Communications privacy has become a controversial issue in recent years in light of technological advances. Leahy introduced a similar email protection bill [JURIST report] in May 2011, stating the law needed an update to reflect the realities of our time. In 2010, the Federal Bureau Investigation (FBI) came under fire after it was discovered that it had collected more than 2,000 telephone records [JURIST report] between 2002 and 2006 by claiming the phone calls being made related to possible terrorism emergencies. In 2005, the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit [official website] held that the Electronic Communications Privacy Act should be broadly interpreted [JURIST report] allowing an email provider alleged to have read correspondence in transit to customers to be tried on federal charges.

Tension in the Palestinian region has led to international human rights concerns. In June, a UN expert told the Human Rights Council that people in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories are severely limited in free expression [JURIST report], both by the official governing bodies, and de facto authorities like Hamas. In February Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged Israel to change [JURIST report] its policies of forbidding Palestinians from traveling through and living in Gaza and the West Bank. Its report demonstrated that due to the policies, families are kept separate since some are trapped inside Israel while their family members are forbidden from entering. In January of last year, UN officials alleged [JURIST report] that Israeli authorities engaged in illegal activities including the killing of four Palestinians.I n 2009 Palestine submitted the Declaration recognizing the Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court [text, PDF] to allow the ICC to investigate into the alleged crimes against Palestinians.

Maryland is one of three states, including Maine and Washington [JURIST reports] to legalize same-sex marriage this November, and the ninth state overall, including New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire and the District of Columbia [JURIST reports]. In the same election Minnesota voters struck down a ballot initiative that would have outlawed same-sex marriage in the state. The Maryland electorate voted to legalize same-sex marriage, upholding the Civil Marriage Protection Act [official act, PDF] by a slim margin earlier this month. The law was originally signed [JURIST report] by Governor O'Malley in March, however The Maryland Board of Elections [official website] had officially certified[certification notice, PDF] a referendum petition in July seeking to challenge the law [JURIST report] in the recent election. The law will take effect on January 1, 2013.

Egyptian lawmakers reached an agreement on the composition of the constitutional panel [JURIST report] in June, after a controversy over the political balance threatened to halt the drafting of a new constitution. Prior to this agreement, the domination of the proceedings by Islamists [JURIST report] had been extremely controversial. This debate followed an Egyptian court ruling in February that the elaborate voting system in the parliamentary elections was unconstitutional [JURIST report]. In January, Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] called on Egypt's newly elected parliament to pursue an agenda to reform nine areas of Egyptian law [JURIST report] that impede freedom and restrict rights. Some of the suggested reforms included ending the state of emergency, reforming police law and expanding freedom of expression, strengthening the criminal penalties for police abuse, amending Egypt's definition of torture to be in line with international standards and allowing independent NGOs to operate lawfully in the country.

The three slogans of the Egyptian Revolution, were liberty, freedom and social justice. These same principles underlie all international human rights law, including both Covenants. In order for them to be achieved, there need to be prompt, effective and impartial investigations, truth-seeking processes, judicial accountability mechanisms, and reparation programmes, as well as a strengthening of institutional reform and guaranteeing of non-recurrence of the violations that were rampant during the Mubarak era.

Egypt has undergone some political turmoil since its revolution [JURIST feature]. Earlier this week Egyptian courts suspended work to protest the decree [JURIST reports] issued by Morsi last week which removed judicial review of his actions and vastly expanded his power. Morsi agreed to meet with the judges [JURIST report] earlier this week to discuss the decree. In October Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] urged Egypt to amend its proposed constitution [JURIST report] to comply with international treaties. In August a lawyer in Egypt filed an appeal challenging a declaration by Morsi granting himself complete legislative and executive power [JURIST reports]. In July, a few days after he was sworn in, Morsi issued a decree [JURIST reports] calling the Egyptian parliament back into session, despite a previous ruling by the country's Supreme Constitutional Court [official website] dissolving parliament after finding that one-third of its members were elected illegally. The court suspended Morsi's decree two days later, after which Morsi vowed that he would respect the ruling [JURIST reports]. Days before its dissolution, the Egyptian parliament elected a new constitutional council after lawmakers finally reached an agreement [JURIST reports] on the political composition of the council. In April the country's Administrative Court temporarily suspended [JURIST report] the work of the Egyptian Constituent Assembly after ruling in favor of a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the formation of the panel.

Many international standards, treaties, declarations and resolutions recognize women's rights as human rights and specifically condemn violence against women. These instruments apply at all times—in war and peace, in poverty and wealth, in sickness and health, and throughout the life cycle. Under all conditions, women have a right to lives of dignity and safety. Today more than ever we must hold on to the solid human rights framework that has been built over decades.

On Monday the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly approved a resolution [JURIST report] calling for a global ban on female genital mutilation (FGM). The committee's resolution calls on the UN's 193 member countries to enact and enforce legislation to protect women and girls from female circumcision and other genital mutilation procedures and to end impunity for violators. Earlier this month an independent UN rights expert urged justice [JURIST report] for victims of domestic violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), saying high rates of violence can largely be attributed to war-related Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, addiction and poverty. The report was offered by UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women Rashida Manjoo, who stressed the urgency for all levels of government to recognize female victims of rape and torture as a result of the Bosnian Civil War [JURIST news archive] and to ensure that women have equal access to remedies and services, regardless of their ethnic or religious backgrounds.

The Netherlands court's ruling is the latest in the patent litigation battle [JURIST op-ed] between Apple and Samsung. Last week Apple filed a motion [JURIST report] in the US District Court for the Northern District of California requesting permission to add six additional products to its patent infringement claim against Samsung Electronics. According to court documents, Apple sought to supplement its claim with newer Samsung products brought to market after the original lawsuit was filed in February. Last month a judge for the US International Trade Commission issued a preliminary ruling [JURIST report] that Samsung infringed four of Apple's patents relating to smartphone design and touchscreen technology. In October the Dutch Rechtbank's-Gravenhage court ruled that Samsung did not infringe [JURIST report] on an Apple software patent. In the same month a UK court also ruled that Samsung did not infringe [JURIST report] on an Apple design patent.

Continental Airlines and Taylor were originally convicted [JURIST report] by a lower French court in 2010. Their trial, which began [JURIST report] in February 2010, was met with criticism [Daily Mail report] for starting a decade after the accident occurred and after victims' families had already received settlements in 2001. Following the crash, the French Bureau of Investigations and Analysis [official website, in French] concluded [report, in French, PDF] in 2004 that the crash was caused by a metal strip that fell from the Continental Airlines flight and pierced the Concorde's tire. The Concorde jet, which was officially retired by all airlines in 2003, killed 113 people when Air France flight 4590 crashed into a hotel shortly after takeoff in July 2000.

The Italian government planned to appeal the ECHR's ruling [Corriere della Sera report] immediately after it was issued, and were given until this week to do so. The country's Law 40 is controversial in light of its ban on IVF, which is a type of fertility treatment for couples who have had difficulty conceiving children or wish to avoid passing genetic traits on to their children. Through IVF, a woman's eggs are removed and fertilized outside the body. Successfully fertilized embryos are then implanted into the woman for gestation. Italy has defended its ban [Reuters report] on embryonic screening by claiming that it wishes to avoid risks of eugenic abuses and the potential for future "designer babies." The largely Catholic nation has some of the strictest artificial procreation laws in Europe.

Same-sex marriage [JURIST backgrounder] and correlated rights remain controversial around the world. Just this month Spain's Constitutional Court denied an appeal challenging the constitutionality of Spain's same-sex marriage law, the Slovakian parliament rejected a proposal recognizing same-sex marriage rights, and Malawi enacted a moratorium [JURIST reports] on laws preventing same-sex marriage. Same-sex marriages themselves are not recognized in any of Europe's former eastern-bloc states.

Manning's case has engendered a great deal of controversy. In August JURIST guest columnist Philip Cave argued that the lack of transparency [JURIST op-ed] in Manning's case undermines the validity of the eventual verdict. In June Lind ordered the prosecution to submit to her a number of files that were allegedly withheld from the defense during discovery [JURIST report]. Earlier in June Lind denied a motion [JURIST report] to dismiss eight of the 22 charges against Manning after his defense had argued they were unconstitutionally vague. In May UN Special Rapporteur on torture Juan Mendez accused the US government of cruel and inhuman treatment [JURIST report] of Manning. The US military court referred Manning's case for court-martial in February after a US Army panel of experts declared Manning competent to stand trial [JURIST reports] last April.