Recommended readings from the latest legal news:

• Supreme Court Justice Warns Impasse Over Judicial Nominees May Harm Courts | AP
• Federal Judge Denies Bond to Al-Arian | AP
• Senate Bans Conflict Diamonds | Reuters
• Justice Department Seeks to Halt Slavery Tax Scam in Georgia | AP
• US to seek UN resolutions endorsing new Iraqi govt, oil sales | AFP
• Marines Told to Stop Looting, Enforce Curfew in Baghdad | AP
• Colorado school vouchers may face lawsuit | UPI
• Zimbabwe frees opposition spokesman from detention | Reuters
• Kosovo assembly requests judiciary and constitutional court | B92
• Anti-war protesters sue Chicago | UPI
• EU Court upholds Le Pen ban | BBC
• MEPs vote to ban stem cell research | BBC

See JURIST's Legal News for updates.

The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee held a hearing Thursday on Prosecuting Iraqi War Crimes: A Consideration of Different Forum Oprions. Senator Arlen Spector chaired. Witness testimony is now online.

Recommended readings from the latest legal news:

• House Approves Amber Alert Package | AP
• Iraqi prisoners of war tell of murder | Financial Times
• Law and order must be top priority in Irag: Annan | Australian Broadcasting Corporation
• EU Parliament OKs Embryo Creation Ban | AP
• Transsexual marriage not legal | BBC
• Moussaoui Banned From Closed Hearing | AP

See JURIST's Legal News for updates.

Provisions of two international treaties governing occupying powers are especially apt now that US troops have entered Baghdad but have not yet succeeded in quelling looting or restoring basic services. Aricle 43 of the 1907 Hague Regulations concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land says:

The authority of the legitimate power having in fact passed into the hands of the occupant, the latter shall take all the measures in his power to restore, and ensure, as far as possible, public order and safety, while respecting, unless absolutely prevented, the laws in force in the country.

Article 55 of the Fourth Geneva Convention on the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War says:

To the fullest extent of the means available to it, the Occupying Power has the duty of ensuring the food and medical supplies of the population; it should, in particular, bring in the necessary foodstuffs, medical stores and other articles if the resources of the occupied territory are inadequate.

The official commentary of Article 55 and its relation to the Hague Regulations is instructive:

Article 55 extends very considerably the responsibility of an Occupying Power in regard to the help to be given to the occupied territory. Article 43 of the Hague Regulations merely spoke of ensuring, as far as possible, public order and safety, while under the present Article the Occupying Power is placed under an obligation to ensure, to the fullest extent of the means available to it, the food and medical supplies of the population. During recent conflicts thousands of human beings suffered from starvation during the occupation of the country. Their destitution was made still worse by requisitioning. The absence of food and medical supplies and unhygienic conditions encouraged the spreading of epidemics. The spirit behind Article 55 represents a happy return [p.310] to the traditional idea of the law of war, according to which belligerents sought to destroy the power of the enemy State, and not individuals. The rule that the Occupying Power is responsible for the provision of supplies for the population places that Power under a definite obligation to maintain at a reasonable level the material conditions under which the population of the occupied territory lives. The inclusion of the phrase "to the fullest extent of the means available to it" shows, however, that the authors of the Convention did not wish to disregard the material difficulties with which the Occupying Power might be faced in wartime (financial and transport problems, etc.); but the Occupying Power is nevertheless under an obligation to utilize all the means at its disposal.

For more on the law of occupation as applied to Iraq, see Suzanne Nossel, Winning the Postwar.

BBC News is now reporting that contrary to earlier reports that he had left the United States for Europe, Iraq UN ambassador and former University of Baghdad law dean Mohammed Aldouri is still in New York and was scheduled to meet with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Thursday:

The AFP news agency quoted an official at Charles de Gaulle airport saying that Mohammed al-Douri had booked places on flights from New York to Paris, and from Paris to Damascus, but had failed to take them up. His meeting with Mr Annan was due to start at 1115 (1515 GMT).

Speaking to Reuters in a brief interview Thursday, Aldouri said "Everything is over. There is no government that I represent. I am representing my country right now."

Human Rights Watch wrote to Secretary of State Powell and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld Wednesday urging them to prevent Iraqi government offices from being ransacked because government documents will undoubtedly be key evidence in future war crimes trials. Archival documents could also help redress and prevent other human rights abuses:

Human Rights Watch estimates that some 250,000 to 290,000 Iraqis have “disappeared” during the rule of the Ba’ath Party—taken away from their homes by the Iraqi security forces, and never heard from again. The archives of the Iraqi security services could finally allow the families of those “disappeared” to find out what has happened to their long- lost relatives.... Finally, Human Rights Watch is concerned that leaving Iraqi security archives unsecured could lead to an increase in retaliatory violence and vengeance killings. The security archives identify tens of thousands of security agents and collaborators by name. Many Iraqi civilians were forced to collaborate with the security agencies, and may have informed on relatives, neighbors, and friends who were later jailed or killed. The publication of their identities at a time when general security and order are not assured could place those collaborators and others in grave danger.

Read the full text of the letter [PDF].

Speaking to reporters at UN Headquarters in New York this morning, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan noted that there was "no functioning government" in Iraq, and that given scenes of looting, "law and order must be a major concern." He continued:

I think the [Security] Council has also reaffirmed that the Hague Regulation and the Geneva Conventions apply to this conflict and that the coalition has a responsibility for the welfare of the people in this area. And I am sure that will be respected.

On the whereabouts of Iraq UN ambassador Mohammed Aldouri, he said:

I don't know what his status is, but I did talk to him on Monday. We reviewed the situation in Baghdad and what was happening. He didn't have much information. I don't know where he is or what his status is at the moment, but naturally we did talk about what happens, depending on the evolution of things on the ground....[H]e didn't ask for an asylum or protection. He had indicated some time earlier that he and his staff sometimes felt harassed and followed by local authorities and police – this was some time ago and I think we had raised it with the authorities and that has stopped. When I saw him on Monday he didn't ask me for help with his status.

The Secretary-General also said that UN weapons inspectors should resume their work in Iraq:

...their mandate is still valid. It is only suspended because it became inoperable on account of the war. I would expect [Hans] Blix and [Mohammed] ElBaradei to be able to return as soon as it is possible and I think they are the ones with the mandate to disarm Iraq, and when the situation permits they should go back to resume their work.

Read a transcript of the Secretary-General's comments or watch recorded video from the UN.

A report Thursday from the Kuwait News Agency says that Iraq's UN ambassador and former Baghdad University law dean Mohammed Aldouri, quoted in reports Wednesday as saying that the "game is over" in Iraq, has left the United States and flown to the Netherlands:

[He] left New York, landed in Paris on Thursday morning as a transit, and left for the Netherland, a french police source told KUNA. "He came as a transit and did not touch the french territorty and departed to the Netherland," the source said.... "This was in the morning. He is not in France," the source said. Later, the Foreign Ministry confirmed that Al-Douri came as a transit.

Read the full KUNA wire. Thursday's USA Today has more on Iraqi diplomats left in limbo.

At a rare public hearing, the House Committee on Intelligence Tuesday heard submissions on the legal implications and consequences of intelligence gathering in a time of terrorism. No hearing transcript is available from the Committee, but testimony by legal counsel and research fellows from the American Civil Liberties Union and the Heritage Foundation is now available online from those organizations.

Incoming Harvard Law School dean Elena Kagan has promised more faculty, and re-evaluation of "essential structure" according to Thursday's Harvard Law Record. The Record also voices its opinion that although Kagan is excellent, the process of her selection wasn't.... Thursday's issue of The State reports that a group of South Carolina lawyers and judges is taking steps to start a private law school - a second law school for South Carolina - in Charleston.... The Michigan Daily reports that the dean search to replace Jeff Lehman at the University of Michigan Law School is ongoing... Donald Horwitz, a specialist on ethnic conflict, discussed the possibilities for a new government in Iraq Tuesday at a special lecture at Duke Law School.

Recommended readings from the latest legal news:

• Law Requiring Drug Testing of Welfare Parents Is Voided | New York Times
• Ex-FBI Agent, Longtime 'Asset' Arrested in Spy Case | Washington Post
• Baghdad Is Hit by Arson and Looting | AP
• Sentencing, Clerkships Discussed at High Court Budget Hearing | Law.com
• House Votes to Limit Lawsuit Against Gun Manufacturers | New York Times
• Europe debates God's place in new constitution | Christian Science Monitor
• N. Korea officially out of nuclear treaty; no U.N. condemnation forthcoming | Gannett
• Denver Judge Releases 2 Men Investigated for Terrorism Ties | New York Times
• US lobby could threaten Iraqi heritage | Guardian

See JURIST's Legal News for updates.

Hugo Grotius, Dutch jurist, statesman and founder of international law was born on April 10, 1583. Read an entertaining and instructive "dialogue" with Grotius on the legality of the war in Iraq.