[JURIST] A new interim report on the UN Oil-for-Food Program [JURIST c news archive] for Iraq is set to be released Tuesday, and officials within the Bush administration believe that the conflict-of-interest findings might place US Secretary-General Kofi Annan's job in jeopardy. Tuesday's report is expected to address whether the secretary-general unduly influenced the contract application process for his son Kojo's personal gain; Kojo received close to $400,000 from Cotecna Inspection [corporate website], a company he represented which sought and received a contract related to the program. Cotecna issued a December press release regarding its involvement in the oil-for-food program. NBC News has more.

[JURIST] The UN special mission to Burundi [mission website] has recommended that the nation create a non-judicial truth commission and special prosecuting chamber within its court system in order to deal with perpetrators of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. The recommendations, filed in a report [PDF] forwarded to the Security Council by Secretary-General Kofi Annan [official profile], gained the support of the UN chief, who emphasized the potential for heightened impartiality and credibility of a truth commission with a heavy international component. Annan also lauded the concept of a special chamber within the Burundi court system as central to bolstering the nation's judicial system. UN News Centre has more.

[JURIST] The US State Department Monday released its third annual report on American efforts to support and promote human rights around the world. In Supporting Human Rights: The US Record 2004-2005 [text], the US said it will make respect for human rights the test for its bilateral relations around the world, although it also indicated it will temper this ideology with political realities. The report promises that the US will keep up rights pressure on nations such as China, Russia, Pakistan, Libya, and Saudi Arabia. Critics, however, point to the easing of sanctions against Libya, one of the world's worst human rights violators, and the recent sale of F-16 fighter planes to Pakistan [AFP story], as evidence of the administration's difficulties in pushing its agenda in this area. Read Secretary Rice's comments regarding the report. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday in a case examining the rights of foreigners in death penalty cases. In Medellin v. Dretke [Duke Law backgrounder], a Mexican citizen was convicted of murder in a Texas state court and sentenced to death. In denying a petition for writ of habeas corpus, the Fifth Circuit held [opinion text, PDF] that the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations [official text] does not confer any individually enforceable rights. The Supreme Court was asked to decide whether foreign murder suspects have the right to challenge their convictions on the grounds they were improperly denied legal help from their consulates. The case will test what consideration the Supreme Court will give to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, which ruled last year that the 51 convictions violated the 1963 Vienna Convention. Last month, President Bush ordered new state court hearings in the 51 cases involving Mexicans on death row. The case is part of a growing debate on the role of international law in Supreme Court decision-making. Last month, justices in Roper v. Simmons [Cornell LII] ruled 5-4 to outlaw the death penalty for juvenile criminals, citing in part the weight of international views against the practice. AP and SCOTUSblog have more.

[JURIST] Leading Monday's corporations and securities law news, the Wall Street Journal is reporting [subscription req'd] that the SEC has subpoenaed twelve executives at American International Group Inc. (AIG) [corporate website]. The subpoenas relate to several probes into questionable transactions at the insurance giant which led to an improper bolstering of its financial standing. The newspaper also reported AIG has started an internal probe to determine whether the company should formally sever ties with Chairman Maurice R. "Hank" Greenberg [Wikipedia profile]. At issue is a 2000 transaction which appears to have been used to raise the company's reserves artificially. Greenberg, who has led the company for nearly four decades, is scheduled to give a deposition on the matter to New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer [official website] on April 12. AP has more.

In other news...

• Microsoft [corporate website] and the European Commission [official website] has reached an agreement on a name for the new version of the computer giant's Windows XP software. This is the latest step by Microsoft to comply with the EU over the antitrust fine imposed last year. The new name will be Windows XP Home Edition N, with the 'N' standing for "not with media player." The new version could be on the markets within weeks. Read more about Microsoft's attempt to comply with the European Commission. BBC News has more.
  
  
• The SEC [official website] is suing three former executives of I-Go Corporation, provider of accessories for laptops and cell phones before it was acquired by Mobility Electronics Incorporated in September 2002, on charges of inflating revenue in 1999 and 2000. The commission sued the company's founder and former chief executive, Kenneth W Hawk, former chief financial officer, Michael Delargy, and former vice president Thomas de Jong. Read the SEC litigation release and complaint [PDF]. AP has more.
  
  
• In the largest private takeover since 1989, SunGard Data Systems Inc. [corporate website], whose software handles most Nasdaq Stock Market [official website] trades, will be acquired by seven buyout firms for $10.4 billion in cash. Read the SunGuard press release. Bloomberg has more.
  
  
• The China Banking Regulatory Commission [official website] has outlined 13 areas in which Chinese banks can improve their management and tighten internal controls to combat rampant fraud and mismanagement. Read the Commission press release. BBC News has more.
  
  
• Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts Inc. [corporate website] announced a settlement with the committee of the company's equity holders. Under the terms of the settlement, the company will make a $17.5 million cash payment to its common stockholders in exchange for the committee's support for Trump Hotels' recapitalization plan. Also, Donald Trump [Wikipedia profile] will trade his right to receive the former World's Fair Site in Atlantic City, New Jersey for a higher stake in the recapitalized company. AP has more.

[JURIST] Cambodian officials will appeal to the UN on Monday for more than $70 million needed to establish a tribunal to prosecute remaining members of the Khmer Rouge regime [BBC backgrounder], responsible for the deaths of two million Cambodians from 1975-1979. Japan has already pledged half the court's budget, and $10 million will come from Australia, France, and Britain [government press releases]. Today's appeal is aimed at raising the remaining funds from UN members. The US has already stated that it will not contribute any money. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2005 [bill text] restricts assistance to the Cambodian government and prohibits such funding. The State Department [official site] does assert that "It has been the longstanding policy of this and prior Administrations to seek accountability and bring to justice those responsible for the genocide carried out by the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975-1979". The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has more.

[JURIST] The Supreme Court today declined to hear Troy Publishing v. Norton (docket 04-979), letting stand a ruling that appears to limit Constitutional protection of the press. Without comment, the Court denied the appeal of a 2004 ruling [PDF] by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court holding that neither the state nor the Federal Constitution protected the so-called "neutral reportage privilege," a First Amendment-based doctrine that allowed journalists to safely report defamatory comments uttered by public figures so long as the comments were described in a neutral fashion. The Pennsylvania court ruled in favor of two Parkesburg, PA., officials who sued over a 1995 article in the West Chester Daily Local News. As a result, journalists publishing in Pennsylvania will need to scrutinize public statements more closely for truth or face potential liability. AP has more.

Other cases declined today include Wasden v. Planned Parenthood of Idaho (04-703), a state appeal challenging a Ninth Circuit decision nullifying Idaho's parental consent law for minors seeking abortions; Arkansas v. Jolly (04-806), in which the state sought clarification of the constitutional doctrine to be applied to an excessive delay between a guilty verdict and the imposition of sentence; and Virginia Department of State Police v. Washington Post, et al. (04-999), testing the scope of the right of news organizations and the public to access to sealed court documents. SCOTUSblog has more.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court Monday agreed to hear Brown v . Sanders (docket 04-980), in which it will rule on the application of the "harmless error" doctrine to death penalty cases. The case concerns California's death penalty law, Cal. Penal Code 190.2 [scroll down], under which the accused is ineligible for capital punishment unless "special circumstances" were found during the guilt phase. The question is whether the law is a "weighing" statute in which jurors must consider a list of aggravating factors and what the effect of such a determination would be on the case. This was the only grant on Monday's order list, and the Court agreed to hear only two of the three questions raised in the appeal by California prison officials challenging the Ninth Circuit's holding. The case will be heard in the October Term. Review the Ninth Circuit's handbook on the death penalty in California . SCOTUSblog has more.

[JURIST] Sudanese justice minister Ali Mohamed Osman Yassin announced Monday that 15 Sudanese military officials have been arrested and accused of human rights offenses including rape, burning of villages and killings in the Darfur region, marking the first arrests of government officials in connection with the Darfur violence that has claimed tens of thousands of lives in the past two years. The individuals arrested are to be sent to trial immediately; the announcement follows a statement by Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail statement that Sudan [government website] would reject any UN proposal [JURIST report] that would move war crimes prosecution outside of Sudan's territory. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Sudan [JURIST Country news archive]. Reuters has more. The Sudan Tribune has local coverage, including a report that 164 people in all will face trial for crimes in Darfur.

[JURIST] Florida governor Jeb Bush [official website] said Sunday that he had no legal authority to do anything more for Terri Schiavo [JURIST news archive], the brain-damaged Florida woman now entering her 11th day without food or water at a Pinellas County hospice. Speaking publicly on the case for the first time since Thursday, he told reporters after an Easter Sunday service:

I cannot violate a court order...I don't have powers from the United States Constitution -- or for that matter from the Florida Constitution -- that would allow me to intervene after a decision has been made.

[JURIST] Sunday and Monday saw more arrests of protestors by authorities in Nepal [government website] at planned protests against King Gyanendra's assumption of power on February 1 [JURIST report]. Nepal's Kantipur Online [media website] is reporting that 24 Nepali Congress [advocacy website] members were arrested Sunday in various parts of the country, and 41 more NC members were arrested Monday in the capital city, Kathmandu. Three former legislators were included in the arrests. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Nepal [JURIST Country news archive]. Kantipur Online has local coverage of Monday's arrests in the capital.

[JURIST] US Army captain Rogelio Maynulet pleaded not-guilty to charges of murder Monday at his court-martial in Germany. Maynulet, a company commander in the 1st Armored Division [official website], shot an Iraqi male after firing on the vehicle he was fleeing in, mortally wounding him. Maynulet [advocacy petition website] is charged with shooting the man [JURIST report] after the medic on the scene confirmed that he had no chance of survival; a significant portion of the man's skull was already removed following the initial attack. Maynulet maintains that he acted out of mercy [JURIST report] in an effort to end the man's suffering. Colonel James Pohl, presiding over the court martial, dismissed a second charge brought by prosecutors of dereliction of duty, after defense pointed out that prosecutors had not specified what duty it was that Maynulet was supposed to have neglected. AP has more.

[JURIST] Russian prosecutors are expected to rest their case Monday against former Yukos [corporate website] oil company CEO president Mikhail Khodorkovsky [BBC profile] in his trial on charges of tax evasion and fraud. Prosecutors are expected to announce sentencing recommendations as well. Khodorkovsky faces up to ten years in Siberia if convicted. Khodorkovsky and co-defendant Platon Lebedev have maintained that the charges are actually in response to Khodorkovsky's political ambitions, and that they expect to be found guilty. Even if acquitted, Khodorkovsky may face another trial, as prosecutors began an investigation in December on potential money laundering charges. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Mikhail Khodorkovsky [JURIST news archive]. Updates are available from Khodorkovsky's trial website. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Israel's Knesset [official website] is expected to vote Monday on a national referendum proposal seen as a last-ditch attempt to keep Israeli troops from forcing the withdrawal of settlements and outposts occupied by Israeli citizens in the Gaza region. The referendum on withdrawal is supported by opponents of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's [official profile] disengagement plan, and is expected to fail, as Sharon has won the support of the Shinui [party website in Hebrew], the third largest political party in the Knesset, which aides say will easily give him the votes needed to defeat the motion. The Knesset will also include a vote on Sharon's proposed budget Tuesday, which, if not passed, would mandate national elections. The Jerusalem Post has local coverage.

9:31 AM ET - The Jerusalem Post is reporting that the Knesset has voted down the proposed Gaza referendum by a wide margin of 72 opposed to 39 in favor. The vote reaffirms the Knesset's committment to Sharon's disengagement plan, and is seen as an indicator that Tuesday's budget vote will go smoothly. The Jerusalem Post has local coverage.

[JURIST] The Himalayan nation of Bhutan [government website], population 530,000, released the text of a proposed new constitution over the weekend that would transform the system of government from a Constitutional Monarchy into a two-party representative democracy. Bhutan has slowly been working towards a democratic society since the current monarch, King Jigme Singye Wangchuk [Wikipedia profile], stepped down as head of the government and turned that function over to a prime minister. The proposed constitution will create a National Council selected from the national assembly that will govern the country jointly, while the King will remain as a figurehead. Bhutan Chief Justice Sonam Tobgye said that all of the nation's citizens would be given a chance to view the constitution, and suggested that a referendum for ratification was likely by the end of the year. Bhutan has set up an official constitutional website detailing the process used to arrive at the draft version. Kuensel, the nation's only newspaper, has the report of the draft constitution's impending release. Read the draft constitution [official text]. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Legal experts from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe will join other high level OSCE officials already in Kyrgyzstan [JURIST report] early this week to attempt to resolve the country's current electoral crisis. Kyrgyzstan [DC embassy website] has been in a continuing state of unrest since contested elections in late February and the run-off elections in mid-March. The Kyrgyz Supreme Court annulled the election results Thursday [JURIST report] and said that the previous parliament retained power but on Sunday the Kyrgyz electoral commission backed the elected Parliament. OSCE officials will attempt to resolve the legal tangle of two parliaments claiming legitimacy in an effort to prevent violence from breaking out in the region. Read the OSCE press release. View a backgrounder on the electoral situation in Kyrgyzstan [Electionworld.org profile]. BBC News has more.

7:44 AM ET - The lower house of Kyrgyz's parliament from before the elections has announced that it will temporarily suspend its operations. The lower house said that it will cease all governmental operations in order to allow Interim President Kurmanbek Bakiev an easier situation to deal with. The lower house is not dissolving, however, and will remain in existance until the legal dispute concerning which parliament is legitimate is resolved. The upper house of the pre-election parliament has not yet commented on whether it will follow the same course. Reuters has more.

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

The US Supreme Court [official website] will hear oral arguments in two cases beginning at 10 AM ET today. In San Remo Hotel v. San Francisco [case backgrounder from Duke Law School], 04-340, the Court will consider [BCN report] whether a takings claim under the Fifth Amendment is precluded by a prior judgment in a state takings claim that was required to ripen the federal claim. The ABA has merit briefs filed in the case. In Medellin v. Dretke [case backgrounder from Duke Law School], 04-5928, the Court will decide whether its recent decisions on the Optional Protocol of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations should be given effect despite the fact they conflict with earlier precedents. The ABA has merit briefs in the case.

The US Senate and US House [official websites] are in recess until April 4.

The US State Department [official website] will hold a press conference on the release of the report "Supporting Human Rights and Democracy: The US Record 2004-2005," with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Watch a live webcast of the session via C-SPAN 2 beginning at 10 AM ET.