The findings directly contradict those of Israel's Turkel Commission [official website]. Last month, the Turkel Commission, a civilian committee assigned to investigate the May 31 flotilla raid, concluded that Israel did not violate international law [JURIST report]. In September, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) [official website] released a report [text, PDF] condemning [JURIST report] Israel's interception of the Gaza-bound flotilla as a violation of international law. In August, the Turkish Foreign Ministry [official website] announced [JURIST report] that it would conduct an investigation into the flotilla incident. In July, an Israeli military probe [JURIST report] found insufficient intelligence and planning in the May 31 raid on the Gaza-bound flotilla, but also concluded that no punishments were necessary.

In September, Chen was released [JURIST report] from a Chinese prison after serving a four-year sentence [JURIST report] for damaging property and "organizing a mob to disturb traffic." In January 2007, a Chinese court rejected Chen's final appeal after a Chinese intermediate appellate court ordered a retrial [JURIST reports] in November 2006. Chen's trial was thrown into disarray in August 2006 when Chinese police arrested three of his lawyers [JURIST reports] who were accused of stealing a wallet. Two were later released, but Chen refused to accept court-appointed substitutes, insisting they were not familiar with his case.

On Tuesday, Suleiman said that Mubarak had approved the formation of a committee to oversee changes [JURIST report] to Egypt's constitution [text]. Egypt's government had reached out to various opposition leaders [JURIST report] since demonstrations erupted in the country, including the Muslim Brotherhood, the oldest and largest Islamic political group in the world and currently banned from Egypt. Cooperation in the constitutional review, the Brotherhood said, would only continue if the current regime continued to meet other demands. These demands included the removal of President Mubarak and the repeal of the emergency laws.

Taylor is charged with 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity and has denied all allegations [JURIST report] against him. Charges include [indictment, PDF] murder, rape, sexual slavery and acts of terrorism, all stemming from from a "campaign to terrorize the civilian population" of Sierra Leone. Taylor's defense lawyers, who began presenting their case [JURIST report] in July 2009, have claimed that he could not have commanded rebel forces in Sierra Leone while acting as the president of Liberia. His trial continued after the court denied his motion for acquittal [JURIST report] in May 2009. Prosecutors previously expressed concern that the defense's list of 256 witnesses could make the trial last up to four additional years [JURIST report].

Piracy in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean is an ongoing international concern, and several countries have started taking legal action against suspected Somali pirates [JURIST news archive]. In November, Germany's Hanseatic Higher Regional Court of Hamburg [official website, in German] commenced [JURIST report] the country's first piracy trial in 400 years against 10 accused Somali pirates. Weeks earlier, jury selection began [JURIST report] in the case of five Somali men accused of an April attack on the USS Nichols, which was deployed to combat piracy in waters off the eastern coast of Africa. The trial in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia [official website] is the first US piracy trial in more than 100 years. In October, the UN called for nations to assist in conducting piracy trials [JURIST report]. Other countries that have attempted to prosecute suspected pirates include the Netherlands, Kenya, Mauritius, Yemen, Somalia and Spain [JURIST reports].

In October, a federal judge denied [JURIST report] motions to dismiss a class action lawsuit [JURIST report] challenging the constitutionality of the immigration law. The class action joined two other lawsuits filed [JURIST report] earlier last year that also challenged the law. The US Department of Justice [official website] in July filed suit [JURIST report] against Brewer seeking to permanently enjoin the state's immigration law. The complaint states that the law is preempted by federal law and therefore violates the Supremacy Clause [text] of the US Constitution. The Arizona law criminalizes illegal immigration and requires police officers to question an individual's immigration status if the officer has a "reasonable suspicion" to believe an individual is in the country illegally. It has been widely criticized in regard to the law's constitutionality and alleged "legalization" of racial profiling.

Earlier this week, UK think tank Policy Exchange [think tank website] called [text, PDF] for the UK to withdraw from the ECHR [JURIST report] in favor of a domestic high court. The report, written by former government adviser Dr. Michael Pinto-Duschinsky, explains that the ECHR has gradually grown in power. It calls for the UK to try to negotiate reforms with the court to limit its jurisdiction, and, if unsuccessful, states "the UK should consider withdrawing from the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg and establishing the Supreme Court in London as the final appellate court for human rights law." Some legal experts in the UK say that severing ties with the European court would harm its commitment [BBC report] to protecting human rights and to the Council of Europe and the EU [official websites]. The controversy over UK prisoner voting rights stems from a 2005 case filed by John Hirst, who had been sentenced to life in prison for killing his landlord. Hirst claimed he should be able to vote while in prison and the ECHR agreed, ruling [judgment; press release] that the Representation of the People Act of 1983 [text] breached Hirst's human rights.

As we have stated, co-operative arrangements between the prosecution and the defence are to be encouraged, as they have the potential to greatly facilitate complex trials for all parties involved and to reduce the strain on judicial resources. However, the defence is under no obligation to cooperate with the prosecution and if the end result of non-disclosure by the Crown is that a fair trial cannot be had, then Parliament has determined that in the circumstances a stay of proceedings is the lesser evil compared with the disclosure of sensitive or potentially injurious information.

The final two members of the Toronto 18 were convicted in June, a month after accused group leader Fahim Ahmad switched his plea to guilty mid-trial [JURIST reports]. Last February, Toronto 18 member Shareef Abdelhaleem was convicted [JURIST report] after a Canadian judge found no evidence of entrapment. In January 2010, Amin Mohamed Durrani was released [JURIST report] after pleading guilty to participating in and assisting a terrorist group. Also in January, Zakaria Amara and Saad Gaya [JURIST op-ed] were sentenced [JURIST report] to life and 12 years in prison, respectively, for their roles in the plot. Seven others involved in the plot pleaded guilty, two were found guilty by a judge at trial and seven others had their charges dropped or stayed.