JURIST's legal news service, powered by a team of over 40 law student reporters and editors led by Professor Bernard Hibbitts at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. http://jurist.org/paperchase JURIST@pitt.REMOVE_THISedu [JURIST] The Supreme Court of Croatia [official website, in Croatian] on Friday upheld the conviction [judgment, PDF; in Croatian] of former Parliament [official website] member Branimir Glavas [JURIST news archive], but reduced his sentence by two years. Glavas was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison [JURIST report] in 2009 for ordering the torture and death of Croatian Serbs in the town of Osijek in 1991 during the Serbo-Croatian War [GlobalSecurity backgrounder]. In confirming the decision of the lower court but reducing the sentence, the Supreme Court held that the war crimes counts of which Glavas was convicted should... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/croatia-high-court-upholds-lawmakers-war-crimes-conviction.php 2010-07-30T16:48:39-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/croatia-high-court-upholds-lawmakers-war-crimes-conviction.php Dwyer Arce ... [JURIST] Philippines President Benigno Aquino [BBC profile] signed an executive order [text, PDF] Friday to set up a "truth commission" to investigate allegations that the outgoing administration engaged in corruption and rights violations. The commission will look into accusations that former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] and members of her administration rigged the 2004 presidential election, misused government funds and profited from government contracts. Aquino announced plants to create the commission [JURIST report] earlier this month, prompting a call for him to issue an executive order to make the commission official and clear up any ambiguity... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/philippines-president-creates-truth-commission-to-probe-rights-abuses.php 2010-07-30T15:49:59-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/philippines-president-creates-truth-commission-to-probe-rights-abuses.php Jaclyn Belczyk ... [JURIST] Two prospective third party congressional candidates and six California voters filed a lawsuit [complaint, PDF] Thursday seeking to enjoin enforcement [motion, PDF] of Proposition 14 [text], which alters the primary election system, creating an open primary where only the top two vote-getters would advance to the general election. Proposition 14 was approved by voters last month [JURIST report] and changes elections to create a system in which all candidates for a state or federal office except for president would run in a single primary regardless of political affiliation. From this, only the two candidates with the most votes would... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/california-primary-election-system-challenged.php 2010-07-30T13:00:07-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/california-primary-election-system-challenged.php Dwyer Arce ... [JURIST] The UN Human Rights Committee [official website] on Friday called on Israel to cooperate [report, DOC] with an international inquiry into the May flotilla incident [JURIST news archive], in which Israeli forces raided several Turkish ships bound for the blockaded Gaza Strip [BBC backgrounder]. The committee, charged with monitoring compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights [text], made a series of recommendations in order to bring the Israeli government into compliance with the covenant, to which it is a state party. It went on to call for an end to the blockade on Gaza, noting that... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/un-rights-body-urges-israel-to-allow-international-inquiry-into-flotilla-raid.php 2010-07-30T10:29:31-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/un-rights-body-urges-israel-to-allow-international-inquiry-into-flotilla-raid.php Dwyer Arce ... [JURIST] Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] filed a lawsuit [complaint, PDF] Thursday seeking to force Hawaii to recognize same-sex civil unions [JURIST news archive] that offer the same rights as marriage. The complaint, filed on behalf of six same-sex couples, was in response to the veto of legislation [JURIST report] earlier this month by Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle (R) [official website] that would have created same-sex civil unions. The lawsuit, filed in the First Circuit Court of Hawaii [official website], argues that, by failing to provide same-sex couples with the same rights and benefits... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/rights-groups-sue-hawaii-for-recognition-of-same-sex-civil-unions.php 2010-07-30T08:50:56-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/rights-groups-sue-hawaii-for-recognition-of-same-sex-civil-unions.php Dwyer Arce ... [JURIST] The Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) [official website] on Thursday indicted [press release] former Serb policeman Srpko Pustivuk for allegedly committing crimes against civilians during the Bosnian civil war [JURIST news archive]. Pustivuk was arrested [press release] on July 13 in Bijeljina and has been held in custody since. According to a statement by the Prosecutor's Office, Pustivuk is accused of taking part in a May and June 1992 "attack on civilians which resulted in the death and severe bodily injuries to civilians, some of whom were minors," as a member of the Bosnian Serb special police... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/bosnia-ex-policeman-indicted-for-war-crimes.php 2010-07-30T08:32:20-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/bosnia-ex-policeman-indicted-for-war-crimes.php Ann Riley ... [JURIST] Arizona Governor Jan Brewer (R) [official website] on Thursday filed an expedited appeal [text, PDF] asking the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] to lift the preliminary injunction [press release, PDF] issued Wednesday against several provisions of a controversial immigration law [SB 1070 materials; JURIST news archive]. The appeal and motion [text, PDF] for expedited briefing and hearing schedule asks the court to establish a timeline for briefs, schedule oral arguments for the week of September 13 and expedite its ruling. Explaining Arizona's reasons for the appeal, Brewer said:If the federal government wants to be... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/arizona-appeals-order-partially-blocking-immigration-law.php 2010-07-30T07:44:26-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/arizona-appeals-order-partially-blocking-immigration-law.php Ann Riley ... [JURIST] The criminal division of the Thai Supreme Court [GlobaLex backgrounder] on Thursday issued a new arrest warrant for ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra [BBC profile; JURIST news archive]. The warrant comes at the request of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) [official website], which charges that Thaksin did not report all of his assets to the commission after the February ruling of the Constitutional Court [official website, in Thai] seizing 46.4 billion baht (USD $1.4 billion) [JURIST report] in assets for abuses of power while in office. The Supreme Court also suspended proceedings against Thaksin [Bangkok Post report] until he... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/thailand-court-issues-new-arrest-warrant-for-ex-pm.php 2010-07-29T15:10:04-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/thailand-court-issues-new-arrest-warrant-for-ex-pm.php Dwyer Arce ... [JURIST] The Obama administration is in danger of entrenching some of the most draconian aspects of the Bush administration's controversial national security policy, warns a new report, [text, PDF; press release] from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] [press release] released Thursday. The report, titled "Establishing a New Normal: National Security, Civil Liberties, and Human Rights Under the Obama Administration," concludes that the first 18 months of the Obama White House betray a civil rights record that is "mixed, at best." Though the group concedes that "the Obama administration inherited a legal and moral morass" and has had... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/aclu-urges-obama-administration-to-repudiate-bush-era-civil-rights-policies.php 2010-07-29T14:13:17-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/aclu-urges-obama-administration-to-repudiate-bush-era-civil-rights-policies.php Daniel Richey ... [JURIST] French President Nicolas Sarkozy [official website, in French] on Wednesday ordered measures [press release] against illegal Roma [JURIST news archive] communities in France and announced new legislation aimed at making their deportation easier. The announcement comes a week after riots by members of the Roma community sparked by the shooting of a young man, resulting in the deployment of 300 troops [DW report]. The government aims to dismantle half of illegal Roma camps in the country within three months and to immediately deport of all those found to have broken the law. In explaining the need for the measures,... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/france-president-announces-new-measures-against-illegal-roma.php 2010-07-29T13:19:16-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/france-president-announces-new-measures-against-illegal-roma.php Dwyer Arce ... [JURIST] The High Court of Sri Lanka [official website] on Thursday conducted the first hearing in the case against former army chief Sarath Fonseka [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], who is accused of provoking violence and bringing disrepute to the government. The charges are in relation to statements made to the Sunday Leader [media website] newspaper, which suggested that the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa [BBC profile] ordered the killing of surrendering rebel leaders during the Sri Lankan civil war [CFR backgrounder; JURIST news archive]. At the hearing, the court issued 20 summons [DPA report] for witnesses to appear at... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/sri-lanka-court-holds-first-hearing-in-case-of-ex-army-chief.php 2010-07-29T12:09:31-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/sri-lanka-court-holds-first-hearing-in-case-of-ex-army-chief.php Dwyer Arce ... [JURIST] Spanish National Court Judge Santiago Pedraz issued an arrest warrant [text, in Spanish; PDF] Thursday for three US troops suspected of gunning down Spanish journalist Juse Couso [advocacy website, JURIST news archive] in Iraq. Couso, a television cameraman, was killed in 2003 when a US tank fired into the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad. The 3rd Division infantrymen named in the warrant, Sgt. Shawn Gibson, Capt. Philip Wolford and Lt. Col. Philip de Camp, maintain that they fired into the hotel at what they thought was an enemy combatant because they were being fired upon. A US military investigation has... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/spain-judge-orders-arrest-of-us-troops-suspected-of-shooting-journalist-in-iraq.php 2010-07-29T11:24:09-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/spain-judge-orders-arrest-of-us-troops-suspected-of-shooting-journalist-in-iraq.php Daniel Richey ... [JURIST] A group of suspected Somali pirates [JURIST news archive] pleaded not guilty Wednesday before the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia [official website]. The defendants, six Somali men alleged to have been involved in the April attack on the USS Ashland in the Gulf of Aden, pleaded not guilty to charges of piracy and assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon. Attorneys for the men argue that they could not have committed piracy because they did not seize or plunder the ship [CP report]. The charge of piracy carries a mandatory life sentence if convicted.... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/eleven-accused-somali-pirates-plead-not-guilty-in-us-court.php 2010-07-29T11:02:02-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/eleven-accused-somali-pirates-plead-not-guilty-in-us-court.php Dwyer Arce ... [JURIST] Russian President Dmitry Medvedev [official website; JURIST news archive] on Thursday signed into law [press release, in Russian] a bill that will grant controversial new powers to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), the Russian Federation's successor to the former USSR's KGB [GlobalSecurity backgrounders]. The bill, which the Russian parliament approved [JURIST report] earlier this month, will give the FSB authority to question citizens about actions that may create the conditions for a crime and issue warnings [DW report] not to engage in unapproved acts. Noncompliance may be punishable by fine or up to 15 days in prison. The... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/russia-president-signs-bill-expanding-secret-police-powers.php 2010-07-29T09:51:42-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/russia-president-signs-bill-expanding-secret-police-powers.php Daniel Richey ... [JURIST] The Bangladeshi Supreme Court [official website] on Wednesday overturned a constitutional amendment [judgment, PDF] that had allowed religious parties to participate in politics. The court, upholding a lower court decision, held that the Fifth Amendment to the Bangladeshi Constitution [text], which allowed the participation of religious political parties and legitimized military rule, violated the principle of secularism and representative democracy found in the Constitution's preamble. Relying heavily on the US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] decision of Marbury v. Madison [text] to reinforce the notion of judicial review, the court found that the supremacy of the Constitution... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/bangladesh-high-court-outlaws-religious-parties.php 2010-07-29T09:03:47-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/bangladesh-high-court-outlaws-religious-parties.php Dwyer Arce ... [JURIST] The US House of Representatives [official website] approved a bill Wednesday that would reduce the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine offenses. The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 [S 1789 materials] would amend existing law to reduce the current sentencing ratio from 100:1 to 18:1. Under the existing law passed in 1986, an individual possessing five grams of crack cocaine would receive a mandatory five-year prison sentence, while an individual possessing powder cocaine would need to have 100 times that amount to receive the same sentence. Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] praised [press release] the bill's passage, stating... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/us-house-approves-bill-to-reduce-cocaine-sentencing-disparity.php 2010-07-29T08:45:42-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/us-house-approves-bill-to-reduce-cocaine-sentencing-disparity.php Erin Bock ... [JURIST] The UN General Assembly [official website] on Wednesday adopted a resolution [materials] declaring that access to clean and sanitized drinking water is a basic human right [press release]. The resolution, passed by a vote of 122-0 with 41 member states abstaining, also requires the UN Independent Expert on the issue of human rights obligations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque [official profile], to report to the General Assembly annually. The initiative promotes progress to achieve Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) [official website] to reduce social and economic harms by 2015, including decreasing the number... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/un-declares-access-to-safe-drinking-water-a-basic-human-right.php 2010-07-29T08:25:07-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/un-declares-access-to-safe-drinking-water-a-basic-human-right.php Ann Riley ... [JURIST] The US House of Representatives [official website] on Wednesday passed a bill [HR 5143 materials] that would create a bipartisan commission [press release] charged with reviewing the US criminal justice system. The commission would also propose reforms and promote the reduction and prevention of violence and crime. According to House sponsor Bill Delahunt (D-MA) [official website], the US incarcerates 2.3 million people, with prison costs soon reaching $75 billion. Delahunt praised the passage in the House, asserting that the bill "will assess the current crisis, reverse these disturbing trends and help save taxpayer money." Currently pending in the US... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/us-house-approves-commission-to-reform-criminal-justice-system.php 2010-07-29T07:38:32-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/us-house-approves-commission-to-reform-criminal-justice-system.php Ann Riley ... [JURIST] The UK Court of Appeal [official website] ruled [decision text] Wednesday that two terrorism suspects can sue the government for damages over wrongfully imposed control orders [Guardian backgrounder; JURIST news archive]. The appellants, known only as AF and AE due to the sensitive nature of the intelligence related to their cases, have been fighting their control orders, which confine them essentially to house-arrest conditions, for nearly two years. Last year, the UK House of Lords [official website] ruled that the Home Secretary [official website] had to provide the suspects with more information about the evidence against them to satisfy... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/uk-appeals-court-rules-terror-suspects-may-sue-over-wrongful-control-orders.php 2010-07-28T14:35:16-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/uk-appeals-court-rules-terror-suspects-may-sue-over-wrongful-control-orders.php Daniel Richey ... [JURIST] A judge for the US District Court for the District of Arizona [official website] on Wednesday issued a preliminary injunction [order, PDF] against several provisions of a controversial Arizona immigration law [SB 1070 materials; JURIST news archive], which is set to take effect Thursday. The injunction comes at the request of the US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website], which filed its suit challenging the constitutionality of the law [JURIST report] earlier this month. Judge Susan Bolton rejected the DOJ's argument that the law should be enjoined in its entirety, finding that the individual provisions of the law were... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/federal-judge-enjoins-sections-of-arizona-immigration-law.php 2010-07-28T13:44:21-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/federal-judge-enjoins-sections-of-arizona-immigration-law.php Dwyer Arce ... [JURIST] A Russian court on Wednesday made public a ruling banning access to five websites, including the video-sharing network Youtube [website], for what it calls extremist elements. A court in the city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur obliged the local Internet provider Rosnet to block access to the sites in its region of the country, citing Russia's anti-extremism laws [RT report, video]. The decision came after a video entitled "Russia for Russians," also a Russian extremist slogan, was posted on YouTube. The other sites were blocked [Moscow Times report] for containing excerpts of Adolf Hitler's book Mein Kampf [Britannica backgrounder], which was banned... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/russia-court-bans-youtube-for-extremist-content.php 2010-07-28T13:06:14-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/russia-court-bans-youtube-for-extremist-content.php Drew Singer ... [JURIST] Prosecutor Christoph Goeke of the German city of Dortmund announced Wednesday that former Nazi guard Samuel Kunz has been charged in relation to the murder of nearly half a million people during the Nazi regime. Kunz, who has admitted to working at the Belzec concentration camp [HRP backgrounder] from 1942-1943, is accused of helping to murder 430,000 Jewish people [Al Jazeera report] during his time at Belzec, and of shooting 10 other people in separate incidents. Kunz maintains that he never personally murdered anyone [JTA report]. Kunz has been called as a witness in the case of fellow accused... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/germany-prosecutor-charges-former-nazi-camp-guard.php 2010-07-28T12:50:06-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/germany-prosecutor-charges-former-nazi-camp-guard.php Dwyer Arce ... [JURIST] The Chinese Ministry of Public Security [official website, in Chinese] issued an order Monday directing the country's police forces to abandon the practice of publicly shaming suspects and prisoners. The order [Xinhua report, in Chinese] stems from public response to an incident [Xinhua report, in Chinese] earlier this month when officers in the southern city of Dongguan paraded roped and handcuffed suspected prostitutes down a city street in the middle of the day, posting pictures of the event on the internet. Many Internet posters, increasingly leery of corruption in Chinese law enforcement [JURIST news archive], expressed outrage at the... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/china-orders-police-to-stop-public-shaming-of-prisoners.php 2010-07-28T11:39:43-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/china-orders-police-to-stop-public-shaming-of-prisoners.php Daniel Richey ... [JURIST] Japanese Justice Minister Keiko Chiba [Japan Times profile] on Wednesday announced a review of Japan's death penalty [JURIST news archive] and the opening of execution chambers to the media. The announcement came after Chiba witnessed the execution [Japan Times report] of two convicts at the Tokyo Detention House. The review will examine the issue of capital punishment from all angles, according to Chiba, and will include members of the Justice Ministry [official website, in Japanese] in addition to experts who will be asked to participate. Critics have claimed Chiba, who opposes the death penalty, had political motivations in ordering... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/japan-to-conduct-review-of-capital-punishment.php 2010-07-28T10:58:10-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/japan-to-conduct-review-of-capital-punishment.php Dwyer Arce ... [JURIST] The Fremont City Council [official website] on Tuesday voted unanimously to suspend an ordinance [No 5165 text] banning hiring, harboring or renting property to illegal immigrants [JURIST news archive] pending the outcome of litigation challenging its constitutionality. The ordinance would require all employers in the city to register for the E-Verify program [DHS website] and would make it a crime to rent to illegal immigrants. It would also void any lease entered into by an illegal immigrant and would require every person seeking to rent residential property to obtain an occupancy permit from the city, which would require the... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/nebraska-city-council-suspends-immigration-law-pending-litigation.php 2010-07-28T09:57:05-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/07/nebraska-city-council-suspends-immigration-law-pending-litigation.php Dwyer Arce ...