[JURIST] A report released late Monday by Italian officials on the circumstances of the March 4 shooting of Italian agent Nicola Calipari after an Iraq hostage rescue has challenged a report on the same incident produced by US military investigators. While the US report cleared US soldiers of any wrongdoing [JURIST report] in Calipari's shooting at a US checkpoint, the Italian report contends that there were serious miscommunications among US officials in Iraq, and confusion about the rules of engagement for checkpoints. It concludes that Calipari's killing by US troops was not intentional, but said it was a product of "stress" and the inexperience of the US soldiers. Italian Prime Minister Gianfranco Fini has demanded a full investigation into events [JURIST report]. Read the full Italian report [PDF, in Italian]. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Former UK Chief of the Defense Staff Admiral Sir Michael Boyce [Burke's Peerage profile] told the Observer newspaper in an interview [full transcript] published Monday that he was never shown the full legal advice from British Attorney General Lord Goldsmith expressing reservations about the legality of invading Iraq, and insisted that if as a result of the inadequate legal cover provided by the advice members of the UK military were ever prosecuted for their roles in the war they would have to be joined in the dock by senior civil service and political leaders, including Goldsmith and Prime Minister Tony Blair. Boyce told the Observer that he had always been concerned with the prospect of prosecution before the new International Criminal Court (a tribunal the jurisdiction of which has notably been rejected by the US), and that especially in that context

I wanted to make sure that we had this anchor which has been signed by the government law officer ... It may not stop us from being charged, but, by God, it would make sure other people were brought into the frame as well.

[JURIST] A landmark bill which would have allowed Kuwaiti women to vote and stand in municipal elections failed Monday in the Kuwaiti Parliament [official website in Arabic, video backgrounder in English]. Twenty-nine deputies voted in favor of the bill and 2 voted against it, but of the 60 deputies, 29 abstained from the vote so that the required quorum was not met. The Kuwaiti Parliament had in March agreed to speed up consideration of the controversial legislation [JURIST report] and the bill recently passed on its first reading. Aljazeera has more.

[JURIST] Florida Gov. Jeb Bush [official website] signed the Jessica Lunsford Act [PDF text] on Monday, a bill designed to impose tougher punishment on child sex abusers. The bill was drafted in March after the body of nine-year-old Jessica Lunsford [support website] was discovered and it passed unanimously in both Florida's House of Representatives and State Senate. The bill stated that all sex offenders who prey on children aged 12 or under will be sentenced to a mandatory 25 years in prison, and after release, the offenders will be tracked for life. The bill will also monitor offenders who target children over 12 more closely. Read a press release on the bill from the Governor's office. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] Monday ordered the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to reconsider a girls' sports case. The Sixth Circuit had ruled on equal protection grounds [opinion] in Michigan High School Athletic Association v. Communities for Equity, 04-1021 [USSC docket] that it is unconstitutional for a state to plan high school girls' sport seasons for the boys' sports off-season. The Supreme Court asked the Court of Appeals to reconsider its ruling in light of the Supreme Court's March 22 decision in City of Rancho Palos Verdes v. Abrams, 03-1601 [opinion, PDF text] where the Court said that a civil rights lawsuit cannot be pursued when a federal law provides an exclusive judicial remedy for violations of a federal statute. The Sixth Circuit failed to consider the Michigan High School Athletic Assoc. case on Title IX [legislation] grounds. AP has more.

[JURIST] Israeli Minister of Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs Natan Sharansky [profile] resigned Monday saying that Israel's upcoming withdrawal from the Gaza Strip is a mistake that will spawn more Palestinian violence. Sharansky has insisted that Israeli concessions must be matched by an equal effort towards Palestinian democratic reform. Despite his resignation, Sharansky plans to remain in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Likud Party [party website, in Hebrew]. His resignation takes effect Wednesday. AP has more; Haaretz has local coverage.

In a related development in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas [BBC profile] ordered the bull-dozing of three beachfront properties which had been illegally constructed by senior Palestinian officers. The question of land ownership in the Gaza Strip remain unsettled until Israel's upcoming withdrawal, although Abbas promises an orderly transfer of property. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] AP is reporting that, as anticipated [JURIST report], Pfc. Lynndie England has pleaded guilty to charges relating to her role in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal. She becomes the seventh low-level guard to plead guilty for maltreatment of Iraqi detainees at the Baghdad facilty.

6:30 PM ET - KCEN-TV in central Texas has a video report on England's plea.

[JURIST] The Navajo Nation [official website] president Sunday veteod a proposal that would have banned same-sex marriages on the tribal reservation. The measure setting various restrictions on marriage, including a same-sex marriage ban, was unanimously approved last month by the Tribal Council [JURIST report], which said it was seeking to uphold family values. President Joe Shirley Jr. [official website] said same-sex marriage was a non-issue for the Navajo Nation and that the legislation failed to address more pressing issues like domestic violence and sexual assault. Shirley said he would support a same-sex marriage ban if it was approved by an initiative rather than a Tribal Council vote. AP has more.

[JURIST] AP is reporting that the US Supreme Court [official website] has agreed to hear Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and Insitutional Rights, 04-1152, considering whether universities may ban military recruiters from their campuses without having federal funding withdrawn under the Solomon Amendment [text]. The US Third Circuit Court of Appeals blocked enforcement of the Amendment last year. Read the appeals court opinion [PDF text] in the case. The Court also granted certiorari in Lamarque v. Chavis, 04-721. View the Court's full order list [PDF text]. The Court begins a two-week recess Monday before it will reconvene May 16.

11 AM ET - An AP story is now available online.

[JURIST] The 2005 Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty Review Conference [official website] opened Monday in New York, with almost 190 nations gathering to review progress under the 1970 treaty [UN backgrounder]. The conference comes as nuclear tensions with North Korea [JURIST news archive] and Iran [JURIST news archive] increased this week, with North Korea announcing it was ending negotiations over its nuclear program and Iran claiming it was beginning uranium enrichment again this week. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is expected to warn member countries of a "crisis" on the treaty, as major nuclear powers like the US, Russia and China have failed to cut back on their nuclear arsenals. International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei will also address the conference and is expected to propose [IAEA press release] placing nuclear fuel production under multilateral control. The US State Department has more on the conference and its objectives. AP has more.

2:23 PM ET - As expected, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan began the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Review conference Monday with remarks on the NPT treaty's weaknesses [full transcript]. Annan stated that new threats and technology have made sections of the 1970 treaty outdated. Annan commented on violations of the treaty by rogue states and urged the 188-states party to the treaty to act in the face of these new realities. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Guatemala will create a security unit to offer increase protection for 19 judges and six magistrates who have received death threats, according to a plan approved by the country's supreme court on Friday. The court announced the plan at the end of a week marred by violence, in which a judge was killed [AP report] and a prosecutor was shot in the face. Although details of the plan were not released, it will likely focus on judges who serve in high-risk courts that handle drug-related cases. Both shootings last week occurred as the officials left their homes in the morning. Threats against the judiciary have traditionally plagued the country, which registered 70 threats last year and 31 so far this year. AP has more.

[JURIST] UN peacekeepers sexually abused Liberian women, according to an initial UN investigation announced on Friday. An initial investigation into allegations showed that as many as 20 reports of abuse could be substantiated, with the allegations ranging from peacekeepers having paid for sex to sexual abuse of minors in Liberia [JURIST news archive]. A UN official said four nations have contributed troops to the Liberia mission but would not name them. The UN Mission in Liberia [official website] began in 2003 to help implement a ceasefire between the government and rebel forces. The head of the UN mission, Jacques Paul Klein, is expected to step down following the expiration of his contract this spring, with the deputy chief Abou Moussa to take charge in the interim. The abuse reports are the latest in a string of abuse charges surrounding UN peacekeeping missions in Bosnia, East Timor, Cambodia and the Congo. UN peacekeepers accused of abuse are currently discharged to be disciplined by their home country, but many escape ever being punished. AP has more.