tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079894Sat, 21 Nov 2009 20:35:58 +0000JURIST's legal news service, powered by a team of over 40 law student reporters and editors led by Professor Bernard Hibbitts at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/index.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Bernard Hibbitts)Blogger5000125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079894.post-8149217801135936935Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:56:00 +00002009-11-21T15:35:58.376-05:00[JURIST] Groups representing key witnesses appearing before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) [official website; JURIST news archive] told Reuters Saturday that they may no longer participate in court trials following the acquittal of two suspects involved in the 1994 Rwandan genocide [HRW backgrounder]. The umbrella organization for the various survivor groups in Rwanda, http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2009/11/key-ictr-witnesses-threatening-to.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Jay Carmella)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079894.post-4650887901918815361Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:28:00 +00002009-11-21T15:15:46.344-05:00[JURIST] The UN Human Rights Committee [official website] Friday passed a resolution criticizing Iran for human rights violations, especially in the aftermath of the controversial reelection [JURIST news archive] earlier this year of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad [JURIST news archive]. The committee flagged detentions, arrests and the disappearance of individuals for exercising their freedoms of http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2009/11/un-rights-resolution-criticizes-iran.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Jay Carmella)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079894.post-1140749904954326765Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:09:00 +00002009-11-21T15:04:13.985-05:00[JURIST] Canada's Federal Court [official website] Friday ordered a review [judgment, PDF] of a denial of refugee status for a lesbian US soldier who deserted the US Army in 2007 and fled to Canada. The Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) originally rejected Bethany Smith's application in February, finding that she had failed to seek protection within the US and that such protection would have http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2009/11/canada-court-orders-review-of-us.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Christian Ehret)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079894.post-7716905210769257509Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:59:00 +00002009-11-21T14:54:57.296-05:00[JURIST] A federal judge on Friday ordered the release [order, PDF] of Algerian Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainee Farhi Saeed Bin Mohammed. Judge Gladys Kessler directed the government to "take all necessary and approrpriate steps to facilitate [Fari Saeed's] release forthwith." The order resulted from a civil action brought against the US government for unlawfully detaining [Miami http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2009/11/federal-judge-orders-release-of.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Christian Ehret)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079894.post-2620995884125711884Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:05:00 +00002009-11-20T16:56:29.196-05:00[JURIST] The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website] on Friday appointed [press release] British lawyer Richard Harvey to represent Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic [case materials; JURIST news archive] if he continues to boycott his trial when proceedings resume in March. Harvey is currently joint head of the British defense firm Garden Court http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2009/11/icty-appoints-uk-lawyer-to-represent.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Patrice Collins)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079894.post-882185241139309590Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:05:00 +00002009-11-20T16:56:11.394-05:00[JURIST] The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) [official website] has begun lobbying for the UN General Assembly [official website] to pass an international treaty protecting religious beliefs and symbols from defamation, according to an AP report [text] Friday. The efforts of the OIC are being led by Pakistan and Algeria with full support of the organization's 54 remaining members. http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2009/11/islamic-countries-lobbying-for-treaty.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Sarah Miley)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079894.post-1641219592460222038Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:03:00 +00002009-11-20T16:31:30.673-05:00[JURIST] A judge for the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] on Thursday ordered [text, PDF] the director of the Administrative Office of the US Courts (AO) [official website] to provide health benefits to the same-sex spouse of a federal employee. Karen Golinski, the federal court employee who sued for the benefits, was married in California during the six-month period http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2009/11/federal-judge-orders-health-benefits.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Steve Dotterer)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079894.post-4811389648793860719Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:19:00 +00002009-11-20T16:56:51.915-05:00[JURIST] The US Senate [official website] on Thursday voted 59-39 [roll call vote] to confirm Judge David Hamilton to the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit [official website], overcoming Republican opposition to secure President Barack Obama's first and longest-delayed judicial nominee. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) [official website] said a Republican http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2009/11/done-after-5-month-delay-senate.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Zach Zagger)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079894.post-7834519029896432390Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:15:00 +00002009-11-20T16:08:04.049-05:00[JURIST] The Somali Transitional Federal Government [official website] on Friday announced its intention to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) [official website], which, if successful, would make the US the only UN member state not to have done so. The UN International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) [official website] welcomed [Xinhua report] the announcement that http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2009/11/somalia-announces-intent-to-ratify-un.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Ann Riley)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079894.post-3381171131147715162Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:43:00 +00002009-11-20T15:58:51.932-05:00[JURIST] A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] on Thursday affirmed [opinion, PDF] a lower court's denial [JURIST report] of a conservative advocacy group's motion to intervene in a challenge to Proposition 8 [text, PDF], California's constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage [JURIST news archive]. The appeals court held that the districthttp://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2009/11/ninth-circuit-upholds-ruling-to-block.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Ximena Marinero)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079894.post-408600315223932954Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:44:00 +00002009-11-20T14:25:10.197-05:00[JURIST] The Argentine Senate [official website] on Thursday voted 57-1 to approve a law [materials, in Spanish] that authorizes the government to obtain DNA samples from individuals suspected to have been born to forced disappearance victims of the 1976-1983 "Dirty War" [GlobalSecurity backgrounder; JURIST news archive]. The law will amend Article 218 of the Criminal Penal Code to allow minimal http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2009/11/argentina-senate-approves-law-to-compel.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Ximena Marinero)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079894.post-2945816963069117893Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:21:00 +00002009-11-20T10:21:27.832-05:00[JURIST] The New York Court of Appeals [official website] on Thursday dismissed a challenge [opinion, PDF] to two policies that provide benefits to same-sex couples married outside of the state. The first policy was a 2006 decision by the Westchester County executive to extend benefits to same-sex spouses of county employees. The second policy was a 2006 decision [memorandum, PDF] by the http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2009/11/new-york-high-court-rules-same-sex.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Brian Jackson)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079894.post-7194790075254833308Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:32:00 +00002009-11-20T11:27:22.249-05:00[JURIST] The conflict-ravaged nations of Somalia, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Sudan, and Iraq rank among the world's most corrupt, according to the 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) [text; press release] prepared by Transparency International (TI) [advocacy website]. The index, released Tuesday, ranked 180 countries based on observations by businesspeople and analysts, giving each a score betweenhttp://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2009/11/somalia-afghanistan-ranked-most-corrupt.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Jaclyn Belczyk)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079894.post-3548184876934941698Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:03:00 +00002009-11-19T16:46:52.085-05:00[JURIST] The Constitutional Court of Russia [official website, in Russian] on Thursday extended the moratorium [press release, in Russian] on the death penalty [JURIST news archive] until the Russian parliament ratifies an international treaty abolishing capital punishment. In 1997, Russia signed, but did not ratify, Protocol 6 of the Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2009/11/russia-constitutional-court-extends.phpHwojdowski@gmail.com (Haley Wojdowski)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079894.post-5514490077713841873Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:38:00 +00002009-11-19T16:34:15.199-05:00[JURIST] The UK High Court ruled [judgment text] Thursday that the details of the detention of Binyam Mohamed [JURIST news archive] in Pakistan in 2002 must be released. This most recent decision is the latest in a series of back and forth rulings on whether redacted materials regarding Mohamed's detention should be disclosed. An October interim ruling [JURIST report] by Lord Justice Thomas and http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2009/11/uk-court-orders-release-of-details-of.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Brian Jackson)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079894.post-703662517554413376Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:32:00 +00002009-11-19T16:18:39.778-05:00[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Bangladesh [official website] on Thursday denied the final appeals of five former military officers sentenced to death for the 1975 military coup assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman [Hindustan Times profile], the country's first leader. Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed [official website], Mujibur's daughter, praised [press release] the latest http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2009/11/bangladesh-supreme-court-upholds-death.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Andrea Bottorff)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079894.post-3017215913830092332Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:59:00 +00002009-11-19T15:41:37.530-05:00[JURIST] The European Court of Justice (ECJ) [official website] ruled [case materials; press release] Thursday that airline passengers confronted with flight delays of two hours or more may receive compensation equal to that of passengers whose flights are cancelled. The flat-rate compensation ranges between 250 and 600 euros. The case arose under European Parliament and European Council http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2009/11/europe-court-rules-delayed-airline.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Steve Dotterer)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079894.post-3316579595257938187Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:01:00 +00002009-11-19T14:59:11.737-05:00[JURIST] Afghan President Hamid Karzai [official profile, JURIST news archive] pledged to fight corruption in his government during his inaugural address [text, PDF] on Thursday. To this end, Karzai announced that he would soon be organizing a conference to research the sources of the corruption and bribery that is widespread throughout Afghanistan and find ways to combat it. Additionally, he http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2009/11/afghanistan-president-vows-to-fight.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Dwyer Arce)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079894.post-4890505690434439125Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:41:00 +00002009-11-19T14:47:55.834-05:00[JURIST] The Brazilian Supreme Court [official website, in Portuguese] on Wednesday voted 5-to-4 to extradite [press release, in Portuguese] former Italian guerrilla Cesare Battisti back to Italy, but left the final decision to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva [official profile, in Portuguese], who granted him asylum earlier this year. The high court has yet to decide if the order mandates http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2009/11/brazil-top-court-rules-for-extradition.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Carrie Schimizzi)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079894.post-1013191770429070069Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:35:00 +00002009-11-19T13:57:26.045-05:00[JURIST] A judge in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana [official website] on Wednesday found [text, PDF] the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) [official website] negligent in its operation and maintenance of the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet (MRGO) [USACE backgrounder]. Damages nearing $720,000 were awarded to five plaintiffs [case materials], who successfully http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2009/11/federal-judge-finds-army-corps-of.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Daniel Makosky)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079894.post-5205493737955282043Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:22:00 +00002009-11-19T20:28:34.190-05:00[JURIST] A former senior Canadian diplomat alleged Wednesday that the Canadian military was complicit in the torture of Afghans by their own government, during testimony before the House of Commons Special Committee on the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan [official website]. Richard Colvin, who represented the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) [official website] in http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2009/11/senior-canada-diplomat-accuses-military.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Megan McKee)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079894.post-120066479316197362Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:14:00 +00002009-11-19T13:34:16.794-05:00[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] ordered [text, PDF] the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the Central District of California (FPD) [official website] on Wednesday to pay a monetary award to a man denied healthcare benefits for his same-sex spouse. Deputy federal public defender Brad Levenson brought the suit requesting the court to direct the FPD http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2009/11/ninth-circuit-orders-back-pay-for.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Ximena Marinero)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079894.post-7316366001885589038Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:10:00 +00002009-11-19T10:29:01.171-05:00[JURIST] A federal judge on Wednesday ruled [opinion, PDF] that former Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainee Ahmed Ghailani [GlobalSecurity backgrounder; JURIST news archive] does not have a right to be represented by his military defense lawyers in a civilian court. Military lawyers Colonel Jeffrey Colwell and Major Richard Reiter were reassigned by the Department of Defense [official http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2009/11/federal-judge-rules-against-military.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Christian Ehret)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079894.post-1193154618021241313Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:20:00 +00002009-11-19T10:32:42.183-05:00[JURIST] The Cuban government of Raul Castro [BBC profile] has continued to repress dissidents and violate fundamental civil liberties of Cubans, maintaining the mechanisms put in place by Fidel Castro [BBC profile], according to a Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] report [text, PDF; press release] released on Wednesday. Specifically, HRW reported that 53 political dissidents imprisonedhttp://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2009/11/cuba-continues-political-repression.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Ximena Marinero)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079894.post-9024896779918375846Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:19:00 +00002009-11-18T17:11:50.058-05:00[JURIST] US Attorney General Eric Holder [official profile] appeared Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee [official website] to answer questions regarding the decision to try five men accused of conspiring to commit the 9/11 terrorist attacks [JURIST news archive] in federal court. In his opening remarks [transcript; video], Holder refuted the arguments made by his predecessor [http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2009/11/holder-defends-911-federal-trials.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Dwyer Arce)