[JURIST] An advisory group created by the Scottish Consumer Council [advocacy website] has called for reforms to the country's civil law system [Scottish Executive backgrounder] that would make the system less costly and more efficient. Scotland's civil law system deals with family, property and other similar issues, but the advisory group has argued that high costs make it impractical for low value claims. MSPs are currently considering family law reforms as part of the Family Law (Scotland) Bill [parliamentary overview], which could give single fathers and gay couples more rights. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] on Wednesday heard oral arguments in Lockhart v. US [Duke Law case backgrounder; merit briefs], a case in which it will decide whether the US government can use part of a person's Social Security benefits to pay overdue student loans. Justices appeared unsympathetic to the claims of James Lockhart, who argued that he needed all of his monthly $847 Social Security payments for food and medical expenses. The case deals with legislation, the Debt Collection Act and the Higher Education Act, that appears to conflict on whether the government can use the Social Security payments to cover delinquent loans. Congress eliminated a 10-year limit on the government seeking debt repayments on student loans in the 1991 education bill, a point raised by Justices Stephen Breyer and David Souter [Oyez profiles] during oral arguments. Lockhart's attorney, Brian Wolfman, argued that the debt act had exempted Social Security payments from being used to pay off other debts. The US Department of Education [official website] has estimated $7 billion in student loans are overdue. AP has more.

[JURIST] Only days after President Bush nominated Judge Samuel Alito [JURIST news archive] to a seat on the US Supreme Court [official website], the group of 14 senators who helped diffuse a Senate showdown over judicial nominees showed signs of splitting. Known as the "Gang of 14," the influential group of seven Republicans and seven Democrats offered diverging opinions on Alito and whether a Democratic filibuster was a possibility in what is expected to be a heated hearings process. Republican Sens. Mike DeWine and Lindsay Graham [official websites] both have warned Democrats not to consider filibustering [JURIST report] the nomination, a sign that they may be willing to abandon the agreement on filibusters [JURIST report] struck last spring by the group. Under the compromise, Democrats agreed to allow votes on President Bush's judicial nominations and to reserve filibusters for "extraordinary circumstances." Losing DeWine and Graham leaves the centrist group with less support and makes it more likely that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist [official website] would have sufficient votes to eliminate the filibuster in the event that Senate Democrats seek to use it against Alito. Some Democrats are urging others to temper talk of a filibuster this early in the process. Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson [official website], one of the Gang of 14, met with Alito Wednesday, and Nelson said Alito had reassured him that he was not a judicial activist. The meetings between Alito and Democrats are part of a White House effort to court moderate Democratic votes [NYT report, registration required] for the nomination, including Sens. Tim Johnson and Mark Pryor. However, none of the three senators is on the Senate Judiciary Committee [official website]. AP has more.

ALSO ON JURIST  Op-ed: Better Luck This Time: Why Alito Is Hard to Beat | Video: Alito US Supreme Court nomination

[JURIST] The Central Intelligence Agency [official website] has held and interrogated some of its most important al Qaeda suspects at a Soviet-era compound in Eastern Europe, the Washington Post reported Wednesday. According to current and former intelligence officials and diplomats from three continents, the secret facility is part of a larger covert prison system that has set up compounds at various times in Thailand, Afghanistan, and several democracies in Eastern Europe, as well as a small center at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba [JURIST report]. The existence and location of these facilities, called "black sites" in government documents, are known to only a few US officials and are indicative of the CIA's unconventional war on terror. Not much is known about the compounds, including who is being held there, what interrogation methods are used, or how long the detainees there have been held without charge. In a press briefing [transcript] Wednesday, US National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley [official profile] did not confirm or deny the existence of the most recently-disclosed secret CIA prison, but did stress that a Bush directive banning the torture of terror suspects applies to all prisoners [AP report], no matter where they are held. Hadley said that Bush has been very clear that the US will not torture and that the US "will conduct its activities in compliance with law and international obligations." The White House recently proposed [JURIST report] absolving CIA agents abroad from proposed legislation [JURIST report] advanced by Senator John McCain barring the "cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment" of detainees. The Washington Post has more.

The Post report comes as several European countries are looking into reports that the CIA is using local airspace and airports to transport terror suspects to countries where they face torture. In Iceland, the Morgunbladid newspaper reports that information from Icelandic flight authorities show that, since 2002, a CIA plane has landed in Iceland three times [Morgunbladid report, in Icelandic]. The flights originated in Denmark, stopped in Iceland for as long as 24 hours, and continued to Canada. Danish political leaders have called for an investigation into the reports. Iceland Review has more. Scottish police are conducting a similar investigation into CIA "torture flights." The Scottish probe follows a Sunday Herald report that the CIA kidnapped terror suspects, drugged them, and flew them to "torture-friendly" states, including Egypt, Uzbekistan and Morocco. The flights are said to go in and out of Glasgow and Prestwick airports and the detainees are reportedly tortured for intelligence turned over to the US and Britain. The CIA has refused to comment on the allegations. The Sunday Herald has more.

[JURIST] Syria [JURIST news archive] on Wednesday released 190 political prisoners, a move observers said was likely aimed at avoiding further confrontation with the US and UN. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad [BBC News profile] ordered the pardons, which included some members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood group and more than 50 Kurds imprisoned following riots in 2004. State news agency SANA said the action was part of a "comprehensive reform policy that aims at strengthening national cohesion." Government sources said that more internal reforms would be announced in the coming weeks. The actions by Syria, which has been under strict rule by the Ba'ath Party for decades, are viewed by many as an attempt to avoid further criticism and pressure from the UN, which earlier this week approved a resolution calling for Syrian cooperation [JURIST report] in the probe of the killing of former Lebanon Prime Minister Rafik Hariri [JURIST news archive]. Syria has denied accusations [JURIST report] that it was involved in the bombing, despite being implicated by a UN investigation [JURIST report]. SANA has local coverage of the pardons. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups Wednesday filed a joint petition demanding that the Israeli Air Force [official website] stop causing sonic booms over Gaza, calling supersonic flights over the area “collective punishment against the civilian population” in a statement [press release]. Physicians for Human Rights-Israel [advocacy website] and the Gaza Community Mental Health Program [GCMHP) [advocacy website] petitioned the Supreme Court of Israel [Wikipedia backgrounder] to stop the sonic booms, which allegedly have long been used by Israel to mimic the sound of missile attacks and to frighten Palestinians in Gaza. The sonic booms have also been said to cause property damage. The Israeli military has made no comment on the suit. AP has more.

[JURIST] The trial of 13 alleged members of the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group [CDI profile] charged with conspiracy in the 2004 Madrid train bombings [JURIST news archive] is set to begin Thursday in Brussels. The suspects, most of whom were arrested last year in Belgium, are accused of providing financial and other support to the Madrid bombers, as well as being involved in a 2003 bombing at a Casablanca nightclub. All are being tried under a new Belgian anti-terror law that criminalizes terrorist acts and association with terrorist groups. The suspects range in age from 24 to 42 and most are native Moroccans or of Moroccan descent. One of the main suspects, Yussef Belhadj, will be tried in absentia after being extradited to Spain [JURIST report] to face charges in connection with the bombing. AKI has more.

[JURIST] A federal judge Wednesday refused to overturn the conviction of an aide to Osama bin Laden [JURIST news archive] despite expressing doubts about the US government's handling of its case. US District Judge Kevin Duffy, in a 109-page ruling, wrote that he had serious reservations in upholding the conviction of Wadih El-Hage [PBS profile] due to the suppression of evidence by the US Marshals Service [official website]. El-Hage and three others were convicted and sentenced to death in 2001 for conspiracy in the bombing of two US embassies in Africa that killed 224 people. El-Hage appealed the conviction, with his lawyers arguing that the government failed to provide them with videotaped interviews of Jamal al-Fadl, an al-Qaida member and the prosecution's top witness in the case. Defense lawyers received transcripts of 28 hours of interviews with al-Fadl more than 15 months after El-Hage was sentenced, but prosecutors said they did not find out about the existence of the videotapes until 2002. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US military lawyer representing Australian Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainee David Hicks [BBC profile; advocacy website; JURIST news archive] on Wednesday requested an independent investigation into Hicks' allegations of abuse at the hands of prison officials. Hicks, who was apprehended in Afghanistan in December 2001, alleged that he suffered sexual and physical abuse by US interrogators. Hick’s lawyer, Marine Major Michael Mori [Ninemsn profile], called for Australia to perform an independent investigation. The Australian government has already said it will look into the claims [JURIST report]. In July, the US released the findings of its own probe, undertaken at the request of the Australian government [JURIST report], that uncovered no evidence of abuse [JURIST report]. Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer [official profile] has questioned the allegations saying that he “believe[s] that the Americans, when they conduct an investigation would do it appropriately.” Hicks, who has pleaded innocent to charges of conspiracy, attempted murder and aiding the enemy, is scheduled to face a pretrial military commission hearing [JURIST report] on November 18. AP has more.

[JURIST] The UN Human Rights Committee [official website] urged in a report Wednesday that Canada [JURIST news archive] open an investigation into allegations that its law enforcement agencies cooperated in the torture of several Canadian citizens detained in Middle Eastern countries. UN rights experts said they were "concerned" about reports that Canada cooperated with Syria in the arrest and torture of four different citizens in the hope of gaining information from them. The UN report comes after various Canadian have themselves called for an investigation [JURIST report] into the allegations. A public inquiry [official website] was opened last year into the case of Maher Arar [advocacy website] who was sent to Syria after being detained in the US on his way back to Canada from Tunisia, but at least three other Canadians [CBC backgrounder] have alleged similar cases to Arar's. The UN committee urged the Canadian government to open inquiries into the other cases. The Toronto Globe and Mail has more.

[JURIST] Arab nations are quietly pressing Syria to fully cooperate with the international investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri [JURIST news archive] following Syria's criticism [JURIST report] Tuesday of a UN resolution [text; JURIST report] ordering Syria to cooperate and opening the door for sanctions if the government does not comply. In a show of support for the UN investigation [UN background materials], Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other Gulf nations advised President Bashar Assad [Wikipedia profile] to stop resisting UN demands. Kuwait’s foreign minister, Sheik Mohammed Al Sabah, said Tuesday that the UN resolution is to be “respected by all.” Meanwhile Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has tried to persuade Assad to cooperate, while warning the US against acting too harshly and inviting a fundamentalist Islamic regime into Syria. AP has more.

[JURIST] Libya will abolish capital punishment in a step towards commuting the death sentences of five Bulgarian nurses and Palestinian doctor [BBC report] according to Asharq Al-Awsat, a London-based paper citing Arab diplomats close to the Libyan government. The nurses and doctor were sentenced by a Libyan court to death by firing squad last year for having caused the death of 40 children and infecting approximately 400 more with HIV at a hospital in Benghazi. Prosecutors claimed the medical professionals infected the children while experimenting to find a cure for AIDS, but the defendants claimed the epidemic was really the result of poor hygiene [BBC News report] in the medical facility. The European Union and US have supported Bulgaria in insisting on the innocence of the nurses, with President Bush recently meeting with Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov [official profile] and urging Libya to release the prisoners. The nurses and doctor have appealed their conviction and the Libyan high court is scheduled to decide whether they will hear it on November 15. AFP has more.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Bush urges Libya to release Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death in AIDS case
• Libyan court clears police officers in Bulgarian AIDS case
• Bulgarian, Palestinian medics appeal death sentence in Libya

[JURIST] Senate Democrats are calling for confirmation hearings for US Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito [official profile; JURIST news archive] to be held in 2006. According to Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) [official website], ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, "There's no way you can do an honest hearing by the end of December, or a fair hearing." Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) [official website], chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, did not join Leahy in his statement, nor has he committed to President Bush's goal to confirm a nominee by the end of the year. Liberals disapproving of Alito's record on issues such as abortion and the death penalty have threatened to filibuster [JURIST report] the nomination and deny him a yes-or-no vote by the Senate, but Republicans have responded by threatening to get rid of the filibuster for nominations to the Supreme Court and federal appeals courts. Republicans currently hold 55 seats in the Senate, more than the simple majority needed for confirmation, but less than the 60 votes needed to end a filibuster. AP has more.

[JURIST] American lawyer Joshua Colangelo-Bryan [attorney profile], who is currently representing six Bahraini men being held without charges at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive], said Tuesday that prisoners at the US facility are becoming increasingly desperate. Colangelo-Bryan witnessed a suicide attempt [JURIST report] at Guantanamo two weeks ago when his client, detainee Jumah Dossari [Amnesty International case sheet], asked to use the restroom then attempted to hang himself. In an interview Tuesday on Democracy Now, Colangelo-Bryan said:

We have men who have been held for four years without charge, often not even accused of violence; they ave been subjected to a range of abuses corroborated by U.S. personnel. They have been prevented from speaking with their families, and they have been told, in many instances, that they will be in Guantanamo for the rest of their lives. As I see it, these men are exercising what they believe is the only form of control over their own lives that they're able to, so while it was certainly a shocking sight for me to witness, I can’t say that it's particularly surprising when you consider Guantanamo as a whole.

[JURIST] Outlining a $7.1 million plan to prepare for a possible bird flu epidemic [White House fact sheet], President Bush has asked Congress to devise a plan to provide liability protection for vaccine manufacturers. In his speech [text] Tuesday, Bush said that extending liability protection was key to encouraging vaccine production in the US:

I'm also asking Congress to remove one of the greatest obstacles to domestic vaccine production: the growing burden of litigation. In the past three decades, the number of vaccine manufacturers in America has plummeted, as the industry has been flooded with lawsuits. Today, there is only one manufacturer in the United States that can produce influenza vaccine. That leaves our nation vulnerable in the event of a pandemic. We must increase the number of vaccine manufacturers in our country, and improve our domestic production capacity. So Congress must pass liability protection for the makers of life-saving vaccines.

[JURIST] UK Prime Minister Tony Blair [official website] won a narrow victory in the House of Commons Wednesday as his government warded off an amendment to its proposed counter-terrorism legislation [draft, PDF] by one vote. The government defeated a proposal to add the element of "intent" to the new crime of inciting terrorism by 300-299 [BBC report], although its usual majority is 66. The entire legislative package has recently come under attack by some members of Parliament and many civil rights groups, who have expressed special unhappiness with the provision that allows the government to hold terror suspects without charge for 90 days. Blair insists that the 90-day holding period is essential to the government's ability to form a strong case against terrorism suspects. Amnesty International [advocacy website] and other civil rights organizations insist that holding terrorism suspects without charge undermines centuries-old British law and will effectively alienate the Muslim community [AI press release]. Amnesty's damning attack on the legislation comes after a recent warning from Lord Carlile of Berriew, the Government's terror watchdog, that a three-month detention without charge could breach human rights law [Independent report]. The UK legislation was proposed [JURIST report] after this summer's London bombings [JURIST news archive]. Reuters has more.

4:52 PM ET - Fearing defeat on the 90-day detention provision, UK Home Secretary Charles Clarke has asked that the vote on that be delayed until he has had time to seek cross-party consensus on it, a move which may pave the way for a climb-down. The Financial Times has more.

[JURIST] A US federal appeals court has agreed to rehear the appeal of five accused Cuban spies [advocacy website], convicted of serving as unregistered agents of a foreign government and conspiracy to commit espionage. The decision to rehear the case comes after an August decision by a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit [official website] to overturn [JURIST report, PDF opinion] the men's sentences and convictions, ruling that pre-trial publicity and community prejudice unfairly biased the proceedings. Immediately after the court's August decision, the Cuban government called for [JURIST report] the release of the men, which was not granted. Federal prosecutors asked that the panel's decision be reconsidered [JURIST report] in September, arguing that the decision went against US Supreme Court precedent in similar cases. The five men have admitted being Cuban agents, but claimed to be gathering information on Cuban exiles, not information about the United States. VOA News has more. The Latin American News agency has ongoing coverage of the Miami five.

[JURIST] New Japanese Minister of Justice Seiken Sugiura [official profile] on Tuesday had to retreat from a statement he made earlier in the day indicating that he would not sign execution orders. Sugiura initially said that he would not sign execution orders due to his opposition to the death penalty, but later said that the comment was an expression of his feelings as an individual and was not made in relation to his future performance as justice minister, adding that he would carry out his responsibilities with "careful consideration." Sugiura was given the post Monday, after the third reshuffling [press release] of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's cabinet. Sugiura's statement fuelled speculation that Japan [JURIST news archive] will change its stance on death penalty, as has been demanded by rights groups. Japan experienced an unofficial moratorium on capital punishment during 1989-1993 when anti-death penalty justice ministers refused to sign execution orders. The Guardian has more. The Japan Times has local coverage.

[JURIST] A Pentagon official confirmed Tuesday that Omar al-Farouq, formerly one of Osama bin Laden's top aides until his capture in 2002, escaped from a US-run detention facility in Afghanistan in July with three other prisoners. His escape means he will not testify against Sgt. Alan J. Driver, the soldier accused of maltreatment and assault [JURIST report] against al-Farouq and other Bagram Airfield [Global Security profile] detainees, one of whom later died. Al-Farouq could have been the first detainee to testify against a soldier in the Afghanistan prisoner abuse cases [Wikipedia backgrounder]. In other cases involving Afghan prisoner abuse [JURIST report], alleged victims had been either unidentified or dead. Independent investigator Lt. Col. Roger E. Nell will decide whether or not the case should go to trial or if the charges against Driver should be dropped or reduced. In a preliminary hearing Tuesday, several witnesses testified that they say Driver mistreat detainees. IN addition to the 15 US soldiers charged for the death of two Afghan detainees at Bagram after beatings in 2002, earlier this week two US soldiers were charged with prisoner abuse [JURIST report] in a separate assault at Bagram. US officials said Wednesday that security at the Bagram detention facility has been tightened [AP report] after the July prison escape. AP has more.

[JURIST] A new set of standards for handling detainees suspected of terrorism under US Department of Defense Directive 2310.1 [text] has sparked internal debate within the Bush administration. The standards currently under development use language from the Geneva Conventions [ICRC materials] to prohibit "cruel," "humiliating" and "degrading" treatment of terror suspects. Advocates say that moving US detention policies closer to international law would help prevent further abuses as well as foster overseas support against the international fight against terrorism. The revised directive, known as the DoD Enemy POW Detainee Program, has received strong support from military officials. Opponents, however, have criticized the language as vague and say the standards would restrict the government's ability to combat terrorism. The debate highlights divergent views on the detention, interrogation and prosecution of terrorism suspects which has been an ongoing source of tension within and outside the government since February 2002, when President Bush made the decision to set aside the Geneva Conventions in the US fight against terrorism. In a more public setting, similar controversy surrounds an amendment to a defense appropriations bill [JURIST report] advanced by Republican Senator and former POW John McCain that would prohibit cruel and degrading treatment of detainees. Wednesday's New York Times has more.

ALSO ON JURIST  Op-ed: Reaping the Whirlwind: International Law and Iraq Abuses | Op-ed: The Common Plan to Violate the Geneva Conventions

[JURIST] Australia's proposed anti-terrorism laws [JURIST report; initial draft, PDF] were backed Wednesday by four of the country's state and territory leaders, ensuring that Prime Minister John Howard [official profile] has enough support to introduce the proposals to the federal Parliament. The premiers of New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia have given their support to the proposed laws; Queensland Premier Peter Beattie has given in-principle support to the proposals, though has indicated that the legislation's sunset clause should take effect in 10 years. Australian Capital Territory Chief Minister Jon Stanhope [official website], who last week became the first state or territory leader to reject [JURIST report] the federal government's proposed anti-terrorism legislation, Wednesday once again excluded himself from any further negotiations [ABC Australia report]. Stanhope has refused to give his support without knowing Howard's background legal reasoning for drafting of the bill. The proposals have been criticized for the inclusion of shoot-to-kill provisions [JURIST report], which could potentially lead to incorrect identification and subsequent wrongful shootings, and provisions on preventative detentions and control orders [JURIST report]. New South Wales Premier Morris Iemma said that his backing of the proposal was prompted by a guarantee of judicial review of detention orders, and Victorian Premier Steve Bracks gave his support after shoot-to-kill provisions were dropped. Howard intends Australia's anti-terrorism legislation to be law by the end of the year and has committed to passing the laws before Christmas [JURIST report]. Australia's ABC News has more.

[JURIST] The trial of four former makers of lead paint and pigment, Millennium Holdings, Sherwin-Williams, Atlantic Richfield , and NL Industries [corporate websites], began in Rhode Island Tuesday. State lawyers have alleged that the four companies are responsible for a paint product that contaminated hundreds of thousands of homes and caused 35,000 children to suffer from lead poisoning. This is the second attempt to hold makers of lead paint liable. In 1999, Rhode Island was the first state to sue the paint industry [backgrounder] but the trial ended in a hung jury three years later. Lead paint was banned nationwide in 1978 after studies showed that flaking paint chips or paint dust can cause brain damage, behavioral disorders and death in children. In opening statements Tuesday, Rhode Island asserted that the companies made lead-based pigment and paint despite knowing that the product posed a health risk to children. Atlantic Richfield's lawyer countered that the paint makers acted "responsibly and consistently with the medical knowledge that existed at the time." If Rhode Island is successful, the trial might pave the way for further lawsuits against former lead paint manufacturers. AP has more. The Providence Journal has local coverage [registration required].

[JURIST] Australian Prime Minister John Howard [official website] said Wednesday that he has received specific intelligence of a terrorist attack on the country, and urged lawmakers to strengthen the powers of Australian intelligence agencies. The news prompted Howard to hurriedly introduce [press conference transcript] an amendment [PDF text] to current counterterrorism laws in the Australian House of Representatives [official website]. The amendment would make it easier to prosecute a person for planning a terrorist act as it allows prosecution without identifying a specific terrorist act [press release]. This eliminates the need to find intelligence on details of a specific plot and will therefore allow terrorist groups to be banned on the basis of intelligence that the group was merely preparing an unspecified terrorist act. The House passed the legislation [ABC Australia report] Wednesday and the amendment will be taken up by Australia's Senate tomorrow. Although there has not been a major terrorist attack in Australia, Australian citizens have been repeatedly hit in overseas bombings such as the 2002 Bali attacks [BBC backgrounder], the 2004 attack at the Canberra embassy in Jakarta [BBC report] and, most recently, the October Bali bombings. AP has more.