[JURIST] The Malaysian government on Monday introduced a bill [text, PDF] that would set up a committee to discipline judges who violate the country's judicial ethics code. The Judges' Ethics Committee Bill 2008 was tabled [Bernama reoprt] Monday by the Dewan Rakyat [official website], the Malaysian parliament, and will be considered at a later date. If passed, the legislation would allow judges suspected of an ethics violation to be referred to the committee, which would hold an in camera review of the judge's conduct.

The bill comes amid widespread allegations of corruption in the Malaysian justice system. Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], who faces sodomy charges, has denounced the system [JURIST report], saying he has no confidence in it. Last week, Malaysian Prime Minister introduced [Malaysia Star report] the Judicial Appointments Commission bill [text, PDF], that sets up a committee for appointing judges. That bill has also been tabled.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] on Monday granted certiorari, vacated, and remanded [order list, PDF] the case of Rasul v. Myers [docket; cert. petition, PDF] for further consideration in light of the Court's June decision in Boumediene v. Bush [opinion, PDF; JURIST report]. The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF; JURIST report] on the case five months before Boumediene was decided, holding that four former Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainees do not have the right to sue high-ranking government officials for alleged torture and infringement of religious practice during their captivity. In Boumediene, the Court held that federal courts have jurisdiction to review habeas corpus petitions filed by Guantanamo detainees who have been classified as "enemy combatants."

UK citizens Shafiq Rasul, Asif Iqbal, Rhuhel Ahmed, and Jamal Al-Harith were released from Guantanamo in March 2004. In May 2004, Rasul and Iqbal said in an open letter to US President George W. Bush that they had suffered abuse at Guantanamo [JURIST report] similar to that perpetrated at Abu Ghraib [JURIST news archive] prison in Iraq. The Center for Constitutional Rights [advocacy website] filed a lawsuit [JURIST report] on their behalf in October 2004 against former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Richard Meyers, and others alleging [complaint] "deliberate and foreseeable action taken . . . to flout or evade the United States Constitution, federal statutory law, United States treaty obligations and long established norms of customary international law." The circuit court affirmed the district court's ruling dismissing the plaintiff's claims under the Alien Tort Statute [text] for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The court dismissed the plaintiffs' claims under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act [text], finding that they did not have the right to sue for infringement of religious rights because they are aliens who were not in the US at the time of the alleged acts. The plaintiffs petitioned the Court for review [JURIST report] in August.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] ruled [opinion, PDF] 5-4 Monday in Altria Group v. Good [Cornell LII backgrounder; JURIST report] that the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act [text] does not bar state lawsuits based on allegedly deceptive cigarette advertising. The case was brought by three Maine smokers who accused Philip Morris [corporate website] of presenting light cigarettes as less harmful than they really are. Justice John Paul Stevens wrote for the majority:

We conclude . . . that the Labeling Act does not pre-empt state-law claims like respondents' that are predicated on the duty not to deceive. We also hold that the FTC's various decisions with respect to statements of tar and nicotine content do not impliedly pre-empt respondents' claim. Respondents still must prove that petitioners' use of "light" and "lowered tar" descriptors in fact violated the state deceptive practices statute, but neither the Labeling Act's pre-emption provision nor the FTC's actions in this field prevent a jury from considering that claim.

Applying the proper test — i.e., whether a jury verdict on respondents' claims would "impos[e] an obligation" on the cigarette manufacturer "because of the effect of smoking upon health," respondents' state-law claims are expressly pre-empted by § 5(b) of the Labeling Act. [citations omitted]

[JURIST] Former US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] lawyer Thomas Tamm told Newsweek in an article published Sunday that he blew the whistle on the Bush administration's controversial warrantless domestic surveillance program [JURIST news archive] because "it didn't smell right" [Newsweek report]. Newsweek said that Tamm, whose home was raided last year by federal agents, said that he leaked information about the program to the New York Times 18 months before the Times broke the story [NYT report; JURIST report] about the program in 2005. Tamm, who left the DOJ in 2006, said, "I thought this [secret program] was something the other branches of the government — and the public — ought to know about. So they could decide: do they want this massive spying program to be taking place?" He called it "stunning" that officials higher up did not blow the whistle sooner.

Last month, a federal judge ordered the DOJ to release legal memoranda [JURIST report] relating to the warrantless domestic surveillance program. In December 2007, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) [official backgrounder] denied [JURIST report] an ACLU motion [JURIST report] asking the court to "disclose recent legal opinions discussing the scope of the government's authority to engage in secret wiretapping of Americans." In September, a class action suit was filed [JURIST report] against the National Security Agency (NSA) [official website] seeking injunctive, declaratory, and equitable relief against the program. A previous class action suit [JURIST report] had been filed in 2006. In 2007, former head of the DOJ Office of Legal Counsel [official website] Jack Landman Goldsmith [academic profile] testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee [official website] that he "could not find the legal support for" [JURIST report] portions of warrantless domestic surveillance program during his tenure with DOJ.

[JURIST] Russian authorities on Sunday arrested [RIA Novosti report] former chess champion and Russian opposition political activist Garry Kasparov [personal website, in Russian; JURIST news archive] and others as they met to form a new political opposition group. Kasparaov's new organization [RIA Novosti report], Solidarnost, is reportedly an outgrowth an umbrella group, Other Russia, of which Kasparov's organization United Civil Front [party website, in Russian] was a member. The goal of Solidarnost is reportedly to "dismantle" the Putin regime [AFP report] in Russia. The protest is partially over a recently passed bill extending the presidential term [JURIST report] from four to six years. The protesters were arrested as they arrived [NYT report] at the organizational meeting, indicating police foreknowledge of the event.

This is not the first time Kasparov has been arrested at protests against alleged infringements of rights and constitutional freedoms in Russia. In November 2007, Kasparov was arrested [JURIST report] at a demonstration in Moscow against President Vladimir Putin [official website], two weeks before parliamentary elections. He accused police of brutality after being arrested [JURIST reports] at a similar rally in April 2007. Kasparov and fellow opposition leader former Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov [BBC profile] have strongly criticized Putin and his allies in the run-up to December parliamentary elections and March 2008 presidential election. Kasparov has accused Putin of instituting a police state and creating a puppet judiciary [JURIST report] to persecute opposition leaders.

[JURIST] UK financial firm Bramdean Alternatives Limited [corporate website] raised concerns [statement, DOC] Saturday about the US financial regulatory process in the wake of Thursday's arrest of former NASDAQ [official website] chairman Bernard Madoff for a $50 billion fraud scheme [JURIST report]. Bramdean's value dropped by more than 35 percent [BBC report] over news of its exposure to the fraud, which was disclosed by US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) [official website] charges [complaint, PDF; SEC press release] filed on Thursday in New York against Madoff and his firm, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC [archived website]. Bramdean's statement said, "The alleged failure raises fundamental questions about the regulatory system under which this has happened and no doubt this will be the subject of intense debate as the facts emerge." Several foreign financial institutions have been affected by the scandal, including Royal Bank of Scotland, Man Group, and Santander [corporate websites].

Madoff has been charged with violating the anti-fraud provisions of the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 [texts]. Madoff allegedly told two employees of his firm Wednesday that his investment advisory business was a fraud. According to the complaint, Madoff "stated that he was 'finished,' that he had 'absolutely nothing,' that 'it's all just one big lie,' and that it was 'basically, a giant Ponzi scheme.'" Madoff was released on bail [AP report] Thursday, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for January 12. Madoff, 70, founded his investment firm in 1960. He has served as chairman of the board of directors of the NASDAQ stock market and was a member of the board of governors of the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD). According to his firm's website, it ranked among the top 1 percent of US securities firms.

[JURIST] The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs [official website] Sunday denied entry to and deported the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights on Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Richard Falk [academic profile]. Falk was attempting to enter Israel in his official capacity for the first time since assuming his position in May. As special rapporteur, Falk is responsible for advocating for the human rights of Palestinians in the occupied territories, and providing the UN Human Rights Council [official website] with reports and information regarding the human rights situation there. According to reports, Falk was denied entry to Israel because his visit had not been coordinated with the Israeli government [UPI report]. Several Palestinian rights organizations demanded that the Israeli Interior Minister and Attorney General lift the entry ban on Falk [Ha'aretz report], characterizing his office as an important safeguard for Palestinian human rights.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced in April that Falk would not be allowed to enter Israel [JURIST report] because of accusations against him of bias and his past comments calling Israeli actions against Palestinians a "Holocaust in the making." In October 2007, former Special Rapporteur John Dugard [academic profile] said that the UN must better address human rights violations committed in the Palestinian territories [JURIST report]. He has also previously criticized Israel's continued military presence in the region, comparing it to South African apartheid [JURIST report]. Dugard was appointed in 2001 as an independent expert by the now-defunct UN Commission on Human Rights to investigate Israeli rights violations. Israel and the US have dismissed his reports as one-sided.

[JURIST] Former Illinois Governor George Ryan [JURIST news archive] on Friday issued his first public apology [text] for the crimes that resulted in his imprisonment. Ryan's apology comes in the wake of last week's arrest [JURIST report] of current Governor Rod Blagojevich [official website] on corruption charges. In a letter that will be added to his clemency petition filed recently with the White House, Ryan wrote:

I want to make things right in my heart with God, with my family, and with those that I have hurt. As a former public official, a husband, a father, and a grandfather, I apologize. Even though I cannot undo my mistakes, I hope I can restore some faith in your hearts and minds by opening up and sharing these thoughts. And even though it took time for me to come to this place, in the end my goal is to do the right thing, no matter how tardy or flawed.

[JURIST] The Central Criminal Court of Iraq (CCCI) is inefficient and ineffective, with detainees waiting months or years for trials that do not meet international fair trial standards, according to a report [text, PDF; press release] released Sunday by Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website]. The report, titled "The Quality of Justice: Failings of Iraq's Central Criminal Court," alleges that the court relies heavily on testimony of secret informants and coerced confessions. It also describes cases where defendants have waited as long as two years for a hearing with lawyers having little or no access to their clients or case files. The report states:

The CCCI is the country’s flagship criminal justice institution. Yet it is an institution that is seriously failing to meet international standards of due process and fair trials. Defendants often endure long periods of pretrial detention without judicial review, and are not able to pursue a meaningful defense or challenge evidence against them. Abuse in detention, typically with the aim of extracting confessions, appears common, thus tainting court proceedings in those cases.

[JURIST] US Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff [official profile] on Sunday told [transcript text] the BBC that before closing the military prison at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive], President-elect Barack Obama must have a plan for dealing with the detainees. In an appearance on The Andrew Marr Show, Chertoff said that there must be a system in place for determining whether detainees can be returned to their home countries, and a plan for what to do with those detainees that cannot be returned. Chertoff said:

Well my advice [to Obama] would be to take a deep breath and try to put together a plan that would sort between the various categories of detainee. Some I think can be sent back and we've been doing that. Some will not be able to be sent back and we need to have a legal process to resolve their cases in a way that is fair to them, but also takes account of the special problem of trying people where there is national security evidence.