[JURIST] The federal judge who earlier this week ruled [JURIST report] that Guantanamo Bay prisoners may not be deprived of liberty without due process of law and that military tribunals set up to review their detentions fall short of the due process standard put her ruling on hold Thursday and allowed for an immediate appeal of her decision by the Bush administration. Justice Department attorneys filed a motion [FindLaw PDF] requesting that US District Court Judge Joyce Hens Green [court profile] certify an immediate appeal of her decision, stating that a federal judge in Washington had previously concluded [JURIST report] that Guantanamo detainees do not have constitutional rights. The appeal of both cases to the DC Court of Appeals is expected to resolve the conflicting rulings. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] In Thursday's environmental law news, the EPA has filed a complaint against Puerto Rican agriculture company Martex Farms [corporate website] for violations of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) [text]. The complaint lists 338 counts of violations that include not properly posting information on pesticides being used and not providing adequate decontamination supplies and protective equipment for its employees. Read the EPA press release.

In other news,

• The Vietnam government has ordered the culling of all ducks and pigeons raised for food yesterday in Ho Chi Minh city in an attempt to stop the spread of the avian flu [CDC factpage], or bird-flu, virus. The virus, H5N1, has killed 13 people over the past month and 45 in the past year. Reuters has more.
  
  
• The British government is considering a proposal that would give tax breaks to oil companies that pump carbon dioxide from coal and gas power stations into nearly empty undersea oil and gas wells. The basic idea is that the carbon dioxide that is normally emitted into the air from power plants can be captured and then pumped under pressure (turning it into a liquid) into older wells. The liquid carbon dioxide would then force out any remaining oil from the wells, which would be resealed trapping the CO2 inside. The plan has been around for awhile, although there had not been economic incentives to pursue it. It is still unknown if the wells will be able to be resealed in such a way that the CO2 does not seep out. The Guardian has more.
  
  
• The final Senate hearing [official hearing statements] on the Clear Skies Act of 2005 [official text] occurred yesterday before the Environment and Public Works Committee [official site]. The White House-supported bill appears to have evenly divided the committee members, with proponents saying it will help curb pollution emissions and improve the economy and opponents saying it is a rollback of current Clean Air Act statutes and a financial reward to utility companies. The bill's sponsor and Committee chairman Senator James. M. Inhofe promised to have a final version of the bill ready for a vote within two weeks. The New York Times has the more.

[JURIST] The US Senate has voted 60-36 to confirm White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales as US Attorney General, succeeding John Ashcroft. He will be the first Hispanic to hold the office.

5:17 PM ET - AP now has more.

7:28 PM ET - The Senate has posted the full roll call vote. No Republicans voted against on the nomination; all Democrats voted against it with exception to Democratic Senators Landrieu (D-LA), Lieberman (D-CT), Nelson (D-FL), Nelson (D-NE), Pryor (D-AR) and Salazar (D-CO). Gonzales has already been sworn in by Vice-President Dick Cheney in a brief White House ceremony. CNN has more.

[JURIST] Speaking late Thursday afternoon on behalf of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Chef du Cabinet Mark Malloch Brown [UN press release] said that the UN would take immediate disciplinary action against staff named as wrongdoers by the Volcker commission interim report [JURIST report] into the UN Oil for Food Program, and would waive diplomatic immunity as appropriate. Brown also said that the UN would co-operate with any criminal probes launched pursuant to the report, although he indicated that none were as yet underway and it was as yet unclear in what jurisdictions they might proceed.

7:03 PM ET - Read Annan's statement [UN text] as delivered by Brown.

[JURIST] The Bush administration plan to curb class action lawsuits gained a victory today as the Senate Judiciary Committee [official website] left intact language that would send many class action lawsuits from state courts to federal courts. The committee approved the bill, dubbed the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 [text] on a 13-5 vote and the full Senate will take up the bill next week. The Senate will attempt to pass the bill without any significant amendments in order to gain the support of the GOP-dominated House, which has indicted it will support the legislation only if it is not substantially changed. House Republicans have reintroduced their own bill which they say is tougher than the Senate version in case the Senate compromise falls apart. Supporters of the bill say the aim of the new measure will protect actual victims who often get little or nothing from settlements. Opponents claim moving lawsuits to federal court will only aid businesses in escaping multi-million dollar judgments and would hurt lawyers trying to litigate those cases. AP has more.

[JURIST] Following up on a story reported this morning on JURIST's Paper Chase, the Independent Inquiry Committee [official website] (IIC) into the UN Oil-for-Food program [official website] has released its interim report [PDF text]. The report concludes that the conduct of program head Benon Sevan [official profile] in soliciting oil deals on behalf of a Panamanian-registered trading company was a grave conflict of interest, one that was "ethically improper and seriously undermined the integrity of the United Nations." Although it did not accuse Sevan specifically of bribery, it noted that he had received some $160,000 in large cash payments. Sevan has denied any wrongdoing and has said he got the funds from an alderly aunt in Cyprus. The interim report additionally censured the Oil-for-Food program for selecting contractors without following appropriate financial and competitive bidding rules. The IIC Thursday also released a comparison of estimates of illicit Iraqi income during UN sanctions [PDF text]. AP has more.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has indicated that he will consider the IIC's recommendations and "If there are things that can be fixed in the way the United Nations does business, he will fix those things." Annan's spokesperson said Thursday before the report's public release that "If there are individuals against whom there are criminal accusations [Annan] would waive the immunity of those people and he would cooperate with the prosecution as they seek to defend themselves before whatever judicial authorities have jurisdiction and decide to prosecute." The UN News Service has more. Annan's Chef de Cabinet, Mark Malloch Brown, is expected to present the UN's initial response to the report at 5 PM ET Thursday. The UN will offer a live webcast.

[JURIST] Leading Thursday's corporations and securities law news, prosecutors have announced that former HealthSouth Corp. [corporate website] president and director James P. Bennett has been indicted on charges of fraud, conspiracy, insider trading, money laundering and lying to the FBI in connection with a scheme to sell company stock worth $17.4 million. The charges come during former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy's fraud trial [indictment, PDF]. Testimony during Scrushy's trial indicates Bennett knew of the massive fraud at the rehabilitation giant. AP has more.

In other news...

• MCI Inc. [corporate website], which has received a $6.3 billion takeover bid from Qwest Communications International Inc. [corporate website], has now held talks with Verizon Communications Inc. [corporate website] about buying the company. MCI has been looking for a buyer since emerging from bankruptcy last year. Interest in the company has intensified now that SBC Communications Inc. [corporate website] has acquired AT&T Corp. [corporate website] for $16 billion. Reuters has more.
  
  
• The US House Financial Services subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises [official website] will hold a hearing on accounting problems at mortgage funder Fannie Mae [corporate website] next week. The subcommittee is expected to hear testimony from the SEC's chief accountant regarding Fannie Mae's massive accounting errors. Read the subcommittee's press release. Reuters has more.
  
  
• The Royal Dutch/Shell Group [corporate website] announced Thursday that it is cutting oil reserves for the fifth time in just over a year. The company is reducing its proven energy reserves by 1.4 billion barrels for 2003. The Shell press release includes key financial data and a video interview with Chief Executive Jeroen van der Veer. AP has more.
  
  
• Italian auto workers' unions have called a nationwide strike over concerns at
  the automotive division at Fiat [corporate website]. This comes one day after Fiat failed to settle with GM over an option to buy Fiat Auto. AP has more.
  
  
• The SEC has asked Kinross Gold Corp. [corporate website], Canada's third-largest gold producer, to seek an independent valuation of acquisitions it made in 2003. Kinross announced the request may reduce assets by $918 million. Read the Kinross press release [PDF]. Bloomberg has more.
  
  
• As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, US District Court Judge Denise Cotes has thrown out a part of the $54 million settlement by 10 former WorldCom directors to compensate investors who lost billions of dollars. According to the order [PDF], Judge Cotes indicated the settlement, which had the directors contributing $18 million of their own money, would harm future efforts to collect payments from other defendants. Read a website detailing WorldCom litigation still pending in court. USAToday has more.
  
  
• The California Supreme Court [official website] have agreed on Wednesday to review a 2nd District Court of Appeal decision in which Genentech Inc. [corporate website] lost a $500 million judgment, including $200 million in punitive damages, for a failure to pay licensing fees to a Southern California medical research center. Read the entire California Supreme Court order list [PDF]. The case is City of Hope National Medical Center v. Genentech Inc. The San Francisco Chronicle has more.
  
  
• Nortel Networks [corporate website] is suing former CEO Frank Dunn, former chief financial officer Douglas Beatty and former controller Michael Gollogly, to get back almost $13 million worth of bonuses. CBC News has more.
  
  
• The SEC [official website] announced that it will allow companies to submit their reports in a new electronic format that makes it easier to compare data. Read the SEC press release. AP has more.
  
  
• Hollywood Entertainment Corp. [corporate website] founder Mark Wattles has resigned as its chief executive and chairman a day after Blockbuster Inc. [corporate website] announced a hostile bid of nearly $1 billion its movie rental rival. Hollywood agreed to be acquired [Hollywood press release] by Movie Gallery Inc. before Blockbuster's announcement. Analysts indicate Blockbuster will have difficulty winning approval for the takeover because of antitrust concerns. Read the Hollywood Entertainment press release announcing the resignation. Read more about the Blockbuster offer. AP has more.
  
  
• Massachusetts secretary of state William Galvin [official website] is awaiting information from Gillette [corporate website] on payments chief executive Jim Kilts and other top executives will receive under the merger deal with Procter & Gamble [corporate website]. Read more about Procter & Gamble's acquisition of Gillette. The Financial Times has more.

[JURIST] Zimbabwe's main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) [party website] will field candidates in the country's parliamentary elections to be held next month. MDC contends, however, that the polls will not be fair and free and will participate under protest:

More than ever the electoral playing field remains uneven and unequal. Rule of law concerns have not been addressed. The media remains muzzled. Free assembly is proscribed by the Public Order Security Act. The recently appointed Electoral Commission is yet to prove its independence. The shambolic voter’s roll continues to be the principal vehicle for electoral fraud. The Constituency boundaries have been subjectively gerrymandered whilst militias and militia bases continue to multiply. International observers continue to be unwelcome.

[JURIST] A group of conservative European Union [official website] lawmakers from eastern Europe have proposed an EU ban on communist symbols, including the red star and the hammer and sickle. The ban would match a proposed EU ban on the display of Nazi symbols. Members of the European Parliament [official website] from Estonia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Hungary, and the Czech Republic said their ban should be put into effect because of the suffering caused by Soviet-backed regimes in their respective countries. EU justice ministers will discuss the Nazi symbols ban at a meeting later this month. All of the EU governments would need to approve the measure for it to become effective. AP has more.

[JURIST] Retired Serbian General Vladimir Lazarevic [ICTY case backgrounder] turned himself in to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia [official website] Thursday to face war crimes charges for his role in the violence in Kosovo in the late 1990s. Lazarevic had remained in hiding for 15 months after being indicted [ICTY text] by the war crimes tribunal in October 2003 along with three other generals. Lazarevic faces four charges of crimes against humanity and one charge of violating the laws of war for his leadership of the Pristina Corps of the Yugoslav Army that killed 45 unarmed ethnic Albanians in January 1999. The three other generals remain at large, with two in Serbia and one suspected of fleeing to Russia. Read the ICTY press release on Lazarevic's surrender. VOA News has more.

[JURIST] Conservative groups have applauded several legal reforms and initiatives proposed by President Bush Wednesday night in his State of the Union address [text; JURIST report], in particular his renewed support for a federal constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and his call for restrictions on abortion and stem-cell research. Concerned Women for America [official website] and Focus on the Family [official website] expressed support for Bush's speech in press releases [CWA and Focus on the Family] issued Thursday. The National Clergy Council [official website] offered support for Bush's agenda and promised to apply [news release] "amicable pressure" on the administration to carry through on its reforms. The Christian Coalition [official website] additionally praised the President's call for tax cuts aimed at families and his criticism of Democratic filibusters of his judicial nominees. Read their news release. AP has more on the address.

[JURIST] British prosecutors Thursday dropped the remaining charge against Lance Cpl. Darren Larkin, one of three UK soldiers on trial [JURIST report] for charges of abusing Iraqi captives. Prosecutors said they could not prove that Larkin was the soldier who forced two of the captives to strip and simulate sex acts after a witness said he could not identify Larkin. Larkin already pleaded guilty to a charge of battery stemming from a photo in which he was standing on a bound Iraqi captive. Two other soldiers, Cpl. Daniel Kenyon and Lance Cpl. Mark Cooley, still faces charges from the incidents, although charges against Kenyon of aiding Larkin were dropped as well. The scandal broke after a fourth soldier, Fusilier Gary Bartlam, developed pictures he took of the incidents. Bartlam has already been sentenced. AP has more.

[JURIST] Six of Iraq's 18 provinces reported partial election returns Thursday that showed the United Iraqi Alliance [Wikipedia profile], a Shiite party, with strong results in the National Assembly race. The Alliance had been endorsed by the country's most powerful Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani [personal website], and led all other parties in the six reporting provinces. The Iraqi National Assembly elections are based on a closed-list proportional representation system, so voters select a party list, which then earns a number of seats proportional to its share of the vote. Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's Iraqi List [list website in Arabic] was reported to be running second in all six provinces. The provinces reporting are Baghdad, Dhi Qar, Muthanna, Qadisiyah, Najaf and Karbala. BBC News has a list of candidates in the election. JURIST's Paper Chase has complete coverage of the Iraqi elections. AP has more.

[JURIST] In Thursday's international brief, Israel [government website] has announced its approval of a plan to release as many as 900 detained Palestinians in coming weeks. The details of the exact number of prisoners to be released, and the conditions for their release, have yet to be determined, but the announcement was accompanied by a pledge to begin withdrawing Israeli forces from several West Bank cities. Some of the elements will be discussed at the summit scheduled for next week in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. The meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, hosted by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak [official profile], will be the highest-level meeeting since Sharon came to power. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage [JURIST Countries archive] of Israel. The Jerusalem Post has local coverage.

In other international legal news ...

• Russian President Vladimir Putin [official website] signed a resolution Thursday authorizing Russian troops to join the UN peacekeeping mission to the Sudan. The resolution specified that the troops would come from the Interior Ministry [official website; English version], which includes police and military units. No word has been released on the size or timeframe of the approved troop deployment. The Sudan Tribune has local coverage.
  
  
• In the continuing upheaval following the dismissal of the Nepalese government [JURIST report] by King Gyanendra [BBC profile], a complete censorship of all media reports critical of the government has been implemented for six months. The ban, declared Tuesday, forbids all media sources from publishing any report critical of the Nepalese government [sacked government website] and the King specifically and has only recently been relayed to the outside world, as phone lines and internet providers remain shut down by state order. Several official and independent Nepalese news websites have been "frozen", with no new material posted since the King announced [Kantipur Online report of pending announcement] that he was taking over the government. The US State Department has issued a warning to all US citizens [official State Department notice] travelling abroad recommending that they avoid Nepal. AFP has more.
  
  
• Four soldiers accused of planning three coup attempts to oust President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya [official profile] in the last two years were sentenced to life imprisonment Thursday in Mauritania [government website in Arabic]. Spectators at the courtroom burst into applause as the court announced the verdicts for the 195 individuals tried. 84 individuals were convicted on charges of plotting a coup and attempted rebellion, while over 100 were acquitted. Only four received life imprisonment, and none of the convicted received the death penalty, as requested by prosecutors. Three opposition leaders, including ex-president Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidallah, were acquitted of charges of financing the attempted rebellions. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Ulster County Court Judge J. Michael Bruhn reinstated 24 criminal misdemeanor charges against New Paltz Village [official website] Mayor Jason West late Wednesday for marrying 24 gay couples in February 2004. West was charged with the misdemeanor counts last year, but the charges were dropped when a town court judge ruled that there were constitutional problems with banning gay marriage. In reinstating the charges, Judge Bruhn said the issue was not the constitutionality of gay marriage, but instead whether West upheld the law per his oath of office. West, who could face fines and a year in jail if found guilty, has argued he was upholding his oath of office by protecting the constitutional rights of the couples he married. AP has more.

Previously on JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Judge dismisses charges against NY mayor for same sex marriages
• New Paltz NY mayor barred from conducting same-sex marriages
• New Paltz mayor postpones gay marriages as NY constitutional challenge launched
• NY officials disagree on same-sex marriages

[JURIST] Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy [party profile] has reportedly left the country after the country's parliament stripped him of immunity, exposing him to liability for defamation. Cambodia's National Assembly [official website] Thursday achieved the two-thirds majority needed to overturn rules protecting Rainsy and two other members of the Sam Rainsy Party [party website]. As a result of the decision, the three men could face charges stemming from allegations by Rainsy that the president of the National Assembly, Prince Norodom Ranariddh [BBC profile], took bribes when forming a government. Rainsey also faces a suit filed by Prime Minister Hun Sen [BBC profile] and his ruling Cambodian People's Party [party website] for accusing the government of plotting to kill political rivals. Read the Sam Rainsy party press release condemning the parliamentary action. The US embassy in Cambodia condemned the parliament's decision as a "major setback for democracy". BBC News has more.

[JURIST] UN Secretary General Kofi Annan [official website] says he expects to see "harsh judgments" of the UN in an interim report to be released Thursday on the purported mismanagement of the $64 billion Oil-for-Food program. Annan set up a blue-ribbon inquiry [official website] chaired by former US federal reserve chairman Paul Volcker [Wikipedia profile] in the wake of allegations of fraud and corruption by UN officials. The Oil-for-Food program [official website] was set up in 1996 as a way to alleviate the suffering of the Iraqi people as a result of UN sanctions imposed in 1990. UN whistleblowers claim billions of dollars were skimmed off the transactions. Volcker's team released internal UN audits [reports] last month which showed UN agencies had squandered millions of dollars in overpayments to contractors and mismanagement of purchases and assets but found no evidence of corruption [JURIST report]. Annan will have a chance to review Volcker's interim report late this morning before it is made public at 3 PM New York time. Volcker's final report on the oil-for-food program is due in the summer. The Guardian has more.

[JURIST] French Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin [official profile in French; Wikipedia profile] has called on French lawmakers to back a new proposal to break up all neo-Nazi groups numbering some 3,000 in France. De Villepin said the groups were responsible for 65 acts of violence in 2004. The minister is seeking to crack down on the spread of neo-Nazism via the internet and will ask mayors and regional officials to prevent public meetings of the groups. Local authorities have been powerless to prevent such gatherings, saying renting meeting rooms is a private affair and outside of their jurisdiction. Furthermore, many mayors are afraid of potential consequences if they take aggressive measures. Critics says de Villepin's plans will not make much of a difference as it is difficult to identify members in the first place. Germany's Deutsche Welle has more in English; from Paris, Le Monde provides local coverage in French.

[JURIST] Michael Chertoff [JURIST report], President Bush's nominee for Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security [official website] faced repeated questions Wednesday from Democrats at his Senate confirmation hearing about any role he might have played while at the Justice Department in sanctioning improper interrogation techniques used on alleged alleged terrorists. Testifying before the Senate Homeland and Governmental Affairs Committee [official website], Chertoff said he did not give any specific advice to intelligence officials when asked in 2002 which interrogation techniques might be seen in the future as prosecutable instances of as illegal torture. Chertoff further stated that when he was running the Department's criminal division he did not know or recall which interrogation techniques were used nor have any discussion as to the harsh methods being employed at Guantanamo Bay. Chertoff was also asked for his thoughts on the FBI's controversial detention of more than 700 Muslim foreign nationals on immigration violations after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Many of the foreign nationals were prevented from contacting lawyers for months and none were charged for terrorism-related crimes. Chertoff said he did not know of this problem but found it troubling. Chertoff's approval for the Homeland Security post is all but assured as leaders of both parties expect a swift confirmation. The committee has posted a webcast of Wednesday's hearing [RealPlayer]. The Washington Post has more.

[JURIST] Lord Goldsmith, Britain's attorney general, announced Thursday [AP report] that seven British soldiers suspected of murdering an Iraqi civilian in southern Iraq will stand trial. The troops, who had been extensively questioned about the death of Nadhem Abdullah on May 11, 2003, will face court martial in Germany. This is the first time that UK soldiers in Iraq have been charged for the murder of an Iraqi civilian. Civilian police are also said to be investigating six other soldiers over the shooting of another Iraqi man. Three other British troops already face a court martial [JURIST report, charge list from BBC] in Germany for the alleged abuse of Iraqi civilians at a base in Basra. Since the war in Iraq has started, Britain has started more than 130 investigations into deaths and injuries of Iraqis ranging from combat deaths to Iraqis who died in custody. No date has been set for a trial or a preliminary hearing. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Thursday, Feb. 3.

The US Senate [official website] convenes at 9:00 AM ET today, and it is expected to vote on the nomination of Alberto Gonzales for attorney general. Watch a live webcast via C-SPAN 2.

The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars hosts a lecture by Yitzhak Nakash of Brandeis University on "Iraq After the Elections." Watch a live webcast today from 12 Noon to 1:15 PM ET.

The EU will hold a press conference on the possible banning [JURIST report] of Nazi and Communist symbols at 10 AM local time [4 AM ET]. Watch a live webcast of the conference.

At the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the trial of continue today for Naser Oric [ICTY case backgrounder] continues today, with a webcast scheduled to begin at 9:30 AM local time [3:30 AM ET]. The trial of Fatmir Limaj and others [ICTY case backgrounder] also continues today, and a webcast is scheduled for 2:45 PM local time [8:45 AM ET].