[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Canada [official website] Thursday ruled [judgment text; case materials] that police officers can be held liable for inadequate investigations, in a case that could have major repercussions for the way that Canadian police work is conducted. In a 6-3 decision, judges found that police owe a duty of care to suspects to conduct a conscientious investigation, and that officers who fail to do so could be sued if the suspect suffers for their negligence. Several Canadian provinces, including Quebec, already allow lawsuits for negligent police investigation, but Alberta, New Brunswick [government websites], and others have opposed the idea, fearing that lawsuits could hamper police work.

Jason George Hill was arrested in 1995 and held in jail for 20 months for a series of robberies by the so-called "Plastic Bag Bandit." Hill was ultimately cleared when the real robber was found and convicted. He later sued Ontario's Hamilton police [official website] for negligent investigation and malicious prosecution, arguing that police proceeded against him despite flimsy evidence. The Supreme Court found against Hill Thursday, but recognized "negligent investigation" as a legitimate cause of action. The Globe and Mail has more. CBC News has additional coverage.

[JURIST] Amnesty International [advocacy website] Thursday urged medical professionals worldwide to refrain from participating in executions. In a new report [text; press release] examining the practice of execution by lethal injection [AI fact sheet], Amnesty said doctors and nurses break their ethical oaths by assisting in lethal injections and urged them to withdraw their cooperation. Amnesty also criticized governments for putting medical personnel in such a position. BBC News has more.

Doctors in several US jurisdictions have recently raised concerns about medical participation in lethal injection executions. Late last month a North Carolina state judge ruled that the North Carolina Medical Board does not have the authority [JURIST report] to discipline doctors that participate in state death penalty procedures. A new Board policy purporting to block such participation led to North Carolina suspending lethal injections [JURIST report] early this year.

[JURIST] The US Senate Judiciary Committee [official website] Thursday voted 15-2 to send a federal shield bill [S 2035 materials], which would protect reporters from being compelled to disclose confidential sources, to the full Senate for consideration. The Bush administration and the US Department of Justice have continuously opposed the enactment of a federal reporter shield law [JURIST news archive] citing national security concerns, while proponents of the bill, including media outlets, argue the legislation is necessary to protect freedom of the press. According to a statement [text] from one of the bill's sponsors, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA):

This legislation establishes a federal reporters' privilege to protect and encourage the free flow of information between journalists and confidential sources. It seeks to reconcile reporters' need to maintain confidentiality, in order to ensure that sources will speak openly and freely, with the public's right to effective law enforcement and fair trials.

In order to balance these competing interests, this bill creates a qualified privilege for reporters to withhold information they obtain under a promise of confidentiality. It ensures that a federal court can only force a journalist to reveal confidential source information where the information is truly critical to a case or investigation. It also requires the party seeking a reporter's confidential information to exhaust all reasonable alternative sources before turning to the media.

The bill also contains exceptions to the privilege for those situations where information sharing is critical. A reporter may not withhold his source information where it is needed to prevent a terrorist attack, significant harm to our national security, death, kidnapping, or substantial bodily harm. Journalists who witness crimes also cannot refuse to share their eyewitness observations.

[JURIST] Twenty-three family members and former associates of the late former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet [JURIST news archive; BBC profile] were indicted [PDF text, in Spanish] in Chile Thursday on corruption charges. The 23 suspects [list, in Spanish] include five of Pinochet's children, his widow, his longtime secretary, and three retired army generals. Judge Carlos Cerda said the charges stem from allegations that these individuals aided Pinochet in "the misuse of fiscal funds" during his 1973-1990 military regime. AP has more.

Pinochet died of a heart attack [JURIST report] in December 2006 without ever facing trial on multiple charges of tax evasion and human rights violations. Nevertheless, Chilean authorities began an investigation [JURIST report] earlier this year to determine whether Pinochet ordered state officials to murder former Chilean President Eduardo Frei Montalva [EB profile] in 1982.

[JURIST] Nicholas Phillips [official profile; BBC profile], the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, urged Americans to respect human rights and embrace immigrants as a means of fighting international terrorism in an address to the International Law Section of the American Bar Association [profession websites] in London Wednesday. In a speech [PDF text] on the "Impact of Terrorism on the Rule of Law," Phillips said:

Respect for human rights must, I suggest, be a key weapon in the ideological battle [against terrorism]. Since the Second World War we in Britain have welcomed to the United Kingdom millions of immigrants, many of them refugees from countries whose human rights were not respected.

The prosperity of the United States is built on immigrants who have been welcomed from every corner of the globe. It is essential that they, and their children and grandchildren, should be confident that their adopted countries treat them, and those who are nationals of the countries from which they come, without discrimination and with due respect for their human rights. If they feel that they are not being fairly treated, their consequent resentment will inevitably result in the growth of those who, actively or passively, are prepared to support the terrorists who are bent on destroying the fabric of our society.

[JURIST] US District Judge Gladys Kessler of the DC District Court has ruled [opinion, PDF] that Haji Rohullah [Cooperative Research profile], an Afghan citizen detained by the US military at Bagram Air Base [GlobalSecurity backgrounder] in Afghanistan, is entitled to 30 days advance notice of any proposed transfer from that facility. The ruling signaled at least a temporary victory for detainees being held by US forces abroad. In Tuesday's ruling, Kessler wrote that "[i]f Rohullah is transferred, his habeas claim may be eliminated," and noted that the outcome of Rohullah's case will likely be affected by the Supreme Court's upcoming decision in Boumediene v. Bush [JURIST report]. In that case, the Court will consider the constitutionality of the habeas corpus-stripping provisions of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 [JURIST news archive], which prevent "enemy combatants" held at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] from challenging their detentions in federal court.

The International Justice Network [advocacy website], representing Rohullah along with the DC-based law firm of Baach Robinson & Lewis, praised [press release] the DC District Court's "groundbreaking" ruling for Rohullah Wednesday, saying it will allow lawyers to challenge any proposed custodial transfers of their clients in the future. The Los Angeles Times has more.

[JURIST] The US House of Representatives voted 389-30 [roll call] Thursday in favor of a bill to effectively end the "de facto immunity" [JURIST report] enjoyed by many private contractors working for the US in Iraq. While Defense Department [official website] contractors are already subject to US court jurisdiction through the 2000 Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA) [S 768 information], the MEJA Expansion and Enforcement Act [HR 2740 information] passed Thursday will expand US court jurisdiction to all US civilian contractors working in combat zones. US contractors are currently not subject to prosecution in Iraqi courts due to an exemption [PDF text] granted in the days of the Coalition Provisional Authority. AP has more.

The House bill comes on the heels of the conclusion of an official Iraqi investigation [JURIST report] into last month's Blackwater USA [corporate website] shooting incident, which led to up to 13 civilian deaths in Baghdad's Nisoor Square. The report, submitted to the government Thursday, calls for the Blackwater guards to be tried in Iraqi courts, and for victims to be compensated. Following the shootings, Iraq suspended [AP report] Blackwater's license to operate in the country. The FBI is currently conducting its own investigation [JURIST report] into the incident. AP has more.

[JURIST] A Fijian court Thursday began hearing the case brought by former Fijian Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase [BBC profile] against Fiji's current acting government over allegations that the December military coup [JURIST report] that ousted him was illegal. Central to the government's defense is the constitutional interpretation of the largely ceremonial powers of Fiji's president. A lawyer for Qarase has said the coup was orchestrated by armed forces chief and current self-appointed prime minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama [BBC profile], but lawyers for the present government argue that Bainimarama sought and received permission from Fijian President Josefa Iloilo [official profile] to dismiss Qarase as prime minister. Qarase's lawyer argues that Bainimarama threatened the 86-year-old Iloilo with a complete takeover of executive authority after Qarase refused Bainimarama's request that he resign.

Less than two days after December's coup, an interim Prime Minister installed by the military characterized the coup as "illegal" [JURIST report], but defended it as necessary. The case will be heard by a three-judge panel led by Acting Chief Justice Anthony Gates, who was appointed [press release] after Bainimarama suspended former Chief Justice Daniel Fatiaki [JURIST report]. A time frame for arguments or a ruling has not yet been established. AP has more. The Fiji Times has local coverage.

[JURIST] The Iraqi government will intentionally miss a 30-day deadline to execute former Iraqi defense minister Ali Hassan al-Majid [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], also known as "Chemical Ali," choosing instead to delay the execution until after the Islamic holy month of Ramadan ends. The BBC reported Wednesday that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki was considering delaying the execution [BBC report] to avoid another controversy like the one that arose when Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive] was executed during the Eid al-Adha holiday [JURIST reports] last December. The 30-day time frame to execute al-Majid began last month when an Iraqi tribunal upheld his death sentence [JURIST report], and will expire Thursday. The Iraqi government is seeking "a legal path" to execute al-Majid when the month of Ramadan ends next week.

Al-Majid and two co-defendants were convicted and sentenced to death [JURIST report] for their roles in the slaughter of tens of thousands of Kurds during the 1988 Anfal campaign [HRW backgrounder]. Al-Majid is currently on trial [JURIST report] on separate crimes against humanity charges for his alleged role in the violent suppression of a predominately Shi'a uprising [HRW backgrounder] in southern Iraq following the 1991 Persian Gulf War. The UK Telegraph has more.

[JURIST] Two secret legal opinions circulated within the US Department of Justice in 2005 endorsed "severe" interrogation techniques, including "head-slapping, simulated drowning and frigid temperatures," the New York Times reported Thursday. The DOJ opinions, the first of which was released soon after Alberto Gonzales became US Attorney General in February 2005, reversed the DOJ's position that such interrogation techniques are "abhorrent" and to be avoided. Around the time Congress was considering a statutory ban on "cruel, inhuman and degrading" interrogation techniques [JURIST document], the DOJ circulated a second classified opinion stating that all techniques used by the CIA are legal under that standard. President Bush signed the defense spending bill containing the anti-torture language [JURIST report] on the last day of 2005.

Officials speaking to the Times on condition of anonymity said the 2005 opinions remain in effect today and have been confirmed by subsequent internal legal memoranda. White House spokesperson Tony Fratto on Wednesday refused to comment on the 2005 opinions, but said the administration has been mindful that all interrogation practices are legal under US and international law. James Comey, the former US Deputy Attorney General who in 2004 opposed Gonzales' attempts to persuade a then-US Attorney General John Ashcroft to reauthorize the warrantless domestic spying program while he was in the hospital, told the Times that he disagreed with the opinions. Comey said he told DOJ colleagues in 2005 they would be "ashamed" of the opinions if the public became aware of them. The New York Times has more.

3:19 PM ET - In a press briefing [transcript] Thursday, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino responded to the Times report:

In this new war, which is an unprecedented war, facing an enemy unlike we've ever faced before, sometimes -- oftentimes the best information that you get is from the terrorists themselves. They know where the other terrorists are hiding and what the other terrorists are planning. And to win the war on terror we must be able to detain them, interrogate them, question them, and when appropriate, prosecute them -- in America -- when we capture them here in America and on battlefields around the world. The policy of the United States is not to torture. The President has not authorized it, he will not authorize it.

But he had done everything within the corners of the law to make sure that we prevent another attack on this country, which is what we have done in this administration. I am not going to comment on any specific alleged techniques. It is not appropriate for me to do so. And to do so would provide the enemy with more information for how to train against these techniques. And so I am going to decline to comment on those, but I will reiterate to you once again that we do not torture. We want to make sure that we keep this country safe.

And I think another thing that everyone should keep in mind is that here in this country, it's quite a testament that even though we have a sworn enemy of the United States that has declared war on us and has acted upon that and killed thousands of our own citizens here just seven -- six years ago, we are still having a debate to talk about how we should make sure that we treat people, and that we don't torture them. That is quite a testament to this country. And the President is very proud to lead it.

[JURIST] Lawyers for US Army 1st Lt. Ehren Watada [advocacy website; JURIST news archive] filed an emergency motion with the US District Court for the Western District of Washington on Wednesday, requesting that his court-martial, scheduled to begin next Tuesday [press release], be stayed pending the outcome of his appeal. Watada, a 28-year-old Honolulu native, publicly refused deployment to Iraq [JURIST report] in July 2006, and was charged by the Army with with four counts of conduct unbecoming an officer and one count of missing movements. His first court-martial was declared a mistrial [JURIST report], but the Army refiled charges [JURIST report] over Watada's argument that the constitutional principle of double jeopardy [FindLaw backgrounder] should prevent the army from refiling charges, as the mistrial was the result of prosecutorial misconduct. In July, a military judge disagreed with Watada and ruled the second court-martial would not constitute double jeopardy [JURIST report]. His case is now before the US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, but that court has not yet issued a decision, prompting Watada to ask the federal district court for relief. AP has more.

If convicted at court-martial, Watada could be sentenced up to six years in prison and receive a dishonorable discharge from the Army. Watada has refused to be classified as a conscientious objector because he does not object to war in general, just to the "illegal" war in Iraq. He offered to serve in Afghanistan, but the US Army refused. His vocal protests and participation in rallies by Veterans for Peace [advocacy website] and Courage to Resist [advocacy website] led to the charges of conduct unbecoming an officer and an initial charge of contempt towards officials.

[JURIST] Myanmar police arrested dozens of people for questioning during nighttime raids late Wednesday night as the government continues its crackdown on dissidents. Also Wednesday, monks crowded into train stations after being ordered to leave their monasteries and return to their hometowns. Police arrested dozens of monks [JURIST report] last week in response to widespread anti-government protests, led by the monks and joined by thousands of other citizens, sparked by a sharp increase in fuel prices in August. The government tolerated the anti-government protesters for a month, but last week, the military government banned public gatherings [JURIST report] of more than five people and imposed a curfew. At least eight people were killed when police opened fire on protesters [JURIST report] last week. AP has more.

US President George W. Bush last week announced US sanctions against Myanmar [speech text, PDF; JURIST report], supplementing the current visa ban on alleged perpetrators of human rights abuses. Myanmar has been governed without a constitution since the military regime took power in 1988. Talks on a new national charter [JURIST report] have been underway for 14 years. It is not yet clear who will draft the actual constitution or how that process will occur, but the Myanmar government has pledged to put the resulting document to a vote in a national referendum.

[JURIST] Officials from South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), or North Korea, said Thursday that the two countries will work on a peace treaty formally ending the Korean War to replace a cease-fire agreement [text] reached in 1953 which was never signed by the South Korea. The announcement followed an agreement [CNN fact sheet; US DOS fact sheet] between the countries under which the DPRK pledged to declare all nuclear programs and activities and to disable the core nuclear facility at a main plant in exchange for economic and energy aid from the other five parties to the agreement, according to a joint statement [text] released Thursday at the conclusion of a diplomatic summit held in Pyongyang. The summit is part of the diplomatic effort to normalize relations and establish permanent peace between the DPRK and South Korea known as the Six-Party Talks [backgrounder], and the current summit was convened to discuss implementation of commitments made in September 2005 joint statement [text]. The US agreed on Wednesday to remove the DPRK's current status as a recognized state sponsor of terrorism, pending DPRK's successful nuclear disarmament.

The DPRK was sanctioned [JURIST report] by the UN Security Council last October after it exploded several test nuclear weapons underground [JURIST report]. According to a statement [text] released by US President Bush on Wednesday, the agreement reached Wednesday "reflects the common commitment of the participants in the Six-Party Talks to realize a Korean Peninsula that is free of nuclear weapons." Russia, China, and Japan are also parties to the talks. AP has more.