[JURIST] An Italian judge ruled Tuesday that a former CIA station chief in Milan is not protected by diplomatic immunity, upholding an arrest warrant issued for his alleged participation in the kidnapping of Egyptian cleric Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr [Wikipedia profile]. The judge held that even though former agent and US diplomatic consul Robert Seldon Lady relinquished all immunity when he left his post in August 2004, the protection given to consular officials is "always within the limits of international law." Furthermore, "within these limits, naturally, is the principle of the sovereignty of the host state that cannot allow on its territory the use of force by a foreign state that outside every control of the political and judicial authorities." Earlier this month Italian prosecutors requested the extradition of 22 former CIA agents [JURIST report], including Lady, who is currently in the US. Italian prosecutors claim that the agents abducted Nasr, an alleged terrorist, in Milan on Feburary 17 2003 and flew him to Egypt, where he was reportedly tortured. Though Lady's lawyer claims the evidence against him is weak, and the Italian justice Minister has cast doubts on the impartiality of the investigation [JURIST report], prosecutors say they can prove through cell phone and computer records that Lady played a central role in the abduction. The Guardian has more.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Italy orders arrest of six more CIA agents
• Italian prosecutor seeks six more arrest warrants in CIA kidnapping probe
• Italy may seek extradition of CIA agents who kidnapped imam in Milan
• Italian judge orders arrest of 13 CIA agents over imam deportation

[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Mexico [official website] ruled Tuesday that prisoners serving life sentences can be extradited abroad, overturning a 2001 decision [EscapingJustice.com backgrounder] that prevented such prisoners from answering to charges in the US insofar as punishment there might be cruel and unusual and not directed at rehabilitation of the prisoner. A 1978 treaty between the US and Mexico still prevents the extradition of prisoners who face the death penalty. AP has more.

[JURIST] US Assistant Attorney General William E. Moschella [official profile] defended the use of National Security Letters [PDF sample text; ACLU materials] in a 10-page letter sent to the Chairmen of the US House and Senate Judiciary Committees Tuesday, rebutting claims raised by a Washington Post article [text] that NSLs have been used to spy on law-abiding citizens. NSLs allow the FBI to obtain private phone, internet, and business records; while most information about their use remains classified, Moschella claims that the FBI has not issued over 30,000 a year, as claimed by the Post article, nor have they used the letters to spy on innocent citizens. He nonetheless admitted that some citizens whose records are accessed "may not be terrorists or spies or associated with terrorists or spies." House and Senate negotiators have reached a tentative agreement [JURIST report] to renew several Patriot Act provisions affecting the use of NSLs, including one that requires the Justice Department to report annually to Congress on the number of NSLs issued that year, and one that allows recipients to consult a lawyer before complying. A lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] said that though the government may obtain such information, "I think the American people would prefer that there be some sort of connection and if not, then the records ought to be destroyed." AP has more.

[JURIST] AP is reporting that Virginia Governor Mark Warner [official website] has granted clemency to Robin Lovitt [profile], a convicted killer who would have become the 1,000th person executed in the US [JURIST report] since the US Supreme Court reauthorized capital punishment in 1976. Lovitt was convicted of fatally stabbing a man with scissors during a pool hall robbery in Virginia in 1998.

[JURIST] The first federal Vioxx trial, in which Evelyn Irvin Plunkett is suing pharmaceutical giant Merck [corporate website] for the death of husband Richard “Dicky” Irvin of a heart attack in May 2001, began Tuesday with an opening statement from Plunkett’s lawyer, who told jurors that Irvin died as a direct result of taking the painkiller Vioxx [JURIST news archive] for about a month and that Merck knew about the cardiovascular risks of the drug when it placed it on the market in 1999. Since a long-term study identified that taking Vioxx for eighteen months or longer doubled the risk of heart attack or stroke, experts expect Merck to argue that Irvin did not take the drug for a long enough period of time to cause health problems. Merck is also expected to argue that Plunkett is not entitled to damages since she and Irvin were separated at the time of his death and because Irvin got a prescription for the drug from his physician son-in-law without a medical exam. US District Judge Eldon Fallon of the Eastern District of Louisiana [official website], who is overseeing pretrial matters for all federal Vioxx trials [multi-district litigation website], is presiding over the case in Houston [JURIST report] because of Hurricane Katrina. Merck faces roughly 7,000 state and federal lawsuits; so far it has won one state decision in New Jersey [JURIST report] and lost one in Texas [JURIST report]. AP has more.

[JURIST] Observers of the trial of Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive] warned Tuesday that mounting political pressure threatens the independence and fairness of the Iraqi High Criminal Court [official website] trying the ousted Iraqi leader. A Human Rights Watch [official website] spokesman noted that although Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari [BBC news profile] has not directly intervened in the proceeding, his public complaints [JURIST report] that the court is moving too slowly have undermined the court's ability to create an environment for a fair trial. Another observer from the International Center for Transnational Justice [official website] asserted that a lack of transparency in the court proceedings further exacerbated public sentiment that the trial was moving too slowly. Hussein's trial is currently in recess until December 5, to give the defense time to replace two of its lawyers who were assassinated [JURIST report] and one who fled the country [JURIST report] after the trial opened. Former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark, who joined Saddam's defense team as an advisor Monday, had an unexpected meeting [AP report] with the incarcerated ex-president Tuesday and reported that he was in "extremely good spirits" given that he has been held in "total isolation" from friends and family. AP has more.

[JURIST] A federal court in Maryland has ruled that US law enforcement agents must obtain a warrant before obtaining information from a cell phone service on the location of a cell phone user. In an opinion [PDF text] written by Judge James J. Bredar and issued Monday, the court noted that although the Fourth Amendment [text] does not protect cell phone users who use their phones in public, probable cause is still required because the individual targeted by the search may use the phone from their home, which has clearly established Fourth Amendment protections. According to court documents, in addition to being able to monitor cell phone calls, under federal regulations cell phone providers must be able to locate 67 percent of cell phone users to within 300 feet, and 95 percent of users to within 900 feet by the end of the year. Bloomberg has more.

[JURIST] French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin [official website; BBC profile] announced Tuesday that he would introduce stricter immigration controls as part of the French government's response to the riots [JURIST report] started by immigrant youth that broke out across the country in late October and lasted almost three weeks. Under the new controls, France will no longer automatically issue French identity papers to foreigners who marry French citizens abroad. Consulates will instead screen couples and determine whether to recognize their marriages. The French parliament will vote on the measures in the first half of 2006. To the dismay of opposition parties and human rights groups De Villepin also suggested that the government should enforce a law against polygamy, practiced by many Muslim immigrants in France. He also said he wants to extend to two years the period that immigrants must live in France before they can bring their families there. Read de Villepin's speech [in French]. AP has more. Le Monde has local coverage.

[JURIST] The Egyptian government does not plan to allow the Muslim Brotherhood [Wikipedia backgrounder] to become a legal political party even though it has so far won 76 of 444 seats by running candidates as independents in the three-phase Egyptian parliamentary elections, according to President Hosni Mubarak’s adviser Osama el-Baz on Tuesday. On Monday the government arrested about 200 Brotherhood members [JURIST report] in eight provinces in advance of a new round of elections scheduled for Thursday. Defending the ban, el-Baz said “We do not want to mix religion with politics,” referring to the Brotherhood's religious orientation and goal of incorporating Islamic law into secular legislation. He also cited a concern for the country’s nine million Christians, although the Brotherhood has said it does not want to exclude them. Aljazeera has more.

[JURIST] Louis Joinet, a UN official assigned to oversee the human rights conditions in Haiti [JURIST news archive], on Tuesday sharply criticized the Haitian justice system for detaining hundreds of people without charge, including Reverend Gerard Jean-Juste [BBC report], a political leader and member of the political party of ousted president Jean-Bertrand Aristide [BBC profile]. Joinet characterized Jean-Juste as a political prisoner. Although the prison population in Haiti is unknown, the National Penitentiary in Port-au-Prince currently holds more than 1,700 prisoners, only a few dozen of whom have been charged. In February, the National Penitentiary was the site of a serious prison riot [JURIST report]. In October, the UN warned [JURIST report] that the human rights situation in Haiti had become "catastrophic". AP has more.

[JURIST] US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Porter Goss [official profile] Tuesday denied allegations that the CIA engages in torture when interrogating detainees. In an ABC-TV interview [transcript], Goss said that the agency's interrogation tactics did "not come close" torture in the sense of inflicting "physical pain or causing disability." He further asserted that torture does not produce useful information. Goss would not, however, comment on individual interrogation techniques used to extract information from suspected terrorists and other detainees. He went on to state that any suspected terrorists will be afforded required due process protections. Earlier this month, the US Senate passed an anti-torture amendment [JURIST document] sponsored by Senator and former Vietnam POW John McCain by a margin of 90-9; Vice President Dick Cheney has been seeking an exception for the CIA [JURIST report] from its provisions, drawing criticism from former CIA Director Stansfield Turner [JURIST report], among others. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Syria's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday called for evidence implicating Syrians in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri [JURIST news archive] to be scrutinized in the wake of an admission by Syrian witness, Hosam Taher Hosam, that he testified falsely [JURIST report] to the UN committee investigating the murder [UN materials]. Hosam accused Lebanese officials of conspiring with threats, bribery and torture to induce him to falsely testify against Syria, and said the inquiry's interim findings rested as much as 40 percent on his lies. The Syrian statement suggested that the October interim report [text] by chief UN investigator Detlev Mehlis was flawed by reliance on Hosam's testimony, and Syria has effectively endorsed Hosam's statement, allowing him air time on television last Sunday and arranging a news conference for him Monday. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] One of Canada's top law firms has agreed to pay a $30 million settlement to former client Hollinger International [corporate website] for its role in failing to act in Hollinger's best interest during a series of now infamous transactions which enabled Conrad Black [CBC profile] to pocket tens of millions of dollars. According to reports, Torys LLP [corporate website] - a 330-attorney firm based in Toronto and New York - failed to notify Hollinger that it was also acting as legal representative for Conrad Black's holding companies during a transaction in which CanWest Global Communications [corporate website] bought up billions of dollars in stocks and assets from the various media companies. At the heart of Hollinger's allegations is the assertion that Torys neglected to alert company officials of the $51.8 million that was transferred to the personal accounts of Conrad Black and three of his deputies after the CanWest deal closed. Currently, Black and his three deputies are facing criminal fraud charges [JURIST report] levied by the US Department of Justice [official website] for their roles in the sell-off. The Globe and Mail has more.

[JURIST] France's National Assembly [official website] on Tuesday voted 373-27 in favor of a new anti-terrorism bill [JURIST report; draft text, PDF] that will increase the use of video surveillance and allow police more time to question terror suspects. The proposal, which still needs to clear a Senate vote in January before becoming law, will also lengthen the duration of prison sentences for terrorism, and will require transport companies and Internet cafes to hand over or store previously confidential or unknown customer data. French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy [official profile], who is leading the efforts to strengthen France's laws against terrorism after the July London bombings [JURIST news archive], said that the bill is not meant to trample civil liberties. Instead, the bill would allow police to pre-empt terror attacks and not work "after the fact." The French National Assembly provides additional materials and background on the legislation [in French]. AP has more. Le Figaro has local coverage, in French.

[JURIST] War crimes prosecutors and former Yugoslavian president Slobodan Milosevic [JURIST news archive] were in rare agreement Tuesday in their opposition to a proposal by judges [JURIST report] of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website] to split Milosevic's war crimes trial. Last week, ICTY judges suggested separating the charges related to the 1998-1999 war in Kosovo from the indictments related to earlier wars in Croatia and Bosnia, in an effort to speed up the trial and allow Milosevic to rest while the judges deliberate on the first charges. Milosevic's trial has been delayed repeatedly [JURIST report] over the last four years because of the former president's failing health. Prosecutor Geoffrey Nice opposes the separation, fearing the second part of the trial may not continue and Milosevic will not be brought to justice on the Bosnia and Croatia charges. Nice also argued Milosevic's conduct formed a pattern and should be viewed as a whole. Milosevic called the separation of the trial "illogical and unlawful acrobatics." AP has more.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] on Tuesday handed down a unanimous decision in Lincoln Property v. Roche [Duke Law backgrounder], reversing the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, holding that a lawsuit filed in state court may be removed to federal court if all parties actually named are diverse. The case involved Virginia renters who sued their landlord, a Texas-based property company, for injuries resulting from exposure to toxic mold. In ruling for the defendant, the Court emphasized that defendants must actually be joined in the suit, not merely a "real party in interest," to destroy complete diversity of citizenship. Justice Ginsburg wrote, "The potential liability of other parties was a matter plaintiffs' counsel might have assiduously explored" through further investigation. The court dismissed as "not live for adjudication" the second issue in the case [SCOTUSblog report], concerning whether a firm that does business in several states must be determined to be a citizen of any state in which one of its entities was located. Read the Court's opinion [text]. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Australian House of Representatives [official website] passed the federal government's anti-terrorism bill [text; JURIST news archive] Monday night, without amendments requested [text] by a coalition Senate committee and by members of the Labor Party. The committee recommended [JURIST report] Monday that a controversial sedition section be removed from the final draft and the sunset clause reduced to five years. Lawyers and academics have cautioned that the strict sedition provisions may restrict free speech and artistic expression and may be applied to legitimate journalists and cartoonists. Other amendments proposed [party national security plan, PDF] by the Labor Party [party website] that were not part of the House version included criticism of the government's record on transportation security, a call for human rights safeguards, and the establishment of a department of homeland security and a coast guard. The legislation will now be sent to the Senate for debate on Wednesday. The Sydney Morning Herald has more.

ALSO ON JURIST   Op-ed: Rights at Risk: My Dissent from the Australian Anti-terror Bill [Jon Stanhope, ACT Chief Minister]

[JURIST] Arab news channel Aljazeera [media website] is considering taking legal action against President George W. Bush, after disclosures that the US president allegedly suggested bombing the broadcaster's headquarters in Doha, Qatar, in the spring of 2004. Last week, two British civil servants were charged with leaking a memo [JURIST report], in which British Prime Minister Tony Blair [official profile] supposedly talked Bush out of the bombing. Blair denies knowledge [Aljazeera report] of any such plan. The White House has previously criticized Aljazeera for airing videos from Osama bin Laden [JURIST news archive], yet the station maintains it does not broadcast propaganda. In November 2002, no one was injured when the US bombed Aljazeera's office in Kabul, Afghanistan, because they believed it to be a terrorist site. In April 2003, an Aljazeera journalist was killed when a US missile accidentally struck his Baghdad office. In a statement released Tuesday, the station said [Aljazeera statement] if the memo was authentic, "it would cast serious doubts in regard to the US administration's version of previous incidents involving al-Jazeera's journalists and offices." Employees have called for an investigation into the memo and the station is currently consulting with its lawyers over potential legal action. In the UK, meanwhile, the government has threatened to prosecute newspapers [JURIST report] under the UK Official Secrets Act [text] if they reveal details of the memo. Additionally, the two civil servants charged last week appeared in court [BBC report] Tuesday and are expected to plead not guilty. The Guardian has more.

[JURIST] Lawyers for victims of Hurricane Katrina [JURIST news archive] Monday asked for an extension of a program which houses displaced New Orleans residents in hotels at government expense, at an estimated $3 million per day, totaling $300 million since August 29. The request to keep the hotel program going is the latest filing in the class action lawsuit [JURIST report; PDF complaint] with 23 named plaintiffs accusing the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) [official website] of the wrongful denial of housing benefits to Katrina victims. FEMA had given the program a December 1 expiration date, but later extended it to December 15 after critics said this would lead to the eviction of thousands who are displaced and impoverished. In addition, 10 states - Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, Tennessee and Texas - are able to apply for extensions that would last until January 7. Attorneys are seeking to extend this date even further. AP has more.

[JURIST] Croatian President Stjepan Mesic [official website; Wikipedia profile] said Monday that Croatia may cease to function as a state if the government returns property to Austrian citizens that had been confiscated by Yugoslav communists after World War II as planned. During WWII, the Ustasa regime [Wikipedia backgrounder], allied with the Nazi party, governed Croatia and hundreds of Jews, Serbs and Gypsies were deported to concentration camps. Yugoslavia's communist authorities expelled 60,000 Germans after 1945 and confiscated their property and many fled to Austria. The government on the weekend announced a deal with Vienna under which Germans who obtained Austrian citizenship after fleeing Yugoslavia had a right to file for the return of their property or get compensation. Yugoslavia had banned all foreigners from reclaiming the property but lifted the ban after gaining independence in 1991, when the country's constitutional court deemed it illegal to ban foreigners from reclaiming property. Mesic claims the deal with Austria was reached behind his back and the deal has also been denounced by Social Democratic Leader and former prime minister Ivica Racan [Wikipedia backgrounder], who has said that "[m]aking deals with Austria without tackling the issue of Croats who perished in concentration camps in Austria, Italy or Germany is morally and politically unacceptable." Croatia's government defended the agreement [Hina report], saying that the deal is based on a 1999 constitutional court decision [text] requiring the government to pay compensation to foreign citizens whose property had been confiscated. The deal needs to be approved by Parliament with a two-thirds majority. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Documents released Monday [DOJ news advisory] by the US Justice Department show that Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. [White House profile] was actively involved in efforts to expand law enforcement powers while employed as a deputy assistant attorney general in the Reagan administration's Justice Department. The memos show that Alito argued for stronger penalties for violent civil rights violations; that lawyers from the Internal Revenue Service should not be blocked from making secret tapes as part of a federal criminal investigation; that proposed rules of professional responsibility that would have precluded investigation of an individual without a "good faith belief" that the person was involved in criminal activity were too broad to enable prosecutors to pursue legitimate leads; that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) [official website] should have broad latitude to investigate federal employees; that it might be permissible for the FBI to compile fingerprint and identifying information on Iranian and Afghan refugees who had entered Canada as a mandate against terrorism; and that a draft of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child [text] failed to reflect "the traditional American aversion towards state intervention in child-rearing practices" claiming it infringed on the right of state governments to set policies on matters such as child welfare standards. The memos follow the release earlier this month of Alito's 1985 application [PDF] for the deputy assistant attorney general position which provided some insight into Alito's views on abortion [JURIST report] and reapportionment [JURIST report]. Tuesday's New York Times has more.

ALSO ON JURIST  Topic: Samuel Alito | Op-ed: Why Feminists and Liberals Have Nothing to Fear from Judge Alito | Video: Alito nomination [ACS]

[JURIST] Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas [BBC profile] Tuesday suspended primary elections of his ruling Fatah movement [party website in Arabic] amid election fraud said to be prevalent in Gaza and the West Bank. Primaries in the Gaza Strip were cancelled [BBC report] on Monday after Fatah gunmen stormed some polling stations alleging unfair voting. The primary elections were the first for Fatah and come ahead of January's parliamentary election where Islamic group Hamas is seen as a strong challenger to Fatah. Last week, voters in primaries in the West Bank voted against Fatah politicians, selecting newcomers and militants. Reuters has more. Aljazeera has local coverage.

[JURIST] Ecuador's new Supreme Court [official website in Spanish] justices are set to be sworn in during a ceremony in front of the international monitors that oversaw their selection. The 31-justice court has been without permanent members since last December, when then-President Lucio Gutierrez [BBC profile] disbanded the Court [JURIST report] amidst allegations of it being biased against him. Gutierrez later had the Ecuadorian Congress [official website] appoint provisional justices to the court, but soon thereafter attempted to dismiss the court [JURIST report] again. The current court members were chosen by a selection committee put together under the supervision of international observers. The swearing-in ceremony will take place Wednesday. Ecuador's Hoy Online has local coverage in Spanish. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] President George W. Bush Monday called for more stringent Mexican border controls [transcript] and rejected the idea that his immigration proposals would allow amnesty for illegal immigrants, while at the same time vowing to keep the US "a welcoming society" and a "compassionate nation that values the newcomer." Bush's proposed temporary worker program [press release; fact sheet] has been criticized by Republicans as providing "backdoor amnesty" for illegal immigrants at a time when the US is increasingly fearful of terrorists entering the country through its borders. The Republican party would prefer to strengthen borders and members have proposed a Mexican border wall [JURIST report] to combat illegal immigration. The President responded that "[t]he program that I proposed would not create an automatic path to citizenship. It wouldn't provide amnesty. I opposed amnesty." The proposal has been designed to give approximately 11 million illegal immigrants in the US a chance to register and work for up to six years before returning to their home countries for a year to apply for a new work permit. Bush said the plan would create incentives to encourage legal immigration while at the same time would identify who was in the country thereby serving national security interests. Reuters has more.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...

• US Republicans propose Mexican border wall to combat illegal immigration
• Homeland Security chief outlines new border security efforts
• Republican senator breaks with Bush on immigration bills
• Chertoff vows to return illegal immigrants in Senate Judiciary testimony
• Illegal immigration into US on the rise, report shows
• Terrorists exploiting US immigration laws, study suggests
• Homeland Security head unveils plans to strengthen border control
• GOP senators propose bill to force millions of illegal aliens out of US

[JURIST] Leading Tuesday's international brief, the Nepal Supreme Court [official website] has issued a stay order preventing the Nepalese Ministry of Information and Communication [official website] from enforcing its decision to close down Radio Sagarmatha [media website] for carrying BBC's Nepal Service. The radio station's offices and broadcasting facilities were raided [JURIST report] Monday and five employees were arrested on charges of violating the nation's National Broadcasting Act. The Supreme Court ordered the government to appear on December 7 at a hearing to decide whether the stay should be extended or not. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Nepal [JURIST news archive]. Kantipur Online has local coverage.

In other international legal news ...

• The Swedish Supreme Court [official website] has ruled that remarks made by Swedish Pastor Ake Green [advocacy website] in reference to the morality of homosexual activity were not sufficient to rise to the level of "incitement to hatred" under Sweden's tough hate crime laws and overturned the minister's 2003 conviction. The Court held that Green's remarks were covered under Swedish rights to freedom of speech and religion. Green was the first religious minister to be prosecuted under the laws, which were amended in 2003 to add homosexuality to the list of protected population groups. View the official Swedish Supreme Court press release [in Swedish]. BBC News has more.
  
  
• British MPs will get their first chance to debate a bill banning smoking [JURIST report] in public enclosed buildings Tuesday, as the Health Bill [text; BBC backgrounder] is sent back to the House of Commons [government website] for discussion. MPs are divided over the bill, as some feel that the exceptions included allowing smoking in "pubs and bars which do not serve food and private members' clubs" will lend to confusion about the issue and discriminate against some businesses. Other MPs feel that the bill is too limited and are pushing for a complete ban on smoking in public buildings throughout the entire UK. Tobacco lobbyists argue that the bill discriminates unfairly against people wishing to exercise their freedom to smoke, which they argue has little to no impact on others around them. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of the United Kingdom [JURIST news archive]. BBC News has local coverage.