[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] heard oral arguments [transcript, PDF] Monday in Philippines v. Pimentel [LII case backgrounder; ABA merit briefs], 06-1204 [docket], where the Court considered whether some 9,000 plaintiffs seeking to recover assets held by former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos [official profile] can be awarded assets claimed by the government of the Philippines. The Republic of the Philippines and the Philippine Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) [official website] claim ownership of funds improperly moved out of the Philippines by Marcos and invested with US investment bank Merrill Lynch, as does Mariano Pimentel, the representative of a class of 9,539 people holding an unsatisfied human rights judgment [opinion] against Marcos' estate. In 2000, the Philippines asked Merrill Lynch to transfer the funds in question to the Philippine National Bank. Merrill Lynch initiated the interpleader action to settle ownership of the funds, listing the Philippines, PCGG, and Pimentel, among others, as claimants. The Philippines and PCGG asserted their sovereign immunity from the suit and moved to dismiss the entire action, arguing that they are indispensable parties under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 19(b) [text]. The Supreme Court is considering "Whether a foreign government that is a 'necessary' party to a lawsuit under Rule 19(a) and has successfully asserted sovereign immunity is, under Rule 19(b), an 'indispensable' party to an action brought in the courts of the United States to settle ownership of assets claimed by that government." Several justices, including Chief Justice John Roberts, seemed sympathetic to the group trying to enforce the judgment against Marcos' estate, but other justices, including Justice Antonin Scalia, suggested that arguments that the situation is "unfair" to Marcos' victims were ineffective as the sovereign immunity doctrine "always has unfairness." AP has more.

The Court also heard arguments [transcript, PDF] Monday in Rothgery v. Gillespie County [LII case backgrounder; merit briefs], 07-440, [docket], a Sixth Amendment case in which the Court is considering whether the right to counsel of a person arrested without a warrant is triggered by his initial appearance before a magistrate and prior to the filing of a criminal indictment against him.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit on Monday ordered [PDF text] that former Qwest Communications [corporate website] CEO Joseph Nacchio [JURIST news archive] should be retried before a new federal judge. Nacchio had appealed his April 2007 insider trading conviction [JURIST report] for selling $52 million of Qwest stock in 2001. The court found that US District Judge Edward Nottingham improperly excluded testimony from defense witness Daniel Fischel [academic profile], a corporate law and markets expert who would have explained public disclosure requirements on Nacchio's stock sales.

Federal prosecutors indicted Nacchio in December 2005 on 42 counts of insider trading [JURIST report]. He and other former Qwest executives still face civil fraud charges [JURIST reports] brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission on allegations that Qwest improperly reported approximately $3 billion in revenue that eased its 2000 merger with US West. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit on Monday upheld [PDF text] a lower court decision blocking a Minnesota law [text; JURIST news archive] imposing fines on minors who purchase adult-rated video games. A US district judge had blocked [JURIST report] the law that would impose a $25 fine on people under 17 found buying or renting mature or adult-rated video games. The Entertainment Software Association [trade website] had argued [press release] that the law violated the First Amendment [text] rights of consumers, while Minnesota argued that children do not have a First Amendment right to violent games. The court found that violence in video games was constitutionally protected:

Indeed, a good deal of the Bible portrays scenes of violence, and one would be hard-pressed to hold up as a proper role model the regicidal Macbeth. Although some might say that it is risible to compare the violence depicted in the examples offered by the State to that described in classical literature, such violence has been deemed by our court worthy of First Amendment protection, and there the matter stands.

[JURIST] Pakistani lawyers will hold nationwide protests if the reconstituted Supreme Court of Pakistan [official website], now packed with judges loyal to President Pervez Musharraf, tries to prevent a parliamentary reinstatement of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and other superior court judges Musharraf ousted [JURIST report] last year, Pakistani Supreme Court Bar Association President Aitzaz Ahsan [PILDAT profile; JURIST news archive] said Monday. Ahsan made the comments at the end of a Supreme Court session that is thought to have been convened to issue a stay to block parliament from passing any resolution to reinstate the dismissed judges. The court is expected to issue its ruling, which may hold that parliament needs a two-thirds majority to pass the resolution, on Tuesday. Reuters has more.

The new coalition government [JURIST report] formed by the Pakistan People's Party and Pakistan Muslim League [party websites] has vowed to establish a fully independent judiciary, saying that they will work together to reinstate judges [JURIST reports] who were dismissed by Musharraf last year. Leaders of the new coalition government say a resolution to that effect will be passed within 30 days of the new parliament's first meeting, which took place Monday.

[JURIST] Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda asked Peruvian President Alan Garcia during talks in Tokyo Monday to ensure that former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] is treated fairly during his ongoing trial on murder and kidnapping charges [JURIST report], which stem from the military killings of 25 people in 1991 and 1992. In response, Garcia said he would see that Fujimori, who is also a Japanese citizen, receives an "objective and fair trial."

In December, Fujimori apologized [JURIST report] during the trial for his role in two massacres which occurred during his administration in the early 1990s. The victims included a professor and nine students killed during the so-called La Cantuta massacre [backgrounder] at Lima's La Cantuta University, along with 15 people killed in Lima's Barrios Altos neighborhood. Fujimori claimed that he did not authorize and did not have any knowledge of the killings, which were likely part of a war on Shining Path rebels [FAS backgrounder] in the country. AP has more.

[JURIST] An Australian parliamentarian Monday introduced a bill [text] in the Parliament of Australia [official website] that would call for the appointment of an independent reviewer to evaluate Australia's counterterrorism laws. Petro Georgiou [official profile] of the Liberal Party [party website] noted that more than 30 counterterrorism measures have been introduced in Australia [JURIST news archive] in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001, and said that an independent reviewer will help safeguard civil liberties. Australian Attorney-General Robert McClelland [official website] has not yet had an opportunity to review the proposed legislation, a spokesperson said. Australia's ABC News has more.

Australia's current anti-terror laws [ANS materials], including the Anti-Terrorism Act 2005 [JURIST document; JURIST report], give police greater search and seizure powers and also allow them to detain terror suspects for up to two weeks without charge.

[JURIST] Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] sharply criticized Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in a Monday address to the Indian Supreme Court and its bar, saying that Musharraf's ouster of Pakistani Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry [JURIST news archive] and other superior court judges in November after proclaiming emergency rule was "a serious blow to the rule of law" in Pakistan. Phillips praised Pakistani lawyers and the public for protesting the ousters, and said that judicial independence and the rule of law are essential elements of democracy. He said that an independent judiciary must be able to review government actions "without fear or favor." IANS has more.

Pakistani lawyers renewed their protests [JURIST report] against the regime earlier this month to mark the one-year anniversary of Chaudhry's ouster. The coalition government [JURIST report] newly formed by the Pakistan People's Party and Pakistan Muslim League [party websites] has vowed to establish a fully independent judiciary, saying that they will work together to reinstate the judges [JURIST reports] dismissed by Musharraf last year.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] on Monday agreed to hear eight cases [Order List, PDF], including FCC v. Fox Television Stations (07-582) [docket; cert. petition, PDF], where the Court will review a June 2007 ruling [JURIST report] by the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit which vacated [opinion, PDF] a determination [FCC order] by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) [official website] that two Fox Television broadcasts violated the FCC's indecency and profanity prohibitions. The appeals court ruled that the FCC's "fleeting expletives" standard "represented a significant departure from positions previously taken by the agency and relied on by the broadcast industry," and violated the Administrative Procedure Act [text] because the FCC failed to articulate a reasoned basis for its change in policy. The two alleged indecency violations were unscripted expletives uttered during the 2002 and 2003 Billboard Music Awards. When the case is heard in the fall, it will mark the Court's first major examination of broadcast indecency in 30 years. AP has more.

The Court also agreed to hear Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts (07-591) [docket; cert. petition, PDF], a case presenting the issue of whether the Confrontation Clause [LII backgrounder] as set forth in Crawford v. Washington [opinion] requires that a forensic expert who prepared a lab report testify at trial as to his methods or whether prosecutors can present the report at trial without requiring its author to be available for live testimony. AP has more.

The Court also granted certiorari in Bartlett v. Strickland (07-689) [docket; cert. petition, PDF] in which it will consider whether a racial minority group that comprises less than 50 percent of a district's population can file a vote dilution claim under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, 42 USC § 1973 [text]. The North Carolina Supreme Court ruled [opinion, PDF] that the Act only applies to districts where the minority population constitutes 50 percent or more of voters. AP has more.

The Court also agreed to hear Waddington v. Sarausad (07-772) [docket; cert. petition, PDF], in which it will consider whether a ruling [PDF text] by the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit correctly overturned the murder conviction of a driver in a 1994 Seattle drive-by shooting on the grounds of incorrect jury instructions on accomplice liability. AP has more.

In Negusie v. Mukasey (07-499) [docket; cert. petition, PDF], the Court will consider whether an Eritrean man who was forced against his will into military service in his home country during a war between Eritrea and Ethiopia and made to participate in persecution can be denied asylum for those actions.

In Vaden v. Discover Bank (07-773) [docket; cert. petition, PDF], the Court will consider whether federal courts have jurisdiction in a lawsuit seeking to enforce an arbitration agreement under state law.

In Jimenez v. Quarterman (07-6984) [docket], the Court will consider whether the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit correctly allowed an appeal by an inmate seeking an extension to file a federal habeas corpus challenge, after he had been denied review in state courts.

Finally, in Oregon v. Ice (07-901) [docket; cert. petition, PDF], the Court will consider whether it is unconstitutional for a judge to order a man to serve consecutive rather than concurrent sentences for burglary and sex offense convictions when a judge rather than a jury determined that the crimes arose out of separate offenses. SCOTUSblog has more on all of Monday's cert. grants.

[JURIST] Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court on Monday upheld a July 2007 decision refusing to grant medical release [JURIST report] to jailed opposition leader Ayman Nour [advocacy website; JURIST news archive]. The court reportedly held that Nour, who suffers from heart disease and diabetes, can receive adequate medical treatment in prison and that his health is therefore not in danger. Nour was convicted [JURIST report] in 2005 of forging signatures on documents registering his Al-Ghad Party [party website] for presidential elections. He was sentenced to five years in jail.

Last May, an Egyptian criminal court rejected [JURIST report] a plea by a public prosecutor for Nour's early release. Nour has said the charges against him were politically motivated and his wife has accused the Egyptian police of abusing Nour [Reuters report] in custody. In 2005, the United States said it was "deeply troubled by the conviction" and urged Egypt to release Nour [WH press release]. International rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, called his trial unfair and flawed [HRW report]. AP has more.

[JURIST] The violence that wracked Kenya after the nation's disputed 2007 presidential election [JURIST report] was carefully organized by "local leaders, politicians, and businessmen from all sides," according to a report [HRW materials; press release] released Monday by Human Rights Watch [advocacy website]. Based on over 200 interviews with witnesses and perpetrators of the violence, the report found that attacks on supporters of Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki [official profile], largely members of the Kikuyu tribe, were planned and organized by local leaders. Reprisal attacks by Kikuyu militias were similarly organized:

The Kikuyu militias who struck in late January were organized, paid, and directed by local leaders, businessmen, and, in some cases, [Party of National Unity (PNU)] councillors and mobilizers. The extent to which the local organizers were in touch with senior PNU politicians or members of the government is unclear. But circumstantial evidence suggests that senior members of the government may have been aware of what was going on.

[JURIST] The human rights situation in Iraq is "disastrous" [press release] five years after the US-led invasion of the country, according to a report [PDF text] from Amnesty International [advocacy website] released Monday. According to the report's introduction:

Five years after the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussain, Iraq is one of the most dangerous countries in the world. Hundreds of people are being killed every month in the pervasive violence, while countless lives are threatened every day by poverty, cuts to power and water supplies, food and medical shortages, and rising violence against women and girls. Sectarian hatred has torn apart families and neighbourhoods that once lived together in harmony.

Despite the heavy US and Iraqi military and police presence, law and order remain a distant prospect. The US-led Multinational Force (MNF) and the Iraqi government formed from political parties that gained from or emerged out of the 2003 invasion have failed to institute the rule of law, uphold human rights, bring peace and security, or end impunity.

[JURIST] The Constitutional Court of Turkey [official website, English version] on Monday said it will decide whether to consider a bid to disband the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) [party website, in Turkish] within ten days, adding that the court is in the process of appointing a rapporteur to investigate the case. Chief prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya [official profile, in Turkish] petitioned the court last week to disband the AKP and bar Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul [BBC profiles] from political office. Yalcinkaya alleges that the AKP is the "focal point of anti-secular activities" and that the party "has tried to chip away at the principles of secularism."

On Saturday, Erdogan criticized the bid to disband the AKP [JURIST report], saying it was a "step against the national will." The AKP, which emerged in 2001 from a banned Islamist party, took 47 percent of the vote in the national parliamentary elections last July. The AKP controls the offices of the prime minister and president, and dominates the 550-seat parliament with 340 lawmakers. The Constitutional Court has banned several Islamist parties in the past, including the Welfare Party, which led Turkey's first pro-Islamist government for nearly a year, for violating constitutional obligations to respect Turkey's strict secular principles. AKP has long been at odds with Turkey's secular establishment; the party prompted backlash from the Republican People's Party [official website] most recently for the passage of a constitutional amendment easing a ban on Islamic headscarves [JURIST report] in universities. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Exiled Tibetan spiritual and political leader Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama [personal website; BBC profile] on Sunday accused China of committing "cultural genocide" [recorded video] in Tibet, and said he will not call for an end to ongoing protests [BBC backgrounder] in the region. He reiterated the right of Tibetans to protest peacefully and urged that an international investigation be launched into China's tactics in suppressing the protests, sparked by concerns that non-ethnic Tibetan migrants are threatening to dilute the traditional Tibetan culture. The Dalai Lama also refused to ask protesters to surrender to Chinese authorities by midnight on Monday, the deadline set by government authorities.

The protests, which began last Monday, escalated into violence Friday as protesters attacked police vehicles, non-Tibetans migrants, and businesses. On Sunday, the Chinese government blocked Internet access [JURIST report] to the video-sharing website YouTube after videos of the recent government crackdown appeared on the site. The Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet in 1959 after the failure of a Tibetan rebellion, currently advocates Tibetan autonomy rather than Tibetan independence from China. The Chinese government has long faced criticism for financial neglect of the region, religious persecution, the destruction of Buddhist temples, and brutality towards Tibetan dissidents, though concerns eased somewhat after "Open Door" reforms were implemented in the 1980s under international pressure. Even with the marginal gains, rights groups still criticize the China for ongoing human rights violations [HRW materials] targeted at Tibetans, and many call for the total independence [advocacy website] of the currently "semi-autonomous" region. The New York Times has more.

[JURIST] Newly elected members of the National Assembly of Pakistan [official website] took their oaths of office Monday, marking a shift in power to a new majority opposed to Pakistani President Pervez Musharaf [BBC profile; JURIST news archive]. Though neither party won an outright majority in February's parliamentary elections, the Pakistan People's Party and Pakistan Muslim League [party websites] have formed a coalition government and have vowed to establish a fully independent judiciary, saying that they will reinstate judges [JURIST reports] who were dismissed by Musharraf last year. The new government will begin considering legislation later this month.

The two coalition government parties signed an agreement [text; JURIST report] earlier this month outlining priorities for the new parliamentary session. Under the agreement, parliament will vote within the next month on the reinstatement of judges. AP has more.

[JURIST] Three former police officers have been convicted and sentenced to jail by a Ukrainian court for their roles in carrying out the murder of prominent Ukraine opposition journalist Heorhiy Gongadze [BBC report]. Mykola Protasov was sentenced Saturday to 13 years, while Valeriy Kostenko and Oleksandr Popovych each received a 12-year sentence. The trial of the former police officers began in 2006 [JURIST report], but those who ordered the murder have yet to be found, and authorities are still searching for former Interior Ministry surveillance chief Oleksiy Pukach who is wanted for his role in the murder.

Gongadze was an outspoken critic of former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma [BBC profile], who was later implicated in the murder [JURIST report] through secret recordings, but denies any involvement. AP has more. AFP has additional coverage.