[JURIST] President Bush has urged European leaders to reconsider plans to end a 15-year-old arms embargo on China, arguing that it could jeopardize US security guarantees for Taiwan. Bush was expected to press the issue during his visit to the EU after the US House almost unanimously approved a resolution [text] earlier this month to urge the EU to maintain the embargo. Lifting the embargo would open Chinese markets to European arms manufacturers, a result supported by French President Jacques Chirac. Chirac said the embargo, which was imposed after the Chinese government crushed the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, was no longer justified. However, Chirac has said the decision to lift the embargo should be reached by both EU and US leaders. Bloomberg has more.

[JURIST] In Tuesday's environmental law news, over 400 food products [official list from FSA] in the UK have been revealed to be contaminated with the industrial food dye Sudan 1 [New Zealand food safety factpage] by the Food Standards Agency (FSA)[official website]. Most of the products are in the process of being recalled. The red dye is a suspected carcinogen banned for human consumption, although a British scientist has said that the likelihood of getting cancer from the ingestion of one of the contaminated products would be similar to the risk of cancer from smoking a single cigarette. From London, the Daily Telegraph has more.

In other news...

• Over 100 environmental ministers are currently debating mercury limits at the United Nations Environment Program's [official website] headquarters in Kenya. The meeting is to decide whether to begin to create an international treaty that would restrict the buying, selling and use of the element. Two different approaches are being considered. The EU favors strict restrictions on usage and a timetable that would eventually eliminate practically all use. The US opposes a binding treaty, and instead has proposed partnerships between industries, governments and environmental groups to share information about mercury-free technologies, best business practices and health advisories on contaminated fish. Mercury is predominately used in developing nations that, the US administration argues, may not be in the best position to understand the scope of the problem or be able to negotiate workable timetables. A vote is expected Thursday or Friday. The Los Angeles Times has the more.
  
  
• The Agricultural Marketing Service [official website] seeks comments on a proposed rule [text] that would raise the assessment rate for olives grown in California from $12.18 to $15.68 per ton. The money collected goes to the California Olive Committee [official website] which administers the order, authorizes marketing and funds research. The increased rate should amount to 2.33 percent of the expected California olive revenue for the upcoming crop year. Comments can be made here until March 24.
  

[JURIST] A report issued Tuesday by the International Atomic Energy Agency [official website] urges that nuclear fuel production should not be left under the control of individual countries. An expert panel assigned to consider nonproliferation of nuclear technology found that multilateral control over nuclear fuel technology was the best way to prevent the spread of sensitive technology also used in weapons. The report recommends the creation of co-ownership or management agreements throughout the nuclear fuel cycle, as well as international suppy systems to ensure IAEA involvement in the process. IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei has warned that the current Non-Proliferation Treaty [text, PDF; IAEA backgrounder], signed in 1970, is flawed and allows too much control of nuclear technology by individual countries. The IAEA is scheduled to review the NPT in May. Read the full report [text, PDF]. An IAEA press release is available. AFP has more.

[JURIST] The Egyptian government failed to release the names of an estimated 2,400 people detained in the wake of terror attacks last fall and has since tortured many of the detainees, according to a report issued Tuesday by Human Rights Watch [official website]. In the report, HRW alleged that some of the detainees were tortured so badly that they can no longer use their hands. HRW also said the Egyptian government has failed to announce whether any of those detained have been charged. An unknown number of people were arrested following Oct. 7 bombings at resorts Taba and Ras Shitan in Sinai that killed 34. The government has refused to release the names or number of people detained, with the exception of nine suspects in the attack. HRW said its estimate of 2,400 was based on reports by several Egyptian human rights groups. Read the full report [text, PDF] and an HRW press release. AP has more.

[JURIST] AP is reporting that a Pinellas Circuit Court judge in Florida has issued an emergency stay to prevent the removal of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube until late Wednesday afternoon.

3 PM ET - An AP report is now available online.

[JURIST] A federal district judge has ruled that United Airlines [corporate website] employees can proceed with a class action lawsuit against the beleagered airline's employee stock ownership plan and the plan trustees, attorneys for the employees said Tuesday. The suit was filed in 2003, but District Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan certified the lawsuit, which includes about 70,000 employees, as a class action on Thursday. According to the complaint, the employee stock ownership plan committee and the plan trustee, State Street Bank [corporate website], knew that United's stock was unstable, but continued to hold the stock as the plan lost billions of dollars. Read the judge's order [text, PDF]. Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro, the firm representing the employees, has a press release on the certification. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The Second District Court of Appeals in Florida [official website] issued a one-page mandate on Tuesday allowing Michael Schiavo to remove the feeding tube which sustains his brain-damaged wife Terri Schiavo [JURIST Newsmaker archive]. Terri's parents were seeking an emergency stay to keep their daughter alive in the hopes of filing further legal challenges. The appeals court's mandate on Tuesday allowed Michael Schiavo to act under previous court rulings which provide for Terri's right to die. Florida courts have consistently ruled that Terri Schiavo had expressed wishes not to be kept alive artificially, although she left no written directive. The US Supreme Court rejected an appeal [JURIST report] in the case last month. The order comes almost 15 years after Terri Schiavo suffered a cardiac arrest that resulted in brain damage and left her in a vegetative state. Doctors have ruled there is no hope for recovery. NBC 6 News in Florida has a timeline of events in the case. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Hong Kong government [official site] announced on Tuesday that it will begin encouraging couples to have three children, in an effort to reverse the territory's falling birth rate. In a radio interview, Chief Secretary Donald Tsang said the government is considering providing tax incentives to encourage couples to have more children. Currently, Hong Kong has one of the lowest birth rates in the world. The average married couple has two children. The policy seems to be in stark contrast to policies in other regions of China, the world's most populous nation, that are aimed at stemming further population growth. The reason for alarm in Hong Kong is the combination of a birth rate of 0.8 births for every woman of childbearing age, and the prediction that by 2031, a quarter of Hong Kong's population will be over 65. Experts say it is hard to persuade people with two children to have a third, but that the government should instead focus efforts on encouraging childless couples to become parents. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] The Internal Revenue Service [official site] announced Tuesday a plan to reduce penalties for executives and companies that admit to using an abusive tax shelter designed to avoid taxes on stock options. IRS Commissioner Mark Everson said that the agency had identified 42 well-known corporations with executives who failed to report more than $700 million in income. Under the deal, executives would pay a 10 percent penalty rather than the maximum 20 percent if they come clean by May 23. No penalties would be assessed against corporations. Tax laws require executives to count as income the value of stock options when they are exercised. However, in a typical shelter, the corporation grants stock options to an executive, who holds them in a separate company and defers paying tax on the options for 15 to 30 years. The full statement from the IRS is available here. AP has more.

[JURIST] Leading Tuesday's corporations and securities law news, supermarket giant Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. [corporate website] and 23 of its US subsidiaries have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York [official website]. The company announced it has secured an $800 million credit facility from Wachovia Bank [corporate website] to pay for the reorganization. The new credit facility is subject to court-approval. Read the Winn-Dixie press release. AP has more.

In other news...

• Pepsi [corporate website] has bought out British fruit juice and smoothie brand PJ Smoothies [corporate website] for an undisclosed sum. The PJ brand, which has a 33 percent share of the market, will be joined to Pepsi's fruit juice brands Copella and Tropicana. BBC News has more.
  
  
• India and Russia are in talks on a series of energy deals which would see India invest over $20 billion in oil and gas projects in Russia. Among the topics to be discussed is India oil giant ONGC's bid to buy a 15 percent stake in former Yukos [corporate website; JURIST Hot Topic] oil unit Yuganskneftegas. Also announced was the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Russian energy giant Gazprom [corporate website] and ONGC [corporate website] under which the companies consider cooperation in oil and gas projects in India, Russia and some other countries, and also in the transportation and selling of products in India. MosNews.com has local coverage.
  BBC News has more.
  
  
• Janney Montgomery Scott [corporate website], one of the country's oldest investment firms, will buy Pittsburgh-based Parker/Hunter Inc. [corporate website]. Parker/Hunter will be completely absorbed by Janney by the end of the year. Read the Parker/Hunter press release. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit [official site] heard oral argument Tuesday morning concerning a challenge to the FCC-imposed broadcast flag for digital television. Two of the three panel judges noted that the FCC never received permission from Congress to enact the broadcast flag rule. "You're out there in the whole world, regulating. Are washing machines next?" asked Judge Harry Edwards [official biography]. Judge David Sentelle [official biography] added, "You can't regulate washing machines. You can't rule the world." In November 2003, the FCC, under pressure from the movie and television industries, created a rule [text, PDF] which would require all machines that can recieve a TV signal to recognize a copy-protection signal in digital broadcasts called a "broadcast flag." The American Library Association, in conjunction with groups like Public Knowledge and EFF [official sites], have challenged the authority of the FCC to impose such restrictions on electronics manufacturers. While apparently sympathetic to the plaintiff's claims, Judge Sentelle commented that the ALA may lack standing in the current case. "You have to have a harm that distinguishes you from the public at large," Sentelle said during oral arguments. "If there is not a particularized harm, you do not have standing...There may be someone from the industry who can come forward." The case is American Library Ass'n v. FCC, 04-1037. CNET News has more.

[JURIST] In Tuesday's international brief, state prosecutors for South Africa [government website] have appealed to the Constitutional Court [official website] for permission to retry Dr. Wouter Basson, a scientist allegedly employed by the apartheid government to create a "smart virus" that would only target black South Africans. Basson was acquitted in 2002 on charges of conspiracy, drug trafficking, and murder. Prosecutors are arguing that the white judge who presided over the original trial was biased. Previous appeals to retry the case were rejected by lower courts. The Constitutional Court of South Africa is the nation's final court of appeal. South Africa's News 24 has local coverage.

In other international legal news ...

• The Nepalese Supreme Court [official website] ordered Tuesday the Nepalese government [official website] to produce human rights activist Gauri Pradhan before the court on Feb. 28. Pradhan, president of the human rights group Child Workers in Nepal [advocacy website], was arrested Feb. 17 upon landing at Tribhuwan International Airport in Kathmandu after a trip to Europe. The order was issued following the filing of a writ of habeas corpus by Sumnima Pradhan, Gauri Pradhan's wife, and it requires the government to state a reason for Pradhan's arrest. CWIN has started an appeal [open letter] to pressure the government to release Pradhan. Kantipur Online has local coverage
  
  
• The ruling political party of Sudan [government website] and 23 other political parties signed a charter Monday that outlines goals for the political reform of the nation. The charter purports to spell out the vision of Sudan for the next several years, especially as reforms provided for by the cease-fire agreement [text, PDF] between South Sudan and the Khartoum government take effect. The charter stated the intent to maintain Sudan's predominantly Muslim cultural and social heritage while accomplishing political, economic and social reform. Several key opposition parties refused to sign the charter, most notably South Sudan ruling party Sudan People's Liberation Movement [official website]. The southern regions of Sudan have a mix of Christian and Animist belief structures and have repeatedly protested against the attempted homogenization of Sudan as a Muslim nation. Opposition groups have accused the government of trying to make a power grab in light of the SPLM's recent increase in popularity. Polls show the South Sudan ruling party would win 30 percent of parliament seats in the next election. The Sudan Tribune has local coverage
  
  
• The Pakistan Supreme Court [official website] refused to withdraw a corruption charge against an incumbent government minister in a surprise ruling Tuesday. Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat was charged with an $11 million bank default before he left the Pakistan's Peoples Party [official website] for President Pervez Musharraf's party. After defecting, Hayat was named Minister of Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas [official website]. Pakistan's National Accountability Bureau [official website] had already initiated an investigation of Hayat, however, and was put in the awkward position of opposing a ruling party minister. The NAB had already presented the case to an anti-corruption tribunal, and thus was barred from removing the case voluntarily. Lower courts denied the right to return the case to NAB internal bodies for private settlement. The Supreme Court's refusal to allow the dismissal of the case means that Hayat will face charges while sitting as a federal minister, an unusual sitauation in Pakistan. The Supreme Court also ordered regular hearing in the case to begin the first week of March. Keralanext.com has local coverage.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] issued opinions in two cases Tuesday. In the first, Smith v. Massachusetts, the Court ruled that a trial judge's reversal of a mid-trial ruling to dismiss a firearm charge constituted double jeopardy. Justice Scalia wrote the opinion [text, PDF] in the 5-4 decision, with Justice Ginsburg authoring the dissent. According to the Court, although states may adopt procedures to reconsider mid-trial determinations on the sufficiency of evidence, Massachusetts did not have one at the time, and the judge's ruling violated the Double Jeopardy Clause as a result.

The Court also issued an opinion in Stewart v. Dutra Construction Co., in which it held that a dredge qualifies as a "vessel" under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act [text], for purposes of seeking personal injury compensation under the Jones Act. The unanimous opinion [text, PDF] in the case was authored by Justice Thomas.

[JURIST] Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, a former high school valedictorian in Virginia, has been charged with conspiring to assassinate President Bush and with supporting al-Qaida. Abu Ali made an initial appearance in federal district court Tuesday to face charges. The indictment alleges that Abu Ali plotted with an unidentified person in 2002 and 2003 on several methods to kill President Bush. During the hearing, Abu Ali, a US citizen, claimed he was tortured while being held in Saudi Arabia since June 2003. In December 2004, the US government was ordered to provide information [Washington Post report, registration required] on its role in Abu Ali's detention in Saudi Arabia, and the US government later told Saudi Arabia [Washington Post report, registration required] to either charge Abu Ali or repatriate him. AP has more.

11:55 AM ET - A Department of Justice press release is now available. According to DOJ, Abu Ali was returned to the US from Saudi Arabia late Monday, and a six-count indictment was unsealed at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

2:45 PM ET - Read the indictment [text, PDF] in the case.

[JURIST] KGW.com in Portland, OR, is reporting that the US Supreme Court [official website] has agreed to hear a Bush administration challenge to Oregon's Death with Dignity Act [text], which allows assisted suicide. The US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals previously upheld the law [JURIST report; opinion, PDF] against a federal challenge and later refused to rehear [JURIST report] the case. The Court had been anticipated [AP report] to announce its decision today on whether to hear the case.

11 AM ET - Also today, the Court refused to hear a constitutional challenge to an Alabama law barring the sale of sex toys. Those challenging the law claimed that it raised important issues on the scope of a constitutional right to privacy. Reuters has more.

11:20 AM ET - The full order list [text, PDF] is now available. In the orders, the Court also agreed to hear a dispute on whether workers should be compensated [AP report] for the time it takes them to put on protective clothing. The Court rejected an appeal by Norma McGarvey, who was Jane Roe in the Court's historic 1973 abortion ruling, that Roe v. Wade should be reconsidered [AP report]. The Court also refused to hear appeals stemming from a settlement in the wake of the Columbine High School shootings [AP report] and a National Park Service policy on access [AP report] to Utah's Rainbow Bridge.

[JURIST] UK Home Secretary Charles Clarke [official biography] announced Tuesday a revised version of proposed anti-terror laws that place suspects under house arrest in an attempt to rush the legislation through Parliament. Under the Prevention of Terrorism Bill [text], terror suspects may be ordered under house arrest by the home secretary, but they are entitled to an automatic judicial review within a week. Government officials are hoping to pass the legislation before the current anti-terror legislation [text] passed after the Sept. 11 attacks expires on March 14. However, Clarke's proposals have been criticized by Conservatives and Liberal Democrats as granting too much power to the home office at the expense of courts. Clarke warned that the legislation was aimed at protecting British national security in the face of terror threats. A review of the controversial detention powers of the old legislation was also released Tuesday. Read the report [text, PDF] by Lord Carlile. Read a Home Office press release on the proposed law. The Guardian has more.

[JURIST] UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan [official biography] defended the UN as being of "vital importance to humanity" as the body struggles to emerge from the cloud of the Oil-for-Food Program [JURIST Hot Topic] scandal. Annan's views were published in a Tuesday op-ed piece [text, subscription required] in the Wall Street Journal, in which he addressed charges of wrongdoing in the oil program in Iraq and charges of sexual crimes committed by UN peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Annan wrote that some of the charges leveled in a report by the independent commission [JURIST report] investigating the oil-for-food program were "hyperbolic" and untrue, but he hoped to see through management reforms recommended by the panel. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Iraqi women face increased violence and more restrictions on freedom in the period after Saddam Hussein's regime was toppled, according to an Amnesty International [official website] report released Tuesday. Amnesty found that systematic repression of women common under Saddam's government has ended, but it has not yet yielded marked improvements in Iraqi women's lives. Amnesty's report showed that current laws in Iraq still treated crimes against women leniently and that increased killings and sex crimes threatened women and limited their ability to go about daily activities during the past two years. The report, called Iraq: Decades of Suffering [text], also said that several Iraqi women have reported maltreatment by US soldiers, including abuse, threats of rape and solitary confinement for extended periods. The report showed that some women's rights groups have been formed, including some dealing with violence against women. Read Amnesty's press release on the report. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] A spokesman for the militant Forces for National Liberation (FNL) said Tuesday that the rebel group will not disrupt a referendum on Burundi's new constitution, scheduled to be held later this month. The referendum, part of the peace process to end civil war between the ethnic Hutu majority and the politically dominant Tutsi majority, is a preliminary step to holding the first democratic elections in Burundi in over a decade. Critics have said that the voting will not be fair because the Hutu FNL planned to attack voters, but a FNL spokesman said Tuesday that, "People think we are going to cause chaos during the referendum vote. I hereby confirm that FNL has no intention to attack voters." Instead, the FNL is preparing for upcoming negotiations with the government [JURIST report, scroll down]. Reuters has more. In a related story, three Tutsi-parties in Burundi are calling on Burundians to vote against the proposed constitution, saying the draft is exclusionist and dictatorial. Chairman of the Union Pour le Progress National party has said "Voting no to the referendum is not a negation of democracy or peace, but rather saying no to exclusion and a refusal of dictatorship in Burundi." IRIN has more.

[JURIST] Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei [BBC News profile] withdrew his list of cabinet nominees Tuesday and promised to name a new team after parliament expressed strong opposition to his proposed cabinet. MPs criticized Qurei's selections, saying that the cabinet was stacked with members tainted by corruption and stressed the need to break from the legacy of Yasser Arafat [BBC report], who died late last year. Qurei said he will present a new reform-minded cabinet to the legislature Wednesday. BBC News has more. Haaretz has local coverage.

[JURIST] A Spanish court has issued an international arrest warrant for former Guatemalan military ruler Romeo Lucas Garcia, sources said Monday. Garcia, who now suffers from Alzheimer's disease, is wanted in connection with a 1980 siege against the Spanish embassy in Guatemala where thirty-seven people died. 10 other former leaders have been charged in the case, which began as an investigation by the Spanish High Court into genocide. The Spanish Supreme Court has ruled that the High Court had no right to investigate genocide, but other parts of the case are proceeding because there were Spanish victims involved in the siege. A UN-backed Guatemalan truth commission [background from Jeannette Rankin Library Program; report text] concluded that the military was responsible for over 90 percent of all murders, disappearances, and other human rights abuses during Guatemala's 36-year armed conflict. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Tuesday, Feb. 22.

The US Supreme Court [official website] is scheduled to hear oral arguments in two cases beginning at 10 AM ET today. In the first case, Kelo v. City of New London [case backgrounder from Duke Law School], 04-108, the Court will decide [AP report] on the whether the Fifth Amendment protects against the use of eminent domain for economic development purposes. The ABA has merit briefs filed in the case. In the second case, Lingle v. Chevron USA [case backgrounder from Duke Law School], 04-163, the Court will decide what standard of review should be applied in reviewing state economic legislation under the Just Compensation Clause. Merit briefs in the case are available from the ABA.

The US Senate and US House [official websites] are in recess this week. Both will resume their sessions on Feb. 28.

Ohio State University Moritz College of Law is holding a lecture by Professor Joshua Dressler titled "Moral and Criminal Law Reflections on Battered Women Who Kill Sleeping Abusers: Convict or Acquit and Why." Watch a live webcast of the lecture beginning at 4 PM ET.

The Heritage Foundation is holding a forum titled "Evaluating China's Elusive Anti-secession Law" beginning at 10:30 AM ET. Watch a live webcast of the presentation.

The United Iraqi Alliance, the leading party in the recent Iraqi elections, is expected to hold a secret ballot election [AP report] to determine who the party will put forward for the prime ministerial post in the interim government. The largely Shiite party earned a numerical majority of seats in the election, and Ahmad Chalabi and Ibrahim al-Jafari are vying for the position.

At the UN, the Security Council [official website] will convene at 3 PM ET today, when it will discuss the situation in the Middle East and the Palestinian question. View an agenda for the meeting, and watch a live webcast of proceedings.

At the EU, President Bush will meet with the Council of the European Union [official website] today. Read a press release on the meeting, and watch a live webcast of President Bush's visit beginning at 2:30 PM local time [8:30 AM ET]. A press conference with President Bush and European Commission President José Manuel Barroso will begin at 6:45 PM local time [12:45 PM ET], with a live webcast available. Also today, the European Parliament [official website] continues its plenary session. Read an agenda for today's session, and watch a live webcast of proceedings beginning at 9 AM local time [3 AM ET].

At the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the trial of Slobodan Milosevic [ICTY case backgrounder] continues today. Watch a webcast of proceedings beginning at 9:30 AM local time [3:30 AM ET].