In February Kenyan presidential candidate Uhuru Kenyatta [case materials] asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website; JURIST backgrounder] to postpone his trial for his involvement in the 2007 post-election violence. The trial is currently set to begin on April 11. Earlier last month Kenyatta and another ICC defendant, former civil service chief Francis Muthaura [case materials], asked the ICC to review its decision [JURIST report] to move forward with the trial. In December the two Kenyans had announced [JURIST report] that, despite their upcoming trials, they will be running together in Monday's election.

The leadership of Jamaat should immediately issue public statements to its followers to stop these violent, unacceptable attacks against law enforcement officers and those who support the verdicts of the war crimes trials. At the same time, the government should instruct the security forces to strictly observe its obligation to use maximum restraint and avoid lethal force unless necessary to protect their lives or those of others. If cool heads don't prevail, Dhaka could dissolve into uncontrolled violence.

Last month the Bangladesh parliament [official website] approved amendments [JURIST report] to the country's war crimes laws to allow prosecutors to appeal sentences given to defendants convicted of war crimes. These amendments are a response to protests [JURIST report] that ensued after Abdul Quader Mollah, another JI leader, was given a life sentence [JURIST report] for war crimes committed during the Bangladesh Liberation War (BLW). The protesters believed a life sentence was too lenient and that Mollah, who was convicted of charges including murder, rape and torture, should have been given the death penalty. The law passed by parliament will be effective retroactively [AP report] to July 2009, allowing prosecutors to appeal Mollah's sentence.

Because the Court has identified an impermissible legal theory on which the jury based its award, and cannot reasonably calculate the amount of excess while effectuating the intent of the jury, the Court hereby orders a new trial on damages ... This amounts to $450,514,650 being stricken from the jury's award.

The reduction in damages is the most recent event in a protracted patent litigation battle [JURIST op-ed] with Samsung that spans over four continents. In December Judge Koh requested a temporary "ceasefire" [JURIST report] in litigation while she determined whether or not to reduce the damages that Samsung owed to Apple. In October a judge for the US International Trade Commission [official website] issued a preliminary ruling [JURIST report] that Samsung infringed four of Apple's patents relating to smartphone design and touchscreen technology. Also in October the Dutch Rechtbank's-Gravenhage [official website, in Dutch] 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. Also in October, Apple defeated [JURIST report] patent infringement claims made by Samsung in Japan, overcoming Samsung's attempt to enjoin iPhone sales in the country.

Sports gambling has been a controversial legal issue recently, especially in New Jersey. In October JURIST guest columnist Kathryn Young defended New Jersey's sports betting law [JURIST comment], arguing that gambling can effectively increase states' revenue and should be viewed outside of its negative connotations. that There is a presumptive prohibition on most forms of gambling in the US, although restrictions on some forms of Internet gambling were loosened late in 2011 when the Department of Justice (DOJ) clarified that non-sports online gambling is presumptively legal [JURIST report]. In January 2012 Patrick Fleming [advocacy profile], Litigation Support Director at Poker Players Alliance [advocacy website], argued that the decision bolstered the legitimacy of Internet betting [JURIST comment], yet the gambling landscape remains a patchwork of many distinct standards and statutory definitions.