[JURIST] Members of Thailand's National People's Assembly (NPA) [Nation report] will meet next week to select a preliminary list of NPA members who will participate on a committee to draft a new constitution, but a senior Thai military official said Tuesday that only one or two military officers would be included in the latter group. One hundred of the nearly two thousand NPA members will be selected for the Constitution Drafting Assembly (CDA). NPA members are nominating 200 candidates. The military-controlled Council for National Security [official website] will pick the final 100 CDA members from that list.

The CDA is tasked with drawing up a charter to replace an interim constitution [JURIST report] drawn up by the military leaders who seized power from former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra [JURIST news archive] in a September 19 coup [JURIST report]. Xinhua has more.

[JURIST] The Lebanese cabinet Tuesday sent the country's National Assembly a draft plan to establish a UN-supported international tribunal to try suspects accused of assassinating former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri [JURIST news archive] in February 2005. The cabinet approved the draft [JURIST report] late last month despite resignations by all six of its pro-Syrian members. On Saturday, Lebanese President Emile Lahoud [official website] formally refused to endorse the plan [JURIST report], calling on the cabinet to take up the proposal again "when there is a legitimate and constitutional government." Under the Lebanese constitution [text] parliament can receive draft measures even if they have not already obtained presidential approval. Pro-Syrian parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri has suggested, however, that that body will not be convened until the ongoing crisis in the country has abated. AFP has more.

Meanwhile Tuesday Serge Brammertz, the Belgian prosecutor heading the UN independent inquiry commission into the Hariri assassination [materials], said that his probe had turned up evidence of "significant links" between that attack and 14 other attacks in Lebanon that appear to have been politically motivated. The commission has already said that Syrian involvement is suspected [JURIST report] in the Hariri murder. Late last month the UN Security Council approved an extension of the commission's mandate [JURIST report] to cover the November 21 assassination of anti-Syrian Lebanese Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] US Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) [official websites] announced [press release] Tuesday that they have sent the FBI [official website] a letter [PDF] signed by thirty-three members of Congress asking it to release information from its probe into the 2001 anthrax attacks [GWU backgrounder], in which letters containing anthrax spores were sent to senators and news organizations, leading to the deaths of five people. The letter, signed by members of both parties and addressed to US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, demands that the FBI release information to Congress on the five-year-old investigation. Until now, the FBI has refused to share information about the probe due to possible leaks, but the lawmakers dismissed the idea that the concerns should prevent them from effective oversight of the agency:

Given recent revelations that FBI agents were the anonymous sources for New York Times stories casting suspicion on “person of interest,” Stephen Hatfill, it appears that the FBI may itself be responsible for the inappropriate disclosures of sensitive case information. Whether on Capitol Hill or within the FBI, individuals who make inappropriate disclosures should be held accountable. However, as an institution, Congress cannot be cut-off from detailed information about the conduct of one of the largest investigations in FBI history. That information is vital in order to fulfill its Constitutional responsibility to conduct oversight of the Executive Branch.

[JURIST] US Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty [official profile] announced Tuesday that the Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] will no longer encourage corporations to turn over confidential records to officials investigating corporate fraud [JURIST news archive]. The new McNulty Memorandum [PDF text] revises portions of the 2003 Thompson Memorandum [PDF], which included business record turnover as a factor prosecutors could use in determining whether corporations were cooperating with investigations, by now requiring prosecutors to receive McNulty's approval before seeking investigative facts gathered by corporate counsel and protected by attorney-client privilege. In a speech [text] at a Lawyers for Civil Justice [advocacy website] event, McNulty explained the revisions, saying:

First, my policy now makes clear that attorney-client communications should only be sought in rare cases; that is, that legal advice, mental impressions and conclusions and legal determinations by counsel are protected. Before they are requested, the United States Attorney must seek approval directly from me. I must personally approve each waiver request for attorney-client communications. Both the request for approval and my authorization will be in writing.

Second, to support the request, prosecutors must show a "legitimate need" for the information. If they cannot meet that test, I will not authorize their seeking privileged information. To meet this test, prosecutors must show:

(1) the likelihood and degree to which the privileged information will benefit the government's investigation;

(2) whether the information sought can be obtained in a timely and complete fashion by using alternative means that do not require waiver;

(3) the completeness of the voluntary disclosure already provided; and

(4) the collateral consequences to the corporation in requesting a waiver.

This is a substantial test and it addresses the criticism that prosecutors are merely asking for blanket waivers in every circumstance. I do not agree that blanket waivers were routinely sought in the past, but establishing this test ensures that requesting waiver is a thoughtful, considered process and that prosecutors are not requesting waiver from corporations without examining their real need for the information.

[JURIST] Canada's Arar Commission [official website], the official judicial inquiry into the circumstances under which Canadian Maher Arar [advocacy website; CBC timeline] was detained in the US in 2002 and removed to Syria where Arar says he was tortured, recommended Tuesday that a new agency be created to review national security activities of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police [official website] and that new review processes be implemented for other federal departments involved in national security. Tuesday's 636-page report [PDF text] was the product of the commission's policy review [commission materials], conducted in conjunction with a factual inquiry [commission materials] into the Arar case.

Commissioner Dennis R. O'Connor, Associate Chief Justice of Ontario, recommended [press release, PDF]:

the creation of the Independent Complaints and National Security Review Agency for the RCMP (ICRA) with jurisdiction to review all of the RCMP's activities, including those related to national security. The Commissioner concluded that there were significant advantages to having the RCMP's national security activities reviewed by the same body that has jurisdiction to review the RCMP's other law enforcement activities. The Commissioner recommends that ICRA have the authority to conduct self-initiated reviews of the RCMP's national security activities for compliance with laws, policies, international obligations and for standards of propriety expected in Canadian society. ...

The Commissioner recommends that in order to effectively carry out the review function, ICRA must have comprehensive powers including the power to decide what information is necessary to fulfill its mandate, and to subpoena documents and compel testimony from any federal, provincial, municipal or private sector person or entity.

The detention of these three individuals in Syria or Egypt resulted from actions of Canadian officials, particularly in relation to the sharing of information with foreign countries.

Those actions or the actions of Canadian consular officials were deficient in these cases.

Any mistreatment of these three individuals in Syria or Egypt resulted from any deficiencies in the actions of Canadian officials.

[JURIST] Former Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Miriam [BBC profile] was found guilty of genocide Tuesday at the conclusion of a 12-year in absentia trial. Mengistu and 72 other former officials were charged with genocide, imprisonment, homicide, and illegal confiscation of property for crimes committed during the "Red Terror" [US LOC backgrounder], where thousands of Mengistu's political opponents were executed. Ethiopia's Federal High Court convicted all but one defendant, only 34 of whom were present for trial. Fourteen defendants died during the course of proceedings and the remaining 25 were tried in absentia. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for December 28 and Mengistu could receive the death penalty.

The verdict was initially scheduled to be delivered in May, but was postponed [JURIST report] to allow the three-judge panel trying the case additional time to review new defense evidence. Mengistu, who has been in exile in Zimbabwe since rebels forced him from power in 1991, has denounced the trial as illegitimate and without proper legal basis. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit [official website] late Monday postponed the date former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling [Houston Chronicle profile] must report to prison so that the court can consider Skilling's request that he be released on bail while his appeal is considered. Skilling was due to report to the Federal Correctional Institute [BOP backgrounder] in Minnesota Tuesday afternoon, but the appeals court postponed the date in order to permit the court "to give careful consideration to the request for bail pending appeal."

In October, US District Judge Sim Lake sentenced [JURIST report] Skilling to 24 years in prison. Skilling was convicted [JURIST report; verdict backgrounder] in May on 19 counts of conspiracy, insider trading, and securities fraud for providing investors with false and misleading financial information from 1999 up until Enron filed bankruptcy in late 2001. Lake denied Skilling's request to remain free while his conviction is appealed, and the Fifth Circuit is currently considering the appeal of that decision. USA Today has more. The Houston Chronicle has local coverage.

ALSO ON JURIST  Topic: Enron | Op-ed: A Fish Called Jeffrey: 'Disappointed' after Enron

[JURIST] The UK Court of Appeal on Tuesday rejected [judgment text] an attempt to force the government to hold a public inquiry into the UK's decision to go to war in Iraq [JURIST report]. Two mothers of soldiers appealed a lower court decision [text; JURIST report] that they could not challenge the government's refusal to hold a public inquiry. The families sought to argue that the refusal violates Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights [PDF text] requiring that a proper, adequate investigation be conducted when lives are lost.

The Court of Appeal expressed sympathy for the soldiers' families, but said that the decision not establish an inquiry was one for the executive, not the courts:

The only question which will not be investigated is the invasion question, namely whether the government took reasonable steps to be satisfied that the invasion of Iraq was lawful under the principles of public international law. We have reached the conclusion that the United Kingdom is not obliged to set up an independent inquiry into that question under article 2 of the Convention. Such an inquiry would inevitably involve, not only questions of international law, but also questions of policy, which are essentially matters for the executive and not the courts. The Convention does not contemplate that an inquiry set up pursuant to article 2 will consider either questions of international law or questions of policy.

[JURIST] The European Court of First Instance [official website] on Tuesday annulled [judgment text; press release, PDF] a decision by the Council of the European Union to freeze the assets of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) [organization website; Wikipedia backgrounder] after EU member states put the group on their terrorist watch lists. The group, which is an arm of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) [organization website] based in France, argued that it was incorrectly labeled as a terrorist organization after encouragement by Tehran during a time when Europe was attempting to better relations with Iran [JURIST news archive]. A judge for Europe's second highest court said the decision to freeze the group's assets was made without giving PMOI a fair hearing and was reached without a "sufficient statement of reason."

The PMOI was the first to reveal [JURIST report] information about Iran's nuclear program and has been at odds with the government since it chose to support Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive] in the Iran-Iraq war [GlobalSecurity backgrounder] during the 1980s. The court's decision to annul the asset freeze does not ban member states from keeping the group on their individual terrorist watch lists. Tuesday's ruling may still be appealed to the European Court of Justice [official website]. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The government of the Australian Capital Territory [official website] on Tuesday introduced revised legislation [press release] that would grant legal recognition to same-sex partnerships but would stop short of authorizing same-sex marriage [JURIST news archive]. ACT Attorney General Simon Corbell [official profile] introduced the Civil Partnerships Bill 2006 [legislative materials] in the district's legislature, saying that the bill was a result of the ACT government's belief that it is unacceptable "to discriminate against one part of society." The partnership bill was introduced after an earlier civil unions law [legislative materials] was overturned by the federal government [JURIST report] because the law's attempt to equate civil unions with marriage was determined to be unacceptable.

Explaining the differences between Tuesday's Civil Partnerships Bill and the earlier civil unions proposal, Corbell said:

Firstly, and perhaps most obviously, the term "civil partnership" has been used in preference to "civil union".

The term "civil partnership" is used to avoid using the language of marriage. The old common law formulation of marriage, which the Commonwealth incorporated into the Marriage Act 1961 in 2004, is that marriage is "the union of a man and woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life". A civil partnership is not a marriage, and the use of "partnership" instead of "union" highlights this difference.

The new Civil Partnerships Bill also does not contain the provision that the Commonwealth apparently found to be so unacceptable, that said a civil union was to be treated in the same way as marriage under ACT law. Instead, the Civil Partnerships Bill provides that a civil partnership is a domestic partnership, a concept already well-established in Territory law.

The Government remains committed to a policy that it went to the electors with in the 2004 election, and that policy is to legislate for two people, regardless of their gender, to enter into a legally recognised relationship. Canberrans in same sex relationships are entitled to have the same rights under the law as other members of the community.

[JURIST] Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive] will be immediately executed and possibly buried in secret if his death sentence is approved by the court currently considering his appeal [JURIST report], according to an Iraqi government official speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity Tuesday. Hussein and two of his co-defendants, Awad Hamed al-Bandar and Barzan al-Tikriti, were all convicted and sentenced to death [judgment; JURIST report] last month for crimes against humanity [charging instrument, PDF] committed in the Iraqi town of Dujail [JURIST news archive; BBC trial timeline] in 1982. The official said "We will not waste time. We will look at the security situation and they will be executed immediately at the very first opportunity we get after the appeals chamber finalises the verdicts." He added that Hussein's death sentence would not be carried out publicly as that would be a "violation of human rights," and said that no monument would be built for Hussein. If Hussein is buried privately, Muslim practices would allow his body to be exhumed and given to his family after the initial burial, according to the official.

The official rejected a statement made last month by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki [BBC profile] that Hussein's death sentence would be carried out by the end of this year [JURIST report], saying it was "unlikely" because the appeals court is reviewing every detail of Hussein's case before making a final decision. Hussein is currently on trial on separate genocide charges [JURIST news archive; BBC trial timeline] for allegedly killing 100,000 Kurds during the so-called "Anfal" campaigns [HRW backgrounder] in the late 1980s. The Anfal trial could continue posthumously [JURIST report] should Hussein be executed before proceedings in the second trial conclude. AFP has more.

[JURIST] US District Judge Lawrence Karlton [official profile] said Monday that the state of California has six months to remedy overcrowding in the state's prison system, which is 70 percent overcapacity with 173,000 total inmates, before he will decide whether to establish a three-member judicial panel to make recommendations to fix the problem. Karlton said he was giving the state six months because he has seen improvements in the prison system since California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger [official website] took office in 2003, including the decision to send 80 inmates to Tennessee [JURIST report] and plans to send over 2,200 more to Oklahoma, Indiana and Arizona. Schwarzenegger is also planning to request billions in funding to build more prison facilities in January, according to a spokesman for the state corrections system. The state legislature rejected a similar proposal in October, prompting the governor to declare a state of emergency [press release; JURIST report].

Karlton warned that if acceptable remedies were not reached in six months, a judicial panel could order California [JURIST news archive] to release prisoners before their sentences are completed. Federal law allows such releases only after a panel determines that all other alternatives have been exhausted. Prison rights groups such as the Prison Law Office [advocacy website] in San Francisco that have asked for the panel to be created say that a six-month delay will only result in more deaths and injuries to prisoners and guards. AP has more.