[JURIST] Updating a JURIST report from earlier today on new security regulations for the upcoming January 30 elections in Iraq, Iraqi party sources said Tuesday that gunmen had killed two candidates of Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's political coalition in the southern Iraqi city of Basra on Monday. Alaa Hamid was running for election to the 275-member Iraqi National Assembly; Riad Radi was in a local race for a seat on Basra's provincial council. Also on Monday, a third candidate running for the Constitutional Monarchy Movement [party website], headed by Sharif Ali bin Hussein [BBC profile], a cousin of Iraq's last king, was killed in Baghdad. The security situation for candidates is so bad in the face of killings and threats by militants opposed to the vote that many have chosen not to announce their candidacy. Aljazeera has more. Review an official slate of Iraq National Assembly candidates [PDF; in Arabic] produced by the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq [official website].

[JURIST] US Attorney General nominee Alberto Gonzales [official White House biography; JURIST archive] told senators Tuesday that any torture by US forces would be illegal [Reuters report] and that he supported reinstating a federal assault weapons ban [AP report] that was allowed to lapse in September. Gonzales also said certain sunset provisions in the USA Patriot Act [text, PDF] should be eliminated and that the act, which he said had improved the government's ability to detect and prevent terror attacks, should be left as-is. Gonzales' statements were filed in response to Democratic legislators' requests for written answers to questions they posed during his confirmation hearing [Senate Judiciary Committee hearing website] earlier this month.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] heard arguments Tuesday in Rompilla v. Beard [Duke Law backgrounder], 04-5462 [Supreme Court docket], a PA case that involves jury instructions for cases involving the death penalty. Rompilla, who was convicted of robbing, stabbing and setting on fire a bar owner in Allentown, PA, in 1988, argues his death sentence should be overturned because jurors were not advised that they could sentence him to life in prison without parole. Justices seemed divided during arguments today, with Justice O'Connor suggesting that the sentence would not rise to the level of unreasonableness necessary to overturn it. Thirty-three states allows sentences of life without parole, but only Pennsylvania will not inform jurors that a defendant will not be released if given such a sentence. Merit briefs in the case are available via the ABA. AP has more.

[JURIST] The trial against defrocked priest Paul Shanley [Boston Globe profile] began Tuesday, with Shanley facing rape and assault and battery charges. The prosecution formally dropped another accuser from the case, however, leaving only one accuser as the trial proceeds. The third accuser was dropped from the case after prosecutors could not locate him since an October hearing in the case. Shanley, 73, is one of only several priests accused of abuse who faces criminal charges because the statute of limitations on the charges was tolled when he left Massachussetts. He was defrocked in May 2004 [JURIST report], although church officials allegedly knew of sexual abuse allegations against Shanley when he was transferred to a California parish. That action eventually led to the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law from the Boston Archdiocese [official website]. AP has more.

[JURIST] Leading Tuesday's corporations and securities law news, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. [corporate website] announced the company will replace its chairman and chief executive with Stephen Cooper, a restructuring expert who most recently conducted Enron's [corporate website] turnaround. The company's stock collapse is attributed to shareholder lawsuits and a SEC probe of its accounting. Read the Krispy Kreme press release here. Reuters has more.

In other news...

• As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, trials involving former corporate leaders of Tyco International [corporate website] and WorldCom, now MCI, [corporate web site] are both set to begin this week, with both expected to last weeks to months, as the executives are tried on a variety of fraud charges. JURIST has background on the previous trial [JURIST archive]. AP has more. Additionally, the judge in former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers' trial made several evidentiary rulings today, including one to allow defense attorneys to question a prosecution witness about alleged marital infidelity and another barring evidence that Ebbers knew of congressional hearings on the Enron collapse. AP has more.
  
  
• The SEC [official website] has launched an informal inquiry into flash memory company Silicon Storage Technology Inc. [corporate website] over the company's share trading prior to December 20 when it updated its fourth-quarter forecasts. The target of the probe is an executive officer and a company director. Read the Silicon Storage SEC filing announcing the inquiry [PDF]. Reuters has more.
  
  
• Google [corporate website] has reached an agreement with the SEC over a failure to register employee stock options prior to the company's IPO last summer. Under the agreement, Google and the company's general counsel, David C. Drummond, will admit no wrongdoing but will refrain from violating federal securities registration and financial disclosure requirements. The SEC did not levy a fine against either party. Read the SEC press release . Newsfactor Network has more.
  
  
• Liberty Media International [corporate website], a global cable group, announced a near $3.5 billion cash and share offer to take control of United-GlobalCom [corporate website], its partly-owned European affiliate. The Financial Times has more.
  
  
• Oracle Corp. [corporate website] announced it will continue to support PeopleSoft [corporate website] products until 2013. The announcement comes after the company revealed a plan to fire 5,000 workers as a result of the planned merger. AP has more.

[JURIST] Attorney General John Ashcroft is expected to announce Tuesday afternoon the first charges in the governemnt's investigation into alleged corruption in the UN-administered oil-for-food program [official website]. According to Justice Department sources, Ashcroft will announce a plea agreement with Samir Vincent, an Iraqi-American who headed Phoenix International, one of the companies that purchased Iraqi oil under the program. Vincent is alleged to have personally bought several million barrels of Iraqi oil himself through the program. His plea agreement was reportedly entered earlier today at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. An Independent Inquiry Committee [official website] set up by the UN concluded that the program was mismanaged [JURIST report] but there was no corruption. Under the oil-for-food program, which ran from 1996 to 2003, Saddam Hussein's government was allowed to sell certain amounts of oil despite economic sanctions from the first Gulf War, with revenues being designated for food and other supplies. CNN has more.

2:45 PM ET - AP has more on the DOJ's announcement of the plea agreement.

4:50 PM ET - A copy of the charges against Vincent is now available via FindLaw.

[JURIST] Michael Newdow [TIME profile], the Sacramento man who challenged the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, has appealed to the Supreme Court for an injunction against the recitation of planned prayers at the Bush inauguration, saying that they represent an unconstitutional violation of the separation of church and state. US District Judge John Bates denied Newdow's request [JURIST report] in a ruling [PDF text] Friday, saying that Newdow was not likely to succeed on the merits. An appeals court refused to issue a preliminary injunction, and Newdow filed an emergency request to the Supreme Court. Additionally, Newdow has requested that Chief Justice Rehnquist, who is designated as the justice to hear emergency appeals from the DC Circuit, recuse himself, because he is scheduled to perform the swearing-in ceremony and thus has a conflict of interest. If Rehnquist does recuse himself, the issue will be decided by Justice Stevens, the next senior justice. AP has more.

[JURIST] Families of the tsunami victims are pressuring the British government to amend the rules for when missing persons can be legally declared dead. Lord Charles Falconer [BBC profile] announced today that legislators hoped to create a system to waive the seven-year time limit in cases where no body is found. The move would allow the hundreds of affected British families to resolve the financial affairs of their missing relatives after only one year. "The idea of waiting for seven years is unthinkable," Lord Falconer said. Without a death certificate, relatives may be unable to claim life insurance payments, resolve mortgages or sell property. Fifty-one British victims of the disaster have so far been confirmed dead and 27 bodies have been found. BBC has more. After the September 11 attacks, New York modified its state laws to grant affidavits in lieu of death certificates [text, PDF], so that victims did not have to wait the usual three years.

[JURIST] Human rights group Amnesty International [advocacy website] Tuesday urged the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Sudan to the International Criminal Court [official website] at The Hague. The group argued that the UN must allow the ICC to investigate war crimes violations in Sudan to remain consistent with its previous warnings to the Sudanese government. An international commission is investigating human rights violations [JURIST report] and possible genocide in Sudan and is expected to present its findings to the Security Council on Jan. 25. Read an Amnesty press release, as well as the group's full report [text] on Sudan. SAPA has more.

[JURIST] In Tuesday's international brief, the Russian government [official website in Russian] has rejected a petition initiated Monday by KPRF [party website in Russian], the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, requesting a Duma vote of no-confidence. The government denied the that there existed any real reason for the government to resign, and said that the KPRF and its allies are merely arguing over political differences with the executive. The petition was circulated after Russian President Vladimir Putin [official website] said that legislative opposition to a new social benefits plan [JURIST report] had been prompted by the loss of kick-backs and illegal private gain that many legislators made off of the provision of food, energy, and heating to welfare recipients. The KPRF is expected to use the petition as leverage for concessions, and is not anticipated to actually collect the 90 signatures needed to initiate a vote of no-confidence during Duma session. The Duma is scheduled to hold hearings on the controversial replacement of certain social benefits by cash payments on Friday. Itar-Tass has local coverage.

In other international legal news...

• The Sudanese government [official site] announced Monday that a preliminary peace deal was initialed between the government and the leading rebel group in the northern and eastern regions of Sudan, the National Democratic Alliance [NDA official site]. The proposed peace deal is scheduled for official signing in February and will include a withdraw of the current state of emergency laws, a reintegration of the NDA into Sudanese politics, and a merging of the rebel forces into the national army. The NDA has been fighting the Sudanese government, often alongside the southern Sudan People's Liberation Army, since the overthrow of the country's last democratically elected leader in 1989. With the NDA's likely acceptance of the proposal, the only region of Sudan left in turmoil is the western, Darfur region. The UN recently intensified its calls for the Sudanese government to use the progress with other rebel groups as momentum for finding a solution to the current humanitarian crisis in Darfur. JURIST's Paper Chase has background [JURIST country archive] on the situation in Sudan.The Sudan Tribune has local coverage.



• Pakistan [official government website] announced Tuesday that it will be seeking formal arbitration from the World Bank [official site] regarding concerns raised by the planned construction of a hydro-electric dam in Jammu, India. Pakistan claims Baglihar Dam would block a significant portion of the water flowing from the Chenab River, drastically lowering the level of water available for vital irrigation of Pakistani fields and crops. Construction on the river is governed by the Indus Waters Treaty [official text, PDF], which prohibits India from impairing the flow of water to Pakistan from the three major rivers that run through India, but allows India to generate electricity from the rivers. Pakistan claims it has tried every option within the treaty to resolve the dispute, and has requested arbitration from the World Bank as a last resort. Many fear that the dispute over Baglihar Dam will slow or even stop the already lethargic peace talks between India and Pakistan. The Times of India has local coverage.



• The UN World Conference on Disaster Reduction [official website] opened in Kobe, Japan, Tuesday with a focus on organizing a more efficient and rapid global response to disasters in the face of tragedies such as the recent Indian Ocean Tsunami. The Conference is run by the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction organization [UNISDR official website] and will address a number of different proposals for disaster reduction, including a tsunami early-warning system for the Indian Ocean, and education of government officials concerning responses to disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes. Read the transcript of UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland's opening statement [PDF]. View the Conference's schedule [PDF] for its meetings in Kobe, Japan. View video of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's address to the Conference and read the UN news release.

[JURIST] Iran's judiciary has said that a mistake was to blame for the issuance of a summons [JURIST report] to Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi [Nobel Committee profile], calling her to appear before the Revolutionary Court [Iranian Judiciary official website], which normally handles political and security cases. A judiciary spokesman explained that the summons actually referred to a private complaint against Ebadi alleging "insult." The spokesman said the case would take place in public court if it actually goes forward. Ebadi had refused to comply [JURIST report] with an ultimatum to appear before the Revolutionary Court by Sunday in the original summons. AFP has more.

[JURIST] AP is reporting that the US Supreme Court denied Tuesday an appeal over government's use of military trials for foreign detainees accused of terrorism. JURIST's Paper Chase will have more information as the order list becomes available.

10:45 AM ET - The Court denied certiorari in the case Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, 04-702, meaning the appeal must be heard first by the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. The Court previously refused to hear [JURIST report] an expedited appeal in the case. Also Tuesday, the Court granted certorari, vacated the judgments and remanded two cases in light of its ruling [JURIST report] in Clark v. Martinez [text, PDF]. The two cases were Perez-Aquillar v. Ashcroft, 03-8075, and Sierra v. Romine, 03-8662. The Court also denied certiorari in more than 75 cases. Read the complete Order List [text, PDF].

11:30 AM ET - AP has more on the Court's refusal to hear the case on military commissions. The Court also refused to hear [AP report] a case on whether a police officer may take a blood test of a suspected drunken driver without a warrant.

[JURIST] Members of the Cobb County school board [official school district website] have voted to appeal a federal district judge's ruling [JURIST report] that stickers calling evolution a "theory, not a fact" should be removed from science textbooks. Board members voted 5-2 Monday to appeal the ruling [text, PDF] of US District Judge Clarence Cooper, which was issued last week. A statement issued by board members called Cooper's ruling "unnecessary judicial intrusion into local control of schools." The district added the stickers to textbooks after parents complained that evolution was presented as a fact, without including rival theories on the beginning of life. In 1987, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Edwards v. Aguillard [opinion from Cornell Law] that creationism could not be taught side-by-side with evolution in publicly funded schools. AP has more.

[JURIST] Trials involving former corporate leaders of Tyco International [corporate site] and WorldCom, now MCI, [corporate site] are both set to begin this week, with both expected to last weeks to months, as the executives are tried on a variety of fraud charges. Former Tyco execs Dennis Kozlowski and Mark Swartz are being retried on charges of stealing $600 million from the company coffers to pay for extravagant lifestyles after a first trial was ended last spring when a juror was threatened. Juror selection for the retrial was set to begin Tuesday. JURIST has background on the previous trial [JURIST archive]. AP has more on the Tyco trial. The trial of former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers is also scheduled to begin this week, with juror selection on Wednesday. Ebbers is accused of misleading investors and covering up financial troubles during his tenure at the helm of the telecommunications company, charges Ebbers denies. AP has more on the trial.

2:15 PM ET - The judge in the Ebbers trial made several evidentiary rulings today, including one to allow defense attorneys to question a prosecution witness about alleged marital infidelity and another barring evidence that Ebbers knew of congressional hearings on the Enron collapse. AP has more.

[JURIST] A UK soldier facing court-martial in Germany on charges of mistreating Iraqi civilians pleaded guilty Tuesday to one assault charge, but denied another charge. Two other soldiers from the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers [official site], Corp. Daniel Kenyon and Lance Corp. Mark Cooley, pleaded not guilty to charges of abusing detainees [JURIST report] at a camp outside Basra in May 2003. Lance Corp. Darren Larkin admitted that he assaulted an Iraqi detainee who was being held with others for looting food. The three soldiers face nine charges among them and could be discharged and imprisoned if convicted during the expected three- to four-week court-martial. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] AP is reporting that Ukraine's Supreme Court has said that the country's presidential election results can be published Wednesday, which will allow challenger Viktor Yushchencko to take office.

8:35 AM ET - The Ukrainian Supreme Court [official website in Ukrainian] ruled Tuesday that election results can be published Wednesday, despite the fact that the court is still hearing an appeal by former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych [BBC profile; official campaign website in Ukrainian] , the losing candidate. AP has more. Yanukovych is challenging the results of the country's second presidential election, held December 26, saying that many Ukrainians were denied their right to vote due to confusion over whether absentee voting would be allowed. Yanukovych's attempts to appeal the election results have been largely unsuccessful [ongoing JURIST coverage], and Yanukovych said Monday that the Supreme Court has adopted a biased position toward him, what Yanukovych calls "a serious violation of the constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights [text, PDF]." AP has more.

[JURIST] Adolfo Scilingo [background from advocacy group Vanished Gallery], the former Argentine naval officer on trial in Spain for committing genocide and crimes against humanity [JURIST report] during Argentina's "Dirty War" [Wikipedia article], took the stand for the first time Monday and told the Spanish court that he had made up a previous confession concerning "death flights." In 1995, Scilingo told a journalist that naked, drugged political prisoners had been flung out of airplanes flying above the ocean. Scilingo told the court that he had made up the story in order to draw attention to the Dirty War in hopes of provoking an investigation. BBC News has more. La Nacion has local coverage from Argentina.

[JURIST] Iraqi officials said Tuesday that beginning January 29, all land borders will be closed for three days in an effort to increase security before the January 30 elections [BBC backgrounder]. The Iraqi Interim Government [official website] has also declared January 29-31 public holidays, closing shops and offices, and has said that only vehicles with official permits will be allowed on roads during the three days. Additional measures to be taken in order to protect voters include the extension of emergency law [JURIST report] and the extension of curfews. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Tuesday, Jan. 18.

The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in two cases today beginning at 10 AM ET. In the first case, Rompilla v. Beard [case backgrounder from Duke Law School], the Court will consider whether a jury must be instructed that a life sentence will not include the possibility of parole and other issues in a defendant's habeas petition. The ABA has merit briefs filed in the case. In the second case, Johnson v. US [case backgrounder from Duke Law School], the Court considers whether the vacatur of a state conviction on which an enhanced federal sentence was based supports the reduction of the federal sentence. Merit briefs are available from the ABA.

At the US Senate, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold confirmation hearings for Condoleezza Rice's nomination as Secretary of State beginning at 9 AM ET. Watch a live webcast of the hearings via C-SPAN. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will hold confirmation hearings for Secretary of Health and Human Services nominee Mike Leavitt at 10 AM ET. A live webcast is available via C-SPAN 2.

The trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic continues today at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. A webcast of the trial will begin at 9:30 AM local time (3:30 AM ET). The ICTY has case background. Also today at the ICTY, the trial of Fatmir Limaj and others continues. A webcast will begin at 2:45 PM local time (8:45 AM ET), and case background is available.