[JURIST] Italy's Constitutional Court [official website, in Italian] was asked Saturday to rule on a new law granting top Italian lawmakers immunity from prosecution [JURIST report] while in office as a judge in Milan formally suspended a long-running corruption case against Italian Prime Minister and media magnate Silvio Berlusconi [JURIST news archive]. For the last 18 months Berlusconi and lawyer David Mills have been on trial in connection with an alleged agreement by Mills to testify on Berlusconi's behalf in another proceeding in return for $600,000. In June the judge presiding over the trial said that hearings in the case would continue [JURIST report] despite a request for her removal by Berlusconi's lawyers. The final passage of the immunity bill in July at the behest of the new Berlusconi government forced suspension of the trial, although the case against Berlusconi could resume if the high court rules against the law. The proceeding against Mills will continue. AFP has more. Corriere della Serra has local coverage [in Italian].

Italy has recently faced significant criticism by both advocacy groups and members of the country's judiciary [JURIST reports] for relaxing its anti-corruption measures. The majority of the criticism has been targeted at Berlusconi, who has faced trial on at least six occasions involving charges of false accounting, tax fraud, money laundering, embezzlement, and giving false testimony [JURIST reports]. In October 2007, Italy's highest court of appeals upheld Berlusconi's April 2007 acquittal [JURIST reports] on bribery charges. That trial was initially blocked in 2004 by a bill drafted by Berlusconi ally and later defense lawyer Gaetano Pecorella but went ahead after the bill was struck down as unconstitutional.

[JURIST] US Department of Justice officials announced Friday that a private security company contracted by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) [official website] and four of its executives and employees have been charged with conspiracy, major fraud and wire fraud [press release] in connection with alleged efforts to interfere with US military and reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan. Delmar Dwayne Spier, Barbara Edens Spier, William Felix Dupre, and Behzad Mehr all worked for United States Protection and Investigation (USPI) [corporate website] based in Houston. Commenting on the charges, Assistant Inspector General for Investigations Adrienne R. Rish said that

USAID and the American companies it relies upon to deliver development programs throughout the world must always be steadfast protectors of U.S. taxpayer funds. As highlighted by this indictment, the USAID Office of Inspector General will vigorously pursue the investigation and prosecution of fraudulent activities and hold accountable those who would attempt to violate the provisions of this integral component of the U.S. foreign assistance program.