[JURIST] The Motion Picture Association of America [MPAA; industry website] launched a second round of lawsuits on Wednesday against online movie downloaders. The latest lawsuits follow up a round of November actions and will target individuals as well as websites dedicated to movie swapping. As a result of the litigation, many large file sharing like Suprnova.org and Yourceff.com websites have reportedly shut down. Lokitorrent.com [corporate website] remains online and is soliciting donations from users to put towards legal fees of the MPAA lawsuit. The MPAA today also presented free software, developed by Danish company DtecNet Software [corporate website], to scan for file sharing programs and copyrighted music and movies. The software tool has been criticized by some for failing to distinguish between illegally and legally acquired copyrighted material such as Mirc, Mercora, and Apple's iTunes. CNET has more.

[JURIST] In an effort to weed out insurgents and increase voter safety, Iraqi security officials have said they will use decoy polling stations during Sunday's national election. Iraqi Army Major Hamid Al Jubarah said, "We will have decoy voter centres, so those who want to bomb won’t know which ones are real." The UK Press Association has more. The Independent Election Commission of Iraq provides local information on voting and election procedures.

[JURIST] Russian authorities said Wednesday that they will pursue a bribery case against Yulia Tymoshenko [personal website, Ukrainian Government profile], new Ukraine President Viktor Yushchenko's pick for prime minister. Tymoshenko faces allegations that she tried to inflate the price of supply contracts with the Russian military when she headed Ukraine's energy grid. A Russian court has already issued an order for Tymoshenko's arrest should she ever visit Russia, and Russia's prosecutor-general has said that his office will continue to pursue the case, despite Tymoshenko's position as prime minister-designate. BBC News has more. MosNews has local coverage.

[JURIST] UN Children's Fund [official website] officials have confirmed 40 cases of children being abducted or recruited as soldiers [UNICEF fact sheet, PDF] by Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebel group [factional website] since December's tsunami disaster [JURIST Hot Topic]. According to UNICEF spokesman Martin Dawes, "We have had 40 verified cases by UNICEF of child recruitment of the LTTE [Tamil rebels] since the tsunami. When we say verified, these are cases that have come to our attention from families or concerned people, which we were able to check out and basically take to the LTTE as a complaint." Dawes said that only four children were removed from tsunami displacement camps, which raises the possibility that there is general recruitment amongst the population. Recruiting of child soldiers is banned by international convention. VOA News has more.

[JURIST] BBC News is reporting that British police have released all four British detainees recently freed from Guantanamo Bay without charge. The four men were released from Guantanamo Bay [JURIST report] to British officials on Tuesday and London Metropolitan Police Commissioner said yesterday [JURIST report] that no prosecutions will proceed against the former detainees based material gathered by UK MI5 investigators who made trips to Guantanamo Bay.

[JURIST] Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor [Oyez project biography] has topped a roster of potential nominees to replace Chief Justice William Rehnquist [Oyez biography] should he retire, according to the results of a Zogby poll released Wednesday. O'Connor garnered support from 18% of those polled, while more conservative Justices Clarence Thomas [Oyez biography] and Antonin Scalia [Oyez biography] pulled in 13 and 8 percent of the vote, respectively. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani placed second overall, with 14% percent of the vote. Zogby International has the poll results.

[JURIST] US House Committee on the Judiciary [official website] chairman James Sensenbrenner, Jr. [official website] introduced legislation Wednesday that contains provisions restricting terrorist travel that were dropped from the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 [PDF text], which was enacted in December [JURIST report]. According to Sensenbrenner, the proposed Real ID Act "seeks to prevent another 9/11-type attack by disrupting terrorist travel." Sensenbrenner says that:

The Real ID Act will... establish... a uniform rule for all states that temporary driver's licenses for foreign visitors expire when their visa terms expire, and establishing tough rules for confirming identity before temporary driver's licenses are issued.

The Real ID Act tightens our asylum system that has been abused by terrorists with deadly consequences. It will finish the 3-mile hole in the fortified U.S./Mexico fence near San Diego. And it will protect the American people by ensuring that all terrorism-related grounds for inadmissability are also grounds for deportation.

[JURIST] The Japanese Supreme Court [official website] ruled Wednesday that the government can block foreigners from being promoted in public service jobs without violating the country's constitution [text]. South Korean citizen Chong Hyang-gyun sued the Japanese government for the right to taken an exam for a promotion to a managerial position. The Tokyo High Court had ruled that barring Chong from taking the exam because she was not Japanese was unconstitutional and awarded her $3,840 US in compensation, but the ruling and award were reversed Wednesday. AP has more.

[JURIST] Steven Hopper, lawyer for soon-to-be-released Australian Gitmo detainee Mamdouh Habib [background from Prisoners without Trials], has said that Habib has been subject to atrocities fit for a "vulgar concentration camp" while detained at Guantanamo Bay. Hopper said that interrogators told Habib they had killed his family and that prostitutes were used as part of the interrogations. Habib allegedly told his lawyer that a prostitute stood over him naked while he was strapped to the floor and menstruated on him. Habib is due to be released from Guantanamo Bay without charge [JURIST report], but his return to Australia has been delayed due to logistical problems [JURIST report]. Habib has also alleged that after his detention in Pakistan, US authorities transferred Habib to Egypt [JURIST report], where he was subjected to torture by beating, electric shock, and near-drowning. Last August, the US Defense Department released the results of an official investigation [DoD summary, PDF; JURIST report], which concluded that neither Habib or fellow Australian detainee David Hicks had been mistreated while at Guantanamo Bay. AAP has more on the latest abuse allegations.

[JURIST] In Wednesday's corporations and securities law news, the agreement by Lenovo [corporate website], China's largest computer supplier, to takeover [Lenovo press release] IBM's [corporate website] PC division for $1.75 billion is in jeopardy of falling apart as congressional Republicans warned that the sale could threaten US security interests. Three Republican committee chairmen led by Duncan Hunter [official website], chairman of the House Armed Services committee [official website], have already called for a full security review of the sale fearing sensitive military-related technology would be transferred to China. The chairmen are asking for a full 45-day review by the administration's Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS) [official website], an inter-agency group that assesses the security and economic risks of takeovers of US companies by foreign groups. The Financial Times has more.

In other news...

• The government's fraud case against former WorldCom Inc. Chief Bernard Ebbers received a boost today as a Merrill Lynch [official website] analyst testified that Ebbers addressed the company's financial problems "in a reasonable amount of detail." Read the Ebbers indictment [PDF]. AP has more.
  
  
• As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit [official website] has reinstated part of an obesity lawsuit against McDonald's [corporate website], ruling that two New York children should be allowed to pursue their deceptive advertising claims. Read the Second Circuit's decision [PDF]. AFP has more.
  
  
• The IRS has sent GlaxoSmithKline PLC a notice saying that the company owes $1.9 billion in back taxes for the years 1997 to 2000. Glaxo, who will contest the ruling, said it could owe as much as another $700 million in interest if the IRS is successful in its claim. CBSMarketWatch has more.
  
  
• The trial of Emilio Botin, chairman of Santander Central Hispano [corporate website in Spanish], Spain's most powerful bank, has started in Madrid. Botin is accused of misusing bank funds after he approved bonus and pension payouts to two former executives for 160 million euros ($208 million). BBC has more.

[JURIST] Israeli security officials said Wednesday that Israel would suspend its targeted killings [BBC News backgrounder] of Palestinian militants as part of its preparations for a cease-fire and a resumption of peace talks with the Palestinian Authority. Israel will not act on its current target list of militants, but security officials say that if Palestinians resume hostile activity, those responsible will be targeted. AP has more. Israel came under fire for its targeted killing of Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin last year, which was widely condemned as contrary to international law [JURIST report; additional report from JURIST]. Prior to the Yassin assassination, Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz argued that Israel's policy of targeted killings was legal [JURIST report].

[JURIST] British Foreign Minister Jack Straw [official profile] Wednesday unveiled the question voters will be asked in an upcoming referendum on the EU Constitution [official website]: Should the United Kingdom approve the treaty establishing a Constitution for the European Union?" Presenting the referendum text to Parliament, Straw said:

The choice before the British people, when the referendum comes, will be fundamental to our national interests. If we reject this treaty, Britain will be isolated and weak in Europe - going cap in hand to our partners, and maybe forced, in time, to accept some kind of second-class status in Europe as others go ahead without us.

But if we endorse the new treaty, we fix the framework for our kind of Europe, one in which Britain is more prosperous and more powerful.

That is the patriotic case - for a Britain which takes its opportunities, builds on what we have achieved in Europe, and uses our alliances to make us more powerful and more influential in the world.

For too long, those who seek to isolate Britain from the rest of Europe have laid claim to all the best patriotic tunes. But the consequences of what they advocate should be every patriot's nightmare: a weaker and isolated Britain whose future prosperity and security is put at risk. Pro-Europeans should reclaim the flag and put the patriotic case for the Constitutional Treaty. British power depends on it.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit [official website] has reinstated part of an obesity lawsuit against McDonald's [corporate website], ruling that two New York children should be allowed to pursue their deceptive advertising claims. US District Judge Robert Sweet dismissed the class-action lawsuit in 2003 [opinion, PDF; JURIST report], saying that it failed to link health problems suffered by overweight children directly to McDonald's products. In its decision [text, PDF], the 2nd Circuit ruled that New York's business law requires a plaintiff to show only that the deceptive advertising was misleading and that the plaintiff suffered injury as a result. AP has more.

[JURIST] Lawsuits brought by three same-sex couples married in Massachusetts and Canada seeking to have their marriages recognized in Florida have been dropped because the plaintiffs do not want to risk having the US Supreme Court set precedent by rejecting their case. Two of the three suits, which challenge the federal Defense of Marriage Act [text], were dismissed by a federal judge [opinion; JURIST report] last week. The plaintiffs based their decision not to appeal the dismissal in part because the Supreme Court last week refused to hear a challenge [JURIST report] to a Florida law that prevents homosexuals from adopting children. AP has more.

[JURIST] AP is reporting that the US Senate has confirmed Condoleezza Rice as Secretary of State by a vote of 85-13. Rice will be sworn in at the White House Wednesday night with a more elaborate swearing-in ceremony by President Bush at the State Department to follow on Friday.

3:03 PM ET - The Senate roll call for the vote on Rice's nomination [Senate Bill Clerk compilation] is now available. Voting against the nomination were Senators Akaka (D-HI), Bayh (D-IN), Boxer (D-CA), Byrd (D-WV), Dayton (D-MN), Durbin (D-IL), Harkin (D-IA), Jeffords (I-VT), Kennedy (D-MA), Kerry (D-MA), Lautenberg (D-NJ), Levin (D-MI) and Reed (D-RI). Senators Burns (R-MT) and Gregg (R-NH) did not vote.

[JURIST] The Senate Judiciary Committee has just voted 10-8 to approve President Bush's nomination of Alberto Gonzales as US Attorney General. The nomination now goes to the full Senate. AP has a background story on this morning's committee meeting here.

11:25 AM ET - In a statement this morning, ranking Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy explained his "no" vote:

My reasons for voting against this nomination arise from the need for accountability and derive from the nominee’s involvement in the formulation of a number of policies that have tarnished our country’s moral leadership in the world and put our soldiers and citizens at greater risk. Anyone who has served in the military, or who has a son or daughter who served, knows that these actions violate everything that our soldiers are taught and everything they stand for. When President Bush announced this nomination he said that he chose Judge Gonzales because of his “sound judgment” and role in shaping the Administration’s policies in the war on terrorism. Based on the glimpses of secret policy formulations and legal rationales that have come to light, I believe his judgments not to have been sound. Several of this Administration’s legal policies have been exceedingly harmful to our national interests.

As Attorney General, the nominee’s judgment about our laws would be of enormous consequence. Judge Gonzales has championed policies that are in fundamental conflict with decades of our laws, sound military practice, international law and human rights. He remained silent for almost two years about a deeply flawed legalistic interpretation of our nation’s torture statute. He also accepted a patently erroneous interpretation of the torture convention and apparently believes that the President, when acting as Commander in Chief, is above the law....

Nothing is more fundamental about our constitutional democracy than our basic notion that no one is above the law. Yet at his June 2004 press conference and again in his testimony before the Judiciary Committee he indicated that he views the President to have the power to override our law and, apparently, to immunize others to perform what would otherwise be unlawful acts. This is about as extreme a view of Executive power as I have ever heard. I believe it is not only dead wrong as a constitutional matter but extremely dangerous. The rule of law applies to the President, even this President....

Now more than ever, the country needs a person to be Attorney General who will serve all Americans. There is much that has gone wrong that this Administration has stubbornly refused to admit or correct. For this democratic republic to work, we need greater openness and accountability. It is with those critical considerations in mind that I must vote against this confirmation.

[JURIST] EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner [official profile] told the European Parliament [official website] Tuesday that despite overtures from newly sworn-in Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, the European Union [official website] would not be granting an association accord to the Ukraine, a step that is seen as a pre-acceptance of a nation into the EU. Ferrero-Waldner sais that the EU already had quite a lot to deal with in the ten new member states recently taken on from the former Soviet Union and cannot reasonably expect to add Ukraine to the list and still accomplish all the reforms that are needed. Ferrero-Waldner also said that Ukraine utself had significant steps to take before it would be ready to apply for the EU accession process, and the next few years should focus more on drawing Ukraine into closer association with other European nations. At an EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels next Monday, EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana [official profile] is expected to announce a "Ten Point Plan" for closer co-operation between Ukraine and Europe. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage [JURIST country archive] of Ukraine. Read the European Parliament's official position paper on the Ukraine, released Wednesday. ISN News has more.

[JURIST] Citing "constitutional errors", the US Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals [court website] Tuesday overturned the controversial conviction and death sentence of British national Kenny Richey [prisoner advocacy website] of Edinburgh. Richey will be released from death row in 90 days unless prosecutors decide to retry the case. Richey moved to Ohio in 1981 to live with his father and was charged with setting a fire at his ex-girlfriend's house that resulted in the death of a two year old girl. He was convicted of her murder in 1987, but officials and politicians in Britain and Europe lobbied hard on his behalf. In 1992, the European Parliament [official website] passed a resolution expressing doubt about the validity of the sentence, Pope John Paul II and the former Archbishop of Canterbury pleaded for revocation of the death penalty, and last March 150 British MPs signed a petition pledging support for Richey's claim of innocence. Richey's defense attorneys don't believe that Ohio will attempt a retrial due to the death of several key witnesses, but Jeff Gamzo of the American Civil Liberties Union [advocacy website] has speculated that the state could appeal the reversal to the Ohio Supreme Court. Read the Sixth Circuit opinion [PDF] of the decision. The Scotsman has local coverage.

[JURIST] The president of the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq said Wednesday that former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had the right to vote in the upcoming national elections, but would not be able to do so due to logistical problems. Abdel Hussein al-Hindawi said that according to the rules governing the right to vote, Hussein would have been permitted to cast a ballot, but needed to have registered. He also explained that the commission didn't have the time or resources to set up a ballot box specifically for Hussein in the prison where he is incarcerated. Under Iraqi election laws, Hussein is barred from running for office since he has charges filed against him for the commission of crimes against humanity, and because he is considered to be a high-ranking member of the former Ba'athist party. AFP has more.

[JURIST] In Wednesday's international brief, London Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens [official profile] says that no prosecutions will proceed against the four Britons released from Guantanamo Bay [JURSIT HotTopic] based on material gathered by UK MI5 investigators who made trips to the detention facility. The four men were released from Guantanamo Bay [JURIST report] to British officials Tuesday. Upon their arrival at the Royal Air Force base Northolt in Middlesex, the four were arrested under the provisions of the Anti-Terrorism, Crime, and Security Act 2001 [official text]. Stevens said that his investigators would have to either obtain an admission from the four men, or uncover other evidence that could be used before the suspects would be prosecuted in Britain. Stevens was questioned about the emergency powers of the ATCSA and indicated that he was not in favor of extending the powers to allow police to detain terrorism suspects for longer than normally permitted. The Independent has local coverage.

In other international legal news ...

• A UN Security Council-ordered report into killings in Sudan is being released Wednesday. The report will be reviewed by the Security Council and Secretary-General Kofi Annan before being made public sometime next week. The report focuses on killings in the Darfur region of Sudan [government website] and was intended to identify whether those met the legal definition of genocide, as spelled out by the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide [official text]. If the report indicates that genocide did occur, which has been the position of several countries, most notably the US under Secretary of State Colin Powell, the UN Security Council will need to meet to consider what, if any, action is required. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage [JURIST country archive] of Sudan. BBC News has more.
  
  
• Italian politicians are expressing outrage and disbelief following the acquittal Tuesday of three men charged with international terrorist activities. The three were arrested after police obtained wire-tap conversations of them discussing the recruitment of suicide bombers to be deployed to Iraq. Presiding judge Clementina Forleo ruled that the men were guilty of immigration offenses, but that their plans could only be termed 'guerrilla activities' normal to a war. The prosecutor's office in Milan has indicated that it will appeal the decision, arguing that the judge misapplied the law as it was changed following September 11, 2001 by Premier Silvio Berlusconi to strengthen anti-terror provisions. Several government officials have warned that the ruling might create a belief that Italy is a safe country from which to plan terrorist activities. The International Herald Tribune has more.

[JURIST] Working conditions in the American meatpacking industry are so bad that they violate basic human and workers rights, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch [advocacy website]. The report, Blood, Sweat, and Fear: Workers' Rights in U.S. Meat and Poultry Plants [text; HRW press release], concludes that working conditions in meat and poultry plants are unnecessarily hazardous and that companies use illegal tactics to suppress efforts by employees to report abuses, including intimidating and firing workers who try to organize and exploiting workers' immigrant status in order to keep them quiet about abuses. The report recommends that:

New federal and state laws should reduce line speed in meat and poultry plants and establish new ergonomics standards to reduce repetitive stress injuries. Health and safety authorities should apply stronger enforcement measures. States should develop stronger worker compensation laws and enforcement mechanisms.

Employers should not engage in aggressive, intimidating anti-organizing campaigns that take advantage of loopholes and weaknesses in the U.S. labor law system. Congress should enact legislation bringing U.S. labor law into compliance with international standards (e.g. to prohibit the permanent replacement of striking workers) and should also create stronger remedies for violations of workers' rights.

New laws and policies should ensure respect for the human rights of immigrant workers, whatever their legal status. Immigrants should have the same workplace protections as non-immigrants, including coverage under fair labor standards and other labor laws, and the same remedies when their rights are violated.

[JURIST] UK Home Secretary Charles Clarke [official profile] announced Wednesday that foreign terror suspects currently being detained in British prisons will be set free and will either be deported or will be subject to "control orders." At one end of the spectrum, the new control orders could require terror suspects to be placed under house arrest but also include the imposition of curfews, tagging, limits on telephone and internet use and restrictions on movement. Clarke's announcement is in response to a decision [PDF text; JURIST report] issued last month by a nine-judge panel of the House of Lords that the indefinite detention of foreign terror suspects without charge violates the UK Human Rights Act. BBC News has more on Wednesday's announcement.

12:18 PM ET - Responding to the Home Secretary's announcement, Amnesty International [advocacy website] said Wednesday that the proposal falls short [Amnesty press release] of the requirements of the law lords' ruling. Amnesty has called for UK authorities to "release immediately all those detained under Part 4 of Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 [text] (ATCSA) unless they are charged with a criminal offence and given a prompt and fair trial." Additionally, Amnesty is concerned about the possibility that some released detainees may be deported [BBC report] to countries where they could face serious human rights violations, including unfair trials, ill-treatment, torture, or execution. UK human rights organization Liberty [advocacy website] also responded to Clarke's proposal Wednesday:

The Home Secretary is right to show respect for the House of Lords damning ruling. However, temporary restrictions upon a suspect's liberty are only legitimate as long as a criminal charge and trial are in prospect. We urge the removal of the legal bar on intercepted material being used in trials.

Adherence to the rule of law should not be a game of cat and mouse. The Government should not swap one human rights "opt out" for another.

[JURIST] Chile's Supreme Court [official website] ruled Tuesday that judges investigating charges of murder, torture and kidnappings under former dictator Augusto Pinochet's rule should file charges within six months or close their investigations. 365 human rights cases stemming from Pinochet's regime have been working their way through Chile's court system for the past several years with judges reaching verdicts in only eight cases. The six-month deadline imposed by the high court is seen as a victory for the former military officers facing trial. Reuters has more. From Santiago, La Nacion has local coverage.

[JURIST] Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Wednesday, Jan. 26.

On Capitol Hill, the US Senate [official website] will open its daily session at 9:30 AM ET. The Senate is expected to confirm Condoleezza Rice [VOA News report] as secretary of state today. A live webcast is available via C-SPAN. The US House [official website] begins its session at 10 AM ET, with a live webcast available via C-SPAN.

MO Gov. Matt Blunt [official website] will deliver his state of the state address today at 10:30 AM ET. SC Gov. Mark Sanford [official website] will also deliver a state of the state address at 7 PM ET.

The World Economic Forum [official website] will open its annual meeting today in Davos, Switzerland. The five-day event's theme is "Taking Responsibility for Tough Choices." Read a program of sessions. Watch a webcast of the event opening, and view a list of webcasts from the forum.

European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and Vice-President Margot Wallstrom will hold a press conference outlining the strategic guidelines and legislative program for 2005. Watch a live webcast beginning at 5:30 PM local time [11:30 AM ET] from the European Commission.

The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly [official website] is holding its 2005 winter session this week. Watch a live webcast of proceedings.

The UN will hold an 11 AM ET press conference on electoral assistance to Iraq with Carina Perelli, director of the Electoral Assistance Division [official website]. Watch a live webcast of the press conference.

At the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, trials continue today for Slobodan Milosevic [ICTY case backgrounder] and Fatmir Limaj and others [ICTY case backgrounder]. A webcast of the Milosevic trial will begin at 9:30 AM local time [3:30 AM ET], and a webcast of the Limaj trial is scheduled for 2:45 PM local time [8:45 AM ET].

The Heritage Foundation is hosting a forum called "The Constitutional Treaty: The Future of Europe?" A live webcast of the event is available beginning at 12 PM ET.