Journalists' Questions
Conrad Black adopted French to bat away questions as he left court on the second day of his trial. By Andrew Clark.

Speak to My Translator - Lord Black Rebuffs Journalists' Questions
The embattled media mogul Conrad Black, who once compared himself to 18th century Parisian nobility, adopted French to bat away questions as he left court on the second day of his trial for racketeering, fraud and tax evasion.

Zimbabwean Opposition Leader Morgan Tsvangirai Sent to Hospital.
The Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was today sent to hospital for medical check-ups after arriving for a court hearing.

Battered Zimbabwe Protesters Sent From Court to Hospital
Activists to be charged with inciting violence - Outrage at attacks on Mugabe opponents

Briton Faces Us Trial Over Hotel Rape Claim
Second New York court appearance today - Charges relate to alleged incident seven years ago

Guantánamo Inmates Refused Day in Court
Federal court denial 'not unconstitutional' - Dissenting judge says law contradicts habeas corpus

Friendly Fire Video Will Not Be Screened in Court
Footage of an incident in which a British soldier died in Iraq will not be shown in open court at his inquest, the coroner investigating the death said today.

'Friendly Fire' Video Will Not Be Screened in Court
Footage of a "friendly fire" incident in which a British soldier died in Iraq will not be shown in open court at his inquest, the coroner investigating the death said today.

Delhi Bans Unlicensed Snack Hawkers
Delhi's roadside snacks have been banned by the country's supreme court - a victim of a city-wide clean up campaign that aims to beautify India's capital.

Judges' Food Stall Ruling Leaves Bad Taste on Streets of Delhi
Court wants food cooked at home and prepackaged - 300,000 jobs at risk as India cleans up image

US Allows 'friendly Fire' Tape in Court
Videotape appears to show catalogue of errors leading up to lethal strike on British troops.

Islanders Scent Court Win for Return Home
Indian Ocean islanders, evicted by the British more than 30 years ago to make room for the US air base on Diego Garcia, are hoping finally to win the right to go home through a court case starting today.

Congo Militia Chief to Face Trial
The international criminal court gave the go-ahead for its first trial yesterday by ruling that there is sufficient evidence to try a Congolese militia leader for war crimes.

Prankster Exacerbates Royal Woes
Another day, another diplomatic headache for Ségolène Royal. This time, though, the blunder lasted 11 minutes and came courtesy of a professional prankster.

Somali Islamists Held Uk Meeting to Raise Funds
Courts group targeted by US air strikes had meeting with Foreign Office officials.

Twelve Angry Celebs
A young woman who has been out drinking with footballers alleges rape - and the courtroom is packed with celebrities. Stuart Jeffries on a new frontier for reality TV.

Judge Berates Nadine Gordimer's Biographer
The biographer of the Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer was eviscerated by a South African court today in a savage judgement dismissing a libel action against a local newspaper.

Remember Colin Stagg
Media antics in Ipswich risk not just contempt of court but contempt for suspects' future lives. By Mark Lawson

Eyesore or Eye-opener? The New Brooklyn
New York's biggest ever private project approved - Opponents go to court to halt 'out of kilter' scheme

Briton on Baby Snatch Charge Freed on Bail
A British woman accused of abducting a child from a young mother in Athens was released from custody on bail yesterday. Looking relieved as she left the courthouse, Marie Golby, 41, from Warwickshire, said she was elated that her ordeal was "nearly over".

Briton Denies Snatching Baby From 15-year-old Romanian Mother
A British woman who has been accused of snatching a 7-month-old girl from a Romanian Gypsy in Athens denied the charges yesterday as she appeared in court for the first time.

Judge Unity Dow on Botswana's Most Expensive Trial
Judge Unity Dow, the first woman to be appointed a high court judge in Botswana, talks to The Observer about her ruling to give a tribal group the right to live and hunt in a game reserve.

Prosecutors Move Closer to Darfur Trial
A proposed war crimes tribunal for Darfur moved a step closer to reality today, after the chief prosecutor for the international criminal court (ICC) said he was ready to present evidence to judges.

Kalahari Bushmen Win Land Battle
Bushmen forced out of the Kalahari desert by Botswana's government won a landmark legal victory today as the country's high court ruled they had been illegally removed and should be allowed to return.

Falconio Conviction Was 'miscarriage of Justice'
Evidence about girlfriend's identification of Murdoch in photo line-up flawed because she had previously seen his picture on news website story naming him as suspect, court told.

'Grenada 17' May Walk Free 23 Years After Caribbean Coup
One of the most controversial armed conflicts of the cold war era and one which caused a rift between Britain and the US is to be revisited this week in a British court.

LA Returns Water That Helped Make It a City
River diversion reversed after activists' court case - Barren California valley to be brought back to life

Court Orders Misbah to Return to Her Mother
The schoolgirl who sparked an international custody battle when she fled to Pakistan must return to her mother in Scotland, a Pakistani court ruled today.

Fandango Farrago
The court battle over A Whiter Shade of Pale royalties delivers painful lessons for musicians. By Duncan Campbell

Briton Likely to Be Freed Soon After Reprieve From Death Row
A British man who has spent 17 years on death row in Pakistan is expected to be allowed to come home soon, after a court's decision to hang him was overturned. A senior Pakistani official told the Guardian that Mirza Tahir Hussain was expected to be released after President Pervez Musharraf...

Skipping the Fandango in Court 56
Music: Who really wrote the song A Whiter Shade of Pale? Duncan Campbell reports.

Alleged Warlord Trained Children to Kill, Landmark Hearing Told
The international criminal court today began its first case, considering evidence against an alleged Congolese warlord accused of recruiting child soldiers and forcing them to kill and mutilate his enemies.

The Daughter Who is Taking on the Might of Bp
When her parents died in a blast at the oil giant's Texas refinery, Eva Rowe refused compensation, determined to force the company to face a court case. Mark Townsend and Paul Harris report.

Danish Court Dismisses Muhammad Cartoons Case
A Danish court has dismissed a libel case against Jyllands-Posten, the daily that first published the controversial Muhammad cartoons. By Gwladys Fouche.

California Court Case Puts Lethal Injection Under Threat
Evidence of poor staff training and conscious prisoners adds to concern over method of execution.

Court Orders Surrender of Misbah Passport
A court in Pakistan today ordered the father of Misbah Campbell, the 12-year-old also known as Misbah Iram Ahmed Rana, to surrender her passport.

Bleak in Basra, Court Martial Told
The commanding officer of British soldiers accused of war crimes in Iraq admitted there were bound to be times when the harsh conditions his men worked in got the better of them, a court martial heard yesterday.

Florida Prisoner Executed After Court Rejects Cruelty Claim
Clarence Hill had told pen-pal about first experience of being prepared for execution.

People
Laura Trevelyan | GM Trevelyan | Willie Nelson | Myra Hindley | Maxine Peake | Sir Tom Courtenay | Pete Postlethwaite | Kathy Burke | Brenda Blethyn | Nicholas Hytner | Ben Musgrave | Damon Albarn | Gorillaz | Jamie Hewlett...By Helen Carter

Cult Leader to Be Executed for Tokyo Gas Attacks
The mastermind behind the 1995 Tokyo subway gas attacks faces execution after Japan's supreme court rejected his last legal appeal today.

Mother Smoked Drug With Son As Homework Reward
A woman smoked marijuana daily with her 13-year-old son to reward him for completing his homework, a court was told.

People
Black Watch | Edinburgh Fringe festival | Gregory Burke | National Theatre of Scotland | John Tiffany | Doug Stanhope | Libertarian party | Murdo MacLeod | Margarett Perry | Clean Alternatives | Sally Gooda | Paul Stacey | Kangaroo Court Theatre | Lady Chatterley's Lover | Chanbara | Kill Bill | Yamato | Drummers of Japan...By Mark Brown

Trusty Shield of Fair Play
It has heard just one case in more than 200 years, but the court of chivalry should not be abolished. By David Mckie

Court Removes Socialite Astor, 104, From Son's Care
The legendary socialite and philanthropist Brooke Astor, now 104, has been removed from her son's care by a New York court, following allegations that he was forcing her to spend her twilight years in squalor, lacking sufficient medical care and sleeping on a couch that smelt of urine in a chilly Park Avenue apartment.

In Istanbul, a Writer Awaits Her Day in Court
Bestselling novelist Elif Shafak is the latest writer to face trial for "insulting Turkishness". She tells Richard Lea about her work, the charges that have been brought against her, and how the Turkish language has become a battleground.

Here Comes the Judge, With a Gun
They have the flowing black robes to lend them dignity and gravitas. They have gavels to command attention from the wise guys in court. Now judges in New York have been given permission to carry guns while carrying out their duties.

Kremlin Attacks West's Support for 'dissidents'
Britain and the US courted the wrath of the Kremlin today, days before the G8 summit in St Petersburg, by sending senior diplomats to a controversial meeting in Moscow of civil society advocates and opponents of the Putin administration.

Court Censures Former French Prime Minister
Edith Cresson, the former French prime minister, broke EU rules when she appointed her dentist as an aide during her time as a European Commissioner, the union's top court ruled yesterday.

Indy Pays Damages Over Raf Court Martial
The Independent today agreed to pay libel damages over a Matthew Norman column that was a 'scathing attack' on the court martial of an RAF officer who refused to fight in Iraq. By Stephen Brook.

Exiled Islanders of Diego Garcia Face Appeal By Government
The islanders of Diego Garcia suffered a fresh setback yesterday when the Foreign Office said it is to appeal against a high court ruling that would have allowed them to return to their Indian Ocean homes.

Prime Minister Wins Right to Visit Shinto War Shrine
Japan's supreme court has ruled that the prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, can continue to visit a war shrine in Tokyo after dismissing the claims of more than 270 plaintiffs that they had suffered psychological damage after his first visit, in 2001.

Court Ruling Allows Pm to Visit War Shrine
Opponents of visits by Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi to a nationalist shrine in Tokyo were dealt a legal blow today when the country's supreme court rejected claims that the visits had caused them psychological distress. The court stopped short, however, of ruling on the visits' constitutionality.

ICC Alleges Ethnic Massacres in Darfur
The International Criminal Court has documented the massacre and rape of thousands of civilians in Darfur, according to its top prosecutor.

Investigators Submit Darfur Atrocities File
The chief prosecutor at the international criminal court says it has documented the massacre and rape of thousands of civilians in Darfur. Investigators found evidence of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity in the war-torn Sudanese province, Luis Moreno Ocampo said in a report submitted on Wednesday to the UN security council.

Secret Flights Add Twist to Legal Fight Over Howard Hughes's Will
A 30-year-old legal fight over Howard Hughes's fortune is about to reopen in a Utah courtroom where a former pilot is expected to testify that he took the reclusive aviation billionaire on secret night flights to visit a prostitute with a diamond in her tooth.

Secular Turks and Islamists Fight for Supremacy in the Courts and Streets
As Ankara begins entry negotiations, attempts are being made to sabotage its chances.

Life Sentence for Margaret Hassan Accused
A Baghdad court today sentenced an Iraqi man to life in prison in connection with the 2004 abduction and killing of the Iraqi-British aid worker Margaret Hassan.

Airlines Alarmed As European Court Annuls Passenger Data Deal With Us
· Judgment raises risk of long delays for travellers · Companies could break either American or EU law

Judge Shot Dead in Turkish Court Over Ban on Headscarves
· Lawyer opens fire in anger at recent judgment · Tension between Islamists and secularists on the rise

10,000 Us Troops to Be Sent to Mexican Border
· Bush courts the right with immigration crackdown · Forces overstretched, say critics on both sides

Court Backs Exiled Islanders Against 'repugnant' Actions of Ministers
A group of islanders who were removed from their homes in the Indian Ocean decades ago to make way for a US airbase celebrated victory at the high court in London.

Chagos Families Win Right to Return
A group of British citizens evicted from the Chagos Islands forty years ago to make way for a military base won a new victory in the high court today in their legal bid to return home.

Cannibal Killer Gets Life Sentence
The German cannibal killer Armin Meiwes was sentenced to life in prison today, as a court overturned his earlier eight-year sentence for killing and eating the computer engineer Bernd-Jurgen Brandes in 2001.

Constitutional Court Orders Fresh Polls
Thailand's constitutional court yesterday sought to end a months-long political crisis when it ruled that a controversial April 2 general election had been conducted unconstitutionally.

Thai Court Orders New Poll
A court in Thailand declared the recent parliamentary elections unconstitutional today and ordered a new poll to end the country's political crisis.

'You'll Die With Whimper,' Moussaoui Told
· Judge in heated exchange as defendant abuses court · Life sentence in solitary with no hope of release

Madrid Bombs Suspect to Be Extradited
Two high court judges today ruled that a man suspected of involvement in the Madrid train bombings should be extradited to Spain from the UK.

Mother Killed Nine Babies, Court Told
A German woman went on trial yesterday accused of killing nine of her babies in a case that has gripped Germany and led to calls for a change in the law.

Mother Tells Court of Pain Over Daughter's Death
The mother of Lucie Blackman, a British bar hostess killed in Japan six years ago, broke down in a Tokyo court today as she spoke of the "unrelenting pain" she had suffered since her daughter's dismembered remains were found inside a cave in a fishing village in 2001. "I used to believe...

Court Rules Jailed Tycoon's Solitary Confinement Was Illegal
· Khodorkovsky did not breach prison regulations · Yukos founder 'unbroken' by knife attack in cell

Deny Zacarias Moussaoui the Martyrdom He Craves
Leader: It will do America no favours at all if the collective desire for revenge and the victims' day in court confer on Mr Moussaoui the martyr's status he craves but does not merit.

Taylor Pleads Not Guilty to War Crimes
The former Liberian president, Charles Taylor, appeared before a UN-backed war crimes court in Freetown, Sierra Leone today to face 11 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Algerian Gets 10 Years for Helping Paris Bombers
A court yesterday sentenced an Algerian man to 10 years in jail for helping militants who bombed Paris underground stations in 1995.

Guantánamo's Day of Reckoning in Supreme Court
· Case pits presidential powers against law of war · Detainee argues tribunals are unconstitutional

Congress to See Play About Guantánamo
The plight of British residents in Guantánamo Bay, currently being considered by high court judges here, is to be heard on Capitol Hill - through the voices of actors.

American Gets Nine Years for Rapes in Okinawa
America's attempts to reduce its global military presence have come under the spotlight after a court in Japan sentenced a US employee of an American military base to nine years in prison for raping two women.

Exiled Motorist Freed After Public Protest
A Siberian court yesterday freed a motorist who had been sentenced to four years of internal exile after being caught in a car crash that killed a high-profile governor.

Paris Court Can Hear Barclays v Times
A Paris court today ruled that it had jurisdiction to hear the Barclay brothers' libel case against Times editor Robert Thomson. By Stephen Brook.

Mothers Sue Over Gender Test That Promised 99.9% Accuracy
Makers of the Baby Gender Mentor are accused of breaking their promise in a class action lawsuit filed in the US district court in Boston on behalf of 16 women.

Da Vinci Court Wrangle is Hilarious Fun
The court case over The Da Vinci Code has, for us old-time sceptics, been hilarious. The gullible and the credulous meet vast amounts of money! By Simon Hoggart

Shell Told to Pay Nigerians $1.5bn Pollution Damages
· Oil giant will appeal against court decision · Kidnap and sabotage cripple production

Doctors in Ethics Row As Execution Nears
Barring a last-minute intervention by the courts, California will execute the third death-row prisoner in as many months at one minute past midnight tonight.

Zarqawi's Third Death Sentence
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, one of the leaders of the Iraqi insurgency, was sentenced to death yesterday - for the third time - by a court in Jordan for his part in plotting chemical attacks.

US Idea of Torture 'not Same As in Uk'
The notion of torture in the US "is not the same as ours and doesn't appear to coincide with that of most civilised countries", a high court judge said today.

Australian Drug Mules Jailed for Life
An Indonesian court sentenced two Australians to life imprisonment yesterday for attempting to smuggle heroin from Bali to Australia as part of a syndicate allegedly involving at least nine people.

Mbeki's Former Deputy on Trial for Rape
The former deputy president of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, arrived in court today at the start of his trial for the alleged rape of a ...

America's Masterplan is to Force Gm Food on the World
The reason the US took Europe to the WTO court was to prise open lucrative markets elsewhere. By John Vidal

Briton in Court Over Fatal Table Mountain Fire
A British man appeared in court in South Africa today accused of starting a fire on Table Mountain that killed a British tourist and threatened some of Cape Town's plushest suburbs.

Activists Take Campaign to Top Judge's Elegant Domain
Logan Darrow Clements, an LA businessman, was so outraged at a supreme court ruling that he decided to build Lost Liberty Hotel in small town of 8,500 people on the spot occupied by Justice Souter's house.

Conrad Black Drops Libel Suit Against Author
Former Daily Telegraph boss Conrad Black has dropped a libel suit against an author in Canada after reaching an out-of-court settlement. By Chris Tryhorn.

Guardian Wins French Libel Case
A Paris court has rejected a charge of defamation lodged against the Guardian by a senior official of Jean-Marie Le Pen's National Front party, it emerged yesterday.

EU Court Rules That Airlines Must Compensate Stranded Passengers
Court dismisses the challenge to European Union rules covering compensation for air travellers whose flights are overbooked, cancelled or delayed.

Black Pleads Not Guilty to New Charges
Former newspaper tycoon Conrad Black has pleaded not guilty to four new charges brought against him in a Chicago court. By Julia Day.

Children Among 103 Dead in Air Disaster
Scores of schoolchildren heading home for the Christmas holidays were among the 103 people killed yesterday when a passenger jet crashed as it attempted to land in the southern Nigerian city of Port Harcourt.

Three Cleared of Stormont Spying Charges
Three men accused of operating an IRA spy ring at Stormont have been cleared of all charges today. Their acquittal was announced during a surprise court hearing in Belfast this morning. The prosecution offered no evidence to be put forward and declared the case "no longer in the public...

Islanders Make New Attempt to Go Home
Indian Ocean islanders forced from their homes by the British government to make way for the US airbase on Diego Garcia yesterday made a fresh attempt at the high court to win the right to go home.

Islanders Bid to Overturn Expulsion Ruling
British citizens evicted from their tropical island to make way for a US military base appeared in the high court today, demanding that a royal decree banning them from returning home be overturned.

Uzbekistan Jails 25 Andijan Uprising Suspects
Courts in Uzbekistan have jailed 25 people for allegedly taking part in a bloody uprising in Andijan in May, it was announced today.

'Cheats' Charter' Sparks Fury of Italian Judges and Opposition
A "cheats' charter" that will allow white-collar criminals to walk free from Italian courts prompted a furious reaction from judges, prosecutors and opposition politicians yesterday.

Suicide Bombers Kill Nine in Attacks on Bangladeshi Courts
Nine people were killed and scores injured in Bangladesh yesterday by two suicide bombers, the boldest attacks in a wave of violence orchestrated by extremists demanding sharia-style laws in the country.

Black's Court Appearance Delayed
Conrad Black's arraignment on federal fraud charges has been postponed for a second time. By Julia Day.

Falconio Accused 'was 370 Miles From Scene'
An Australian man accused of murdering the backpacker Peter Falconio today told a court he had been almost 400 miles away from the scene of the backpacker's death.

Falconio Accused Admits Smuggling Drugs
An Australian man accused of murdering a missing British backpacker admitted in court today he was a drugs smuggler and carried guns "for protection" but denied killing Peter Falconio.

Sugar Powers a Revolution on Brazil's Roads
Bio-fuel movement is gaining momentum on petrol station forecourts.

Guantánamo Bay Prisoner Rights Faces Challenge
· Decision denies detainees access to federal courts · Democrat vows to stand by founding principles of US

Double Trouble for Twin Who Tried to Trick Judge
A teenager who got her twin sister to stand in for her in court ended up in jail rather than on probation once the judge realised he had been tricked.

Senate Vote to Cut Guantã¡namo Bay Prisoner Rights Faces Challenge
· Decision denies detainees access to federal courts · Democrat vows to stand by founding principles of US

Liberation Wins Cartoon Court Case
A French newspaper has won the right to show a cartoon of a naked Jesus wearing nothing but a condom. By Clare Chapman.

Hampton Court Homage to a Great Tudor Eurosceptic - or Just a Tv-friendly Venue?
The autumn sun shone so brightly on Hampton Court yesterday that the EU's 25 summiteering heads of government might have imagined they were almost anywhere in Europe - except Britain.

White House Crisis Grows As Miers Quits
George Bush's presidency has hit a new low after his supreme court nominee, Harriet Miers, was forced to withdraw in the face of overwhelming resistance from within Mr Bush's own party.

Live at Hampton Court: Schröder v Tudor
The outgoing German chancellor is the loose cannon who may blast Tony Blair's carefully stage-managed EU summit out of the water, writes Nicholas Watt.

Galloway Pledges to Take Fight to Clear Name Into Enemy Territory
· MP challenges accuser to debate in midwest base · Demand for perjury claim to be settled by court fight

World Briefing
Rarely have the challenges facing the European Union appeared so daunting; and as its leaders gather for a truncated summit tomorrow at Hampton Court palace, rarely has the union appeared so disunited.

Court Hears How Neighbours Are Not Always Good Friends
To millions of viewers around the world, the residents of Ramsay Street, Erinsborough, are the kind of wholesome folk they would love to have living next door. But off screen, the cast of the television soap Neighbours are engaged in bitter spats, drug addictions and personal dramas, a court has heard.

Court Hears of Falconio Movements on Day He Vanished
Three staff members of a Northern Territory roadhouse today told a court that Peter Falconio and his then girlfriend visited the cafe, 80 miles north of Alice Springs, on the afternoon of his alleged murder.

Transsexual Insists on Going to Women's Jail
'It's a matter of principle,' says woman after court treats her as still being a man.

Baby Who Died Was Fed on Diet of Raw Vegetables
The vegan parents of a baby who died after being fed a diet of liquidised raw vegetables and wheatgrass had four other children who resembled "starving Ethiopians from a Save the Children appeal", a Miami court heard.

DeLay Case Delayed
The court case against senior US congressman Tom DeLay was delayed today after his lawyer linked the judge to a website selling T-shirts bearing mugshots of his client.

Doctor Contradicts Lees Evidence
The doctor who examined Joanne Lees a day after she said a gunman in Australia had killed her boyfriend and abducted her contradicted part of her story in an Australian court today.

Courts: Falconio's Girlfriend Admits Her Story Changed
The girlfriend of the missing British backpacker Peter Falconio yesterday admitted to a jury in Darwin that her story had changed.

Debt-ridden Parents Tried to Kill Family
· French court hears how loans pressure led to plot · 1 child died but 4 survived injection by mother

Clarke Chastised Over Zimbabwe Deportation Policy
Charles Clarke's policy on deportation to Zimbabwe was severely criticised today in a court ruling which found that a failed asylum seeker had a "well-founded fear of persecution" if he was sent home. The asylum and immigration tribunal said the lack of interest of the home secretary in...

Court Postpones Trial of Mbeki's Former Deputy
The corruption trial of South Africa's former deputy president Jacob Zuma was postponed yesterday until November 12, while hundreds of supporters cheered him outside Durban magistrates' court.

Assisted Suicide Case Opens
The issue of doctor-assisted suicide yesterday became the first case to be heard by the US supreme court under the leadership of a new chief justice.

Parents Challenge Us 'intelligent Design' Teaching
· Theory is repackaging of creation dogma, court told · Test case could decide how evolution is taught

Court says heiress can keep $3.5bn fortune
Asia's richest woman, Nina Wang, has won a legal battle to keep her husband's $3.5bn (£1.93bn) estate after a six-year court case.

Princess in Court Over €122,000 Hotel Bill
One of the most luxurious hotels in Paris, the Royal Monceau, and one of its most glamorous former clients, Lichtenstein's Ira von Furstenberg, clashed in court yesterday over a €122,000 (£82,000) unpaid bill.

Brussels Wins Right to Force Eu Countries to Jail Polluters
Brussels was given greater powers over the EU's 25 members yesterday, when the European court of justice declared that the union's rules can be enforced through criminal sanctions.

German Election Confirmed for September 18
Germany's highest court today confirmed that the country's snap election will take place on September 18, clearing the way for a frantic last three weeks of campaigning.

Italy to Extradite Bombing Suspect
An Italian court today approved the extradition to Britain of London bombing suspect Hussein Osman. Mr Osman, known as Hamdi Issac in Italy, is wanted for questioning in connection with the failed attack on Shepherd's Bush underground station on July 21. Judge Domenicomassimo...

Father Despairs at 'parading of Diaries'
The father of Lucie Blackman, a British nightclub hostess murdered in Japan five years ago, last night spoke of his despair after her alleged killer described his daughter as a mentally unstable drug user and read from her personal diaries in court.

Jailing of Irish Villagers Sparks Anger As Farmers Defy Shell in Battle of the Bog
Support swells for opponents of gas pipeline imprisoned for contempt of court.

US Appeals Court Opens Way for Trial By Military Tribunal of Guantã¡namo Inmate
A federal appeals court yesterday ruled that a Guantánamo Bay prisoner could be tried by military tribunal, reversing a lower court decision to halt the controversial proceedings on the grounds they were unlawful.

All the President's Men
With O'Connor's retirement from the US supreme court, the Republican counter-revolution sees the chance of a lifetime. Sidney Blumenthal

Court Hears How Teenage Introvert Created Devastating Computer Virus in His Bedroom
A German teenager admitted yesterday that he created last year's devastating "Sasser" computer worm, which brought systems crashing to a halt and caused millions of pounds worth of damage.

Conservatives Seek Appointment of One of Their Own to Supreme Court
Conservative lobbyists in the US have warned they will oppose the nomination of George Bush's friend and confidant Alberto Gonzales to the supreme court.

Retirement Sparks Us Judiciary Fight
A monumental struggle for control of America's judiciary was set in motion yesterday when Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman to serve on the US supreme court, announced her retirement.

Egyptian Trial Prompts Protests
Amid chaotic scenes in a Cairo court, the main opposition candidate in Egypt's forthcoming presidential election went on trial yesterday accused of forgery.

Supreme Court Rejects Journalists' Appeal
Two US journalists were last night facing the possibility of 18 months in jail for refusing to reveal the identity of a source within the Bush administration who leaked the identity of a CIA agent. By Julian Borger.

Le Monde Editor 'defamed Jews'
A French appeal court has found the editor-in-chief of Le Monde and the authors of an opinion piece in the paper guilty of "racial defamation" against Israel and the Jewish people.

Family Reunion That Ended With Detention in 'basra's Belmarsh'
Relatives of imprisoned Briton speak out as habeas corpus action reaches high court.

Milosevic Court Sees Video of Killings
The prosecution at the trial of Slobodan Milosevic yesterday produced what it claimed to be the first public evidence of a link between the former president of Serbia and the massacre of 8,000 Bosnian Muslims at Srebrenica in July 1995.

Hinduja Brothers Cleared of Arms Scandal Charges After 14 Years
Indian court says claims of £4.6m in kickbacks over Swedish deal were unfounded.

So, Lord Black, What's Going on Here?
Former Daily Telegraph owner Conrad Black has been forced to return 12 boxes of material to a court-appointed inspector after he was caught on video taking them from his Toronto offices.

Greenpeace Considers Appeal
Greenpeace was yesterday considering appealing against the decision of a Spanish court to give the captain of the Rainbow Warrior a suspended prison sentence for an anti-Iraq war protest at a US navy base.

Kurds
Leader: Turkey faces a tough new test with a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights that Abdullah Ocalan's original trial was unfair.

Teacher Cleared Over Sex With 14-year-old
Parents groups and children's rights campaigners demanded changes to Spain's sexual abuse laws yesterday after the country's highest court ruled that there was "nothing perverse or extravagant" about a teacher having sex with a 14-year-old schoolgirl.

Rape Accusation By Us Athlete Sparks Croatian Sex Crime Debate
The alleged rape of an American athlete in a small Croatian town has triggered a national debate on violence against women and trenchant criticism of how the courts belittle sexual crime.

Khodorkovsky Verdict Delayed
The verdict in Russia's most controversial post-Soviet trial of billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky has been delayed by three weeks, a move announced yesterday in a simple unsigned note pinned to the door of a Moscow courthouse.

Mexicans March for Mayor Who May Be Banned From Presidential Race
Hundreds of thousands of Mexicans marched in silence yesterday in support of their mayor, who may be prevented from running for president by a court case that many see as politically motivated.

Retrial for German Killer Cannibal
A German court today ordered the retrial of a cannibal who killed and cooked a willing victim, saying his eight-and-a-half jail sentence for manslaughter was too lenient.

Tokyo Court Rejects War Cash Claim
In a decision certain to inflame anti-Japanese opinion in China, a court in Tokyo yesterday rejected compensation claims by the victims of Japanese military atrocities committed in China in the 1930s and 40s.

Court Awards Hand of Girl Aged Two to 40-year-old
Two-year-old promised in marriage to man 38 years her senior after her uncle was accused of sleeping with another man's wife.

Argentinian Jailed for Throwing Prisoners From Plane
An Argentinian former naval officer who threw prisoners, drugged and naked, to their death from planes was convicted of crimes against humanity and jailed for a total of 640 years by a Spanish court yesterday.

Journalists Cleared By Zimbabwe Court
The two Sunday Telegraph journalists being held in Zimbabwe have been cleared of breaking the country's strict media laws. By Claire Cozens.

British Journalists Appear in Court in Zimbabwe
Two Sunday Telegraph journalists detained in Zimbabwe have pleaded not guilty to charges of breaking immigration and press laws. By Dominic Timms.

Turkish Pm Sues Over Animal Cartoon
The Turkish prime minister, Tayyip Erdogan, once hailed as a champion of free speech, is suing a newspaper for daring to portray him as a number of animals in a cartoon, the fourth time he has taken the media to court for poking fun at him.

Madrid Bombing Suspect in Court
A terrorist suspect alleged to have been involved in the Madrid bombings appeared before a London court yesterday as the Spanish authorities began extradition proceedings.

War 'brothel Women' Lose Claim
A court in Japan yesterday rejected compensation claims by two Chinese women who say they were repeatedly raped as teenagers in a Japanese military brothel in China more than 60 years ago.

Zimbabwe Bars 3 Million Voters
More than 3 million Zimbabwean expatriates have been barred from voting in the imminent parliamentary elections by a supreme court ruling that will deprive the opposition of a large chunk of its support.

Bomb in Corsica As Trial of 'gang Leader' Starts
Five people, including two babies, were injured by flying glass when a bomb exploded outside a government building in Corsica early yesterday, hours after the alleged leader of the island's separatist movement appeared in court in Paris.

Kosovan Prime Minister Resigns
The prime minister of Kosovo announced his resignation today, saying the UN war crimes court had indicted him for his alleged part in atrocities during the 1998-1999 conflict against Serb forces.

Nazi Death Camp Guard Loses Us Citizenship
A man who has lived in the US for 56 years was deemed by a federal court in Detroit to have been a Nazi death camp guard in Poland, and was yesterday stripped of his citizenship.

Central Asian Elections Criticised
The weekend general elections in the former Soviet central Asian states of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan were condemned yesterday as marred by pressure on the independent media and court orders barring some opposition candidates.

Judge Grants Delay in Us Right-to-die Case
A court decision over whether a Florida man can order doctors to allow his comatose wife to die has been delayed for a day, as the US supreme court prepared to rule on assisted suicide laws in Oregon in a seperate case.

Court to Decide Fate of Comatose Woman
The bitter legal battle over the life of a comatose woman which has become a cause celebre for the Christian right entered its final stages yesterday in competing Florida court verdicts.

MPs on Fraud Charges
Twenty South African MPs, past and present, appeared in court yesterday on fraud charges relating to allegations that they misused their travel funds for wining, dining and lavish holidays.

Senior Officer Denies Destroying 'incriminating' Photos
The commander of the British soldiers accused in the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal denied at their court martial today that he had disposed of incriminating photographs.

Boy Among Prisoners Held By British, Court Martial Told
A 12-year-old boy was among a group of looters in Iraq who were rounded up and allegedly abused by British soldiers, a court martial in Germany was told yesterday.

Judge: Guantánamo Inmates Can Challenge Through Us Courts
Foreign terror suspects being held in Guantánamo Bay can challenge their confinement through the US courts, a federal judge ruled today.

Accused Soldier a 'war Hero', Court Told
One of the British soldiers facing allegations of abusing and sexually humiliating Iraqi detainees was described at a court martial today as a "war hero" who had saved soldiers' lives.

Shocking Images Revealed at Britain's 'abu Ghraib Trial'
Images of British soldiers that allegedly show the abuse of Iraqi prisoners were shown to a court martial in Germany yesterday as the long-awaited case of three members of the 1st Battalion the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers got underway.

CIA Taken to Court By Spies Left Out in Cold
Former agents say promise of new life in US went sour.

MoD Move to Suppress Evidence in Abuse Court Martial
Evidence from a series of courts martial over alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners by British soldiers may be kept secret until after the forthcoming Iraqi elections for fear that it could compromise the safety of British troops.

40 Years On, Mississippi Burning Case Finally Reaches Trial
Forty years after three civil rights workers were killed on a dirt road in Mississippi on a night that came to symbolise the racial hate of the American south, an elderly leader of the Ku Klux Klan appeared in court yesterday to be formally charged with their murder.

Woman Joins Art Thief Son in Dock
The mother of Europe's most prolific art thief was in court in France yesterday, charged with throwing many of the invaluable paintings her son had stolen into the local canal.

Yanukovich Loses Attempt to Annul Ukrainian Vote
An attempt by the Ukrainian prime minister, Viktor Yanukovich, to annul the presidential election victory of Viktor Yushchenko was rejected yesterday by the supreme court and the central election committee.

Yushchenko Courts Moscow
Viktor Yushchenko, who has an unassailable lead in Ukraine's presidential election, said today that his first task would be to travel to Moscow to try and set straight his country's "deformed" ties with Russia.

Chemical Ali Will Be the First to Be Tried, Minister Announces
One of Saddam Hussein's most feared lieutenants, known as Chemical Ali for ordering gas attacks on Kurdish villages, will appear in court in Baghdad within days, an Iraqi minister said yesterday.

Wartime Chinese Sex Slaves Lose Compensation Fight
A Japanese court today rejected a legal bid for compensation and an official apology to be given to four elderly Chinese women who were forced to become sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during the second world war.

Italian Press Review
Two contrasting court verdicts involving Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, and one of his closest associates have prompted diverging reactions from the Italian papers.

Court Orders Repeat Ukraine Poll
Ukraine's supreme court last night delivered what appeared to be a resounding victory for the country's opposition, by annulling the results of the disputed presidential election and ordering a rerun of the poll.

Ukraine Court Rules Poll Invalid
Ukraine's supreme court today ruled that the result of the second round runoff vote in the presidential elections was invalid, upholding an appeal from the opposition that the poll was rigged.

No Decision on Ukraine Election
Ukraine's supreme court tonight adjourned without reaching a decision on the opposition's appeal that the country's recent presidential election was rigged.

Appeals Court Revives Political Future of Alain Juppé
The political future of President Chirac's favoured successor, Alain Juppé, was revived yesterday when an appeals court reduced from 10 years to one year the ban on holding elected office, which was imposed last January for his role in a 1980s party financing scandal.

Signs of Compromise in Ukraine, But Supreme Court Holds the Key
The two sides in the 11-day crisis in Ukraine showed the first signs of compromise last night when they released a joint statement promising an end to opposition blockades of government buildings and to respect the decision of the supreme court which has yet to rule on the validity of the disputed presidential elections.

Ukraine Court Attempts to End Poll Crisis
Ukraine's supreme court today began a sitting that will attempt to resolve the election crisis threatening to split the country in two.

Amelie Follow-up Not French Enough for Funding, Court Rules
Paris court rules the latest hit film from team responsible for Amelie too American to compete in French film festivals or win French prizes.

Congress Threatens to Cut Aid in Fight Over Criminal Court
The US Congress has launched a fresh attack on the international criminal court at The Hague, threatening to cut off development aid to countries who refuse to guarantee immunity from prosecution for Americans at the tribunal.

Court Ruling Boosts Opposition Hopes
Ukraine's supreme court ruled today that the country's disputed presidential election results would not be published as official until it considers an appeal filed by the opposition, which has claimed the vote was rigged.

Legal Bid to End Ukraine Crisis
The Ukrainian opposition leader, Viktor Yushchenko, filed an appeal with Ukraine's supreme court today in a bid to have the disputed presidential election results declared invalid.

I Feel Like a Corpse in a River, Says Mark Thatcher
Sir Mark Thatcher must submit to questioning in South Africa over his alleged role in an attempted coup in Equatorial Guinea, a court ruled yesterday.

Mark Thatcher to Face Coup Questions
Sir Mark Thatcher must face questioning by investigators from Equatorial Guinea over charges he helped finance a foiled coup plot there, a South African court ruled today.

Dirty Talk Among Friends, It's Like So Degrading
Details of a pending court battle involving the cast and writing team behind Friends are laid bare as writers on the show reply to allegations that they are unhealthily obsessed with sex.

Death By Stoning Sentence Overturned
An Islamic appeal court in Nigeria today overturned a sentence of death by stoning handed down to a 29-year-old pregnant woman for having sex out of wedlock. Hajara Ibrahim was convicted of adultery in September this year with her capital sentence suspended until after she gave birth. She...

Jury Mulls Verdict in Trial Transfixing America
A murder case that has transfixed the US was delicately poised last night as the jury deliberated its verdict, the judge declared exasperation and cable TV channels kept a vigil outside the California court where the trial is being held. The trial of Scott Peterson has all the ingredients...

Women's Revenge Against Rapists
Women from the slums in Nagpur in central India have attacked alleged rapists who they say are walking free from court, often with the connivance of the authorities. At the weekend a mob, dominated by 50 women and led by a rape victim, burnt down the houses of three alleged rapists who...

The Road to the Courts
If it's close, the Armageddon election could be about to sink into a legal purgatory.

Thatcher Contests 'coup' Court Case
Sir Mark Thatcher's lawyers today attempted to overturn a subpoena ordering him to testify under oath to investigators from Equatorial Guinea over an alleged coup attempt that he has been charged with helping to finance. Sir Mark, the son of former British prime minister Lady Thatcher,...

Mark Thatcher Hearing to Be Televised
Sir Mark Thatcher's alleged involvement in an attempted coup in Equatorial Guinea will make legal history in South Africa today when television cameras and radio microphones are allowed into court. A full bench of the Cape high court ruled in favour of the request by the state broadcaster...

Court Backs Extradition of Writer
France's highest court yesterday upheld a lower court decision to extradite Cesare Battisti, a former Italian terrorist turned bestselling crime writer who is on the run after 15 years living openly in Paris. In a statement handed to journalists outside the court, Battisti, 49, denied...

Judges Arrive on Pitcairn As Abuse Trials Loom
On a short concrete jetty in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, a dozen judges and court officials took their first steps on Pitcairn Island yesterday, helped by the very people they have been sent to judge. It was a hot, calm day and people wore shorts and T-shirts while legal documents,...

Coup Plot Leader Gets Seven Years
Simon Mann, the leader of the failed coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea, was starting a seven-year jail sentence in Zimbabwe last night for trying to buy weapons from Zimbabwe's state arms manufacturer. A court in Harare ruled that the Old Etonian and former SAS officer should stay behind...

Simon Mann Jailed for Seven Years
A court in Zimbabwe today sentenced British mercenary Simon Mann to seven years in prison for attempting to buy arms to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea. The court also handed down 16-month sentences to the two pilots of a plane that landed in Zimbabwe in March carrying...

Mark Thatcher Faces Court Over 'coup Plot'
South Africa's justice ministry today approved a request from Equatorial Guinea to question Sir Mark Thatcher over an alleged plot to overthrow its government. The 51-year-old son of Lady Thatcher, the former British prime minister, is likely to face questioning in open court over...

Thatcher inquiry to question freed men
Two South Africans acquitted by a Zimbabwean court of charges related to the alleged coup plot in Equatorial Guinea are to be questioned today by the South African authorities.

Leaders Call for a Peaceful Intifada
Palestinians' triple strategy: polls, demonstrations and court cases.

Inside the Shrine, Wounded Return From Bloody Battle
As the day wore on, more and more injured young men wrapped in bandages were being carried across the sun-baked tiles of the courtyard in the Imam Ali shrine. In one alcove in the turquoise-tiled wall was a small makeshift hospital with two metal beds and a stack of drugs and bandages. On...

Court Backs Vanunu Travel Ban
The Israeli supreme court today upheld a travel ban on nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu, refusing to let him move abroad on the grounds that he may reveal further state secrets. Mr Vanunu, a former technician at the Dimona nuclear reactor, served an 18-year prison term for revealing...

Trial By Television
We may be about to get our own OJ moments as cameras go into court. The retrial of Sion Jenkins on charges of murdering his stepdaughter, ordered yesterday by the court of appeal, is just the kind of high-profile case the media would love to transmit on TV.

Prodi Hails Verdict on Budget Violations
Europe's highest court ruled yesterday that EU governments had acted illegally in ignoring a call to punish France and Germany for violating budget rules - a decision that fuelled demands to reform the way the eurozone works. The ruling by the European court of justice was welcomed by the...

Court Move By British Detainee
A British man seized in Africa before being locked up as a terrorist at Guantánamo Bay has begun a legal bid for freedom. Lawyers for Martin Mubanga have filed a petition in the US courts demanding that the Bush administration justifies the continued detention of the 31-year-old from...

European Court Rules on Budget Violators
Europe's highest court ruled yesterday that EU governments had acted illegally in ignoring a call to punish France and Germany for violating budget rules - a decision that fuelled demands to reform the way the eurozone works. The ruling by the European court of justice was welcomed by the...

West Bank Barrier Ruling: the Court
It is rare for the international court of justice (ICJ), situated in a leafy suburb of The Hague, to attract the sort of intense global attention it was getting yesterday over the ruling on Israel's West Bank barrier. Normally it has a low profile despite being the highest legal authority...

Palestinians Await Verdict on Barrier
International court to rule on legality of 'anti-terror' construction.

Pentagon Accused of Evading Guantánamo Ruling
The Pentagon said last night it would create military review panels to weigh the legality of detentions at Guantánamo, in a measure that critics said falls far short of a supreme court ruling that entitles prisoners to challenge their detentions in US courts.

Leaner Dictator Keeps Fit in Jail and Gives Little Away to Captors
The thinned-out face of Saddam Hussein broadcast from his first courtroom hearing may not have been entirely due to the stress of his impending trial. For in between the interrogations which appear to have yielded little for the coalition, Saddam has been working out in his jail twice a...

Court Drama or Circus - a Nation is Hooked
Mixed emotions greet ex-president's first appearance in dock.

Guantánamo Prisoners Will Be Able to Challenge Their Detention in Us Courts
Right to challenge detentions is upheld by 6-3. Prisoners held at Guantánamo Bay will be able to challenge their detention in the American courts after the US supreme court yesterday curbed the Bush administration's power to deny detainees the right to a lawyer.

British Soldiers Face Abuse Court Martial
· Indecent assault among first charges
· Guardian told of new ill treatment allegations

Caroline Abuser 'sane, But Violent Pervert'
Psychiatrist at Cornish schoolgirl murder trial says suspect would probably have killed again · French court told he had photo of teenager.

Falconio Suspect 'altered His Looks'
The chief suspect in the outback murder of the British backpacker Peter Falconio discussed ways of getting rid of bodies shortly after the incident, an Australian court heard yesterday. James Hepi, the former business partner of Bradley Murdoch, told the court in Darwin that Mr Murdoch...

Saudi Guilty of Assaulting Tv Presenter Wife
The husband of a Saudi television presenter has been sentenced to hundreds of lashes and six months in jail for a brutal assault on her, a Saudi court official disclosed yesterday.

Good Riddance is Not Enough
Abu Hamza is unlikeable, but British courts must refuse this extradition. The fate of Abu Hamza is not likely to arouse widespread public indignation.

Lees Admits to Secret Liaison
Girlfriend of missing backpacker Peter Falconio flies out amid media hostility after court grilling over lover.

Officer Faces Jail for Refusing to Fight
A US sergeant who left the battlefield in Iraq because of moral objections to the war was found guilty of desertion at a court martial yesterday. He could be sentenced to imprisonment for up to a year. Camilo Mejia had argued that he left his unit as a matter of conscience after six...

Weary Zimbabweans Seek Better Life
A year ago this week, Guardian reporter Andrew Meldrum was expelled from Zimbabwe after being seized by security agents and held captive for 11 hours, despite a court order declaring the action illegal. From the Ramokgwebana border post in northern Botswana, he reports on the country he called home for 20 years.

US Prosecutes Greenpeace Under 1872 Law
Greenpeace will appear in court in Miami on Monday in what is believed to be the first criminal prosecution in the United States of a campaign group for the activities of its members. The case has been attacked by the former vice-president Al Gore and many civil rights groups, who claim...

Marksist Tendencies
Luc Vandevelde has resigned as Chairman of Marks & Spencer, and one heavyweight shareholder says the retailer is better off without him. That sounds a bit discourteous - until you remember that M&S actually invented courtesy.

Bardot Weeps Over Racism Charges
The French actor Brigitte Bardot yesterday broke into tears after defending herself against racism accusations in a Paris courtroom

High Court to Hear Claims of Unlawful Killing By Soldiers
The high court, in a test case with widespread implications for British soldiers, will next week hear claims that they acted unlawfully by killing innocent Iraqis in a series of incidents in Basra.

Americas Georgia Sex Attacker's Jail Term Cut
The 10 year prison sentence of a black 18-year-old convicted of aggravated child molestation after sex with a 15-year-old white girl was thrown out yesterday by Georgia's supreme court. In a case which ignited racial tensions in the Deep South, the state's highest court ruled that Marcus...

Georgia Sex Attacker's Jail Term Cut
The 10 year prison sentence of a black 18-year-old convicted of aggravated child molestation after sex with a 15-year-old white girl was thrown out yesterday by Georgia's supreme court. In a case which ignited racial tensions in the Deep South, the state's highest court ruled that Marcus...

Jakarta Judge Lifts Blight on Prudential
Prudential Insurance's Indonesian unit yesterday announced it had won a court battle allowing it to reopen for business a week after being declared bankrupt despite being in rude financial health. A supervisory judge in Jakarta's commercial court also ordered the administrator Yuhelson to...

Hope of Freedom for Death-row Scot
Scot who has spent 18 years on death row in Ohio has been given hope of freedom by federal appeal court judges.

Vanunu Released After 18 Years
Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu was freed today after serving an 18-year prison term for revealing secrets that exposed Israel as one of the world's top atomic powers. Flashing victory signs, Mr Vanunu waved as he walked into the courtyard of the Shikma prison in...

Survivor Faces Dutroux in Belgian Court
Victim of Belgium's most notorious child rapist asks her tormentor: 'Why did you not liquidate me?'

Survivor Confronts Dutroux in Court
Victim of Belgium's most notorious child rapist asks her tormentor: 'Why did you not liquidate me?'

Guantánamo Cases Go to Supreme Court
The US supreme court will intervene for the first time today in the detention of more than 600 prisoners at the Guantánamo naval base, taking up a case that could impose the first ground rules on the Bush administration's conduct of the war on terror.

Oil Yukos Chief Challenges Investors
Simon Kukes, chief executive of Yukos, the Russian oil group, yesterday challenged the authorities and shareholders to come clean over the stalled merger with Sibneft. With the Russian courts effectively trying to force a demerger between Yukos and Sibneft, Mr Kukes sais he and his directors could...

Yukos Chief Challenges Investors
Simon Kukes, chief executive of Yukos, the Russian oil group, yesterday challenged the authorities and shareholders to come clean over the stalled merger with rival company Sibneft. With the Russian courts effectively trying to force a demerger between Yukos and Sibneft, Mr Kukes warned...

Secret No-fly List Challenged in Court
America's secret registry of airline passengers singled out for extra security screening is being legally challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of seven harassed travellers.

Kosovans Fired on By British Peacekeepers Win Damages
Two cousins of a Kosovo Liberation Army soldier shot dead by British peacekeepers in 1999 won a landmark compensation claim yesterday. In the first successful high court damages claim by civilians injured by peacekeeping forces abroad, Mohamet Bici and Skender Bici won cases for...

Security Forces Lock Themselves Behind Barricades
Lieutenant Colonel Saad Jasim is reluctant to talk in the open courtyard. He orders his men to bolt the metal door to his small office before he will agree to speak.

Thais Jail British Drug Smuggler, 19, for Life
An unemployed British teenager was jailed yesterday for life for smuggling 3,400 ecstasy pills into Thailand. Michael Alan Connell, 19, from Bury, Greater Manchester, escaped the mandatory death sentence because he had cooperated with the authorities, court documents said. A life sentence...

Life for Killer of Anna Lindh
Court rules that school dropout knew what he was doing when he stabbed popular foreign minister.

French Rock Star Was an 'assassin Without Regrets'
Her voice taut with emotion, the mother of Marie Trintignant yesterday described the rock star Bertrand Cantat, on trial in a Vilnius courtroom for the actor's murder, as an "assassin" whose "regrets I cannot for one moment believe". Vladimiras Serguejevas, the public prosecutor in the...

Chief Judge Sidelined at War Crimes Court
The UN-backed war crimes court in Sierra Leone has barred its president, Geoffrey Robertson QC, from judging cases involving rebels because of the appearance of bias against them. The ruling at the weekend defied calls to dump the London-based human rights lawyer but it sidelined him from...

UN War Crimes Judge Defies Calls to Resign
Sierra Leone court to rule on 'biased' British barrister.

War Crimes Court Opens in Freetown
The UN-backed war crimes court in Sierra Leone opened its new courthouse yesterday, but was left guessing about whether its president will step down because of alleged bias against some defendants. UN and government officials joined Geoffrey Robertson QC at the ceremony in the capital,...

War Crimes Trial Begins in Serbia
The watershed war crimes trial of six men accused of the massacre of 192 Croatian prisoners of war today opened in a court in Serbia. The case is the first of its kind to be heard in the country since the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague allowed war crimes suspects to face trial in the...

Dutroux Boasts of Dungeon of Death
The convicted child rapist Marc Dutroux yesterday described to a court how he kidnapped and abused girls and held them in a dungeon he said was undetectable.

Peter Foster's Mail Injunction Refused
Tony Blair could be forced to resign if confidential material is published in a forthcoming biography of the Australian conman Peter Foster, it was suggested in a court case in Brisbane yesterday. Mr Foster's lawyers launched an injunction in the Queensland supreme court to force a...

Lord Black's Empire and His Head Are on the Block
The Delaware court verdict has put Lord Black's empire - and his head - on the block, says Frank Kane.

Payout Claim for Civilians Shot in Basra
Relatives of men killed by British troops seek compensation at high court as US-led coalition misses deadline for new constitution.

García Márquez's Fans Wait for Army to Do Right By the Colonel
Court to rule on saga of novelist's grandfather.

García Mã¡rquez's Fans Wait for Army to Do Right By the Colonel
Court to rule on saga of novelist's grandfather.

Middle East Conflict Hits The Hague
Court hears case against Israeli barrier.

Suicide Bomber Kills 8 on Bus
A suicide bomber murdered eight people on a rush hour bus in Jerusalem yesterday, underlining the bitter arguments around the opening of an international court of justice hearing on the legality of Israel's vast "anti-terror fence".

Hollinger Board Defamed Me, Black Tells Court
Conrad Black, the embattled Daily Telegraph tycoon, hit back at his critics yesterday, saying his company was being run by a group of directors trying to inflict "the maximum possible damage" on him. He also took a swipe at the "obsessive and constant malicious speculation" of the firm's...

Tycoon's 'threat to Sack' Hollinger Board
Conrad Black, the press tycoon behind the Daily Telegraph, threatened to remove the board of his company Hollinger International if it tried to get in the way of his plans to sell off the newspaper empire, a court was told yesterday. The Hollinger chairman, Gordon Paris, made the claim in...

Chirac Aide Convicted of Graft
A Paris court yesterday convicted a spokesman for Jacques Chirac's party of money-laundering. A Paris court yesterday convicted a spokesman for Jacques Chirac's party, the UMP, of money-laundering, in the second corruption verdict this year to go against his ruling conservatives.

Le Pen in Election Row
Jean-Marie Le Pen, the far right leader, has applied for a court order for proof that he is eligible to stand in the Riviera in France's regional elections next month. Mr Le Pen, who is bidding to become president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (Paca) region, has been unable to...

Indonesian Speaker Cleared of Sleaze
Indonesia's highest court yesterday overturned a corruption conviction against the parliamentary speaker in a decision which provoked bloody clashes on the capital's streets and accusations that the legal system had plumbed new depths. The ruling will allow Akbar Tandjung, 59, who also...

Legal Bid to Block West Bank Barrier
Rights groups tell Israeli supreme court 'immoral' West Bank barrier breaks local and international law.

Italy Faces Huge Fine for Discrimination
Italy is facing massive daily fines by the European court for failing to end discrimination against foreign language lecturers in its universities. The European commission said yesterday it was seeking an unprecedented fine of €310,000 (£210,000) a day until the matter was...

Inquiry Into Juppã© Case Dirty Tricks
President Jacques Chirac yesterday ordered an inquiry into allegations of undercover searches, break-ins and multiple phone taps at the offices of the judge who last week convicted his most loyal lieutenant of political corruption. A court in Nanterre outside Paris on Friday handed Alain...

German Cannibal Gets Eight-and-a-half Years
A self-confessed cannibal who killed and ate a man he had met over the internet was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison by a German court today, after being cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter. The court, in the central German town of Kassel, ruled that Armin...

Supreme Court to Review Cases of Juvenile Killers
America's supreme court intervened in the highly charged debate on the execution of juvenile killers yesterday, saying it would review the fate of teenagers condemned to death row. In a statement that offers the hope of reprieve to scores of convicts, it said it would examine the cases of...

Extreme Prejudice
The media in the US are not constrained by contempt of court laws - perhaps it's just as well given the coverage of four major celebrity cases. Duncan Campbell reports from Los Angeles.

email: Brian Whitaker @ Tripoli
It was the sort of mini-break they never advertise in the travel supplements: a long weekend in Tripoli courtesy of Saif al-Islam Gadafy, son of the Leader of the Revolution.

Nigeria Launches Anti-graft Campaign
As president visits London, trial of officials marks bid to clean up image. Nigeria launched an anti-corruption drive yesterday when five former government officials charged with accepting bribes appeared in court for a test case of the country's desire to clean up its image.

Deep South Divided By Rape Case
The case of a black high school student sentenced to 10 years in prison for having sex with a white 15-year-old classmate in Georgia is igniting long-standing racial tensions in the deep south. As protesters gathered outside Georgia supreme court on Wednesday, holding candles and singing...

Disabled Dad Forced to Support Graduate
A Spanish judge has ordered a father to pay a quarter of his disability pension to support his 25-year-old graduate son who is doing unpaid work and may want to go back to university. The decision by a court in Salou in eastern Spain, is based on a belief that childhood, or at least a...

I Acted on Impulse, Lindh's Killer Tells Court
Accused says he bore no grudge against Swedish foreign minister.

Airman Faces Us Court Martial
The court martial of a Syrian-born Arabic translator who worked with detainees at Guantanamo Bay was yesterday due to start in northern California.

Berlusconi to Go Back on Trial
Constitutional court rules that prime minister is not above the law.

Europe Heads for Seismic Budget Battle
The European commission threw down an unprecedented challenge to EU governments yesterday, pledging to take them to court for allowing France and Germany to flout eurozone budget rules. Romano Prodi, the commission president, ignored calls to pull back from a move that is certain to...

MPs and Peers in Camp Delta Plea
More than 50 peers, including four retired law lords, and 85 MPs including the former foreign secretary Robin Cook, will file an unprecedented brief with the US supreme court on Wednesday in support of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. The "amicus curiae" ("friend of the court")...

Six Jailed for Killing of Belgian Minister
Twelve years after Belgium's former deputy prime minister, André Cools, was shot dead in cold blood, a court yesterday found six men guilty of masterminding the country's most sensational political killing.

Roman Friars Unnerved By Nun's Live-in Protest
A nun who refuses to leave her cell in a Rome friary has been ordered by a court to move out by next Thursday because she is proving too much of a distraction to the other members of the community. "I'm sorry, but she's a woman," Brother Salvatore, a spokesman for the Capuchin friars,...

Defendant Part of Big Cannibal Scene
The detective who investigated Germany's infamous cannibal case told a court yesterday that he had stumbled upon a vast cannibal scene in Germany - involving several dentists and other professionals. Giving evidence in the trial of Armin Meiwes, the 42-year-old computer expert who killed...

Pilot Was Five Times Over Limit
A man who tried to pilot a light aircraft with five passengers on board, including two young children, while five times over the road drink-driving limit admitted reckless conduct in a Melbourne court yesterday. John Charlesworth, 55, a former airline manager, failed even to takeoff in...

Law Lord Castigates Us Justice
Guantanamo Bay detainees facing trial by 'kangaroo court'.

Lockerbie Bomber Must Serve at Least 27 Years
The man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing was told yesterday that he must spend at least 27 years in prison for his part in Britain's worst terrorist atrocity. Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, 51, remained impassive as three judges at the high court in Glasgow increased the recommended 20-year...

Jury Votes for Sniper to Be Put to Death
John Allen Muhammad is facing execution for his role in last October's sniper killings around Washington, after a jury voted to sentence the Gulf war veteran to death for both murder and terrorism. The judge's formal sentencing takes place on February 12 but it is unusual for courts to...

A Courtroom Inside the Commons
With two barristers in the top jobs, politics is now performance art. The backbenches, of course, were going bonkers. At last Tony Blair had met his question time match.

Ken Has Beaten Tony - No Wonder He Looks So Pleased
Letting him back, even for the wrong reasons, will strengthen Labour. Let's talk motives here. The reason Tony Blair has been courting Ken Livingstone so assiduously in recent weeks has nothing to do with a new spirit of openness.

US Judge Sacked in Monument Row Over Holy Tablets
The Alabama chief justice who installed a monument bearing the Ten Commandments in the state's supreme court was dismissed yesterday.

Judge Rejects Bid to Extradite Chechen Rebel Leader
A British judge today rejected Russia's request for the extradition of Chechen rebel leader Akhmed Zakayev, saying that it was politically motivated. Senior district judge Timothy Workman, delivering his verdict at Bow Street magistrates court, said he had found that Russia was "seeking...

Dilemma for Blair in Landmark Us Case
Court to hear Guantanamo Bay inmates' demand for civilian trial.

Bogus Sheikh Accused of Jewel Theft
£4m thefts carried out in jet-set style, Nice court told. They called him the sultan, the emir, the sheikh. He wore crocodile-skin loafers and fine silk suits, rode in chauffeur-driven limos and leather-upholstered private jets, ate in three-star restaurants, slept in five-star hotels, maintained servants and even boasted, on special occasions, a harem.

Toxic Ships Put on Hold
The high court today blocked any work being carried out on dismantling the so-called "ghost ships" heading for Britain until crucial legal challenges have been heard. Four former US Navy vessels contaminated with toxic chemicals are heading to Britain to be dismantled at a breakers yard...

US Sniper Accused Denies Charges
A year after a sniper rampage turned suburban malls and petrol stations into killing grounds, one of the men accused of hunting unseen for three weeks through Washington appeared in court yesterday to plead not guilty to murder. On the opening day of the trial that could end in his death...

Ex-Gurkhas Fail in Claim on Army Pay Discrimination
Seven ex-Gurkhas who claimed the British Army discriminated against them by giving them less pay and smaller pensions than British soldiers lost their test case in the court of appeal yesterday. Lords Justices Simon Brown, Chadwick and Rix had been told by Nicholas Blake QC, for the...

Islanders Lose Court Battle to Return Home
More than 5,000 Indian Ocean islanders today lost their latest high court fight to return home, despite a previous ruling that their exile by the British government more than 30 years ago was "unlawful". The islanders and their dependents, originally from the remote Chagos archipelago,...

Former French PM on trial over fake jobs scam
A former prime minister widely seen as the French right's next presidential candidate insisted in court yesterday that he knew nothing about a jobs scam at Paris city hall.

Intifada Leader Uses Courtroom to Point to One-state Solution
Barghouti defiant during closing speech. Marwan Barghouti, the highest ranking Palestinian on trial in Israel for terrorism, defended the past three years of violent intifada yesterday by warning that if Israel failed to deliver independence to the Palestinians it would have to accept Arabs as equal citizens.

Nigerian Woman Escapes Death By Stoning
Amina Lawal, the Nigerian woman facing death by stoning for adultery, was spared yesterday when an Islamic appeals court overturned her conviction. The decision delighted human rights campaigners all over the world who had feared that the 32-year-old single mother would become the first...

Chaos As Trial of Rhodes Medics Begins
The mother of a British tourist whose death on Rhodes has been the focus of a legal battle for the past three years made an emotive plea yesterday for five Greek medics to be punished for the death of her son. As the court case finally began on the island, Pam Cummings described how the...

Kremlin denies poison pen plot
The Kremlin yesterday denied a report that it had instigated a plot to assassinate the Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky in a London courtroom using a poisoned fountain pen.

Off the Hook - for Now
Blair's balancing act at the Hutton inquiry was adept, but Iraq could yet be his undoing. Crescendo, then anti-climax. That's the way it always happens when the enemy think they have finally got Tony Blair cornered. So the press came skulking out of the law courts hissing and spitting. Foiled again!

Hutton Seeks Certainty in a World of Wobbly Truths
What journalist would survive the harsh glare of the courtroom? A dead man from beyond the grave talks with terrible authority. No one can question him now, yet his recorded words hang there in the air. Lord Hutton's investigation unfolds excruciatingly for the BBC, the government and Kelly's memory alike.

Briton in Us Court on Missile Sale Charges
A London businessman was charged in a New Jersey court yesterday of attempting to sell Russian anti-aircraft missiles in the belief that they would be used in a Somali terrorist attack on a US commercial airliner. In fact, Hemant Lakhani allegedly spent 20 months setting up the arms deal...

Treason trial gets go-ahead
Zimbabwe's high court ruled yesterday that opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai must continue to be tried on treason charges, but dropped similar charges against two other senior officials of the opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change.

Seven Us Marines Enter Monrovia As Taylor Challenges War Crimes Court
Helicopters drop first US troops into Liberia, but President Bush warns that larger force will not follow the seven marines until Liberian president has left the country.

Liberia Tries to Block War Crimes Charges
The Liberian government has asked the world court to prevent Sierra Leone pursuing war crimes charges against Liberia's embattled president, Charles Taylor. According to a statement issued today by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Netherlands, Liberia has asked it to order...

The Media Decides Guilt or Innocence
It's the media - not the courts - that decide guilt or innocence. The reason that Kafka's The Trial has seized so many readers is the fundamental human terror of suffering false accusation.

Saudi Torture Claim Thrown Out By Uk Court
Briton jailed over bomb plot not allowed to sue. A British businessman who says he was tortured into confessing to a terrorist bombing in Riyadh was yesterday refused permission in the high court to sue the Saudi government for more than £2.5m in damages.

Hell is Belgian Bureaucrats
You thought we were bad. In Brussels, you can end up in court for taking your rubbish out a day early, explains Andrew Osborn.

One Nation leader in fraud case
Pauline Hanson, the former leader of Australia's far-right One Nation party, appeared in court yesterday charged with fraud in connection with her all but defunct party.

Tycoon Jailed for 18 Years
A Chinese court jailed a flower tycoon for 18 years yesterday on fraud and bribery charges. Listed by Forbes in 2001 as China's second richest man, Yang Bin's reversal of fortune comes amid a crackdown on corruption by the communist party leadership, who fear their legitimacy is...

Belgium to Scrap War Crimes Law
Human rights groups accused Belgium of caving in to the US yesterday after the country's centre-left government said it would scrap a war crimes law which has upset Washington and Tel Aviv. The 1993 law, which allowed Belgian courts to try cases of war crimes committed by anyone, anywhere...

UK Gives Up Fight for Guantanamo Captives
Ministers believe legal barriers rule out trial in British courts.

Do We Want Guantanamo Bay Justice?
In Britain, too, people are being held without trial, on secret evidence. It has been described as "secretive" by the foreign office minister, Chris Mullin, and a "kangaroo court" by a Labour MP.

Chechen Leader Ordered My Kidnap, Monk Tells Extradition Hearing
The Chechen leader Akhmed Zakayev, who is facing extradition from Britain, was yesterday accused in court by a Russian Orthodox monk of having ordered his kidnapping. Sergei Zhigulin told Bow Street magistrates that one of the guerrillas who held him hostage in Chechnya in 1996 had told...

Italy No Longer Behind the Times
Italy's dwindling band of macho men have been told to keep their hands to themselves after Italy's highest court ruled that a pat on the bottom constitutes sexual violence. Overturning an earlier ruling that a single or "rapid" slap on the rear was acceptable, the court ruled that an...

US Uses Aid Threat to Block Court
The US yesterday threatened to stop aid to countries which refuse to exempt American soldiers from prosecution by the new international criminal court (ICC). The threat includes close allies such as Colombia, where a US delegation is trying to cajole President Alvaro Uribe to issue a...

Courts That Aim to Trash the Litterers
It has been a perennial problem in New Delhi - how to stop people from throwing their rubbish into the street where it gets eaten by cows? Yesterday the municipal authorities in the city - one of Asia's most garbage-infested - came up with a novel method to deal with its growing rubbish...

Greeks' war reparation claim fails
Germany's highest criminal court yesterday dismissed an action for reparations brought by relatives of the residents of a Greek village massacred by Nazis in the second world war.

US Court Lifts Ban on Gay Sex in Texas
The US supreme court yesterday overturned a Texan law banning sodomy between two men, in a landmark decision that gay rights advocates claimed was a "turning point" in American attitudes toward homosexuality. The six-to-three verdict carries profound implications for gay rights in the US,...

When America Talks About Race, All of Us Need to Listen
A US victory for affirmative action points the way for British universities. When the nine justices who make up the United States supreme court pronounce on a case involving racial issues, it is not just Americans who listen, but nations around the whole world.

US Supreme Court Backs Positive Race Bias
Split decision defeats challenge to university's affirmative action on admissions, but judges rule against points system.

'Either the People Who Did This Must Be Brought to Court or We Should Ask for the Authority to Kill Them'
Victims of Saddam's regime will not forgive or forget.

Europe Prosecutor Sworn in for World Court
Luis Moreno Ocampo, who prosecuted members of the Argentinian military junta for "dirty war" murders and torture, was sworn in yesterday as chief prosecutor of the international criminal court in the Hague. The court is not endorsed by Russia, China and the US, which wants immunity for...

US Threatens Nato Boycott Over Belgian War Crimes Law
The bitter dispute between the US and Europe over Iraq burst into the open again yesterday when the US threatened Belgium with a boycott and Germany and France registered protests at the UN about Washington's continued opposition to the international criminal court. The US defence...

US Threatens to Boycott Belgium Over War Crimes Law
The bitter dispute between the US and Europe over Iraq burst into the open again yesterday when the US threatened Belgium with a boycott and Germany and France registered protests at the UN about Washington's continued opposition to the international criminal court. The US defence...

US Plans for Executions at Guantanamo
US military officials are making preparations for the trial and possible execution of captives held in Guantanamo Bay, including the construction of a "death chamber". A building at the detention camp in Cuba for suspected al-Qaida members is being renovated to serve as a courtroom for...

US Plays Aid Card to Fix War Crimes Exemption
The US is turning up the heat on the countries of the Balkans and eastern Europe to secure war crimes immunity deals for Americans and exemptions from the year-old international criminal court. In an exercise in brute diplomacy which is causing more acute friction with the European Union...

US Community Court Cutting Crime
Only a very special project could prompt David Blunkett to come to America - a country with more than two million prisoners - in his search for innovative ways of dealing with crime. But then Red Hook community centre in Brooklyn is very special indeed, and it took a gruesome past to get it this...

Tsvangirai to Be Held for a Month
Zimbabwe's courts yesterday ordered that the opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, be jailed for a month while waiting to stand trial on the second treason charge pressed against him. Mr Tsvangirai, 51, the head of the Movement for Democratic Change, appeared in a heavily guarded court to...

Chechen Fights Extradition
Akhmed Zakayev, the top negotiator of the last elected Chechen government, faced a real risk of being "unfairly tried, disappeared, tortured or killed" in Russia if Britain sent him back there, a London court was told yesterday. As extradition proceedings began at Bow Street magistrates...

Roy Greenslade: Toothless Tiger
The PCC's failures mean privacy is becoming an issue for the courts. A cloud hangs over press self-regulation this weekend. The importance of Sara Cox's legal triumph over the Sunday People and the collapse of the Victoria Beckham kidnap trial due to the News of the World's payment to a witness should not be missed.

War Crimes Charge for Liberian Leader
Panic swept through the Liberian capital, Monrovia, yesterday after President Charles Taylor was indicted by a UN-backed court for crimes against humanity during the civil war in neighbouring Sierra Leone. Fearing clashes, thousands of people reportedly fled their homes. The charges,...

Court rules on feeding of patient
The supreme court in the Australian state of Victoria has ruled that feeding can be withdrawn from a woman who is in a terminal vegetative state, in a case that could affect the treatment of dozens of terminally ill patients.

US soldiers face war crime charge
The family of a Spanish television cameraman killed when a US tank opened fire on the Palestine hotel in Baghdad during the Iraq war has asked a Madrid court to extradite and bring war crimes charges against three US soldiers.

Let's Hear It for Belgium
An attempt to try Tommy Franks for war crimes in a Belgian court has outraged the US. Belgium is becoming an interesting country. In the course of a week, it has managed to upset both liberal opinion in Europe - by granting the far-right Vlaams Blok 18 parliamentary seats - and illiberal opinion in the US.

Dragged Off and Deported
Zimbabwean officials flout courts after seizing Guardian correspondent.

Court bans Eta front groups
The Spanish supreme court has barred 241 political groups from contesting municipal elections in the Basque region this month on the grounds that they are related to the armed separatist group Eta or its supporters.

Dutroux faces trial with three others
A court in Belgium ruled yesterday that the suspected paedophile and child killer Marc Dutroux is to stand trial with three others.

Winnie Mandela Jailed
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, the ex-wife of South Africa's former president, was today given a five-year jail term for a string of fraud and theft offences. A Pretoria court sentenced the anti-apartheid heroine to five years, with one year suspended, a day after she was convicted on 43...

Winnie Mandela Guilty of Fraud
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, the former wife of Nelson Mandela, could be sentenced to 15 years in jail today after being convicted for fraud and theft in a bungled banking scam. A Pretoria regional court yesterday found South Africa's anti-apartheid campaigner guilty of exploiting her...

Garner Plays Down Shia Demonstrations
· Iraqi academics courted
· US angry at Annan "occupiers" remark
· Possible clue to missing US airman

Soldier Cannot Sue Mod for German Hospital Bungle
British soldiers and their dependants who have suffered serious injuries through negligence by German hospitals caring for them under contracts with the Ministry of Defence have been barred from suing the MoD. In a high court test case decided last week, the parents of a five-year-old...

Four Convicted of Karachi Consulate Bombing
A court in Pakistan today convicted four men of organising last year's suicide bomb attack on the US consulate in Karachi. Two of the men were given death sentences by the anti-terrorism court, with the other two sentenced to life imprisonment. A fifth man was acquitted, Reuters reported...

Victimised Gay Couple Contest Refugee Refusal
Australian court hears appeal by Bangladeshis.

Protests As Greece Sentences Lorry Driver
Protests were growing yesterday over an 11-year jail sentence handed down by a Greek court to a British lorry driver less than 24 hours after 19 Iraqi refugees were found in his truck. David Wilson from Bradford was also fined £47,000 at the hearing last week in Patras, which used...

Affirmative Action Case Splits Us
Thousands of civil rights protesters demonstrated outside the supreme court in Washington yesterday, as hearings began on affirmative action which could rewrite the rules on how and whether the American government can address the legacy of racial inequality.

No Standing on Ceremony
Michael Moore is not the first Oscar winner to court controversy in his acceptance speech, as Duncan Campbell explains.

Bus 'victim' drops claim after video of bungee jump
A man who lodged a compensation claim for thousands of euros with Dublin Bus for whiplash and other serious injuries was filmed doing a bungee jump the day after his appearance in court.

ANC's apartheid-era hero jailed for fraud
A South African court jolted the ruling African National Congress yesterday by sentencing a prominent party member to four years in jail for fraud after a trial widely regarded as a test case for tackling government corruption.

German Court Rejects Attempt to Ban Neo-nazi Party
The German government's efforts to curb the neo-Nazi right were thrown into disarray yesterday when the country's top court blocked its key initiative - an attempt to ban the skinhead-dominated National Democratic party. If the decision was an embarrassment for Gerhard Schröder's...

Basque Party Banned
Spain's supreme court judges voted unanimously yesterday to ban the Basque separatist party Batasuna under the terms of a recent law that aims to prevent parties from colluding with political violence. Batasuna, which won 10% of the vote at Basque regional elections in 2001, had been...

French State Oil Bosses in Dock for Sleaze Worth Millions
Allegations of state-sponsored sleaze returned to a French courtroom yesterday as 37 people were accused of siphoning off £120m from the accounts of the former state-owned oil giant Elf Aquitaine. Among the defendants in the case, which is set to last four months, are Loik Le ...

Execution Stayed in Final 10 Minutes
Delma Banks had already eaten his last meal, a cheeseburger, and was about to be strapped down in preparation for his execution in Huntsville, Texas, when his reprieve came through. Ten minutes before he was due to be given a lethal injection, he was told that the supreme court had granted a stay...

Turkish Fury As Kurdish Leader's Trial Ruled Unfair
Turkey came under intense pressure yesterday to retry its most prized prisoner - the Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan - after the European court of human rights ruled that his original trial had ignored his legitimate rights of defence. In an eagerly awaited ruling that angered Ankara...

International Criminal Court sworn in
Eighteen judges promised to act "impartially and conscientiously" when they were sworn in yesterday as members of the world's first permanent war crimes court.

International Criminal Court Comes to Life
Lofty hopes for new era of world justice are balanced by fears that boycotting states will sap new body's authority.

Czech Romas on run from threat of deportation
A Czech family who lost a lengthy court battle on Friday to avoid being deported from Ireland are believed to have fled to the North.

Almighty Fuss
Duncan Campbell explains how a court ruling on the inclusion of the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools has created a stir.

'The Struggle is Not Over Yet'
A defiant Winnie Madikizela-Mandela faces the threat of imprisonment as court proceedings against her resume. Rory Carroll reports.

Relatives of Real IRA boss plan to sue US informer
The family of Michael McKevitt are to sue the American informer scheduled to give evidence in court against the Real IRA's founder. The Observer has learnt that McKevitt's son, Stephen, has consulted the Real IRA leader's legal team about suing David Rupert in the American and Irish courts.

Court Finds Thief Did Not Steal Heart
One of the oddest cases to come before a German court ended yesterday when judges threw out an attempt to imprison a prosecutor for perverting the course of justice in the cause of love. The unmarried female prosecutor stood accused of perjury and destroying evidence to try to win freedom...

German Christian Democrats Vow to Fight on Against £14m Corruption Fine
Germany's main conservative opposition party said yesterday it would appeal to the country's highest court against a decision that it should forfeit £14m as a punishment for corrupt funding practices. The penalty was imposed after revelations that the Hessen branch of the Christian...

Women judges dominate world's new war crimes court
Justice came of age in spectacular fashion in New York last week when women bagged six of the top seven judicial seats on the new International Criminal Court.

Court Tells Us to Stay Execution of Three Mexicans
The way in which America treats foreign nationals it sentences to death was called into question yesterday after the United Nations' highest court ordered Washington to stay the execution of three Mexicans on death row. Siding with Mexico, which had complained that its citizens' legal...

Ex-minister's Sleaze Conviction Overturned
A Paris appeal court yesterday overturned the conviction of the former French foreign minister, Roland Dumas, in a mammoth sleaze case that gripped France with tales of high-level greed, sexual intrigue and ambition. Mr Dumas, 80, an intimate of the late president François Mitterrand...

Former Serb President Denies Crimes Against Humanity
The former Serbian president Milan Milutinovic, who last week surrendered to the UN war crimes tribunal in the Hague, today pleaded not guilty to crimes against humanity in his first appearance before the court. A one-time ally of Slobodan Milosevic, the former Yugoslav president, Mr...

German chancellor sees red in privacy battle with British tabloid newspaper
Chancellor Gerhard Schröder was last night said to be seething over a British Sunday newspaper's blatant defiance of a court order issued in Germany forbidding it to repeat claims about his private life.

German court issues gagging order on Mail on Sunday over Schröder
In what is believed to be the first case of its kind, a British paper faces being silenced by a ruling handed down by a foreign judge.

The Business of Torture
The European Court of Human Rights agreed yesterday - more than two years after the applications have been filed - to hear six cases filed by Chechens against Russia. The claimants accuse the Russian military of torture and indiscriminate killings. The Court has ruled in the past against the Russian Federation and awarded assorted plaintiffs thousands of euros per case in compensation.

Home news from abroad
Court proceedings against Robert William Pickton, a pig farmer who could be the worst serial murderer in Canadian history, begin this week.

US Trade War Threat As Europe Bars Gm Crops
The US last night threatened to take the EU to court over the refusal of Brussels to import genetically modified crops, in what would be a dramatic deterioration in increasingly bitter trade relations between the two blocks. Robert Zoellick, the US trade representative, yesterday launched...

European central bank heir faces fraud trial
The head of the Bank of France, Jean-Claude Trichet, will appear in court on Monday in a potentially explosive case that could wreck his chances of becoming the next president of the European central bank and plunge the euro zone into turmoil.

Schröder Tries to Silence Paper
Germany's chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, is facing a new and potentially uncomfortable legal battle in his efforts to stop the press from commenting on his private life. A Berlin district court spokeswoman said yesterday that a hearing had been set for January 21 to consider a case...

Land Case Dashes Aboriginal Hopes
Australia's longest-running Aboriginal land rights claim collapsed yesterday when the high court delivered a judgment regarded as the death-knell of the native title system. The claim of the Yorta Yorta people covered about 2,000sq km of tribal land along the Murray river, on the border...

Court Lets Reporters Stay Silent
Journalists will only be compelled to testify in war crimes trials in future if they can help resolve "a core issue".

Nothing Like a Dame
December is the month for dames. Dames of two kinds: those whose damehoods, courtesy of the Queen and prime minister, and those who are just now starting to caper about on the stages of our theatres.

Supreme Court to Decide on Klan's Burning Cross
The US supreme court will today hear arguments about whether the public burning of wooden crosses by the Ku Klux Klan is an incitement to racial violence or constitutionally-protected free expression. The sight of burning crosses near black homes was once a menacing icon of the South....

How Diamond Joe's Libel Case Could Change the Future of the Internet
Once it was heralded as the last bastion of freedom of speech, a realm which transcended national law and the whims of the courts.

CND asks court to tie attack to new UN resolution
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament yesterday began an unprecedented action in the high court which seeks a judicial declaration that it would be unlawful for Britain to go to war with Iraq without a new, explicit UN resolution.

Finland's Cabbies Face the Music
Navigating Finland's icy roads - often in the dark - makes driving a taxi treacherous enough, but now the country's cabbies have a new problem to deal with: music royalty fees. In a judgment which has infuriated the country's 9,500 taxi drivers, Finland's supreme court has ruled that...

Witness Problems Delay Irish Trio's Trial
The trial of three IRA suspects accused of teaching Colombian guerrillas how to make bombs was adjourned until February 5 after two key prosecution witnesses, defectors from the Marxist rebel group Farc, failed to appear in court yesterday. The men, ex-members of the Revolutionary Armed...

Court Deals Decisive Blow to Deposed Greek Royals
Constantine receives fraction of claim for royal estates and faces permanent exile.

Court Convicts Militia Leader of Massacre
Indonesia's much-maligned human rights court yesterday convicted the most notorious former East Timor militia leader of crimes against humanity during a 1999 massacre in the territory and sentenced him to 10 years in prison. Eurico Guterres, 29, who was found guilty of leading an attack...

Chinese Trial Linked to Dover Lorry Deaths
China staged its biggest ever trial of people-smugglers yesterday when a court in Nanjing began hearing the case of 42 suspected members of a criminal ring, including gang leaders, accomplices and the heads of shipping firms that ferried illegal migrants in often murderous conditions. The...

See You in Court, Tony
We should help the Iraqi people overthrow Saddam, but not by flouting international law. Parliament might have been denied its debate and the cabinet might have been silenced, but there are other means of holding the government to account.

Billionaire's death an accident, says nurse who lit fire
An American nurse who has admitted lighting the fire that killed the billionaire banker Edmond Safra told a court in Monaco yesterday that it was all "a terrible accident" and that he never meant to hurt his employer.

Passport to Pimlico - Aussie style
Micro states are springing up from Perth to Sydney with the aim of seceding from Australia - and avoiding tax. Virgilio and "Little" Joe Rigoli are unhappy at being brought before a Melbourne court on tax evasion and benefits fraud charges.

Simon Hattenstone: Ditching Our Rights Won't Make Us Safe
The crime bill won't help victims, but will multiply unjust verdicts. As he was driven away from the court of appeal in a cab, Robert Brown put his head out of the window, and held his arms aloft triumphantly.

Hindujas can be tried over arms deal, judge rules
Britain's wealthiest Asian businessmen, the Hinduja brothers, were last night facing the humiliating prospect of a criminal trial after a court in India charged them with cheating, conspiracy and bribery.

Palace sets up inquiry - then rejects charges
St James's Palace was last night facing accusations of a whitewash after it emerged that an inquiry into the collapse of the Paul Burrell trial, and into allegations of homosexual rape by a senior courtier of Prince Charles, is to be carried out by the prince's private secretary.

Losing its only big fish could wreck court
While Europe's two most wanted men, the Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan Karadzic and General Ratko Mladic, remain at large seven years after the Bosnian war, the on-off trial of their boss, Slobodan Milosevic, is looking increasingly precarious.

Seventies' Radicals Plead Guilty to Killing Bank Customer
Four guilty pleas in a Californian court have brought to an end one of America's strangest legal sagas of the past 30 years.

Torment Ends for Plane Spotters As Greek Court Clears Them
Twelve British plane spotters were declared innocent yesterday when an appeal court in Greece overturned their convictions for spying. Judge George Efstathiou advised the court that the aviation enthusiasts had been pursuing their hobby as members of clubs previously unheard of in Greece...

Greek Appeal Court Clears Plane Spotters of Spying
The 12 British plane spotters found guilty of spying in Greece were last night declared innocent by a three-member appeals court that unanimously threw out their convictions. Judge George Efstathiou told the crowded court that it was his view that the aviation enthusiasts had been...

European Court of Justice Rules Bilateral Air Agreements Illegal
European court of justice rules bilateral air agreements illegal.

Trial of Tv Brothers Puts Culture in Dock
For one investor in EM.TV, what's left is a plastic Kermit the Frog. Today the saga reaches court.

We'll Fight, Plane Spotters Say on Eve of Appeal
On the eve of their retrial in Greece, the 12 British plane spotters convicted of spying on military installations around the country yesterday resolved to "fight all the way" to get their sentences quashed. Visibly nervous about returning to Kalamata, where an appeals court is expected...

Turkish Election Frontrunner Faces Ban
Political turmoil looms as court threatens to outlaw Islamic party likely to win tomorrow's poll.

'Tricked' islanders sue UK for millions
A group of Indian Ocean islanders launched a multimillion-pound claim for compensation against the Foreign Office in London's high court yesterday, over being tricked out of their homes.

Canadian Company Fined £1.6m for Lesotho Bribes
A Canadian construction company, Acres International, was fined £1.6m by a court in the southern African state of Lesotho yesterday for paying bribes in connection with the country's multi-billion pound dam project. The sentence is the first from a series of unprecedented trials of...

States in Race to Try Sniper Suspects
The race to try - and potentially execute - the two men held as suspects in the sniper shootings around the greater Washington area intensifies today when charges are introduced in a Virginia court. John Allen Muhammed and his teenage companion, John Lee Malvo, will be charged with two...

Monti Hits Back at His Eu Critics
Mario Monti yesterday vowed to stay on in his job as the EU's competition commissioner, despite suffering his third crushing defeat in an important merger case this year. Speaking after Europe's second highest court said he should not have stopped Tetra Laval, the world's largest...

Writer Cleared of Racial Hatred Charge
A Paris court yesterday cleared Michel Houellebecq, the enfant terrible of French letters, of provoking religious and racial hatred by calling Islam "the most stupid of religions".

Three British 'torture Victims' Go on Trial in Cairo
Three British Muslims will appear in a Cairo high-security court this weekend accused of attempting to overthrow the state in a trial which threatens to strain relations between Britain and Egypt. Ian Nisbet, 28, a convert to Islam, Maajid Nawaz, 24, and Reza Pankhurst, 27, all married...

Our Fawning Court Historians
Prince Charles has been whispering to the assembled intelligentsia that history isn't quite how he'd like it. Will Charles III appoint Simon Schama or David Starkey to be his court's first Historiographer Royal? It seems strange that the post doesn't already exist.

Silence is Striking
Jonathan Aitken and Jeffrey Archer went to prison for lying to a court. But is it perjury to lie to an industrial tribunal? I ask the question after reading the astonishing judgment of the London South industrial tribunal into the case of Greg Tucker.

Blunkett wins challenge on Roma rights
A high court judge yesterday threw out a challenge by human rights campaigners to declare that British immigration checks introduced at Prague airport were discriminatory against Czech Roma people trying to claim asylum in the UK.

Court to Rule on 'unusual' Headdress
The sacking of a Muslim woman is the subject of a long-running legal battle, writes John Hooper.

White House uses courts to end dock strike
George Bush earned the wrath of America's trade unions and provided an opening to Democratic election campaigners yesterday when he became the first president in nearly 25 years to use the courts to end a labour dispute, in response to a strike that has paralysed West Coast ports.

Shoebomber Pleads Guilty in Us Court
Shoebomber Richard Reid today pleaded guilty in a US court to attempting to blow up a transatlantic flight with explosives concealed in his trainers. The 29-year-old British citizen said he did not recognise the American juducial system but agreed he did commit the acts outlined in the...

Justice goes on trial in Sierra Leone
David Crane, the prosecutor for the special court for Sierra Leone, strode up the overgrown path to a single-storey blue building on the hillside and peered gingerly through the door.

Bomb Suspect Still in 'londonistan'
French officials angrily questioned the British government's commitment to combating Islamic extremism yesterday at the start of a high-profile trial in Paris whose key defendant Britain has refused to extradite. Two Algerians, Smain Ali Belkacem and Boualem Bensaid, appeared in court...

Death Sentence for Snack Shop Owner Who Poisoned 38 Students
The snack shop owner who killed 38 students and workers by poisoning a rival's stock two weeks ago has been sentenced to death in a swift display of Chinese justice. Chen Zhengping, who confessed to planting the poison in the food of his rival in Nanjing, was paraded to the court...

Britain Accused of Sacrificing New Court
The EU came under furious criticism last night after seeking to end a row with the US by agreeing terms for giving American citizens immunity from prosecution by the new International Criminal Court. Under heavy pressure from Washington, London persuaded its partners to accept a...

EU Caves in to Washington Over International Criminal Court
The EU is ready to agree a deal with the US giving American citizens a degree of immunity from prosecution by the new International Criminal Court, having been persuaded by Britain to step back from its hardline opposition to prevent a transatlantic row.

Monica's back - and this time she's stalking the Kremlin
He is better known for his love of judo and baked trout but the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, will get a new side to his public image soon, courtesy of an opera in which the former spy - renamed "Krutin" - is seen in a romantic tryst with a beautiful, young Kremlin secretary.

Ian Black: Inside Europe
The young woman selling ice creams in the courtyard of Ljubljana castle was forthright. "No, we don't want to join the EU," she insisted. "We don't want a lot of criminals coming here. Our country is very nice as it is."

Bitterness Boils Over at Barghouti Trial
Tel Aviv court witnesses emotional scenes on both sides as Fatah leader is accused of role in 26 deaths.

Intifada prisoners plan court boycott
Hundreds of Israel's Palestinian prisoners are planning to follow the lead of Marwan Barghouti, one of the prominent organisers of the intifada, by boycotting courts, his lawyer said yesterday.

EU Urged to Resist Us on World Court
British call for compromise may lead to more deals on exemption.

Detained Asylum Seeker Asked to Pay £10,000 Rent
An asylum seeker released after six months in a detention centre only to be handed a A$26,000 (£10,000) bill for his time inside has taken the Australian government to court.

US Court Rules Against Secret Deportation Hearings
A US federal appeals court sharply criticised the administration of president George Bush yesterday, ruling that his government's attempts to hold secret deportation hearings of suspected terrorists trampled the fundamentals of democracy and free press. The court ruled that the justice...

Steve Crawshaw: Friend of the US, enemy of justice
Blair's readiness to please America could poison the world court. By any measure, it should be a historic moment. For the first time, crimes against humanity can be punished and prosecuted in a single world court.

Defiant Milosevic Back in Court
Slobodan Milosevic heard a witness's harrowing account of a massacre in Kosovo as the first stage of his historic war crimes trial in the Hague resumed yesterday after a month's adjournment. The former Yugoslav president, who turned 61 last week, looked healthy and relaxed, even through...

America Attacked for Icc Tactics
The US was accused yesterday of using "strong-arm tactics" on aspiring Nato members to persuade them to sign agreements exempting Americans from trial by the new International Criminal Court. The criticism was made in response to interviews aimed at a European audience in which a senior...

US court balks at new spy powers
The most secretive court in the US, which considers requests to allow surveillance of terrorist and espionage suspects, has made an unprecedented attack on the government.

$2.2 trillion lawsuit says the fax should be sacred
The junk which clogs up fax machines and wakes recipients in the early hours of the morning is about to find itself in court.

FBI Rebuked Over 'illegal' Spying
A secret US court has accused the Bush administration of illegally expanding FBI powers to spy on suspects. According to documents released by Congress today, the foreign intelligence surveillance (FISA) court ruled in May that the government had increased the FBI's powers to place...

US warns former Nicaragua leader over corruption
The "Fatman" of Nicaraguan politics was sent a clear signal that his days in power are numbered after the US warned that he could face trial on money laundering charges in an American court.

Man Sent Back to Us Accused of Killings
A man accused of shooting dead and butchering two Mormon missionaries should be extradited to Texas to face murder charges, a London court ruled yesterday. Robert Kleasen, 69, is wanted in the US for the murders he allegedly committed 28 years ago. Yesterday district judge...

East Europeans Torn By International Court Row
Trapped in the middle of the increasingly rancorous dispute between the US and the EU about international justice, the countries of eastern Europe are in a quandary about how to respond to the intense US pressure to give American citizens immunity from war crimes prosecutions. While...

Knives drawn in row on war crimes court
The row about the International Criminal Court took a new turn yesterday when the US accused the EU of "inappropriate" behaviour in trying to press countries seeking EU membership not to do private deals with the US exempting its soldiers from prosecution by the court.

US rebuffed on international court exemption
Switzerland and Yugoslavia reject call for bilateral deals. Switzerland and Yugoslavia yesterday handed the US new diplomatic rebuffs by rejecting its attempts to press them into signing bilateral deals to stop the possibility of Americans appearing before the newly formed International Criminal Court (ICC).

Peace in Our Time for Ulster?
The audience at the annual John Hewitt summer school listened courteously to my theory that the people of Northern Ireland will do anything for peace except vote for it.

Aborigine Rights Damaged By Mining Verdict
The Australian high court dealt a severe blow to the Aboriginal land rights movement yesterday when it rejected claims by the Miriuwung-Gajerrong people to a 3,050sq mile area of land in the country's remote north-west. In a decision which ends an eight-year legal wrangle between...

Workers Take Xerox to Court for 'blacks in a Noose' Discrimination
Black employees of Xerox in Cincinnati are bringing a federal court action against the company, claiming that black dolls with nooses round their necks were left in three of its branches, and that racist slurs were common. Earlier this week the federal equal employment opportunity...

Bugging Scandal Lands Mitterrand Allies in Court
Twenty years after the event, the full truth of the scandal known as France's Watergate may finally come out following a decision this week to send for trial 12 men accused of running a huge, secret and illegal wiretapping operation for François Mitterrand. The Paris public...

End of an Era: Farmers Face Eviction As Land Seizure Battle Reaches Bitter Climax
Uncertain future for whites who say they will fight on in courts. Nearly 3,000 Zimbabwean white farmers face eviction at midnight tonight, the government's deadline for them to leave their properties, as a 12-year land seizure battle reaches its bitter climax.

Go and See a Therapist, Not a Judge
Too often, the courts can say little more than 'there, there'. In Alan Bennett's fine television play about Kafka, The Insurance Man, the head of an industrial accident claims tribunal is piqued to speech after a morning of hearing the stories of claimants.

Rod Liddle: Innocent until proven racist
So, Neil Acourt and David Norris are at last behind bars, on remand awaiting sentence for a conviction that could bring them two years in prison. The world rejoices. "Gotcha!" was just one of the jubilant headlines that greeted the news.

Wreckers of the Landscape
The EU has ruined the west's environment. Now it's moving east. On environmental matters, most of us believe, the European Union is a progressive force. We think of it as an environmental version of the international court of justice, a place of appeal where higher standards of protection are applied.

John Jones: Toothless in Gaza
Was Israel's assassination of Salah Shehada a war crime and, if so, can any court try it? Israel's "targeted killing" of the head of the military wing of Hamas in Gaza this week unleashed a storm of protest, for the missile fired into a densely packed residential block at midnight killed not only Salah Shehada but also 15 other people, including nine children, and injured some 150 others. The result could hardly have been unexpected.

France denied Papon fair trial, court rules
The European court of human rights ruled yesterday that France had wrongly denied the Vichy-era Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon his right of appeal.

Monsieur Nice Woos the Lower Class
Jean-Pierre Raffarin, France's new Prime Minister, has a mission to court humble folk in the provinces.

Justice delayed
The quashing of the torso murder convictions is a timely reminder that defendants can be victims too. The decision this week of the court of appeal to quash the conviction of Reg Dudley and Bob Maynard for two murders that took place more than quarter of century ago has a significance far beyond the courtroom and the north London pubs where the news would have been celebrated on Tuesday night.

Bill Goodwin: Journalists still get a raw deal in court
The government continues to refuse to protect sources. Five of Britain's largest news organisations are on trial for upholding one of the most basic principles of journalism - the right for news organisations to protect sources who come forward with information.

Alcoholic's Confession Stands
The confessions made by a member of Alcoholics Anonymous to fellow members could be used against him in a manslaughter trial, the federal appeals court in New York has ruled. The court upheld the conviction of Paul Cox, who stabbed to death two doctors. A lower court had ruled that...

Zimbabwe Courts v Government
An extraordinary showdown looms between President Robert Mugabe's government and the country's judicial system.

French region stung by councillor who paid himself £32,000 for report
As a fourth-form biology essay, it might have been given a B-minus. As a supposedly authoritative report on possible measures to combat the rampant rise in the mosquito population of the Vidourle river in the south of France, it may earn its author a date in court.

Court Halts Expulsion of Guardian Journalist From Zimbabwe
The Guardian's correspondent in Zimbabwe, Andrew Meldrum, struck a significant blow for press freedom yesterday when he unexpectedly won a courtroom victory postponing his expulsion from the country. The high court in Harare rejected a move by the home affairs minister, John Nkomo, to...

Ian Buruma: Why we must share America's dirty work
The Americans were not always like this. In defence of the US's refusal to sign on to the international criminal court (ICC), it has been argued that international tribunals are a typically European idea which clashes with American notions of democracy.

Guardian Correspondent Cleared But Told to Leave the Country Within 24 Hours
International outrage was expressed yesterday at the Zimbabwe government's decision to deport the Guardian correspondent Andrew Meldrum. In spite of being acquitted by a court in Harare in the morning on charges brought under a new press law, the Zimbabwe immigration department ordered...

Kohl Struggles to Protect Stasi Files
Helmut Kohl will this week launch a last-ditch attempt to block the disclosure of information gathered on him by the former east German secret service, the Stasi. Germany's disgraced former chancellor was thought to have won his battle three months ago when a court curbed access to files...

Gunmen Use Cover of Air Strike to Kill 'collaborator'
When an Israeli F-16 fighter screamed over Khan Yunis yesterday, the Palestinian court where Abdel Hai Sababi was on trial for collaboration emptied in panic. But someone kept their nerve long enough to shoot Sababi dead.

Guardian Journalist Awaits Verdict in Harare Trial Over Report on Web
The worldwide web would be unable to function if everything on it was subject to the laws of every nation, a Harare court hearing the alleged falsehood case against the Guardian's correspondent in Zimbabwe, Andrew Meldrum, was told yesterday. Applying Zimbabwe's restrictive media...

US gives way on exemption from international court
A deal to save United Nations peacekeeping operations looked likely yesterday after a climbdown by the US from its hardline position on the question of immunity from prosecution by the new International Criminal Court.

Winnie Mandela on trial for fraud
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, the ex-wife of the former South African president, appeared in a Pretoria court yesterday to plead not guilty to 85 fraud and theft charges relating to a £60,000 banking scam.

Court deadlock threatens Bosnia mission
US and European diplomats last night appeared unable to break a deadlock that threatened to kill the UN's peacekeeping mission in Bosnia over American demands for immunity from the new international criminal court.

Temporary Deal Keeps Peacekeeping Force in Bosnia
A threatened shutdown of the UN peacekeeping mission in Bosnia was temporarily averted last night when US diplomats on the Security Council, isolated over their demand for US immunity from the new international criminal court, agreed to an emergency 12-day extension of the force. The...

Deadlock in Row Over Icc
With less than 24 hours to resolve a UN row over the international criminal court, security council members today appeared likely to reject a US offer on immunity for its peacekeepers. The proposal would see the five permanent council members - the US, Britain, France, Russia and China -...

Distaste for 'international entanglements' runs deep
As the international criminal court quietly became a reality in the Hague, European diplomats tried to stay optimistic that the Americans would eventually stop sulking and join in its operation.

Hugo Young: We can't allow US tantrums to scupper global justice
This campaign against the international court reveals a pitiful world view. A case can be made against the international criminal court, which came into being yesterday. The best shot came from Douglas Hurd. In a recent lecture he offered the classic conservative defence of shapeless evolution over the reformer's formulaic rigidity.

Europe Seethes As Defiant Us Goes Its Own Way
America's European allies express "deep regret" over US threats to pull out of UN peacekeeping operations as the Bush administration continued to oppose the newly created international criminal court.

Newborn world court fights for survival
US demands for legal immunity put peacekeeping operations at risk. Tense negotiations between the United States and Europe countries on the UN security council were continuing in New York last night in an attempt to stop the dispute about the status of peacekeepers inflicting lasting damage on the international criminal court, which came into existence at midnight.

How it will work
Don't we already have an International Court of Justice? Yes, but the ICJ - also known as the World Court or International Criminal Court (ICC), and based in the Hague - rules on civil disputes between nations. The ICC will bring criminal cases against individuals.

US veto puts Bosnia mission in jeopardy
The US gave the UN peacekeeping mission in Bosnia only three days to live last night after dramatically vetoing a routine six-month extension in a rancorous dispute with its allies about the historic international criminal court, which came into existence at midnight this morning.

US threat to Balkans peace force
S-For held hostage for changes to International Criminal Court. The US is threatening to scupper a Nato-led peacekeeping force in Bosnia from next Monday, as part of its campaign against the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Judges Decide Belgian War Crimes Law Cannot Be Used to Try Sharon
Ariel Sharon, Israel's prime minister, cannot be tried in Belgium on war crimes charges relating to the massacre of Palestinians 20 years ago, a court ruled yesterday. Three appeal judges in Brussels said the case, brought by relatives of those killed by Lebanese Christians, could not...

Inquest Casts Doubt on Hospital Care
A coroner yesterday cast doubt on the standard of care given to a solicitor who died in a Hong Kong hospital after suffering an epileptic fit. Recording an open verdict at St Pancras coroner's court in central London at the inquest into the death of Harinder Veriah, 33, Stephen Chan said...

US demands immunity for its peacekeepers
America has infuriated its allies at the United Nations by threatening to keep US troops out of peacekeeping forces unless they are granted a blanket immunity from prosecution by the International Criminal Court, which comes into being next month.

Catherine Bennett: Hail Blair and let the Games commence!
The Queen, reveals a courtier, is happy. Tam Dalyell sounds happy. Even the abject Neil Hamilton, a man you might think, with little cause to exult, finds himself swept along in the general euphoria: "There really is a feelgood factor about the country".

Bosnia may try 50 war criminals
About 50 war crimes suspects from Bosnia may be tried locally when the country establishes its own war crimes court, to take some of the pressure off the Hague tribunal, the chief prosecutor of the UN tribunal said yesterday.

Watchdog v Watchdog
June 17: The EU's competiton commissioner has been slapped down on the organisation's approach to mergers but Mark Milner wonders whether resorting to the courts is a better solution.

Meldrum Trial Begins
4.30pm: Andrew Meldrum, the Guardian's Zimbabwe correspondent, is the first journalist to be brought to court under the country's strict new media laws, reports Dan Milmo.

Dangerous Waters
By shipping plutonium around the world, Britain is courting catastrophe.

Exiled Salvadorean Military Chiefs Face Atrocity Trial
Florida court to hear civil action against two former defence ministers.

Palestinians Ignore Court Call to Free Faction Leader
The Palestinian Cabinet last night countermanded the decision of its own supreme court to release a Palestinian faction leader held under British and American guard. Israel had vowed harsh retribution yesterday if Ahmed Saadat, the leader of the leftwing Popular Front for the Liberation...

Freedom to Hate, Freedom to Harm
May 29: With the supreme court to rule on the legality of racist cross burning, Julian Borger asks whether the US constitution remains a force for liberty.

Court Tells Media: Let Story of Chancellor's Hair Die
Chancellor Gerhard Schröder won a court ruling yesterday that journalists must not claim - or report claims - that he dyes his strikingly dark-brown hair. A judge in Hamburg ordered the DDP news agency not to repeat the statement it carried this year by the self-styled image expert...

International criminal court could flounder on issue of immunity
The news that two more Serbs have voluntarily joined Slobodan Milosevic at the UN war crimes tribunal in the Hague underscores the growing role of international courts.

Politicians Court an Alienated Nation
The survival of President Chirac's new government is by no means assured as the left, right and far-right try to woo a disaffected electorate, writes Jon Henley.

Refugee denies UK bomb threat
Student said he would blow up pub for Hamas, court told.

Reporter Challenges Zimbabwe Law
3pm: Andrew Meldrum is among a group of journalists asking the country's supreme court to declare the new law unconstitutional. By Julia Day.

Reprieved far-right party plans election challenge
Germany's far-right political force, the National Democratic party, announced that it was planning to field candidates across the country in this autumn's general election, after Germany's highest court yesterday postponed a hearing into a government attempt to ban the party.

Guardian Man Remanded
Andrew Meldrum, the Guardian's correspondent in Zimbabwe, was ordered by a Harware magistrate yesterday to return to court on May 22 to answer a charge of publishing false information. The magistrate ruled that the government could go ahead with the case against him and the Zimbabwean...

US Threat to Wreck Treaty System
The US will today threaten to undermine the entire system of international treaties when it withdraws from plans for a court that will act as the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal. The decision is likely to provoke anger from the international community, and provide further...

'Kosovo cleanser' yields to UN court
Slobodan Milosevic's right-hand man in Kosovo, who allegedly oversaw the expulsion of 800,000 Kosovan Albanians from the province, was in UN custody in the Hague last night after giving himself up.

Madagascar court reverses poll result
Madagascar's High Constitutional Court yesterday declared the opposition leader Marc Ravalomanana the winner of December's disputed presidential elections after a vote recount.

Madagascar's Opposition Leader Declared Winner of Disputed Election
Madagascar's high constitutional court today declared the opposition leader, Marc Ravalomanana, the outright winner of the disputed December 16 2001 presidential elections after a recount of the votes. The court said Mr Ravalomanana won 51.46% of the ballots cast while the incumbent...

Drama in court as Moussaoui fires lawyers
The alleged "20th hijacker", Zacarias Moussaoui, electrified a courtroom in suburban Washington yesterday when he took over what was scheduled to be a routine hearing, publicly fired his lawyers and prayed for the destruction of the United States and Israel.

Jail for Sotheby's Chairman
The disgraced former chairman of Sotheby's auction house was yesterday sentenced to a year in prison and fined $7.5m (£5.2m) for leading a price-fixing conspiracy that shook the art world. A US district court judge told 78-year-old Alfred Taubman that "no one is above the law" as he...

Pearl 'driven Off With Suspect'
4pm: Murdered US journalist Daniel Pearl was 'whisked away' in a car with British-born suspect Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh on the day he vanished, a Karachi court heard today. By Julia Day.

Gunmen in Bethlehem church offered trial or permanent exile
The Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, yesterday offered scores of Palestinian gunmen trapped in an armed standoff in Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity the choice of surrendering and being tried in an Israeli military court, or going into exile "forever".

Plane Spotters Set for Trial in Greece
Twelve British plane spotters, accused of espionage after attending a military air show, are preparing to fly back to Greece this month to convince the courts that none of the information they obtained was secret. The 11 men and one woman each now face a single charge, classified as a...

Apartheid regime's 'Dr Death' cleared
Wouter Basson, the apartheid regime's notorious chemical warfare expert tried for multiple murder and fraud, walked free from the Pretoria High Court yesterday after being acquitted of all charges.

Hair Schröder Gets His Day in Court
Clenching comb and scissors in one hand, Udo Walz gazed around his luxurious salon just off the Kürfurstendamm, took a deep breath, and delivered his expert opinion on the issue that currently lies at the heart of German politics. "He has a lot of grey hairs," he said. "But not at...

Zimbabwe Opposition to Challenge Poll Win in Court
Zimbabwe's opposition will argue in court today that Robert Mugabe won the presidential election last month by massive fraud and violence. Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, said: "Our lawyers have uncovered mountains of hardcore and powerful evidence of...

New Court Makes Global Justice a Reality
An international criminal court able to prosecute human rights abusers anywhere in the world will become a reality today, despite the fierce opposition of the United States. The treaty establishing the court needs the ratification of 60 countries and that number will be surpassed when the...

Liar! French Poll Leaders Switch on the Venom
France's leading presidential candidates abandoned their traditionally courteous exchanges and turned venom on each other this weekend, as opinion polls swung wildly between them. Jacques Chirac and Lionel Jospin accused one another of lying. The polls are split on whether the Gaullist...

Italian Court Tells Father to Support Stay-at-home Son, 30
In Italy few things are more sacred than the family but now the country's highest court has confirmed the importance of family bonds by ordering a father to continue maintaining his adult son until he is able to find a job that satisfies his aspirations. The loser in the family...

Juries aren't delivering justice
Andrew Geddes: If our jury system is such a good idea, why does no one else use it? We do not know how juries reach their verdicts. Any research on that topic is precluded by the Contempt of Court Act, and juries do not give reasons for their decisions.

Woman Spared But Second Faces Death By Stoning
An Islamic appeal court in Nigeria freed a 35-year-old mother due to be stoned to death yesterday, as it emerged that a second woman convicted of adultery had been given the same sentence. In the latest case Amina Lawal Kurami, a divorced woman from Katsina state, was sentenced on Friday...

Pope Backs Right of the Sick to Die
The Pope has unexpectedly expressed support for the right to die. His comments follow the case of Miss B, the paralysed British woman who won a legal battle in the High Court last week to have her life support machine turned off.

British Islamist Faces Swift Execution
The British-born militant Omar Saeed Sheikh was last night facing the prospect of a speedy execution after a court in Pakistan formally charged him and three other suspects with the kidnapping and murder of the American journalist Daniel Pearl. Omar, a public schoolboy who embraced...

Tearful Ashdown in Court Skirmish With Milosevic
The cross-examination of Lord Ashdown by Slobodan Milosevic at the former Yugoslav president's trial yesterday generated enough sarcasm to fill 100 prime minister's question times.

Man Found Guilty of Fatal Hostel Fire
An itinerant Australian fruit picker was today convicted of murder and arson for starting a fire that tore through a backpackers' hostel in Childers, Australia in June 2000, killing 15 people. A Brisbane supreme court jury of seven women and five men reached the verdict after nearly two...

France Defiant Over British Beef Embargo
France is to continue flouting European law and keep its ban on British beef firmly in place, but is likely to escape punitive fines until 2003 at the earliest, it emerged yesterday. Despite a ruling from the European court of justice in December that the French ban was unlawful, Paris...

Briton on death row executed
Tracy Housel, the convicted murderer who has British nationality, was executed on schedule shortly after midnight last night, British time, after the failure of his last-ditch appeal to the US supreme court.

A Law Unto Themselves
Italy's highest appeals court has delivered a bizarre verdict against a Naples city councillor, but it is not the first time the judges' decisions have caused outrage, mockery or simply bemusement, writes Rory Carroll.

'We won't move from here till we vote'
Last night, the Harare high court ordered that Zimbabwe's presidential election be extended to a third day.

Thousands of Stasi Files Lost to History By Kohl Ruling
Germany's disgraced former chancellor, Helmut Kohl, yesterday won the right to block all access to the files kept on him by East Germany's communist spymasters. The ruling, by an appeal court in Berlin, is expected to have a profound effect on research into Germany's cold war history, as...

Texan Collector Fails to Get Money Back for 'van Dyck'
High court backs dealers over £1.5m portrait that was just a copy.

Belgian farce makes case for international court
Belgium's attempts to try Ariel Sharon highlight the need for an international court, writes Andrew Osborn.

Arundhati Roy Leaves Jail After Paying Fine
The award-winning novelist Arundhati Roy has been released from jail after serving a one-day sentence for contempt of court, and has paid a fine rather than serve another three months in prison. "I have paid the fine. I have made my point but I stand by what I said. The citizens of this...

Roy goes to prison and agonises over fine or serving longer term
The Booker Prize winning novelist Arundhati Roy was last night eating her first prison meal of dhal and rice and preparing to sleep on a regulation string bed after India's supreme court found her guilty of criminal contempt and sentenced her to one day of "symbolic imprisonment".

Booker-winner Arundhati Roy Jailed
The novelist Arundhati Roy has been jailed for one day after being found guilty of contempt by India's supreme court. In what appears to be a symbolic gesture, the court also fined the Booker-winning novelist 2,000 rupees (£28) for speaking out against work on the Narmada dam project...

Sierra Leone Rebel Leader in Court
The Sierra Leonean rebel leader, Foday Sankoh, appeared in court yesterday to face robbery and murder charges, in his first public sighting since being detained by British troops nearly two years ago. Witnesses described Mr Sankoh, the alleged architect of some of post-colonial Africa's...

Pandas Score Initial Victory Over Wrestlers
The World Wide Fund for Nature today won a court case against the World Wrestling Federation over who had the right to use the initials WWF. An appeal court ruling now means that the letters, at times used to promote Hulk Hogan, the Rock and others, will now only be seen under a giant...

Briton Describes Fleeing Hostel Fire
A British backpacker yesterday told a court how she escaped the inferno that killed 15 young tourists in the Australian town of Childers by dragging her deaf boyfriend through a window.

Execution stopped over claim blacks were kept off jury
The US Supreme Court has ordered a last-minute stay of execution for a black man who claimed that blacks were unfairly kept off his jury, thus prejudicing his trial. He had been due to die yesterday by lethal injection.

Sharon Cannot Be Tried in Belgium, Says Court
A controversial Belgian court case against the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, appeared to be over before it had begun last night after the international court of justice ruled that past and present government leaders cannot be tried for war crimes by a foreign state. Mr Sharon has...

Court Overturns Three Strikes Law
A federal appeals court yesterday overturned two lengthy sentences imposed under the controversial three strikes law, ruling that sentencing someone to 25 years or life for a shoplifting was cruel and unconstitutional. The potentially historic decision could result in more than 300...

Military Manoeuvres in Court
February 8: There will be judges but no juries in Pakistan's special terrorism courts as General Musharraf tries to drag the country into the 21st century, writes Rory McCarthy

Will Milosevic Start Taking His Trial Seriously?
Next week, in the biggest war crimes trial since Nuremberg, Slobodan Milosevic will step into the dock at the Hague charged with crimes against humanity. So far he has shown only disdain for the court, but with a team of top legal brains behind him, is he about to take it seriously? Ian Black reports.

Palestinians Kill Three After Storming Court
Hundreds of Palestinians stormed a courtroom in the West Bank yesterday and killed three men who had just been sentenced to imprisonment rather than death, as the crowd had demanded. The men, who were shot dozens of times in a washroom, had been convicted of killing Osama Qmeil, a...

Palestinian Defendants Killed in West Bank Courtroom
Hundreds of Palestinians stormed a heavily guarded courtroom in the West Bank today and shot dead three Palestinian defendants, two of whom had just been sentenced to death. The men were lynched when a baying 500-strong crowd outside the court in the town of Jenin heard the sentences and...

UN tells Berlusconi: leave courts alone
The UN Human Rights Commission has stepped into the Italian row about the independence of the judiciary, responding to the recent protest by magistrates against political interference and a planned reorganisation. Its special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Dato...

Abducted girl spent 9 years in one room
A court in northern Japan jailed a man yesterday for abducting a nine-year-old girl in 1990 and hiding her in his bedroom for nine years. When she was finally released, in January 2000, the girl asked only that her abductor should never be allowed to live under the light of the sun again...

Unique court to try killers of Sierra Leone
The United Nations and Sierra Leone's government yesterday agreed to establish a unique war crimes tribunal to try those most responsible for atrocities in a civil war noted for its horrific treatment of civilians, particularly children. The announcement in Freetown came days after the...

Security guard denies De Klerk killing
The security guard accused of murdering Marike de Klerk, the former wife of South Africa's last white president, denied that he was responsible yesterday, telling the Cape Town regional court that the real killer was her lover. Mrs De Klerk, 64, was found dead in her flat near Cape Town...

France limits disabled children's right to sue doctors
The French parliament approved a bill yesterday aimed at curbing the ruling by France's highest court which gave severely handicapped children the legal right to have never been born. The bill, which begins "No one may claim to have been prejudiced by the simple fact of their birth", was...

Milosevic attacks Hague tribunal
Slobodan Milosevic launched a blistering attack on Britain yesterday as the Hague war crimes tribunal finalised arrangements for his historic trial, due to start next month. Checking his watch to display contempt as the UN court discussed witnesses and evidence relating to charges over...

Ruling gives anti-gun forces a whiff of victory
US gun-control advocates claimed a significant victory yesterday after the Illinois appeal court ruled that gunmakers and dealers could be sued for creating a public nuisance by flooding markets with cheap weapons. The ruling could clear the way for a new offensive by city and state...

Decca Aitkenhead: So Solid, so ephemeral
Those who still haven't heard of speed garage are unlikely to remain in ignorance for much longer. This sub-genre of black urban dance music has been around for seven or eight years, but arrived in the news headlines in the last month, courtesy of a group called So Solid Crew. So Solid has...

Court rules out redress for Nato TV strike
Nato's bombing of Serbian state television that killed 16 civilians during the Kosovo war did not breach a convention on European human rights, a court ruled yesterday. Victims of military action -by the UK and 16 other European members of Nato - were barred from seeking redress for...