[JURIST] The Chinese Foreign Ministry [official website in English] announced Friday that the Sino-US Joint Liaison Group (JLG) has signed a joint agreement [Foreign Ministry press release in Chinese] at the conclusion of a two-day meeting of US and Chinese delegates in Beijing. During the meeting, the two sides agreed to cooperate and offer mutual legal assistance in the areas of illegal immigration, the extradition of fugitives, intellectual property infringement, anti-narcotics operations, and trans-national crime. The signing of the agreement also resulted in the institutionalization of the JLG and the establishment of regular yearly meetings. The JLG was originally conceived by the Clinton administration in 1998 and is headed by Liu Zhenmin of the Chinese Foreign Ministry and Elizabeth Verville of the US State Department. Xinhua has more.

[JURIST] A military tribunal in Osnabrueck, Germany has sentenced three British soldiers involved in the May 2003 abuse of Iraqi detainees [JURIST Hot Topic archive] at Camp Bread Basket, outside Basra. Cpl. Daniel Kenyon was sentenced to 18 months in prison for aiding and abetting an assault and for failing to report other incidents. Lance Cpl. Mark Cooley was jailed for the maximum two years after posing in a photograph which shows him punching a detainee. Lance Cpl. Darren Larkin, who had pleaded guilty to assault, was jailed for 140 days. All three have also been dismissed from the Army with disgrace, equivalent to a US Army's "dishonorable discharge." The case was decided by Judge Advocate Michael Hunter and a panel of seven senior officers. In concluding the hearing, Hunter told the soldiers that their actions were made by free choice and that they could not expect any leniency. JURIST's Paper Chase has coverage of the trial verdicts [JURIST report]. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Pinellas Circuit Court Judge George Greer ruled Friday to extend the stay on the removal of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube for three more weeks. Greer made his decision after Schiavo's parents, who oppose the removal of the tube, asked the court to allow time for medical tests which might prove that Schiavo's mental capacity is more advanced than currently believed. Terri Schiavo's husband, Michael, still maintains that his wife does not want to be kept alive artificially, and is seeking court permission to remove the tube. AP has more.

In a related story, on the same day the stay blocking removal of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube was set to expire, an attorney for Schiavo's parents announced Friday that Florida's Department of Children and Families (DCF) [official website] is seeking a new 60-day delay in the removal of the life-sustaining device. The DCF's filing asked the court to delay the stay's expiration in order to allow time for the DCF to properly investigate claims that husband Michael Schiavo abused and neglected his severely brain-damaged wife. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) [PDF text; WHO backgrounder] will enter into force Sunday, making the provisions of the treaty legally binding on countries that have ratified the convention [FCTC signatory list]. The FCTC, the first international treaty negotiated under the auspices of the World Health Organization [official website], requires its signatories to implement measures ensuring that tobacco packaging has strong health warnings and to establish comprehensive tobacco advertising and sponsorship bans. The WHO has more. The US signed the treaty in 2004, but the Bush administration has not yet forwarded the FCTC to the US Senate for consideration. Two-thirds approval by the Senate is required for US ratification. The American Cancer Society [advocacy website] issued a press release [text] Friday calling on the US to "ratify the convention, implement it, and help low-income nations do the same."

[JURIST] Yukos [corporate website] and its main shareholder Group Menatep [corporate website] said Friday that they would keep fighting against the "Russian Federation's campaign to destroy the company," despite yesterday's US court decision to dismiss Yukos' bid for bankruptcy protection [JURIST report; memorandum opinion text [PDF]]. In Yukos' statement [text], the company said:

We have read the Judge's opinion and it supports YUKOS' position on four of the five issues. The Judge's opinion found in favor of YUKOS on the issues of: Jurisdiction, Forum Non Conveniens, Comity and Act Of State Doctrine. Never-the-less the court dismissed the case under Section 1112 (b) of the Bankruptcy Code....

We have the utmost respect for this Court and have found the experience of participating in a fair, open and unbiased legal process refreshing after nine months of being subjected to politicized and biased Russian courts. We will thoroughly review our options and will take the appropriate actions in due course."

It is not surprising, however, that Judge Letitia Clark referred to the events in Russia as "a confiscation". The world has been saying this for some time and Group MENATEP continues to stress that the actions of the Russian Federation are contrary to Russian and international law. The ruling of the judge appears to support that view.

[JURIST] British Attorney General Lord Goldsmith [official profile] issued a statement Friday denying reports that his 2003 parliamentary answer [text; JURIST report] on the legality of the Iraq invasion had been drawn up in the Prime Minister's office. Earlier this week, British papers reported that the answer, presented to Parliament as Lord Goldsmith's official opinion, was drawn up in No. 10 Downing Street [JURIST report], not the attorney general's chambers. In his Friday statement, Lord Goldsmith said the answer had been prepared in his own office and "I was fully involved throughout the drafting process and personally finalised, and of course approved, the answer." The UK Press Association has more.

[JURIST] In Friday's international brief, the African Union [official website] announced the suspension of Togo's membership in the continental organization following a meeting of the AU Peace and Security Council [official website]. The AU also called for wider sanctions against Togo [government website in French], while endorsing the current sanctions [JURIST report] imposed by the West African regional body ECOWAS [official website]. The controversy is due to the continued occupation of the Togolese presidency by Faure Gnassingbe [BBC News profile], even after the disputed amendments to the nation's constitution were removed. African leaders have called for Faure to step down from the office, while Faure has indicated that he plans to remain as interim president until new elections scheduled to take place in the next two months. Rumors are swirling in the region that Faure is likely to step down in light of the mounting regional and international pressure. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage [JURIST Countries archive] of Togo. South Africa's Independent Online has local coverage.

In other international legal news ...

• The still violent traditional capital of Somalia, Mogadishu, will remain the only home for the Somalian government, Somalian President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed [BBC News profile] vowed on Friday. Yusuf is in Somalia conducting a fact-finding mission on the security concerns of relocating the exiled Somalian government from Nairobi, Kenya, where it has been located since its reconstitution last year, back to the war-torn country. Several of the towns visited by Yusuf during his trip offered to serve as a temporary location for the government until safety could be guarenteed in Mogadishu. But Yusuf said that the government will only return to Mogadishu, as anything else would be allowing the violent minority to dictate reform of the nation. Yusuf also dismissed concerns about a peacekeeping force scheduled to assist Somalian Prime Minister Mohammed Ali Gedi [BBC News profile] in maintaining peace in the capital city. Yusuf did not comment on the time frame for the return [JURIST report], as the originally proposed date of Feb. 21 has already passed. South Africa's News 24 has local coverage.
  
  
• The Nepalese government will be regulating in-country human rights groups such as Amnesty International-Nepal [advocacy website] and the International Committee of the Red Cross [advocacy website], according to a senior government official quoted in Friday's Nepalese newspapers. The source said that the current government is displeased with the portrayal of Nepal's human rights record in the international community and is therefore going to regulate the conduct of the groups. The report comes on the same day that the government released nine high-profile detainees to the district court in Kathmandu, including Bishnu Nisthuri, the general secretary of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists [official website]. Kantipur Online has local coverage of both the human rights groups regulations and the release of the detainees.
  
  
• Former Bosnian Serb General Radivoje Miletic surrendered himself to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia [official website] in Serbia on Friday to face charges of war crimes. Miletic has been indicted on charges that he "knowingly participated in a joint criminal enterprise and operation, the common purpose of which was to force the Muslim population out of the Srebrenica and Zepa enclaves" along with fellow general, Milan Gvero, who surrendered Thursday. Miletic will be transferred to the UN Tribunal Monday, according to a Serbian government [official website] press release. Read the official press release of the charges against Miletic and Gvero.

[JURIST] The UK Parliament Joint Committee on Human Rights [official website] questioned the legality of proposed anti-terror legislation that grants the home secretary power to order house arrests of terror suspects in a report [text] released Friday. The committee's report presents a new challenge for the government, which had hoped to rush the recently announced [JURIST report] legislation through Parliament so it would take effect before the current anti-terror legislation [text] expires on March 14. The committee report expressed concerns over the increased powers of Home Secretary Charles Clarke [official bio] to order detentions, a power that previously required prior judicial authorization. Clarke has said that the law would include an automatic judicial review of any detentions within a week. The proposed law, the Prevention of Terrorism Bill [text], is expected to pass the Commons by Monday. From London, the Times has more.

[JURIST] Leading Friday's corporations and securities law news, US District Judge Sim Lake has ordered the jury selection for the trial of former Enron [corporate website; JURIST Hot Topic] Chairman Ken Lay [Wikipedia profile], ex-CEO Jeff Skilling [Wikipedia profile] and top accountant Rick Causey to begin on Jan. 17, 2006. Judge Lake had been eyeing a summer 2005 start to the trial, but on Thursday pushed it to next year to accommodate the trial schedules of the various attorneys for the defendants. The three defendants are said to be pleased with the start date. Read the indictment [text, PDF] and SEC complaint [text, PDF] against Lay, Skilling, and Causey. The Houston Chronicle has more.

In other news...

• SBC Communications Inc. announced in a SEC filing [text] that it will take a charge against its fourth-quarter results because of an accounting error by Cingular Wireless LLC [corporate website]. The St. Louis Business Journal has more.
  
  
• Mikhail Khodorkovsky [JURIST Newsmaker], founder of Yukos, called the fraud and tax evasion charges [official trial website in English] brought against him fiction and lies. Friday saw the start of Khodorkovsky's cross-examination in a trial that began last June. The specific case against Khodorskovsky and co-defendant Platon Lebedev is related to the 1994 privatization of a fertilizer company, Apatit, which prosecutors allege the pair received a 20 percent stake in illegally. The trial has led to the collapse of Yukos as Russian tax collectors have sought over $27 billion in back-taxes, forcing the sale of its main unit. MosNews.com has local coverage. Reuters has more.
  
  
• As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, US Bankruptcy Judge Letitia Clark on Thursday dismissed the bankruptcy case of Russian oil giant Yukos [corporate website; JURIST Hot Topic], saying the matter should be decided in a forum allowing for involvement by the Russian government. Yukos maintains a website related to its Chapter 11 case. MosNews.com has local coverage. BBC News has more.
  
  
• MGM Mirage [corporate website] announced Friday the Nevada Gaming Commission [official website] has unanimously approved its deal to acquire Mandalay Resort Group [corporate website] for $7.9 billion. Just last week, the FTC [official website] approved the merger. The deal must now be approved by Illinois and Michigan regulators. Read the MGM Mirage press release. The Street.com has more.

[JURIST] Citing a Government Accountability Office [official website] study, several lawmakers Thursday called for an end to the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding homosexuals. The report [PDF], released Wednesday, indicated that the policy has hurt recruiting and retainment as the war in Iraq has drained resources. Specifically, the report stated that the Department of Defense [official website] spent more than $191 million to replace over 10,000 service members who had been discharged under the policy. The 12-year-old policy prohibits military officials from inquiring about sexual orientation, but allows discharge of service members if they are discovered to be gay. The Los Angeles Times has more.

[JURIST] The Palestinian parliament overwhelmingly approved Thursday a new Cabinet made up primarily of professionals rather than politicians. Of the 24 members of the Cabinet, 17 are new, marking a departure from the Yasser Arafat [BBC News report] era. The approval came after Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei [BBC News profile] withdrew his initial list of nominees [JURIST report] due to criticism that those on the initial list were not sufficiently reform minded. The New York Times has more.

[JURIST] The US Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals [official website] upheld the constitutionality of Utah's so-called hate-crimes statute. The law, passed in 1992, differs from most other hate-crimes prohibitions because it does not protect an enumerated class of victims. Attempts to broaden the statute's application by specifically identifying classes of victims have repeatedly failed in the Utah legislature. The law was challenged on the grounds that it was overbroad and infringed on protected speech. Read the court's opinion [text]. The Salt Lake Tribune has more.

[JURIST] Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Friday, Feb. 25.

The US Senate and US House [official websites] are in recess this week. Both will resume their sessions on Feb. 28.

The Brookings Institution is holding a forum titled "Darfur, War Crimes, the International Criminal Court, and the Quest for Justice," at 10 AM ET today. Watch a live webcast of the event via C-SPAN.

The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law is holding a symposium titled "Meeting the Challenge of Grutter: Affirmative Action in 25 Years." A panel on education reform trends will begin at 9 AM ET, and a panel on implementing change begins at 11 AM ET. More event information and a live webcast is available.

The EU Justice and Home Affairs Council [official website] is holding a press briefing on EU-Ukraine Troika at 2 PM local time [8 AM ET]. Watch a live webcast of the briefing.

At the UN, the Security Council [official website] will hear a progress report by Secretary-General Kofi Annan on cross-border issues in West Africa. Watch a live webcast of the meeting beginning at 10 AM ET. Following that, a 12 Noon ET press conference will be held on gender equality progress since the Beijing World Conference on Women in 1995 [information website]. Watch a live webcast of the press conference.