In commending this shortlist, the Search Committee does not differentiate between the candidates in terms of suitability or make any preferential recommendation concerning any candidate. ... [T]he Search Committee considers its function to be that of a technical committee of the Bureau, to assist the Bureau and the ASP in their endeavours to secure the election of the Prosecutor by consensus [as required by ICC/ASP resolution]. In the light of the Search Committee's Report, it will properly be a matter for the Bureau and the ASP to consider how best to proceed to secure the formal nomination and election by consensus of the next Prosecutor.

Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] has called for full transparency in the selection process and notes that the Rome Statute which established the ICC sets out clear criteria for electing a Prosecutor [press release], who "must be of high moral character and have extensive practical experience in the prosecution or trial of criminal cases." A successful candidate must also "have a proven history of performing professional duties impartially and independently" and have other relevant experience such as a background in prosecuting crimes under international law and expertise in specific issues, such as violence against women and children. As Prosecutor, Argentinian Moreno-Ocampo has been widely praised for his promotion of the work of the ICC. During his tenure he has launched seven formal investigations, begun three trials and issued arrest warrants for Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir and other military leaders wanted for human rights violations. However he has also been criticized due to the ICC's slow progress in achieving results, particularly in failing to bring a larger number of senior government officials to trial for various atrocities. This month Moreno-Ocampo visited the Ivory Coast in response to allegations of war crimes committed during post-election violence in the country last November, and the prosecutor subsequently singled out individuals [JURIST reports] for the ICC to investigate. In June Moreno-Ocampo made worldwide headlines by presenting to the ICC sufficient evidence to procure arrest warrants [JURIST report] for deposed Libyan leader Mummar Gaddafi [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] and two of his high-ranking officials, including Gaddafi's son.

In June, ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo [official website] announced that his office was pursuing arrest warrants [JURIST report] against Gaddafi and the two others in his "inner circle." He said Saif al-Islam was acting as Gaddafi's "de facto Prime Minister" and called al-Sanussi Gaddafi's "right-hand man" and "executioner." At that time, Moreno-Ocampo said his office was almost prepared for trial, having collected quality testimony from some who have fled Libya. Saif al-Islam received a PhD from the London School of Economics in 2008 and is fluent in English. He had been seen by some as a potential reformer and successor to his father. In February, he announced that the Libyan government was set to undertake constitutional reforms [JURIST report] in response to protests.

Rajat Gupta was entrusted by some of the premier institutions of American business to sit inside their boardrooms, among their executives and directors, and receive their confidential information so that he could give advice and counsel for the benefit of their shareholders. As alleged, he broke that trust and instead became the illegal eyes and ears in the boardroom for his friend and business associate, Raj Rajaratnam, who reaped enormous profits from Mr. Gupta's breach of duty.

Rajaratnam was convicted of 14 counts of insider trading [JURIST report] in May in the largest hedge fund insider trading case in US history. Several other defendants have pleaded guilty in connection with the case. Former hedge fund consultant Danielle Chiesi pleaded guilty [JURIST report] in January. Former IBM senior vice president Robert Moffat was sentenced to six months in prison in September and ordered him to pay a $50,000 fine for his role in the scheme after pleading guilty [JURIST reports] in March 2010. Former Intel Capital executive Rajiv Goel pleaded guilty [JURIST report] to insider trading charges in February 2010. Rajaratnam, Chiesi, Goel and Moffat were arrested in October 2009 and charged [complaint, PDF] along with two other individuals and two business entities with insider trading. The complaint alleged that the individuals provided Galleon Group and another hedge fund with material nonpublic information about several corporations upon which the funds traded, generating $25 million in illicit gain. Rajaratnam and Chiesi originally pleaded not guilty [JURIST report] in December 2009 after being indicted for insider trading.

In June, Uruguayan President Jose Mujica [official website, in Spanish] announced [JURIST report] that 80 administrative acts under the amnesty law preventing investigations of crimes committed during the 1973-1985 dictatorship will be removed. This revocation only involved the executive branch's administrative acts, leaving it for the courts to decide how to proceed. In May, the House of Representative failed to partially repeal the amnesty law in a vote of 49-49 due to criticism that the law will allow the prosecution of veterans of the war but not rebel guerrillas. A month earlier, the Senate voted to overturn [JURIST reports] the law by a vote of 16-15. In March, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) [official website, in Spanish] ruled [JURIST report] that Uruguay's government must bring to justice those responsible for the disappearance of a woman abducted by Uruguay government forces in 1976. In October of last year, the effort to overturn the law through a referendum [text, PDF, in Spanish] failed [JURIST report] when only 48 percent voted in support of such change.

The PPACA imposes a myriad of costly obligations on the business community. ... Uncertainty over the future of the PPACA seriously undermines the ability of American businesses to plan for the future, and to make informed decisions concerning investment in growth and hiring.

There are currently several health care appeals pending before the Supreme Court. Earlier this month, both the state of Virginia and Liberty University appealed a ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which dismissed their challenges for lack of standing [JURIST reports]. In September, the US Department of Justice [official website] appealed an August ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, which struck down the individual mandate [JURIST report] as unconstitutional, creating a circuit split. The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit had upheld the law in June, and that ruling was appealed [JURIST reports] to the Supreme Court by the Thomas More Law Center [advocacy website]. Also in August, the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit dismissed a lawsuit [JURIST report] brought by a physician organization for lack of standing.

Foreign and domestic courts and legislatures are increasingly addressing the issue of same-sex civil unions and marriages. In August, Chilean President Sebastian Pinera [official profile, in Spanish] proposed legislation [JURIST report] that would legalize same-sex civil unions. The bill would extend inheritance and social welfare rights to same-sex couples and unmarried heterosexual couples. Pinera insisted that marriage is between a man and a women but acknowledged that other forms of relationships are effective and that the state is obligated to recognize, protect and respect those partnerships. In April, Hungary added a prohibition against gay marriage [JURIST report] to its constitution. France upheld a same-sex marriage ban [JURIST report] in January. Same-sex marriage is recognized in jurisdictions in Mexico and the US and is recognized nationwide in Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and South Africa [JURIST reports].

Gaddafi's family is not alone in requesting that his killing be investigated as a possible war crime. The UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights [official website] on Friday called for a full investigation [JURIST report] into the death. Libya has also taken its own steps to investigate the death. Interim Libyan leader Mustafa Abdul-Jalil said Monday that he has ordered an investigation [JURIST report] into the death of the former leader. He said that the National Transition Council (NTC) [official website] has formed a committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding Gaddafi's capture and death at the hands of opposition forces in his hometown of Sirte. Human rights groups including Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] and international governments have also called for an official investigation. In June, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the "de facto Prime Minister," and his brother-in-law Abdullah al-Sanussi [warrants, PDF], the head of intelligence, for alleged crimes against the people of Libya to quell the revolt that began in February. Saif al-Islam Gaddafi still remains at large [Reuters report].

It is undisputed that the Act compels content-based speech by providers; it requires providers to orally and visually convey specified material about the fetus to their patients. The message is compelled regardless of a patient's individual circumstances or condition and regardless of the provider's medical opinion. The message is required even when the provider does not want to deliver the message and even when the patients affirmatively do not wish to see it or hear it. It is further undisputed that this implicates the First Amendment rights of providers such as the Plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs sought an injunction after the state's House and Senate voted to override Governor Beverly Purdue's veto [JURIST reports] of the legislation. Another bill related to abortion passed by the North Carolina Legislature has also recently been challenged on First Amendment grounds. Last month, the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina Legal Foundation (ACLU-NCLF) [advocacy website] filed a federal lawsuit [JURIST report] challenging a North Carolina state law authorizing the use of pro-life license plates as a violation of the First Amendment. In June, the North Carolina General Assembly [official website] passed a bill [HB 289 materials] authorizing the issuance of "Choose Life" license plates, but failed to authorize the use of license plates stating, "Trust Women. Respect Choice," or "Respect Choice," which would indicate advocacy of reproductive rights. The ACLU-NCLF alleges that allowing pro-life proponents to express their views through the use of license plates while denying the same right to pro-choice proponents is discriminatory and in violation of the First Amendment. Katherine Lewis Parker, the Legal Director of the ACLU-NCLF, indicated that the law is being challenged because of its inhibitions on freedom of speech [statement] and not because of the abortion position advocated by the license plates.

Corporations are recognized legal entities, yet, according to the [International Court of Justice], even amorphous "groups" may be guilty of genocide. The ICJ's analysis is instructive, in particular because the Supreme Court has noted that "[i]n interpreting our treaty obligations, we ... consider the views of the ICJ itself, 'giving respectful consideration to the interpretation of an international treaty rendered by an international court with jurisdiction to interpret the treaty.'" The ICJ concluded that genocide is a violation of international law whether committed by an individual, an amorphous group, or a state, consistent with all other sources of international law recognizing the universality of the prohibition of genocide.

Rio Tinto operated a mine in Panguna, in Bougainville, since 1975, which provided 20 percent of the Papua New Guinea government's wealth. However, Bougainvillean people contend that not only did their citizenry not benefit significantly from these profits, but that Rio Tinto engaged in a number of environmental and human rights abuses. This reportedly included segregating white and local workers, polluting the Jaba River to the point where birth defects became prevalent and causing the extinction of an island animal. In response, the United Panguna Landowners Association [advocacy website] was formed, which eventually led to the Bougainville Revolutionary Army, who revolted against the Panguna mine in 1988. This incident evolved into the Bougainville Revolution [GlobalSecurity backgrounder], Papua New Guinea's nine-year civil war that took 20,000 lives. Although the war ended in 1997 with a peace accord, in 2001, a Papua New Guinea opposition leader signed an affidavit [SBS Dateline report transcript] claiming that Rio Tinto controlled the Papua New Guinea government during the war and provided substantial financial and military aid.

The Secure Communities Program, as well as other aspects of the US immigration detention policy, have been heavily criticized by constitutional and immigration rights groups. Last month, the US Department of Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC) [official website] approved a report responding to concerns with the program. The report stated that there was strong agreement among the committee members that ICE should continue taking enforcement action against serious criminal offenders who are subject to deportation, but that ICE enforcement policy surrounding removal of minor offenders or those who have never been convicted of a crime continues causing confusion. In June, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) [advocacy website] and a coalition of other rights groups rejected [JURIST report] the changes announced by ICE to the program. The groups claimed Secure Communities undermines public safety, invites racial profiling and pulls non-citizens into what they call a "dangerous" system of detention and deportation. In March, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) [official website] released a report [JURIST report] arguing that US immigration enforcement agencies are overly reliant on a flawed detention system. The IACHR investigated six immigrant detention centers based throughout Arizona and Texas. The report expressed concern over increased use of detention by the US government, citing a doubling in detention of non-citizens by ICE. It criticized the US government for viewing detention as a necessity and not as an exception in its enforcement. IACHR also found the average 30 day detentions troubling, arguing that it is likely to increase as backlogs of immigration cases increase. The report also criticized the lack of a genuine civil detention system and use of disproportionately restrictive penal and punitive measures during the detention period.