Environmental brief ~ Indonesia to proceed with charges against Newmont execs News
Environmental brief ~ Indonesia to proceed with charges against Newmont execs

[JURIST] In Tuesday's environmental law news, prosecutors in Indonesia announced they have decided to go ahead with charges against 6 executives of the Newmont Mining Corporation for allegedly contamininating the Buyat Bay. The prosecutors are awaiting a final dossier from local police, and hope to officially file the charges in a few weeks. Five of the officials had already been jailed for a number of weeks earlier this year while prosecutors decided whether to charge them. A major issue is the contamination itself- two earlier studies have not shown any contamination from the mine in the bay's water, while a recent government study shows mercury and arsenic in the bay's sediment. The mine itself was closed in August due to depleted resources. The accusations are from when it was in operation. Reuters has more.

In other news, Hong Kong's Food and Environmental Hygiene Department has partially lifted a ban on the import of Canadian beef. The ban was enacted in May 2003 following a case of mad cow disease in Canada. Hong Kong will begin by allowing only boneless beef from cattle under 30 months old, and will make further allowances as necessary. The press release is here.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Thomas Becket, former Chancellor of England, murdered by Henry II's knights

On December 29, 1170, Archbishop Thomas Becket, former Chancellor of England, was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral by knights acting in the name of Henry II.

Becket and Henry had been entangled in a power struggle over, among other things, criminal jurisdiction over clergy. Read a contemporary account of the murder of Thomas Becket.

Texas attains US statehood

On December 29, 1845, Texas became the twenty-eighth state to join the United States of America when US President James K. Polk signed the Ordinance of Annexation. Texas had a complicated path to statehood because it had formerly been part of Mexico and then an independent republic. The US Congress passed the Annexation of the Republic of Texas Joint Resolution on March 1, 1845. Voters in Texas then approved the Ordinance of Annexation in October, before it was approved by the US Congress and signed into law by President Polk on this day in 1845. The US Supreme Court later ruled in Texas v. White that, despite its unique path to statehood, Texas did not have the right to secede from the union.