[JURIST] Voters in Spain head to the polls Sunday to decide a national referendum on the European Constitution. Lithuania, Hungary and Slovenia have already ratified the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe [official text] in parliamentary votes, but eight additional states - including France, the UK, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Poland - are expected to hold referenda on the issue. While polls show that Spanish voters are likely to approve the European pact, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero [Wikipedia profile] is battling voter apathy and widespread ignorance of the contents of the constitutional treaty. A poll last month found that 51.2 percent of Spain's 34 million voters support the treaty, but 16.4 percent say they plan to abstain and more than a third of the electorate say they know nothing of the constitution and its 448 articles. All 25 EU member states must ratify before the constitution comes into force. The Washington Times has more. Visit the Spanish government's official website for the referendum campaign [in Spanish]. From Madrid, El Mundo has local coverage [in Spanish]. Spain's University of Zaragoza offers an historical perspctive on the EU constitutional process. The European Union provides additional factsheets, a summary of the Constitution, and a full review of ratifications and referenda.

[JURIST] Supporters and opponents turned out Saturday on the first day of the British fox-hunt ban. The ban, passed by the House of Commons last year [JURIST report], outlaws hunting with dogs, but allows for exercising hounds, chasing a scent and flushing out foxes to be shot. A number of confrontations and arrests occured Saturday after police clashed with parties on both sides. The League Against Cruel Sports [advocacy website], supporters of the ban, deployed 100 members with video cameras to monitor hunts and check for illegal activity. At the same time, hunt supporters Countryside Alliance [advocacy website] urged hunters to meet as normal, but not to violate the new law. UK Attorney General Lord Goldsmith [official profile] has not issued instructions to police on how to deal with hunters who do violate the law. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] Human rights groups criticized Bush pick for intelligence director nominee John Negroponte [official profile] Friday, stating the current US ambassador to Iraq has a record of supporting human rights violations. Critics allege that during his role as ambassador to Honduras in the early 1980's, Negroponte dramatically underplayed human rights problems by backing Contra rebels and supporting Honduran military units that carried out kidnappings and killings. A spokesperson for Human Rights Watch [official website] stated Negroponte "looked the other way" when evidence of rights violations were brought to his attention. This is not the first time Negroponte has met opposition on his record in Honduras. In 2001 human rights groups challenged his nomination to Ambassador to the UN. Negroponte denies all allegations. AP has more.

[JURIST] US District Court Judge Gerald Bruce Lee sentenced former Boeing CFO Michael Sears to four months in prison Friday for aiding and abetting illegal employment negotiations [US Code]. Sears pleaded guilty in November to charges that he offered then-Air Force chief acquisition official Darleen Druyun a $250,000 executive position with Boeing at the same time she was negotiating an Air Force tanker lease contract with the company. Druyun pleaded guilty [plea agreement, PDF] to her role in the conspiracy and was sentenced to nine months in federal prison. The plea agreement confirms that Druyun met with Sears in October 2002 to discuss a job opportunity, and did not disqualify herself from working on Boeing business until November 5, 2003. Read Boeing's statement on the sentencing here. AP has more.

[JURIST] Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe [BBC profile] announced Friday that he will be holding elections as required by the original Togolese constitution. Faure had been placed in power by Togo's military and had had the constitution changed [JURIST report] to allow him to serve out his father's remaining presidential term. Regional African organizations nonetheless exerted strong amounts of pressure on Faure and the Togolese government [official website in French] to return to the original constitution, even threatening sanctions against the West African nation. Faure announced his intention to hold elections Friday evening, just hours after he ordered the lifting of a ban on public protests that had been in place since he took power two weeks ago. He said that he had "decided in the higher interests of the nation to continue the process of transition in line with the constitution", and promised elections within the next 60 days, although he would remain in the position of president until elections were held. Responding to Faure's comments Saturday, ECOWAS [official website] Executive-Secretary Mohamed ibn Chambas said that the regional organization viewed this as only a partial concession. Chambas indicated that sanctions were still a likely event unless Faure returned the original National Assembly Speaker to the interim president post, as required by the original consitution. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage [JURIST Country archive] of Togo. Reuters has more.