[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] heard oral arguments [day call, PDF; merit briefs] Monday in two cases. In Graham County Soil & Water Conservation Dist. v. United States ex rel. Wilson [oral arguments transcript, PDF; JURIST report], the Court heard arguments on the scope of the public disclosure jurisdictional bar [31 USC § 3730(e)(4)(A) text] of the False Claims Act, to determine if the Act allows federal jurisdiction in suits based on state or local government audits and investigations. The suit arose out of public record documents that detailed a failure to obtain bids for the clean-up and reconstruction of storm-damaged portions of North Carolina as well as a potential conflict of interest and whether or not these were publicly disclosed as per the Act. The petitioners claim that the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit erred in concluding [opinion, PDF] that a state audit does not constitute an administrative report, audit, or investigation under the Act. Counsel for the petitioners argued that the appeals court's "construction of the statute would have a devastating effect upon States, local governments, and the Federal fisc [sic]." Counsel for the respondent argued that "[t]he decision of the Fourth Circuit is correct because the text of the False Claims Act compels the result." Counsel for the US argued as amicus curiae supporting the respondent.

In Merck & Co. v. Reynolds [oral arguments transcript, PDF; JURIST report], the Court heard arguments on when the statute of limitations begins to run in a securities fraud case under the "inquiry notice" standard. Investors brought a class action suit against the drug maker Merck & Co. [corporate website] in November 2003, alleging that it had deliberately concealed information about the safety record of its painkiller Vioxx [JURIST news archive]. The case was dismissed by US District Court Judge Stanley Chester in April 2007 after he determined that investors were on "inquiry notice" of the alleged fraud in September 2001 when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) [official website] released a warning letter [text, PDF] about the painkiller. The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reinstated the case [opinion, PDF] in September 2008, finding that Chester had "acted prematurely in finding as a matter of law that [the investors] were on inquiry notice of the alleged fraud." Counsel for petitioners argued:

The statute of limitations for private securities fraud claims incorporates the equitable principle known as the discovery rule; that is, the principle that the limitations period begins to run from the discovery of the facts constituting the violation. Under the discovery rule, a plaintiff who suspects the possibility that the defendant has engaged in wrongdoing is on inquiry notice and thereafter must exercise reasonable diligence in investigating his potential claim.

The court of appeals in this case erred at the first step.

[JURIST] The trial of alleged Nazi war criminal John Demjanjuk [NNDB profile, JURIST news archive] began in Germany on Monday. It marks the first time a Nazi war crimes trial will focus on a low-ranking foreigner rather than a commander. The Ukrainian-born Demjanjuk faces 27,900 accessory accounts stemming from his alleged involvement as a guard at Sobibor [Death Camps backgrounder] concentration camp. It is alleged that he volunteered to work at Sobibor [Abendzeitung report, in German] after being captured by German forces while serving as a member of the Soviet army. Multiple appeals were filed in regards to Demjanjuk's health, but he was found fit to stand trial and his appeals were rejected [JURIST reports] in October, paving the way for the trial to begin. The court is limiting the hearings to no more than two-90 minute sessions per day and is monitoring Demjanjuk's health. The trial is expected to last until May.

Demjanjuk's trial has been described [Spiegel report] as the last major Nazi war crimes trial to be held in Germany, but earlier this month German prosecutors charged [JURIST report] an unidentified 90-year-old German with 58 counts of murder stemming from his involvement with the Nazi party during World War II. A similar case is pending in the Spanish courts after the German appeals court in September permitted the case against three men alleged to be former Nazi guards to continue [JURIST report] in Spain.

[JURIST] China is considering lifting a 20-year-old ban that keeps foreigners with HIV/AIDS from entering the country, according to a China Daily report [text] Monday. Vice-Minister of Health Huang Jiefu said that he hopes the ban will be lifted before the upcoming Shanghai Expo in May, which is expected to draw four million tourists. China's Ministry of Health [official website, in Chinese] is working alongside other government agencies in order to revise the ban by May, but if they cannot meet the deadline it is likely that the government will grant special waivers permitting people with HIV/AIDS to enter specifically for the event, as they did during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Currently the ban requires those entering the country for a short visit to declare at the border they are HIV-free, and those staying longer are required to undergo blood testing. The ban was enacted preceding understanding of how the virus was transmitted. China is one of 70 countries that still denies entry to those with HIV/AIDS.

Monday's announcement is part of a larger effort to counter HIV/AIDS related discrimination in China. In 2007 the Ministry of Health relaxed strict policies [JURIST report] that denied all HIV-positive aliens entry to the country. In 2006, China issued its first guidelines on HIV/AIDS [JURIST report], banning discrimination against those infected by the virus and providing for free treatment.

[JURIST] A judge in India on Monday removed the defense lawyer for Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab [NDTV profile], the lone surviving suspect of last year's Mumbai terror attacks [JURIST news archive]. Specially appointed judge M.L. Tahiliyani removed [PTI report] defense lawyer Abbas Kazmi [Times of India profile] after finding that Kazmi lied when he denied [IANS report] being informed of the Special Public Prosecutor's intent to examine 340 more witnesses of the attack. Kazmi, who will be replaced by his assistant, is not the first defense lawyer to be removed from the high profile case. Advocate Anjali Waghmare was removed [JURIST report] in April for ethical violations after agreeing to represent both the accused and a victim of the attack.

While Kasab faces 86 charges [Reuters backgrounder] in India, including waging war on India and murder, the Anti-Terrorism Court of Pakistan has indicted [JURIST report] seven men accused of planning the attacks. The suspects have been charged under Pakistan's Anti-Terrorism Act [text]. The men, who allegedly belong to outlawed terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) [CFR backgrounder], have pleaded not guilty. Pakistan has postponed the trial [JURIST report] of five others allegedly connected with the 2008 attack. In August, India sentenced three terrorists to death for their part in similar attacks in 2003 [JURIST report]. Mumbai has suffered a number of terrorist attacks allegedly linked to the LeT in recent years, leading the government to consider controversial terrorism laws and to institute special courts [JURIST reports] to try suspects.

[JURIST] A former judicial official of China's southwest Chongqing Municipality, Wu Xiaoqing, was found dead [Xinhua report] Saturday while detained and facing charges for taking a large amount of bribes. In a statement to China Daily, the Chongqing Municipal Government [official website, in Chinese] said [China Daily report] that Wu's cellmates alerted the guards, who found that while hidden from security cameras Wu had committed suicide by hanging himself with the drawstring of his underwear. Wu was arrested in June [Xinhua report] for suspicion of taking bribes from gang members, totaling to about 3.57 million yuan (approximately 512,700 US dollars) between 1998 and 2008. Wu was also unable to explain how he obtained another $758,000. Along with Wu, deputy chief justice of the Chongqing Higher People's Court, Zhang Tao, was detained after reports that both were suspected of serious disciplinary offenses [Xinhua report]. The two police officers at the detention center at the time of Wu's death are under investigation.

Wu's arrest came among China's continuing attempt to clean up government corruption [JURIST news archive]. In October, two Chongqing courts sentenced [JURIST report] six individuals to death for their connections with organized crime gangs. In August, the Communist Party of China revoked the membership [JURIST report] of the former vice-president of the Supreme People's Court following a graft and corruption investigation. In March, the Supreme People's Court [official website, in Chinese] of China pledged to take steps to eliminate judicial corruption [JURIST report] with improved ethics education. In 2008, 712 court officials were punished for misconduct, allegedly causing negative social impacts [Xinhua report] and lessening the credibility of the courts. In January 2007, the Communist Party of China (CPC) [official website] promised to confront government corruption after former Chief Justice Xiao Yang called for judicial reform [JURIST reports] to regain the public's trust.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] on Monday granted certiorari [order list, PDF] in three cases. In Morrison v. National Australia Bank [docket; cert. petition, PDF], the Court will consider whether foreign investors are entitled to bring fraud-on-the-market claims under Section 10(b) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 [text, PDF] when the stock purchased was that of a foreign company on a foreign securities exchange. The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed [opinion, PDF] the decision of the district court to dismiss the claims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. It found that actions outside of the US were more responsible for the fraud than anything that occurred within the US.

The Court also agreed to hear Renico v. Lett [docket; cert. petition, PDF]. The Court will consider whether double jeopardy is violated by a new trial after a state trial court declared a mistrial due to the jury's inability to reach a verdict. The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed [opinion, PDF] the decision of the district court that the second trial violated the rights of the petitioner. The decision overturned a decision by the Michigan Supreme Court, which found that the second trial did not violate the double jeopardy bar.

In Barber v. Thomas [docket; cert. petition, PDF], the Court will determine whether the Sentencing Reform Act [18 USC § 3624(b), text] requires the federal prison system to calculate good timed served credits based on the sentence imposed. The federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) [official website] has been interrupting "term of imprisonment" to mean time served, rather than sentence imposed, as it is interpreted throughout federal sentencing statutes. The BOP's interpretation has resulted in fewer days of available credit each year of the sentence. Lower courts remain split on the question.

[JURIST] An Algerian court on Sunday sentenced [AFP report] Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainee Ahmed Belbacha [JURIST news archive] to 20 years in prison for being part of an "overseas terrorist group." Belbacha has been cleared for release from the US military prison facility but has said he does not want to return to his home country of Algeria for fear of torture and has requested asylum in the US. Belbacha has been held in Guantanamo since 2002 after he was captured in Pakistan. Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] reported that he tried to commit suicide [press release] while in Guantanamo but would rather stay there than return to Algeria out of fear he will be tortured. HRW said that there are approximately 60 detainees [press release] who face a credible threat of torture or persecution if they return to their home country.

Last week, an Algerian criminal court acquitted [JURIST report] former Guantanamo Bay detainees Abdulli Feghoul and Terari Mohamed who were repatriated to Algeria in August 2008. They were held at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility for seven years before a federal judge ordered their release [JURIST report] earlier this month. Last year, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit remanded [JURIST report] to district court a bid by Belbacha to obtain a preliminary injunction barring his transfer back to Algeria. The court had initially stayed [JURIST report] his transfer against the urging of the Bush administration. In 2007, US Supreme Court denied [JURIST report] Belbacha's emergency request to stay his transfer to Algeria.

[JURIST] Former UK attorney general Peter Goldsmith [BBC profile] warned former prime minister Tony Blair [official profile; JURIST news archive] that the planned invasion of Iraq could be illegal, according to a letter leaked to the Iraq Inquiry [official website; BBC backgrounder], confirmed [Daily Mail report] by the Daily Mail on Sunday. The July 2002 letter laid out the reasons that Goldsmith believed the Iraq invasion might be illegal, including that an invasion could not be based on "regime change" alone. The existence of this letter will increase the difficulty for Blair to use a good-faith defense against charges that he knowingly led the country into an illegal invasion. He and Goldsmith are likely to be witnesses for the inquiry in the near future.

Sir John Chilcot [Guardian profile] is chairing an inquiry that began [JURIST report] investigations last Tuesday to determine the legality of the Iraq War. Earlier this month, documents implicating improper and possibly illegal conduct in relation to the war were leaked [JURIST report] to the British press. In October 2009, a UK High Court criticized [JURIST report] the Ministry of Defence for its failure to properly set up an independent inquiry into claims that war crimes had been committed by British soldiers following the so-called "Battle of Danny Boy" [BBC backgrounder] in southern Iraq.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] on Monday vacated and remanded [order list, PDF] a decision [JURIST report] by the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit [official website] that required the Pentagon to release photos of abused detainees [JURIST news archive] in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Court remanded Dept. of Defense v. ACLU [docket] for further consideration under Section 565 of the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2010 [HR 2892, text]. The Act gives the Secretary of Defense the ability to prevent certain protected documents from being made public. Included in the definition of protected documents are photographs:

taken during the period beginning on September 11, 2001, through January 22, 2009; and relates to the treatment of individuals engaged, captured, or detained after September 11, 2001, by the Armed Forces of the United States in operations outside of the United States.

[JURIST] Swiss voters on Sunday approved a proposal [press release] to ban the construction of minarets. The results of the nationwide referendum revealed that more than 57 percent of Swiss voters support the constitutional ban against the construction of the Islamic towers. In response to the vote, the Swiss Federal Council [official website] stated:

The Federal Council and a clear majority of Parliament came out against the initiative. For the head of the Federal Department of Justice and Police (FDJP), Federal Councillor Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, the outcome of the vote reflects fears among the population of Islamic fundamentalist tendencies, which reject our national traditions and which could disregard our legal order. "These concerns have to be taken seriously."