News reports late Wednesday quote Iraq UN ambassador Mohammed Aldouri as saying "the game is over" for the Saddam Hussein regime with the fall of Baghdad.

A legal scholar for 30 years and a former professor and dean of the University of Baghdad law school who came to the UN post two years ago, Aldouri's own future is unclear. Although a representative of the Iraqi regime, he is not considered a henchmen and is apparently not included in Washington's list of potential war criminals. Reuters says:

When told about Aldouri's comments, British Ambassador Sir Jeremy Greenstock said, "I pay tribute to him acknowledging it. He is a decent man.... I hope he finds a decent life, representing a decent government. He must wonder what his situation is now and I sympathize with him," Greenstock said.

The current Iraqi government holds the U.N. seat until another government hands in its credentials, something not expected to happen for many months. But it is unknown whether the handful of Iraqi diplomats in New York would stay on.

In an interview with the Boston Globe conducted last week but just published today, however, Aldouri rejected the notion of a further diplomatic stint and said he wants to return to teaching. Learn more about Mohammed Aldouri from the United Nations.

Recommended readings from the latest legal news:

• Rights group wants Iraqi archives safe | UPI
• Appeals court rejects Burk's request to protest at front gate | AP
• UN Envoys Press Aid Groups to Monitor Iraqi Rights | Reuters
• California Supreme Court weighs Coastal Commission future | AP
• Supreme Court Justice Says 2 Million Behind Bars Is Too Many | AP
• Judge Dismisses Suit Challenging Technology Copyright Law | AP
• Iraqi POWs to be Returned to Baghdad's New Government | VOA

See JURIST's Legal News for updates.

In the wake of today's New York Times story that Republican lawmakers want the USA PATRIOT Act made permanent instead of being allowed to expire at the end of 2005 per its original "sunset" provisions, the ACLU of Illinois has written a letter to Illinois' US Senators Richard Durban and Peter Fitzgerald objecting to the proposition:

After a mere eighteen months since the enactment of the legislation, it is simply too soon to measure the impact of these provisions and move to make them permanent. For this reason, it is disconcerting to read today’s media reports indicating that the Bush Administration and certain members of the Senate may act as quickly as this week to try to make these powers permanent.

This action is made more troubling by the very fact that since enactment of the USA PATRIOT Act, the Bush Administration consistently has been reticent to share with Congress – through the Committees of Congress charged with oversight of the USA PATRIOT Act – information about how the new powers authorized by Congress are being utilized. The Justice Department, for example, has grudgingly provided only cursory information to Congress and the public about the number of investigations involving electronic surveillance initiated under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, how many so-called “sneak and peek” warrants have been issued and executed and how often federal law enforcement officials have requested information about constituent records from public libraries. Given the Administration’s demonstrable obstinacy in sharing this information with an equal branch of government, there simply is no way that members of Congress can make a comprehensive analysis of the use of the new sweeping powers, and whether these powers ought to be made permanent.

Read the complete ACLU letter[PDF], and get more information from the ACLU.

Recommended readings from the latest legal news:

• 4 Miami Police Convicted of Corruption | AP
• British Shift to Stopping Crime in Basra | New York Times
• U.S. planning camp for up to 24,000 Iraqi PoWs | CBC
• Fears mount over Iraq disorder | BBC
• Appeals court to decide issues on `dirty-bomb' suspect | AP

See JURIST's Legal News for updates.

VOA correspondent Aliysha Rhu with the US Army's 3rd Infantry Division in Baghdad reports on US plans to re-establish civil order in Baghdad following the fall of the city. Listen to her report or read a transcript.

Following on the heels of Tuesday's introduction in Congress of a concurrent resolution urging that Iraqi war criminals be brought to justice, the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee has scheduled a hearing on Prosecuting Iraqi War Crimes; A Consideration of the Different Forum Options for tomorrow (Thursday). JURIST's Paper Chase will carry the hearing live beginning at 11 AM ET.

UN officials expressed concern Wednesday at the spread of looting and lawlessness in Baghdad and Basra, and urged occupying Coalition forces to provide security for the civilian population. A spokeman for the UN Humanitarian Co-ordinator for Iraq said:

The breakdown of law and order in Baghdad and in Basra has been accompanied by widespread looting. The collapse of civilian authority in the two largest cities in the country must be addressed by the occupying military forces, which have responsibility under international humanitarian law to maintain a secure environment for the civilian population. The longer the situation remains out of control, the more difficult it will be to start humanitarian relief operations and the greater the delay in beginning the work of reconstruction. The operating environment for humanitarian assistance requires secure access to populations in need. That environment does not yet exist, except in Umm Qasr and from Turkey, in the north.

Read the full text of the UN's Wednesday humanitarian briefing from its field office in Amman, Jordan.

Human Rights Watch issued a statement Wednesday saying that US and coalition forces must not allow lawlessness and looting to prevail in areas of Iraq under their occupation:

Under international humanitarian law, military commanders must prevent and where necessary suppress serious violations involving the local population under their control or subject to their authority. Furthermore, occupying forces have an immediate duty to take all feasible steps to prevent acts of violent reprisal. The responsibility for protecting civilians extends to the conduct of any local Iraqi armed groups acting under authority of or in conjunction with U.S. forces. That duty exists for the benefit of individuals allied with the Iraqi government who have laid down their arms as well as opponents of the government.

Read the full HRW statement, and review a HRW briefing on an occupying power's duty to provide security.

Baghdad has fallen, according to various network reports. Watch live coverage and get more details from the BBC. The BBC also reports that law and order has broken down in the Iraqi capital. The website of the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq is celebrating the end of the Saddam Hussein regime.

Recorded video of Wednesday's Pentagon teleconference on the Geneva Conventions and US treatment of Enemy Prisoners of War (EPWs) is now available from C-SPAN. The video includes commentary by US Army officers in the field at the Theater Detention Facility in Southern Iraq. Recorded audio is also available from the Defense Department. Review US Army Field Manual 19-10. Chapter 16, Field Confinement of US Military Prisoners.

The US Supreme Court has posted the official transcript of oral arguments[PDF] made March 26 in Lawrence v. Texas, the case challenging the constitutionality of a Texas anti-sodomy law. Background and additional documents are available from Lambda Legal.

Speaking in Geneva Wednesday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Sergio Vieira de Mello, said he was deeply disturbed by the growing toll of civilians and journalists killed during the conflict in Iraq:

The right to freedom of information is dealt a fatal blow whenever a journalist is killed or wounded in the performance of his or her vital role.... The most precious right of all is the right to life. Once life is taken away, the damage is irreparable.... There are inescapable obligations on the parties to the conflict. Human rights and international humanitarian law cannot be put on hold.

Read the full OHCHR press release.

Anne Enquist, faculty advisor to the Seattle University Law Review, presented a workshop on "Substantive v. Technical Editing: How Law Review Editors do their Job" at the recent National Conference of Law Reviews 2003 meeting in Seattle. Recorded video of the workshop is now online from Seattle University School of Law.

Tuesday's Arizona Republic reports that Arizona State University College of Law is considering opening a downtown Phoenix law school for working people seeking to earn a law degree through night classes.... The Daily Pennsylvanian says that construction work on new faculty offices at the University of Pennsylvania Law School is almost complete.... The University of Southern Calfornia Law School has announced that its 2003 Commencement speaker will be Senator Dianne Feinstein.

Recommended readings from the latest legal news:

• Republicans Want Terror Law Made Permanent | New York Times
• Lawmakers want international tribunal to prosecute Iraqi war crimes | CNN
• Judge Says Visa, MasterCard Hid Fees to Consumers | Law.com
• Plea deal in terror probe | Newsday
• U.S. May Lower Terror Threat Level Due to War Progress | Washington Post
• E Timor charges 16 Indonesians | BBC
• Trial Begins in Bias Suit by Deaf U.P.S. Workers | New York Times
• Partial Verdicts in Miami in Police Corruption Trial New York Times
• Denver Men Are Ordered Released in Terror Probe | Washington Post
• Senate opens debate on judicial nominee | Knight Ridder
• US turns up heat over world criminal court | Financial Times
• A U.S. Push on Accounting Fraud | New York Times
• Kostunica's ex-aides arrested | BBC
• Federal judges' sentencing flexibility may be cut | Sacramento Bee
• EU Parliament Approves Historic Expansion to 10 New Member States | AP

See JURIST's Legal News for updates.

On April 9, Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat, became the last man man to be beheaded in England when he was executed on Tower Hill for his part in the Highland rising of 1745. Learn more about the legal history and practice of beheading.