[JURIST] According to a federal indictment [FindLaw PDF] unsealed Monday, W.R. Grace and Co. [corporate website] and seven of its high-ranking officials and managers knew as early as 1976 that a vermiculite mine operated by the company in Montana was releasing asbestos into the air and attempted to conceal the danger from workers and the surrounding community, which prosecutors claim led to more than 1,000 people falling ill and several deaths. Grace, also charged with obstructing government efforts to investigate the site, faces up to $280 million in fines, more than twice its estimated profit from the Libby, Mont., site, while some of the former Grace executives charged could face upwards of 50 years in prison. US Attorney for Montana William Mercer [DOJ profile] described the situation as a "human and environmental tragedy," while EPA [agency website] officials cited the charges as "one of the most significant environmental indictments in our history." Grace filed for bankruptcy in 2001, overcome by asbestos-related lawsuits. The EPA provides a wealth of information about the Superfund site at Libby, Mont. Grace has appealed a federal judge's order that it must repay the costs of cleaning up the site to the EPA, currently around $55 trillion.

[JURIST] Citing the potential for substantial disruption and diversion of military resources, US District Judge Royce C. Lambert [court profile] refused Monday to issue a injuntion requiring immediate release from service of a US soldier whose active duty period had been extended under the Army's authority to extend enlistment in times of war or national emergency. Spc. David Qualls and seven other soldiers had claimed that their enlistment contracts were misleading. Judge Lambert wrote in his ruling [PDF text] that the enlistment contract does state that the government may extend terms of service, and the potential for disruption of military operations is great because 7,000 other soldiers are similarly situated and another 40,000 soldiers may have their duty extended under the 'stop loss' policy. Although an injunction has been refused, the substance of the case is still pending.

[JURIST] In Monday's environmental law news, California state officials have decided to begin to enforce the state's vehicle idling ban [text]. The measure bans trucks from idling for over 5 minutes and busses for over 10, with some exceptions. Tickets will start at $100, and there is no maximum. The measure will apply to over 400,000 diesel vehicles that weigh over 5 tons. The restrictions hope to cut down on air pollution from the running engines. The Modesto (CA) Bee has the full story.

In other news,

• Legislators in Washington State are proposing to enact the California emission standards [official CA emission program website] for new automobiles sold in the state starting in 2009 and for new light trucks in 2016. Bills in both the WA House and Senate propose the measure, and a public hearing on the clean car proposal is scheduled before the Senate Water, Energy and Environment Committee on Wednesday. Six states have adopted the CA emission standards. AP has more.
  
  
• Enough signatures have been collected to put to a vote a measure that would ban genetically modified (GM) crops and livestock for 10 years in Sonoma County, CA. Sonoma County is in the heart of California's wine region, and currently does not have any GM farming, although some farmers were looking into using GM products to reduce the need for pesticides. If the measure passes, Sonoma would become the fourth CA county to ban GM crops. Reuters has the full story.
  
  
• The National Marine Fisheries Service [official website] has extended the comment period for a proposed rule [text] that would establish critical habitat areas along the Pacific northwest coastline. The areas proposed for designation would help protect 20 species of Pacific salmon and O. mykiss, including steelhead salmon and rainbow trout. Comments can be made here until March 14.

[JURIST] AP is reporting that after a week-long trial [JURIST report] a jury in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has found defrocked [JURIST report] Roman Catholic priest Paul Shanley [Boston Globe profile] guilty of repeatedly molesting a boy at his church during the 1980s. The boy, now a 27-year old firefighter, had forgotten about the incidents but said his repressed memories came back in the wake of publicity surrounding news of the clergy sex abuse scandal in the Boston archdiocese.

7:40 PM ET - AP has the full story, including reaction from parties close to the victim and family members of Shanley.

9:30 PM ET - The Archdiocese of Boston has issued a statement on the Shanley verdict, saying "It is important for the Archdiocese of Boston, in this moment, to again apologize for the crimes and harm perpetrated against children by priests who held the trust and esteem of families and the community."

[JURIST] UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has formally suspended [UN daily press briefing] Benon Sevan [official profile], the head of the UN oil-for-food program [official website], and Joseph Stephanides, a senior official who dealt with contracts. The suspensions come after an interim report [PDF text] by an inquiry commission conducted by former US Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker accused the pair of misconduct [JURIST report]. Sevan and Stephanides were both informed last Friday of their suspension with pay. The suspension is the beginning of a disciplinary process which could take months to finish. Volcker's report accuses Sevan of a "grave conflict of interest," saying his solicitation of oil deals in Iraq was "ethically improper and seriously undermined the integrity of the United Nations." Volcker is still investigating Sevan but has not alleged any criminal wrongdoing. Annan has indicated that if Volcker's findings lead to any criminal charges, he would lift diplomatic immunity. AP has more.

[JURIST] Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon [official website; JURIST Newsmaker] and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas [BBC profile] will sign a truce on Tuesday at a summit being held in Egypt, according to reports. The truce will end four years of fighting and signals the revival of the US-backed "road map" [State Department press release] for the creation of a Palestinian state. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat [BBC profile] said the truce would begin after the summit and would lead to the establishment of joint committees to oversee the release of Palestinian prisoners and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the West Bank. Also on Monday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice [official website] announced [AFP story] that Lieutenant General William Ward [official profile] would become the US envoy to the region. BBC News has more on the truce agreement, and continuing coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

[JURIST] Eleven Kuwaiti detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have said that US troops in Afghanistan and Pakistan abused them before they were sent overseas to the US naval base, according to a lawyer's notes that were declassified and released Monday. The allegations include beatings with chains, electric shock and sodomy. Some of the detainees said that they falsely confessed to being Taliban or al-Qaida members in order to make the torture stop, according to Tom Wilner, representing the 11 Kuwaiti detainees being held at Guantanamo. The detainees claimed that abuses continued after they Guantanamo. A Pentagon spokesman said the government would issue a statement later Monday in response to questions about the Kuwaitis' accusations. The Kuwaiti detainees [Project Kuwaiti Freedom profiles], some of whom have been held for three years, met with lawyers for the first time in December and January, after the Supreme Court ruled last June that foreigners detained as enemy combatants at Guantanamo could challenge their imprisonment. After the meetings their lawyers said they had complained of abuse [JURIST report], but they were required to surrender their attorney-client notes before leaving the US base. The notes are then sealed and sent to a secure facility in Arlington, Va., where lawyers had to ask for them to be unclassified. AP has more.

[JURIST] Leading Monday's corporations and securities law news, the Justice Department [official website] is investigating as many as 20 individual specialists on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) [official website] over allegations of using illegal trading practices to cheat customers. The investigation is an extension of one started by the SEC [official website] into trading practices of specialists, the auctioneers who manage buying and selling of particular stocks, from 1999 through 2003. The SEC got involved in the investigation after it thought the NYSE investigation was not aggressive enough. AP has more.

In other news...

• Montana's attorney general Mike McGrath [official website] indicated the state should get a share of the $1.6 billion that federal regulators say Enron Corp. [corporate website; JURIST Hot Topic] gained by manipulating Western power markets. The payment would be contingent on the money becoming available. AP has more.
  
  
• Riggs National Corp. [corporate website], whose banking unit has pleaded guilty for a failure to report suspicious transactions, announced that its proposed merger with PNC Financial Services Group Inc. [corporate website] is off and has sued PNC for damages. Riggs said PNC's attempts at lowering the purchase price for the merger constituted an "anticipatory repudiation" of the merger and leaves the company free to seek other merger partners. The suit was filed in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia. Read the Riggs press release. Read the Riggs v. PNC Financial Services complaint [PDF]. Reuters has more.
  
  
• Military contractors including Boeing Co. [corporate website], General Dynamics Corp. [corporate website, United Defense Industries Inc. [corporate website], and Alliant TechSystems Inc. [corporate website] would greatly benefit under President Bush's proposed 2006 defense budget which is estimated at $419.3 billion. The companies will be involved in America's efforts to expand the number of highly mobile US combat brigades from 33 to 43. Click for Bush's defense funding for 2006 [PDF] and an overview of President Bush's budget. Bloomberg has more.
  
  
• Ukraine's government [official website] has reversed the sale of state-owned steel mill Kryvorizhstal [corporate website] and will put the firm back on the market in an attempt to get a higher price. The winning bid in the privatization was $800 million to a group of investors that included the son-in-law of former President Leonid Kuchma. Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko [official biography] indicated the government was canceling illegal decisions made by the former administration. Read the government's press release. BBC News has more.
  
  
• The SEC announced former Enron Corp. executive Raymond Bowen, who oversaw portions of Enron North America's merchant portfolio during 2000, has settled charges of earnings manipulation and will pay a fine of $500,000. Read the SEC litigation release and complaint [PDF]. The Houston Chronicle has more.

[JURIST] In its annual budget recommendations to Congress, the White House stated Monday that repealing the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act [text], also known as the Byrd amendment, would save an estimated $1.608 billion in the 2006 budget year. The measure gives money collected from anti-dumping duties on imports to the US companies that initially requested the anti-dumping protection, rather than to the US Treasury and US taxpayers, as was the practice prior to the Act. The program has paid out more than $1 billion in subsidies to steel, candle, pasta and other companies over the past four years. The WTO has declared the Byrd amendment to be illegal in 2003. [WTO report, PDF] Japan, Canada, and the EU have threatened trade retaliation [EU press statement] which could cost the US $150 million if it does not repeal the law. The Bush administration has annually proposed repealing the program for the past two years, but has been ignored by Congress. The Consuming Industries Trade Action Coalition (CITAC) [advocacy group], an independent trade watchdog group, has called the disbursements of Byrd Amendment payouts "corporate welfare at its worst." Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) [official profile], author of the amendment, argues that the law "simply encourages our foreign trading partners to play by the very rules that they negotiated with the United States. If they follow the rules, there is no negative consequence; but if they break the rules, then they must provide a remedy." Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The White House's proposed 2006 budget of $2.5 trillion released Monday allocates $18.7 billion for the Department of Justice. Among the key changes in the DOJ budget: a 19% increase in anti-terrorism funding, a moratorium on new Bureau of Prisons construction, and a reallocation to restore "drug war" staffing to its pre-September 11th level. Additionally, the White House has proposed a 7.8 percent increase in the IRS funds for tax enforcement [Reuters report]. "The increase will provide additional resources to examine more tax returns, collect past due taxes and investigate cases of tax evasion," the Treasury Department said in a statement on Monday. [press release]. The proposed budget would also slice law enforcement grants [ABC report] to states from $2.8 billion to $1.5 billion. The White House has a summary of changes in DOJ funding and an overall budget overview.

[JURIST] In Monday's international brief, Spain [government website] has began an amnesty program that will allow a large portion of its illegal immigrant population to apply for legal resident status. The new legislation, promulgated by the ruling Socialist party, requires a work contract, registration with the local town hall and the social security office. Applicants have three months to fulfill these requirements before facing deportation. The legislation is anticipated to bring in as many as 800,000 residents in Spain's leading industries: agriculture and construction. Critics have argued that the legislation is too rigid however, and provisions have already adjusted the length of work contract needed in agriculture due to the recent cold snap in southern Spain that has shortened much of the agricultural season. BBC News has more.

In other international legal news ...

• An official from the Russian Foreign Ministry [government website; English version] announced Monday that Russia plans to actively participate in the UN peacekeeping mission to Sudan. The announcement follows the signing of a resolution [JURIST report] last Thursday by Russian President Vladimir Putin, authorizing the use of Interior Ministry [official website, English version] troops for the UN peacekeeping mission. A Foreign Ministry spokesperson declared Russia's full support for the 10,130 peacekeeping force that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is requesting. The proposed force must still be approved by the Security Council. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has the text of the statement.
  
  
• The preliminary results of Sunday's election in Thailand [government wesbsite point to the country's first ever democratically elected, single-party government. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra [official profile] and his Thai Rak Thai [official website in Thai] party won a landslide 375 seats out of 500 seats in parliament. The large majority means that Shinawatra need not form a coalition with other parties to maintain control of the parliament for passing legislation. Opposition parties have claimed that they are concerned about 'parliamentary dictatorship' under single party rule. Shinawatra has responded that the mandate will actually enforce government responsibility, as his Thai Rak Thai party could not shift blame onto other coalistion parties. The Democrat Party [official website in Thai], the largest opposition party, fared very poorly in the election, and the leader of the party, Banyat Bantadtan, announced his resignation from leadership Monday. The Bangkok Posthas local coverage.
  
  
• The new Nepalese government has reportedly extended an offer to Maoist rebels for negotiating demands released by the leaders of the uprising. The offer, reported by the state controlled media source, comes after last weeks sacking of the government by King Gyanendra [BBC profile] reportedly for failure to deal with the Maoist uprising. The rebels had earlier stated that they would only negotiate with representatives of the King himself. King Gyanedra also announced Monday more restrictions on the press, following the complete ban last week of criticism of the government [JURIST report]. The new restrictions include any criticism of the security forces of the government 'likely to have negative impact on their morale'. Independent newspapers have been discretely challenging the ban however, by calling for the government to reconsider the implementation of its emergency provisions without directly opposing the King's decree. AFP has more.

[JURIST] In the wake of last week's government takeover [JURIST report] by Nepalese King Gyanendra [BBC profile] and his subsequent controversial decrees, including a ban [BBC report] on "directly or indirectly" criticizing security forces and a statement that the government can seize private property and monitor all forms of electronic communication, Nepali human rights activists have announced that they will hold a public protest in the capital Thursday. Krishna Pahadi [Front Line profile], founder of the Human Rights and Peace Society [advocacy website], said "We would like to fill the jails of Nepal for the sake of democracy, human rights and the peace." Last Tuesday Gyanendra fired an interim government led by former Prime Minister SherBahadur Deuba [BBC report] for failing to conduct parliamentary elections or control the country's Maoist insurgency, which has been trying to overthrow the country's constitutional monarchy since 1996 in a fight that has cost over 10,000 lives. King Gyanendra's takeover has included imposing house arrest on rights workers, journalists and political leaders, largely shutting down communications between Nepal and the outside world, and deploying troops in the streets of the capital. His actions have been heavily criticized by foreign rights groups and political leaders. AP has more.For background on the crisis, see the BBC FAQ.

[JURIST] Cuba [government website; English version], a country famous for its tobacco products, now has some of the toughest anti-smoking laws. New legislation that went into force across the country Monday will prohibit smoking in work environments, ban the sale of tobacco within a certain radius of schools, and outlaws all cigarette vending machines. While the regulations are stiff on paper, enforcement is still questionable, and many Cubans seem unaware of the specific provisions of the law. More than half of the adults in the country smoke. The annual death of over 6000 Cubans from smoking-related causes is thought to be the impetus for the new push to limit smoking. Cuban leader Fidel Castro, famous for brandishing a cigar, gave up smoking himself in 1986 for health reasons. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] More than 200 foreign nationals currently being detained in US immigration facilities could be released under a recent Supreme Court ruling [JURIST Gazette report] according to figures released Monday by Cheryl Little [official profile], executive director of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center [advocacy website]. Last month in Clark v. Martinez [PDF text], the high court held that illegal immigrants could only be held subject to a detention order and not be held simply because they could not be returned to their home countries. The US Department of Homeland Security [department website] estimated that about 920 detainees around the country have been affected by the ruling, but hasn't released the location or names of those detainees. The Miami Herald has local coverage.

[JURIST] Lawyers representing UK terror suspects detained by authorities in Broadmoor high security hospital and Belmarsh prison have filed a case with the European Court of Human Rights [official website], arguing that Britain's derogation from the European Convention on Human Rights [official PDF text], which normally prohibits the indefinite detention of individuals, is invalid as no 'threat to the life of the nation' actually exists. The challenge comes just a few weeks after UK Home Secretary Charles Clarke [official profile] announced plans to detain terrorism suspects under house arrest [JURIST report], instead of in jail. Should the ECHR agree with the suspects' contention, the government would be required to bring criminal charges against any individuals it wished to detain, as well as provide standard constitutional protections of due process and right to counsel. The Guardian has local coverage.

In related news, an attempt by the Home Secretary to have the house arrest of one terror detainee revoked and have him returned to prison was rejected Monday by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission [official website], which ruled that allegations that the suspect entertained two men thought to have ties to terrorist organizations in November of 2004 had not been proved "to the necessary standard”, and that the individual would not be returned to jail. The UK Press Association has local coverage.

[JURIST] The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Monday that Israel's State Prosecution Office will later this week recommend to the country's High Court that it ignore the International Court of Justice [official website] ruling [official text] on Israel's security fence issued in 2004. The report, ordered by the Israeli Attorney General [JURIST report] and now in internal governmental circulation after being finished nearly two weeks ago, will say that the ruling was made on out-of-date information concerning a route the fence no longer takes and that may change yet again if the cabinet approves changes slated to be submitted next week. The ICJ ruling, which Israel did not participate in, held that the security fence was an 'illegal attempt at annexation' and was not justified by security concerns. ICJ rulings are non-binding on nations that did not submit to judgment. Haaretz has more.

[JURIST] The son of late President Gnassingbe Eyadema [official profile in French] was sworn in as the new president of the African state of Togo [government website in French] Monday after the country's parliament altered its constitution to permit his succession. Citing a need to eliminate any power vacuum and ensure a peaceful transition of power after Eyadema's almost 40-year rule, the longest of any African head of state, the Togolese army had installed Faure Gnassingbe [BBC profile] as interim president Saturday after the announcement of his father's death, but the move was met with an international outcry, as the country's constitution called for the speaker of the National Assembly to become interim president until provisions could be set up to hold a new election. On Sunday, the Togo National Assembly responded by electing Faure as Speaker, entitling him to his already appointed post, and further modifying the constitution to remove the need for interim elections, instead allowing Faure to serve out his father's term until 2008. The head of the African Union [official website] has nonetheless persisted in calling the events in Togo "a military coup d'etat" and has been joined by the Executive Secretary of ECOWAS [official website] in calling for a return to the proper constitutional process spelled out for the transition of power. Sources also say that the EU may withdraw aid [News24 report] from Togo unless constitutional procedures are followed. Read the Togo government website's announcement of Faure's swearing-in [in French].

[JURIST] Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Monday, Feb. 7.

The US Senate [official website] convenes today at 2 PM ET, with a live webcast available via C-SPAN. The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee [official website] will hold a business meeting at 6 PM ET to consider the nomination of Michael Chertoff as Secretary of Homeland Security. A live webcast is available.

Senegal [government website in French] will hold presidential elections today.

At the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the Naser Oric [ICTY case backgrounder] trial continues today, with a webcast beginning at 9:30 AM local time [3:30 AM ET]. Following that, Vladimir Lazarevic [ICTY case backgrounder] will make an initial appearance before the tribunal after turning himself in to authorities last week. A webcast will begin at 1:30 PM local time [7:30 AM ET]. The trial of Fatmir Limaj and others [ICTY case backgrounder] will follow that at 2:45 PM local time [8:45 AM ET], with a webcast available.