[JURIST] Following up on a story reported earlier this afternoon in JURIST's Paper Chase, an apparent bipartisan deal to pass intelligence reform legislation based on recommendations of the 9/11 Commission collapsed on the House floor at the last minute late Saturday as Republicans blocked its passage, prompting sharp criticism from Democrats who thought they had an agreement. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay insisted, however, that Representatives Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., and James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., the GOP chairman of the House intelligence and judiciary committees, had not agreed to a compromise reached earlier Saturday. The collapse of the deal most likely means that the current legislation will die and Congress will have to take up the matter again when a new House and Senate take office in January. AP has more.

[JURIST] Following a statement last week by Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahearn that same-sex couples deserved "better rights" (reported here in JURIST's Paper Chase), Irish Justice Minister Michael McDowell said Saturday that Ireland should pursue civil partnerships for unwed couples, both heterosexual and homosexual, but should not institute a full process for 'gay marriage'. This was McDowell's first policy speech on the issue following the initiation of a civil suit against the goverment in October by a lesbian couple that were married in Canada in 2003. The couple is seeking to require Irish Revenue, the country's tax collection agency to assign them the income tax credit permited for married couples. McDowell said his remarks were not focussed on sexual orientation, but rather on the reality that modern life puts people together in ways that make them dependant on each other. He suggested that estate, inheritance, tax, and pension law should all be reformed to recognize these 'civil partnerships'. McDowell also stated that seeking to grant gay couples full marriage rights would require an amendment to the 1937 Irish Constitution. The Guardian has more.

[JURIST] Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga announced Saturday that the government would create a special security force to protect the nation's judges and judicial personnel and would reinstate capital punishment. The announcement came at the end of an emergency session of ministers following Friday's assassination of High Court judge Sarath Ambepitiya and his bodyguard, reported here in JURIST's Paper Chase. Kumaratunga also reaffirmed the country's commitment to the death penalty in cases of murder, rape, and drug trafficking. Sri Lanka hasn't executed anyone in 28 years, but in January 2001, the legislation that automatically commuted a death penalty to life imprisonment was revoked. No individual sentenced to death since then has exhausted all possible appeals yet. Kumaratunga indicated that capital punishment would be more strictly enforced in light of the chronic attacks on political personalities and Friday's assassination, which marked the first attack on a member of the Sri Lankan judiciary, and said that all necessary amendments to the criminal code of Sri Lanka would be submitted to the Parliament. Tamil Net has more.

[JURIST] Congressional lawmakers announced Saturday that House and Senate negotiators have reached agreement on legislation that would overhaul the US intelligence structure pursuant to the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. The agreement is reported to create a new post that would jointly oversee all civilian spy agencies in the US, including the Central Intelligence Agency; a new National Counterterrorism Center on foreign terrorism would also be set up. There is no word as yet on the fate of controversial provisions altering US immigration law and upping penalties against terrorists. The Washington Post has more.

[JURIST] Spanish court officials said Saturday that 10 al-Qaida suspects who were previously free on bail have been jailed under a detention order from Judge Baltasar Garzon (BBC profile here) who indicted them in September 2003 for their connection to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US. Garzon has indicted over forty suspects that he claimed used Spain to prepare for the 9/11 attacks; the ten had been freed so long as they remained in Spain. National Court prosecutor Pedro Rubira had pushed for the incarceration of the suspects, including Al-Jazeera reporter Tayssir Alouni who was rearrested Thursday, claiming that they are an extreme flight risk and are also in danger from attempts by Al-Qaida to keep them from testifying. Their trial is scheduled to begin in February, 2005. The Guardian has more.

[JURIST] An Afghan court Saturday sentenced Reza Khan to death for the 2001 murder of four foreign journalists. The three-judge panel also found Khan guilty of raping one of the murdered journalists before she died as well as of the murder of his wife in Pakistan. The journalists were traveling from Jalalabad to Kabul when their convoy was attacked by a group armed men. The attack occurred in the days following the Taliban militia's withdrawal from the capital city after intense US bombing. Other suspects remain at large but two other men arrested for their involvement in the murders await trial. Reuters has more.