[JURIST] In Thursday's environmental law news, President Bush has signed into law the American Indian Probate Reform Act of 2004, faciliatating the consolidation of Indian land ownership. The bill was introduced by Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado and unanimously passed through both houses of Congress. The new law creates a uniform federal probate code, allows small interests in land to pass exclusively to single heirs through intestacy, and gives greater flexibility for individuals and Tribes to consolidate and acquire interests during the probate process. The DOI press release is here. The Tribal Law and Policy Institute has background on Tribal land probate issues here. In other news, the EPA has fined several developers in Puerto Rico a total of $150,000, and is seeking an additional $330,000 in penalties from other developers for filling wetlands in violation of the Clean Water Act[PDF]. The developers have also been ordered to create new wetlands in Puerto Rico. The EPA press release is here.... For the third time since 2003, the Carroll Independent Fuel Co. of Maryland has been fined by the EPA for failing to detect and prevent fuel leaks from underground storage tanks at its gas stations, in violation of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). This time involved 8 stations and a fine of $101,894. The EPA press release is here.... The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) seeks comments on a proposed interim rule that will implement days-at-sea (DAS) fishing allocations that are capped at a vessel's annual DAS allocation for the 2001 fishing year. The caps are in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, and will apply to New England multi-species fisheries. Comments can be made until November 12 here.... The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) seeks comments on a proposed rule that establishes regulations for requests the agency receives regarding changes to the restrictions on the importation of plants, plant parts, and plant products. Importation restrictions are made under the auspices of the Plant Protection Act[PDF]. Comments can be made until December 27 here.

[JURIST] Missouri Governor Bob Holden announced today that his state is joining Illinois and Wisconsin in a program to import cheaper prescription drugs from Canada and Europe despite a federal ban on the imports. The I-SaveRx program was launched this month to offer consumers in participating states savings of up to 50% on approximately 100 medications. At a press conference with Governor Blagojevich of Illinois, Governor Holden said "[t]he federal government’s refusal to stand up to the drug companies has penalized our citizens for too long. This is a program that will help Missourians and it will also help force a change in drug policies in this country." The FDA, which currently opposes such imports, sent Governor Blagojevich a letter in June denying Illinois a waiver to import drugs from Canada, but as yet the federal government has not blocked the program. Governor Holden's website has details. AP has more.

[JURIST] AP is reporting that the FBI has begun investigating whether the Bush administration improperly awarded no-bid contracts to Halliburton, according to officials.

UPDATE: AP now has more. The FBI is seeking an interview with Bunnatine Greenhouse (government profile page here), the Army Corps of Engineers chief contracting officer who alleged over the weekend that that her agency had unfairly awarded contracts to Halliburton subsidiary KBR for billions of dollars worth of work in Iraq. Read more on her claim and her call for an investigation here.

[JURIST] DaimlerChrysler AG announced today that it is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission over alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which bars US companies from bribing foreign officials and requires compliance controls. The allegations came to light when a fired employee filed a whistleblower complaint with the Department of Labor under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act [PDF]. Without putting a dollar figure on the company's possible exposure, the automaker disclosed the investigation in its third-quarter earnings statement. AP has more.

[JURIST] In Thursday's corporations and securities law news, Royal Dutch/Shell announced a new restructuring plan which will combine the separate Dutch and English companies into a single group, Royal Dutch Shell. The new group will have a single board, chairman, and chief executive. Read the Shell press release announcing the new group here [PDF]. Shell has a webcast of the announcement here. Read materials from the London announcement here [PDF]. Read a release by the shareholders attorneys
who find the plan does not go far enough here. The Financial Times has more.

In other news, DaimlerChrysler announced the SEC is investigating the company over allegations by a fired employee of violations of 1977 Foreign and Corrupt Practices Act, a federal anti-bribery statute. AP has more.... Delta Air Lines' pilots union announced an agreement with the troubled airline which cuts wages by one-third. The move will save Delta approximately $1 billion annually and may keep it out of bankruptcy court. Read Delta's press release announcing the deal here. CNN has more.... European budget airline Ryanair announced it will repay the £2.8 million in illegal subsidies it got for staying at Charleroi airport in Belgium. The funds will be put into an escrow account until the European Court hears its appeal against the repayment order. BBC has more.... As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, Marsh & McLennan Cos., accused of rigging bids for its client's insurance contracts by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer earlier this month, will likely settle the case by paying a fine of $500 million. Read the Spitzer complaint here [PDF]. Dow Jones has more.

[JURIST] Several major Internet companies announced today that they have filed anti-spam lawsuits under the federal CAN-SPAM act of 2003, which prohibits deceptive or abusive web advertising techniques such as the use of false return addresses or misleading subject lines to trick users into opening messages. The complaint [PDF] filed by Yahoo targets unwanted pornographic email. America Online also brought two suits late yesterday in federal court in Virginia. The "spim" complaint [PDF] targets bulk messages, known as "spim," sent to Internet chat rooms and instant message accounts, while the prescription drugs complaint [PDF] takes aim at unwanted emails advertising controlled substances for sale over the Internet. EarthLink and Microsoft also filed related suits simultaneously. CNET has more.

[JURIST] The US Navy has announced that two Navy SEALs will face court-martial proceedings for prisoner abuses which occurred between October 2003 and April 2004 at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. The two commandos from a Coronado-based Sea, Air, Land unit known as SEAL Team-7 are accused of assaulting a detainee who died in the prison and of posing in photographs taken while the detainee was being subjected to degrading treatment. The charges include aggravated assault, maltreatment, dereliction of duty and disobeying orders. Neither SEAL is charged with murder. Five other SEALs were also implicated. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. AP has more.

[JURIST] Marsh & McLennan Cos., accused of rigging bids for its client's insurance contracts by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer earlier this month, will likely settle the case by paying a fine of $500 million. The settlement will most likely include disgorgement of some of the commissions that the insurance giant received from other insurance companies for steering business their way, which Spitzer is demanding. Marsh's commissions totaled about $1.8 billion over the past three years. In addition to Spitzer's suit, civil class-action suits and other private litigation are also expected which could drive the total costs to Marsh to well over $1 billion. Read the Spitzer complaint here [PDF]. Dow Jones has more.

[JURIST] UK Prime Minister Tony Blair unveiled new legal measures against anti-social behavior Thursday. Under the new regulations, framed to address a growing problem in British society which is said to cost authorities over £30 million per year, towns will be able to fine people causing nuisance by noise, graffiti or litter. Fifty new areas in England and Wales have been indentified to get special help, including extra funding. Blair identified three purposes for the changes:

• To give greater protection to witnesses and victims
• To provide faster justice by tripling the number of special courts and expanding the range of offenses
  
• Renew community policing

[JURIST] Britain's Court of Appeal said Thursday that Britain's State Immunity Act would not prevent four British men (one of whom is also a Canadian citizen) from going ahead with a lawsuit against men they say tortured them into giving false confessions to bombings in Saudi Arabia. The Court did rule that the government of Saudi Arabia was protected from lawsuits in foreign courts under the Act. According to the Court's judgment a foreign state cannot have an "absolute right to claim immunity in respect of civil claims against its officials for systematic torture, even committed outside the country." BBC News has more. Canadian Press has additional coverage.

[JURIST] President of the Palestinian National Council Selim Zaanoun stated Thursday that early reports that a three-person committee would replace Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat were incorrect, insisting instead that Arafat's replacement would be the President of the Palestine Legislative Council Rawhi Fattuh, as stipulated by the as-yet-unratified Palestinian Constitution. Zaanoun said that following the appointment of a successor, general elections would be scheduled with two months to determine a democratically elected replacement. UPI has more.... A US Navy SEAL has been cleared of charges relating to the improper treatment of prisoners brought by the SEAL team to Abu Ghraib. The Navy is not releasing the names of the seven men on the SEAL team that is under investigation, but did state that two Article 32 hearings (the equivalent of a grand jury under the Uniform Code of Military Justice) are scheduled for Thursday to consider charges of dereliction of duty and assault against a Navy medic and verbal harrassment and aggravated assault with intent to cause death against a boatswain's mate. The five other members of the SEAL Team 7 squad, based out of Coronado, California, are also facing charges of aggravated assault with intent to cause death. AZ Central has more.... Amar Saifi, known as 'Abderrezak El Para', was extradited from Libya to his home country of Algeria Wednesday according to the Algerian Interior Ministry. Rumors had Saifi, responsible for the 2003 kidnapping of 32 European tourists and an alleged member of the terrorist group Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (BBC profile here), being detained by Chad rebels in March of this year. It is unclear how the Libyan government gained control of Saifi. Germany has an arrest warrant out for Saifi in relation to the kidnappings. Reuters has more.... Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo opened the first conference of African Anglican bishops Wednesday in Lagos, Nigeria. Over 300 bishops from the 12 African Anglican provinces are meeting during the week and are expected to focus heavily on the question of homosexuality and the Church. Obasanjo opened the conference with a plea to the bishops to maintain a firm stance against homosexuality, denouncing it as "unbiblical, unnatural and definitely unAfrican." There is no indication that the African Anglican church is considering withdrawing from the international body following the US Episcopal Church's approval of a homosexual bishop. Obasanjo also focused on the problems of poverty, lack of family units, and the high debt of African nations as elements that were hampering the growth of the African continent and appealed to the bishops to formally join with African governments in opposing these ills. The Sudan Tribune has more.

[JURIST] The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda has fired Jean Degli, the lawyer appointed to defend former Brig. Gen. Gratien Kabiligi (case information here), saying Degli defrauded the court of about $300,000. The Court's registrar Adam Dieng said Thursday that "there is overwhelming evidence that Degli played a major role in what appears to be a veritable fraud scheme that was well planned, orchestrated and carried out," and that the UN will file a case in the tribunal to recover the money. AP has more.

[JURIST] US District Judge Emmet Sullivan has ordered the Defense Department to suspend its Anthrax Vaccine Immunization Program, which provides mandatory anthrax vaccinations for troops, because the vaccine did not receive proper approval by the Food and Drug Administration. Six anonymous members of the military challenged the Pentagon policy and Judge Sullivan ruled that the lack of data on the effects of inhaled anthrax exposure makes the vaccine an "investigational" drug that cannot be forced on soldiers. Judge Sullivan also ruled that the FDA violated the Administrative Procedure Act by failing to give the public adequate opportunity to comment before approving the vaccine. Read the court's opinion [PDF]. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has issued a memorandum [PDF] responding to the court order; the DOD also has this press release. Thursday's Chicago Tribune has more. The FDA has background on anthrax vaccinations.

[JURIST] Incoming European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Thursday that he is considering making several changes to the proposed slate of EU Commissioners. As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, Barroso yesterday withdrew the slate of commissioners before the European Parliament could vote to approve or reject the slate. Italy's nominee for the Justice portfolio, Rocco Buttiglione, has become the center of controversy after expressing traditional religious beliefs on homosexuality and marriage during a Parliamentary review hearing. In an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today program, Barroso said that the European Parliament's opposition to the slate was not based solely on Buttiglione's inclusion and that changing a single commissioner would not solve the problem. Listen to recorded audio of the interview. BBC News has more. EUobserver.com has more on Italy's support of Buttiglione.

Previously on JURIST's Paper Chase...

• BREAKING NEWS ~ EU head withdraws commissioners slate after dispute over Justice nominee
• EU Commission head stands by Justice Commissioner nominee
• EU Justice Commissioner may "renounce" new jobEU chief defends Justice nominee nixed by review panel after saying homosexuality sin
• EU committee opposes Justice Commissioner nominee

[JURIST] The trial of Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir began Thursday on charges stemming from last year's hotel bombing in Jakarta. Bashir, who is alleged to be the spiritual leader of militant Islamic network Jemaah Islamiah, faces multiple charges including conspiring, planning and inciting acts of terrorism, using his position to influence and persuade others and withholding information. If convicted, Bashir could face the death penalty. After the charges against Bashir was read, the trial was adjourned until November 4. BBC News has more on the start of trial and background on Bashir's legal battles. The Jakarta Post has local coverage.

Previously on JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Indonesia indicts cleric for 2003 hotel bombing
• Indonesian cleric to be charged in terror case
• Indonesian court allows detention of terror suspect
• Indonesian court hears request to free terror suspect from custody
• Indonesian terror suspect files suit over arrest
• Indonesian high court rules anti-terror law cannot be applied retroactively

[JURIST] US District Judge Susan Dlott has issued a temporary order preventing elections boards in six Ohio counties from hearing challenges filed by the Ohio Republican Party against newly registered voters. Ohio Democrats had argued that the hearings to verify the residency of new voters would violate the National Voter Registration Act and voters' due process rights. Ohio Republicans, suspecting fraud, called for hearings to verify residency of new voters who had been sent mail that was returned as undeliverable. The US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio will hold a preliminary injunction hearing in the case on Friday. Read the court's order [PDF] granting a temporary restraining order and the court's press release [PDF]. JURIST's Paper Chase has background on the challenges and Thursday's Columbus Dispatch has more.... An Iowa judge has said that a lawsuit filed by Republican voters, challenging a determination by Iowa Secretary of State Chet Culver that provisional ballots could be counted, was filed prematurely. Judge Arthur Gamble said that the plaintiffs must wait until after Culver issues his final election rules Thursday to proceed in the case. AP has more.

[JURIST] Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Thursday, October 28.

The Federal Election Commission will hold a 10 AM ET open meeting, where it will decide the issue of fundraising potential recount costs prior to the Nov. 2 election. Read the meeting agenda. JURIST's Paper Chase has background on the recount funding dispute.

The trial of Momcilo Krajisnik continues today at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia at The Hague. Watch a webcast beginning at 9:30 AM local time (3:30 AM ET); the webcast is on a 30-minute tape delay. The ICTY has background on the case.

At the United Nations, the Security Council will hold a 10 AM open debate on women, peace and security (read the related Secretary-General report [PDF]). The Security Council will also discuss the situation concerning Western Sahara (read Secretary-General's report [PDF]) and the situation in the Central African Republic. Watch a live webcast of the Security Council meeting.... The General Assembly will meet at 10 AM ET to discuss the necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the US against Cuba. Read the draft resolution [PDF] to be considered by the General Assembly. Watch a live webcast of the meeting.... Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar will hold a 1:30 PM ET press conference. Watch a live webcast.... Cherif Bassiouni, Independent Expert appointed by the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan will hold a 3 PM ET press conference. Watch a live webcast.