[JURIST] A five-judge panel of the UK's Law Lords [official website] ruled [judgment] unanimously Wednesday that Islamic cleric Abu Qatada [BBC profile] could be deported to Jordan despite fears he might be tortured upon his arrival. Qatada, accused of being one of Osama bin Laden's chief associates in Europe, faces terrorism charges in Jordan, which his lawyers say are based on evidence obtained through torture. British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith [official website] said that she would try to deport Qatada [statement] as soon as possible. Amnesty International [advocacy website] questioned [press release] the government's reliance on "diplomatic assurances" that deportation would not lead to human rights violations. Qatada's lawyers plan to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights [official website]. The panel also approved the deportation of two Algerian terror suspects.

The Law Lords overruled the April 2008 Court of Appeal decision blocking [JURIST report] Qatada's deportation. Qatada was originally ordered deported [JURIST report] in February 2007. He was expected to be one of the first terror suspects to be deported under the UK's 2005 extradition oversight agreement [JURIST report] with Jordan.

[JURIST] German Chancellor Angela Merkel [official website, in German] announced [press release, in German] Wednesday that her cabinet had agreed on a draft bill [PDF text, in German] that would allow the government to forcibly nationalize some ailing financial institutions. The bill apparently targets Hypo Real Estate (HRE) [corporate website], a holding company that, despite receiving over 87 billion euros in bailout money, has not recovered. Merkel said [interview transcript, in German] Monday that the country faces a "crisis that is extraordinary" and that implementing the nationalization measure would be a "last resort." It is likely that a decision to enforce the bill, which would expropriate obstructionist shareholders, would be challenged in Germany's Constitutional Court [official website].

The bill is especially controversial because of Germany's Nazi and Communist heritage. The British government moved in the direction of nationalizing several UK banks [Telegraph report] last October. The continuing financial crisis has shifted global focus to new overall regulatory schemes beyond combating mortgage and investment fraud [JURIST reports] in the US.

[JURIST] The Czech Republic's Chamber of Deputies [official website], the lower house of the nation's parliament, on Wednesday approved [press release] the European Union (EU) reform pact known as the Treaty of Lisbon [EU materials; text]. The approval brings the treaty closer to full ratification by the EU's 27 member states, though it still must pass the nation's Senate [official website], be signed by President Vaclav Klaus [official website] and face a referendum in Ireland [JURIST report]. The measure is expected to draw rigorous debate in the Senate, where some leaders want to delay ratification [ODS press release] until the parliament approves a plan to host a radar base for a US missile defense system. If the agreement does pass the Senate, Klaus has expressed a desire to put off signing it until the issue is resolved in Ireland.

The Czech Republic, which currently holds the EU's six-month, rotating presidency, has faced pressure from EU states to approve the agreement after delays, including a failed constitutional challenge [JURIST report]. Irish voters rejected [JURIST report] the treaty in a June 2008 referendum, prompting Polish President Lech Kaczynski [official website] to refuse [JURIST report] to sign, calling it "pointless." In November 2008, Sweden became the 24th EU state to ratify the charter [JURIST report]. In 2005, a proposed European constitution [JURIST news archive] failed when voters in France and the Netherlands [JURIST reports] rejected the proposal in national referenda.

[JURIST] A panel of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit [official website] on Wednesday reversed [opinion, PDF] an October district court order [opinion and order, PDF; JURIST report] that would have provided for the release of 17 Uighur Guantanamo Bay [JURIST report] detainees into the US. Lawyers for the detainees had argued [response brief, PDF; JURIST report] that the Uighur's continued detention was improper, but the DC Circuit agreed with the government's position [appeal brief, PDF] that admission of aliens into the US was a decision for either the executive or legislative branch, and that the detainees were not denied a statutory or constitutional right by being excluded. Writing for the majority, Judge Raymond Randolph wrote that the requirements for aliens to be admitted to the US were the exclusive purview of the political branches of government and that it was beyond the court's authority to grant their admission to the country:

For more than a century, the Supreme Court has recognized the power to exclude aliens as "'inherent in sovereignty, necessary for maintaining normal international relations and defending the country against foreign encroachments and dangers – a power to be exercised exclusively by the political branches of government'" and not "granted away or restrained on behalf of any one." Ever since the decision in the Chinese Exclusion Case, the Court has, without exception, sustained the exclusive power of the political branches to decide which aliens may, and which aliens may not, enter the United States, and on what terms. [citations omitted]

[JURIST] Kenyan prime minister Raila Odinga [official website] said Tuesday that the country has been granted two additional months to form a special tribunal to hear cases surrounding Kenya's 2007 post-election violence [JURIST report]. Odinga said that Koffi Annan [official profile], who facilitated the power-sharing agreement [JURIST report] between Odinga and Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki [official profile], would give the country until May [Standard report] to constitute the tribunal before referring the cases to the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website]. The original deadline for the tribunal's creation was March 1, but Odinga requested the extension following the defeat [JURIST report] of a bill to establish the tribunal in the Kenyan Parliament [official website] last week.

Earlier this week, Odinga maintained [press release; JURIST report] that the government would be able to convene the court despite parliamentary opposition and allegations [JURIST report] that government officials had attempted to bribe or blackmail MPs into voting for its creation. More than 1,000 people were killed and more than 500,000 were displaced by violence following allegations of fraud [JURIST report] in the country's 2007 presidential election. The defeated legislation was proposed [JURIST report] by Kenya's Commission of Inquiry into Post-Election Violence [JURIST report] in October 2008.

[JURIST] The Judiciary of Iran [official website, in Persian] announced Tuesday that it has submitted proposed legislation to the Iranian Parliament [official website] recommending substantial changes to the treatment of juvenile offenders in Iran [JURIST news archive]. The legislation seeks to amend [IranVNC report] the classification of minors into three age groups - 7-12, 12-15, and 15-18 - to allow for more appropriate sentencing of offenders. The judiciary further recommends that the death penalty [JURIST news archive] be used only if it can be demonstrated that the offenders possessed the maturity to understand the implication of their crimes. The new age classifications also seek to limit [AFP report] time spent in jail. A juvenile under 15 who commits a crime may receive little or no time in a juvenile prison for a crime that, when committed by an adult, would result in substantial jail time.

The proposed legislation signals further change from previous attitudes concerning the punishment of minor offenders. In October, the Judiciary banned [JURIST report] the imposition of the death penalty for drug-related offenses. Iran has previously been heavily criticized by human rights groups for imposing the death penalty on minors. In September, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) [official website] urged Iran to ban the use of the death penalty [UN News Centre report; JURIST report] against juvenile offenders. Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] has said that Iran leads the world in executing the most people for crimes committed as children [press release].

[JURIST] The French National Assembly [official website, in French] approved a bill [text, in French] Tuesday to provide government subsidies to individuals who temporarily leave work to care for dying relatives. The proposed law states that family members will be paid a "daily allowance to accompany a dying person" for a maximum of three weeks. Supporters of the bill said in a session meeting of the National Assembly [transcript, in French] that a primary objective in passing the bill was to make it possible for an individual to die at home with family and further encourage family solidarity at the end of life. The National Assembly, the lower house of the French Parliament [JURIST archive] passed [AP report] the bill with unanimous support. Before it can become law in France, the Senate [official website, in French] must vote to approve the bill, which observers say is likely.

Tuesday's bill will extend the benefits of an existing law that allows for individuals to take as many as sixth months of unpaid leave to care for a dying family member. In the US, the Family Medical Leave Act [DOL backgrounder] requires an employer to grant an eligible employee up to 12 workweeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period to care for an immediate family member who is seriously ill. There is no US legislation to provide subsidies for workers on leave.

[JURIST] The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) [official website] charged [complaint, PDF; SEC press release] financier Allen Stanford [professional profile] Tuesday with orchestrating a fraudulent $8 billion investment scheme by selling certificates of deposits on the promise of improbably high interest rates. Stanford, through his investment companies - Stanford International Bank (SIB), Stanford Group Company (SGC) and Stanford Capital Management (SCM) [corporate websites] - is accused of violating the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940 [materials]. US District Judge Reed O'Connor issued a temporary restraining order to freeze Stanford's assets, as customers have rushed to withdraw their investments from SIB branches in Antigua and Venezuela.

Stanford faces many of the same charges as Bernard Madoff [JURIST news archive], who is accused of coordinating a multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme [JURIST report]. Last week, Madoff consented to a partial judgment [JURIST report] with the SEC over civil charges brought by the SEC to obtain a preliminary injunction and asset freeze against him. According to the SEC, the agreement will continue the previously imposed preliminary injunction, but in consenting to the agreement, Madoff will neither admit nor deny the SEC's allegations. The Stanford and Madoff charges, in concert with global economic woes, may invigorate the debate on financial regulation.

[JURIST] An Italian court on Tuesday sentenced David Mills [JURIST news archive], a British barrister and former lawyer to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi [official profile, in Italian; BBC profile], to four-and-a-half years in prison for accepting a $600,000 bribe to give false testimony [JURIST report] at two trials in 1997 and 1998 involving Berlusconi broadcasting company Mediaset [corporate website]. The verdict was announced in an as-yet unpublished opinion from Judge Nicoletta Gandus, who Berlusconi unsuccessfully attempted to remove from the trial [JURIST report] as biased last June. The judgment also ordered Mills to pay 275,000 euros in perversion of justice fines and court costs. Mills was sentenced in absentia and said that he will appeal [IGN report, in Italian] the verdict.

Mills's testimonies at issue were given during trials accusing Berlusconi of giving kickbacks to the late Socialist premier Bettino Craxi [JURIST report]. Berlusconi was acquitted of all those charges. The bribery and corruption trial against Berlusconi and Mills [JURIST report] began in 2007, but Berlusconi was removed as a defendant in July after a new law granted top Italian lawmakers immunity from prosecution [JURIST report] while in office. Italy's Constitutional Court [official website, in Italian] is now considering the legality of the law [JURIST report], and the case against Berlusconi could resume if the high court strikes it down. A judicial reform bill currently being considered by the Italian parliament [Guardian report] could further stall Berlusconi's trial even if the immunity law is rejected by the high court, as a clause in the bill would require the court to restart the proceeding from the beginning.

[JURIST] A judge in the US District Court for the District of Columbia [official website] on Tuesday rejected two motions challenging the court's ability to hear the case filed on behalf of five indicted Blackwater USA [corporate website; JURIST news archive] guards involved in the September 2007 killings of 17 Iraqi civilians [JURIST report]. Lawyers for the defendants asserted that the proceedings should be held in Utah court, contrary to a December order from a federal magistrate judge in Salt Lake City agreeing with the Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] that the case should remain in the District of Columbia [JURIST report]. The defendants also argued that because charges under Section 3261 of the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA) [text] can only be brought against military contractors "to the extent [their] employment relates to supporting the mission of the Department of Defense overseas," the defendants' duties of providing security for US Department of State officials fell outside the statute. Judge Ricardo Urbina denied the motions to dismiss, declaring that jurisdiction lies in the District of Columbia, and reserving for trial the issue of whether the defendants engaged in military support. The trial is currently set for February 2010.

The five guards were indicted [text, PDF; JURIST report] in December on charges of voluntary manslaughter, attempt to commit manslaughter, and using and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, which carries a 30-year mandatory minimum sentence. The guards pleaded not guilty [JURIST report] in January. A sixth guard pleaded guilty [text, PDF] to charges of voluntary manslaughter and attempt to commit manslaughter for his role in the same incident. In January, the newly implemented Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) [CFR materials; McClatchy translation] gave Iraq full autonomy to decide which private security forces may operate there, and an Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman announced last month that the country would not renew its contract [JURIST report] with Blackwater Worldwide [corporate website] due to the September 2007 incident. Soon after, the US State Department announced that it will not renew its contract with Blackwater Worldwide [JURIST report] to protect American diplomats in Iraq when it expires in May.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit [official website] upheld [text, PDF; NYC press release] Tuesday a New York City law that requires chain restaurants to post caloric content information on their menus and menu boards in an effort to address obesity rates. The court ruled that New York City Health Code Section 81.50 [NYC Health Department guide, PDF] is not preempted by the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 [FDA backgrounder]. The court also declined to issue a motion for preliminary injunction in favor of the New York State Restaurant Association (NYSRA) [advocacy website], finding that the code provisions do not violate the First Amendment [text] rights of restaurant owners who "do not want to communicate to their customers that calorie amounts should be prioritized among other nutritional amounts." According to the court:

Congress intended to exempt restaurant food from the preemption sections that are necessary to allow food to be sold interstate. In requiring chain restaurants to post calorie information on their menus, New York City merely stepped into a sphere that Congress intentionally left open to state and local governments. Furthermore, although the restaurants are protected by the Constitution when they engage in commercial speech, the First Amendment is not violated, where as here, the law in question mandates a simple factual disclosure of caloric information and is reasonably related to New York City’s goals of combating obesity.

[JURIST] US President Barack Obama [official profile] on Tuesday signed into law the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) [materials], intended to stimulate and grow the US economy in the current recession. Along with a number of tax incentives, renewable energy funding provisions, and infrastructure project funding, the law creates a new accountability and transparency regime and website at Recovery.gov [official website] to ensure the proper usage of funds distributed under the ARRA. The new website, one of several innovative communications projects undertaken by the Obama administration, provides users with information from federal agencies receiving funds under the ARRA concerning how, when, and where the funds are spent. In remarks delivered at the signing ceremony, Obama said [text]:

With a recovery package of this size comes a responsibility to assure every taxpayer that we are being careful with the money they work so hard to earn. And that's why I'm assigning a team of managers to ensure that the precious dollars we've invested are being spent wisely and well. ... [W]e're going to hold governors and local officials who receive the money to the same high standard. And we expect you, the American people, to hold us accountable for the results. And that's why we've created Recovery.gov -- a web site so that every American can go online and see how this money is being spent and what kind of job is being created, where those jobs are being created. We want transparency and accountability throughout this process.

[JURIST] A lawyer for one of the men accused in the killing of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya [BBC obituary, JURIST news archive] alleged in his closing statements Tuesday that the prosecution's main pieces of evidence are flawed and have been fabricated. Defense lawyer Murad Musayev pointed out that phone records released by the telephone operator Megafon show evidence of manipulation. Musayev's two-hour closing statements also alleged [Moscow Times report] that the murder was actually committed by a group of professional killers who left no traces. Other irregularities during the trial have included a lost DVD [IFEX report] with footage from a security camera and claims [AP report] by the alleged organizer of the murder Sergei Khadzhikurbanov that he was offered a reduced sentence if he lied about the intellectual author of the murder. Since the trial opened in October, judge Yevgeni Zubov has closed and then opened the proceedings to the public three times [JURIST news archive], citing juror security concerns, which were denied by the jury, and the presentation of classified information.

Politkovskaya, a Novaya Gazeta reporter known for her reports on human rights abuses by Russian soldiers in Chechnya, was murdered in October 2006. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 42 journalists [JURIST report] were killed in Russia between 1992 and 2006. In its 2008 Annual Report [text], Reporters Without Borders ranked [rankings] Russia 144 of 169 countries in their press freedom index, citing authority reluctance to investigate killings, journalists forcibly sent to psychiatric hospitals, and much pressure exerted on independent media.

[JURIST] The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) [official website] on Tuesday charged [complaint, PDF] four executives from Research In Motion (RIM) [corporate website], the company that makes BlackBerry, with stock options backdating and reached a settlement agreement. The four RIM executives, co-CEOs James Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, CFO Dennis Kavelman, and VP of Finance Angelo Loberto, are accused of backdating approximately 1,400 stock option grants to coincide with historically low closing prices of RIM stock. The four are also accused of re-pricing employee stock options when RIM stock prices dropped following the granting of options to employees. According to both RIM and the SEC [press releases], the four RIM executives and the SEC have agreed to a settlement of the option backdating charges, pursuant to which the four executives will neither admit nor deny the SEC's allegations, and will pay fines of approximately $1.425 million. The SEC complaint comes nearly one week after RIM reached a settlement agreement [text, PDF] with the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) [official website] concerning RIM's stock option backdating practices. As part of the agreement [order], Balsillie, Lazardis, Kavelman, and Loberto will pay nearly CD $9.05 million in penalties, and be subject to reprimands and other professional restrictions.

The practice of backdating involves setting an option-holder's stock price at a day when stock prices were low instead of the price on the day the option was granted. Although the practice itself is not illegal in the US, it usually involves a violation of SEC and other federal reporting requirements [SOX backgrounder]. RIM is the latest technology-related firm to come under SEC scrutiny for stock option backdating. In June 2008, a federal grand jury indicted [JURIST report] two former executives from the Silicon Vally tech firm Broadcom in connection with a backdating scheme. In January 2008, the former CEO of Brocade Communication Systems was sentenced [JURIST report] to 21 months in prison and fined $15 million for the improper backdating of stock options. In October 2007, Mercury Interactive settled [JURIST report] a similar case for a record $117.5 million. In February 2007, the US Department of Justice indicted [JURIST report] the former general counsel of McAfee systems for stock option backdating. In January 2007, the US Attorney's office in San Francisco opened a criminal probe [JURIST report] into backdating at computer maker Apple Inc.