[JURIST] US President W. George Bush on Tuesday issued presidential pardons [DOJ materials] to 19 people convicted of crimes that ranged from drug trafficking to forging US Treasury checks. Among those pardoned was Charles Thompson Winters, who was convicted of exporting military aircraft to Israel in 1948 in violation of the Neutrality Act of 1939 [text]. Winters, who was seen as a hero to Israelis during their war of independence in 1948, is only the second person to be granted a pardon posthumously [NYT report]. Bush also commuted the prison term of an Iowa man sentenced to life in prison for possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.

Many convicted felons, including several well-known figures, are seeking clemency [JURIST report] from Bush before he leaves office. Among those said to have applied are financier Michael Milken [Forbes profile; personal website], former congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham [JURIST report] and former Louisiana governor Edwin Edwards [official profile]. Presidential pardons are granted under Article II section 2 [text] of the US Constitution which gives the president the "power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment." The US Department of Justice Office of the Pardon Attorney [official website] accepts clemency applications for Presidential review and determines if the applicants meet the necessary requirements [Executive Clemency Rules, text]. Bush has issued a total of 171 pardons in his seven years as president, among the fewest of any president [US DOJ clemency statistics] since World War II.

[JURIST] Germany filed a lawsuit [ICJ press release, PDF] against Italy in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) [official website] Tuesday in a bid to block new claims for personal damages resulting from Nazi actions in World War II. Germany is arguing that an October decision [JURIST report] by Italy's Court of Cassation [official website, =Italian] which ordered Germany to pay 1 million euros (USD $1.3 million) in damages to relatives of civilians killed in the town of Civitella during the war, violated the principle of state immunity [DW report]. In its application to the court, Germany asserted:

In recent years, Italian judicial bodies have repeatedly disregarded the jurisdictional immunity of Germany as a sovereign State. The critical stage of that development was reached by the judgment of the Corte di Cassazione of 11 March 2004 in the Ferrini case, where [that court] declared that Italy held jurisdiction with regard to a claim . . . brought by a person who during World War II had been deported to Germany to perform forced labour in the armaments industry. After this judgment had been rendered, numerous other proceedings were instituted against Germany before Italian courts by persons who had also suffered injury as a consequence of the armed conflict.

[JURIST] The Iraqi parliament Tuesday approved an agreement that will permit 6,000 troops from the United Kingdom, Australia, Romania, and Estonia to remain in the country for a limited time after the current UN mandate [UN press release] authorizing the multi-national force in Iraq expires on December 31, 2008. The vote came after Sunni speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani offered his resignation. The vote was delayed [JURIST report] Monday due to rising tensions between members of parliament and al-Mashhadani, who last week called some parliamentarians "sons of dogs" during a debate over the fate of Iraqi shoe-throwing journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi [JURIST report]. Under the agreement, foreign troops may remain in Iraq through 2009. El Salvador announced Tuesday that it would withdraw its troops by the end of the month.

US troops may remain in Iraq until 2011 under a separate Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) [text, PDF; CFR backgrounder] approved [JURIST report] earlier this month. The SOFA was approved by the Iraq cabinet and the Iraq parliament [JURIST reports] in November. In addition to the official deadlines for troop withdrawal, it gives Iraqi courts limited jurisdiction over American military personnel and eliminates immunity [JURIST reports] for US defense contractors working within Iraq.