The Muslim Brotherhood this week claimed that the unofficial result of the presidential elections showed that its candidate Mohammed Mursi won with 52 percent of the vote. Despite the success of a peaceful presidential election on Saturday and Sunday, Egypt has faced continued political turmoil since the overthrow of former president Hosni Mubarak last year. Last week the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt dissolved the country's Parliament [JURIST report] after finding that one-third of its members were elected illegally. A day earlier the country's Ministry of Justice issued a decree [JURIST report] restoring broad arrest powers to the Egyptian military to arrest civilians for non-military offenses. Also last week, the Egyptian parliament elected a new constitutional council [JURIST report] after lawmakers finally reached an agreement [JURIST report] on the political composition of the council. Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court in April effectively suspended [JURIST report] the work of the 100-member council responsible for drafting the country's new constitution after ruling in favor of a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the formation of the panel.

The International Criminal Tribune for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website] has been working with Serbia to convict and sentence those responsible for the crimes committed during the 1991-95 war in Croatia. Completion of the ICTY is considered the final step before Serbia's accession to the European Union (EU) [official website]. Earlier this month, the ICTY closed its third contempt trial against former Serb nationalist politician and war crimes suspect Vojislav Seselj [official website, in Serbian; JURIST news archive] who has been accused of contempt of court and divulging data in a book he authored [website, in Serbian] disclosing names, occupations and residences of 11 protected witnesses. He was sentenced in October to 18 months in prison and in July 2009 to 15 months [JURIST reports]. A week earlier, the prosecution for the ICTY reported [JURIST report] the court's Completion Strategy to the UN Security Council [official website] addressing among others Serbia's failure to investigate and prosecute those who aided the fugitives. In July 2011, Serbian authorities arrested [JURIST report] Goran Hadzic [ICTY backgrounder], the last fugitive of the original 161 sought for war crimes by the ICTY.

Of the list of nearly 2,700 voters that the state has flagged as possible non-citizens on the voter rolls using a faulty data matching process, over 500 have already shown documentation that they are citizens and eligible to vote. A program with a high error rate that places the burden on the voter to proof citizenship will end up disenfranchising hundreds of eligible voters' right before the election with little time to correct the error and restore their right to vote.

The purging of voter rolls in Florida has created controversy in recent weeks. Last week, amidst calls to end its purging practices, Florida filed suit [JURIST report] seeking access to a federal database that will help it verify the citizenship of registered voters. Earlier this month, the DOJ sent a letter [JURIST report] to Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner demanding that the state stop purging its voting rolls, saying the process that is not approved under the Voting Rights Act (VRA) or the National Voter Registration Act. Despite the DOJ warning, a spokesperson for Florida Governor Rick Scott said that the state would continue to search for ineligible voters [Huffington Post report] and purging the rolls. The DOJ has alleged that the VRA requires all voter roll maintenance to cease 90 days before the primary election, meaning all purging in Florida should have stopped by May 16.

We believe that the issues in the case are as important and consequential as any in recent Court history. In conducting its review, the Court directed parties to address the constitutionality of the act, the severability of the individual mandate, and the extent of the spending power of Congress. Given the fundamental constitutional questions raised and the effects the decision will have, the Court should be aware of the great interest Americans have in the outcome of this case.

The health care law has been a subject of great controversy since its passage in March 2010. In May, a group of women in Washington filed suit [JURIST report] against the state's Attorney General, Rob McKenna, saying that McKenna's participation in a lawsuit against the PPACA is preventing women from having full access to medical care. In March the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments [JURIST report] in the suit. In January 26 states submitted a brief [JURIST report] to the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of the expansion of Medicaid for the poor and disabled in the PPACA. Also in January the federal government filed a brief [JURIST report] before the US Supreme Court arguing that the minimum coverage provision of the PPACA, which requires almost every US citizen to obtain health insurance by 2014 or face a tax penalty, is constitutional. The court granted certiorari to rule on health care reform law [JURIST report] in three separate cases last November, reserving five-and-half-hours for oral argument on the issue.

Nizeyimana, known as the "Butcher of Butare," went on trial [JURIST report] in January 2011. He had pleaded not guilty in October 2009, a week after he was arrested [JURIST reports].

Apple is in the process of litigating numerous lawsuits based on patent infringement. A federal judge last week granted a request [JURIST report] from Apple to hear its patent infringement case against Motorola that seeks an injunction against some of Motorola's phones that allegedly infringe upon Apple's patents. Earlier this month, a judge for the US District Court for the Northern District of California rejected a request by Apple [JURIST report] for a preliminary injunction against distribution four Samsung products, including the Galaxy Tab 10.1., which Apple contends infringe on their patents. In March, Samsung filed a patent suit against Apple [JURIST report] in Seoul, South Korea alleging Apple infringed three of its utility patents. Samsung alleges that Apple's iPhone 4S and iPad 2 infringe patents it owns involving methods of displaying data, the user interface and text messaging.

DRC has been urged to enforce the arrest warrant issued by the ICC against Ntaganda multiple times. Last month ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo [official website] sought the immediate arrest of Ntaganda along with Sylvestre Mudacumura [ICC fact sheet, PDF], a foreign militia leader in the DRC. In April, Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] called [JURIST report] on Congo President Joseph Kabila to immediately arrest Ntaganda and deliver him to the ICC. Despite the arrest warrant, the president stated that he will consider arresting the general. The human rights group urged the country several times in the past, in July 2011 and October 2010 [JURIST reports].

The Special Rapporteur again requests the Government to clarify the rules that it considers to cover targeted killings. ... The Special Rapporteur reiterates his predecessor's recommendation that the Government specify the bases for decisions to kill rather than capture "human targets" and whether the State in which the killing takes place has given consent. It should also specify procedural safeguards in place to ensure in advance that targeted killings comply with international law, as well as the measures taken after such killing to ensure that its legal and factual analysis is accurate.

The legality of drone strikes has been a controversial issue in recent months. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay declared on Friday that US drone strikes in Pakistan raise grave legal concerns [JURIST report] under international law. Pillay expressed particular concern that the drone strikes do not comport with the international law principles of proportionality and distinction. In October, JURIST contributing editor Jeffrey Addicott asserted [JURIST op-ed] that the CIA drone strike in September [JURIST report] that killed senior al Qaeda leader and US citizen Anwar al-Awlaki [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] was legal under the law of war. Prior to the drone strike that killed al-Awlaki, the Obama administration issued a memorandum [JURIST report] justifying the legality of such an action. In August, JURIST guest columnist Laurie Blank argued [JURIST op-ed] that the US government's claim that drone strikes in Pakistan have caused zero civilian casualties belied serious concerns about American interpretation and adherence to the laws of war.

Bangladesh has been criticized for its approach to convicting individuals responsible for the mutiny. The government convicted virtually all of the now-sentenced individuals in mass trials making it impossible for individual representation of the accused. In July of last year, HRW urged [JURIST report] the country's authorities to ensure fair trials are provided to the accused. The call came a month after a military court sentenced [JURIST report] 657 border guards for their roles in the mutiny while nine individuals were acquitted. After the sentence, the number of those found to be guilty reached 3,000. During the same month another 430 people were sentenced [JURIST report]. In January of last year, a court in Dhaka began [JURIST report] its trial of 800 soldier charged with crimes including murder, conspiracy and looting military weapons, among others.

In October of last year INR had opened [JURIST report] another probe into Nazi crimes aimed at tracking down living Nazi perpetrators. As part of the investigation, it was planned to interview approximately 500 camp survivors. During the same month Germany also reopened hundreds of investigations involving former Nazi death camp guards resulting from a May conviction [JURIST reports] of John Demjanjuk [NNDB profile; JURIST news archive], a retired US autoworker who had served as a guard at the Sobibor concentration camp in 1943. He was deported to Germany in 2009 to stand trial on allegations that he helped to murder thousands during the Holocaust.

The PRPD routinely commits abuses including the unjustified use of lethal force against unresisting, restrained, or unarmed civilians; beatings and other violence against unarmed Black, poor, and Dominican men that left some near death and others paralyzed or with traumatic brain injury; and excessive force against peaceful protesters. ... The PRPD also fails to police crimes of domestic violence and rape and to protect women from violence by their intimate partners. These abuses do not represent isolated incidents or aberrant behavior by a few rogue officers. Such police brutality is pervasive and systemic, island-wide and ongoing. The PRPD is steeped in a culture of unrestrained abuse and near-total impunity.

Police abuse is a subject of international concern. Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported [JURIST report] in May that China's chengguan, a para-police organization charged with enforcing non-criminal administrative regulations, is abusing its power. In April HRW alleged that Bahrain's police officers regularly abuse minor detainees [JURIST report] before transporting them to police stations. Last October the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan reported that prisoners in some Afghan-run detention facilities had been beaten and tortured [JURIST report]. In June 2011 HRW reported that Iraqi police forces had been beating and illegally detaining protesters [JURIST report].

A previous ruling that gave the parliament similar rights over matter concerning the EU was issued in February. The country's constitutional court held [JURIST report] that the use of a parliamentary subcommittee to fast-track decisions related to eurozone bailouts is unconstitutional. Rather, it required the entire Bundestag to overview such decisions. In September, the same court ruled [JURIST report] that the parliament did not unconstitutionally impair its own ability to adopt and control the nation's budget, nor did it infringe on the budget autonomy of future parliaments.

The routine detention of irregular migrants and of a large number of asylum-seekers clearly violates Cyprus' human rights obligations. This pattern of abuse is partly due to inadequate legislation, but more often it is down to the practice of the authorities, particularly when it comes to their failure to examine real alternatives to immigration detention and their disregard of Supreme Court orders to release detainees. Urgent action is needed to rectify this situation that results in serious violations of the human rights of asylum-seekers and migrants.

Laws and policies governing the treatment of migrants continue to raise international human rights concerns. In January, the Israeli Knesset passed a bill that imposes harsher penalties on illegal migrants [JURIST report] in Israel, as well as on Israelis who help illegal migrants. AI criticized the bill as a violation of human rights. Last March, AI released a report documenting discrimination and human rights violations against Roma migrants [JURIST report] in Slovenia and urging the Slovenian government to protect Roma communities. In September 2010, the Global Migration Group (GMG) adopted a statement urging all governments to respect the human rights of migrants [JURIST report], who are more likely to face various forms of abuse as they lack proper legal status. The GMG stressed that every person, regardless of migration status, should enjoy the fundamental rights to life, liberty and all fundamental human rights.

Gilani was convicted in April for contempt of court when the former prime minister refused to open a corruption case against Zardari who is accused of using Swiss bank accounts to fund bribes. Gilani had argued [JURIST report] that the president was under immunity as the head of state. The conflict between the prime minister and the court derived from a court decision striking down [JURIST report] the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) [text] which granted high level officials immunity from corruption charges.

In February Taylor's lawyers asked that the SCSL reopen the case [JURIST report] in light of new evidence, including a report by the UN Panel of Experts on Liberia. His lawyers claimed that the new evidence demonstrated that Taylor was not instrumental in the war crimes committed by rebel forces, but the court declined to reopen the case. The SCSL heard closing arguments [JURIST report] in March 2011. Taylor denied all the charges [JURIST report] against him.Taylor's defense lawyers opened their case [JURIST report] in July 2009 and 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.

Prisons have recently come under fire from various groups calling for prison reform. Last week, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) released a report [JURIST report] claiming that it costs $68,270 per year to house a prisoner age 50 and older while many pose virtually no threat to society. The ACLU estimated that states could save approximately $66,000 per year by releasing aging prisoners. In January, the US District Court for the Northern District of California ruled [JURIST report] that California prison officials have failed to protect disabled parolees by not providing them wheelchairs and other mobility assistance devices. The Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Plata upheld an order [JURIST report] requiring California to release up to 46,000 prisoners because the overcrowding of the state's prison system is causing inmates to receive inadequate medical care in violation of the Eighth Amendment.

Sarkozy is not the first president who faced criminal charges upon the end of presidency. In December, former French president Jacques Chirac [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] was convicted [JURIST report] by a French court on corruption charges, receiving a two-year suspended sentence. He was accused of using public funds to support his political goals when he was mayor of Paris. Three months earlier, a French prosecutor asked [JURIST report] the court to drop the corruption charges against Chirac. During the same month, lawyers for the former president filed documents with the 11th Criminal Court of Paris claiming that their client was to ill to attend court hearings that was planned to begin after it was delayed in March [JURIST reports].

Both defendants originally pleaded not guilty [JURIST report] to the charges. The two men allegedly received at least $50,000 for providing al Qaeda with "computer advice and assistance, services, and currency," among other acts, between November 2007 and March 2010. El-Hanafi was arrested in the United Arab Emirates after contacting US authorities to determine why he was on a no-fly list.