[JURIST] In Tuesday's environmental law news, as part of a plea bargain with the US Department of Justice [official website], the Taiwanese container shipping company Evergreen International S.A. [company website] has agreed to a $25 million fine and pleaded guilty [DOJ press release] to 24 felony charges for concealing the deliberate, illegal discharge of waste oil into the ocean. In May 2001, the US Coast Guard discovered Evergreen was using bypass pipes aboard their ships to illegally discharge waste oil into the ocean without treating it in an oil-water separator. The Coast Guard investigation showed that at least seven Evergreen ships regularly discharged oil waste and sludge oil and concealed the discharges in fictitious logs. The Seattle Times has more.

In other news,

• The Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau has announced that the municipal government will adopt 22 tough new measures to control air pollution this year, including stricter controls on industrial smoke, automobile exhaust fumes and construction dust. It will also relocate some heavy polluters, such as coking plants, out of the city area. The China Daily has more.
  
  
• The British House of Commons' Environment, food and rural affairs committee [official website] released a report [text, PDF] yesterday criticising government delays in bringing forward its national pesticides strategy. The report argues that the current voluntary pesticide controls are having less efficient effects than would a compulsary regulation program. The Edinburgh Scotsman has more.
  
  
• The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection [official website] yesterday approved a new coke plant near Ebensburg, PA that is allowed to emit 47 pounds of mercury into the air each year and enough soot and smog that managers of national forests and wilderness areas in nearby states have expressed concern. The Cambria Coke Co. [company website], a subsidiary of Sunoco, received its permits just before today's federal designation of Cambria County as a non-attainment area for soot. Under the new EPA [official website]designation, the coking plant would have had to offset its emissions of soot- and smog-producing particles and compounds by paying thousands of dollars to existing pollution sources, most likely coal-fired power plants, to reduce their emissions. The Pittsburgh Post Gazette has more.

[JURIST] Members of Iraq's National Assembly [Wikipedia article] Tuesday reached agreement on a president and vice presidents for the transitional government. Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani [BBC News profile] will be named president Wednesday, while Shiite Adel Abdul Mahdi and Sunni Ghazi Yawar [BBC News profile] will serve as vice presidents, lawmakers said. The agreement signals progress in what has been a politically charged and slow process of forming a government in the months following the first elections in Iraq [JURIST news archive]. Leaders also said that Islamist Shiite leader Ibrahim Jaafari could be named as prime minister by Thursday. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice [official profile] said Tuesday that the US will be cautious in deciding on the release of prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] on terror suspicions. Rice said the decisions were a "delicate balance" between ensuring US security and avoiding wrongly imprisoning any detainees. Rice said that at least 12 detainees of the 200 previously released by the US have returned to fight against US forces. Status reviews [Defense Department backgrounder] of the detainees were completed last week [JURIST report], with 38 additional detainees being released. Most of those held at Guantanamo Bay were arrested by US forces during fighting in Afghanistan during 2001 and 2002. AP has more.

[JURIST] Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist [official website] said Tuesday that the refusal of federal judges to intervene in the Terri Schiavo case [JURIST news archive] will not influence an ongoing struggle between Republicans and Democrats over judicial nominations by President Bush. Frist said that the two issues were not associated and that he felt the judiciary was fair and independent. Frist's comments come after some Republicans, including House Majority Leader Tom Delay [official website], have criticized federal judges for failing to intervene to keep Terri Schiavo alive. Delay and other conservative lawmakers have planned a two-day conference titled Confronting the Judicial War on Faith [official website] for Thursday and Friday. Senators have remained deadlocked over judicial nominations by President Bush, with some Republicans suggesting that the filibuster be eliminated to allow the nominations to proceed. Frist said negotiations between the parties were continuing over the nominees. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US will phase in by 2008 tighter border controls requiring US citizens re-entering the country from Canada, Mexico, Panama and Bermuda to have passports, US officials announced Tuesday. Under the new rules made public by the State Department [official website], Canadians will also have to show passports to enter the US. Currently, US citizens returning from Canada only need a driver's license, while citizens returning from the other countries only need a government issued photo ID and proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the changes were made to increase security and were made after consultation with other governments. CTV News has coverage from Canada. AP has more.

3:15 PM ET - A State Department press release is now available. The Bureau of Consular Affairs has more on the new requirements.

[JURIST] Following up on a JURIST report from earlier today, US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales [official profile] has acknowledged for the first time that provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act [PDF text] were used in the investigation against Brandon Mayfield, the Oregon attorney wrongly accused [JURIST report] of ties to the Madrid train bombings. Gonzales admitted the use of certain provisions by the FBI during its investigation of Mayfield during a Senate Judiciary Committee [official website] hearing on the PATRIOT Act [AP report]. The admission is a reversal of previous Justice Department statements and a statement by Gonzales earlier in the hearing. Mayfield, who is a Muslim, was jailed for two weeks last year after his fingerprint was incorrectly matched to one found near the site of the attacks in Madrid. AP has more.

[JURIST] Over a dozen insurance companies, including AIG [official site] and Chubb Corp. [official site], have pulled their support for establishing a $140 billion federal trust fund to pay claims arising from asbestos-related lawsuits. The move makes it unlikely that Congress will approve legislation on the issue this year, which will leave hundreds of US companies in an uncertain position as to their liability. The insurers argued in a letter to Senator Arlen Specter [official site] on Monday that the fund would be too large and would not adequately limit their liability. Reuters has more.

In Tuesday's international brief, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan [official profile] has questioned the fairness of the recent national elections in Zimbabwe [government website]. In a statement issued Monday, Annan said that he was concerned that the electoral process failed to assure opposition parties of the fairness of the vote. Morgan Tsvangirai [party profile], president of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change [party website] has already rejected the validity of the elections and government officials have warned that he might raise a mass protest in the streets. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has dismissed claims of election-rigging as “nonsense” and vowed to use the police and the army against any protestors. Read Annan’s statement [official text]. JURIST’s Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Zimbabwe [JURIST Country news archive]. Zim Online has local coverage.

In other international legal news …

• Kofi Annan has announced the appointment of four special envoys to help promote his recent report on UN reforms [JURIST report] that is scheduled to be considered by the UN General Assembly [official website] and international leaders in September. The In Larger Freedom [official website] report proposes significant changes to the structure of the UN, such as replacing the current Human Rights Commission [official website] with a new Human Rights Council that would have greater powers and a wider mandate and expanding membership of the UN Security Council [official website]. Annan’s proposal has met with criticism [JURIST report], and the four special envoys appointed will travel the globe meeting with governments, aid agencies, academics, social organizations and other interested parties. JURIST’s Paper Chase has continuing coverage of the United Nations [JURIST news archive]. Read the official announcement of the appointments from the Office of the Secretary-General.
  
  
• Lawyers in Nepal [government website] filed a contempt of court motion Tuesday against the Royal Commission for Corruption Control, created by the Royal government [JURIST report], for initiating an investigation into a matter currently being considered by the Supreme Court of Nepal [official website]. The RCCC launched an investigation into alleged financial irregularities by the Dueba Cabinet, which was dismissed by the Royal state of emergency declaration [JURIST report] on February 1. The Nepalese Supreme Court is currently considering the same case, and the attorneys filing the contempt motion called the RCCC’s actions ‘illegal’ and requested an interim order to cease RCCC investigations. This is the second contempt proceeding filed against the RCCC; the first concerned a judge caught accepting bribes. Nepalese law allows for a judge to be tried by the Judicial Council, and the RCCC submitted to the contempt order requiring that they turn over the case to that body. JURIST’s Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Nepal [JURIST Country news archive]. Kantipur Online has local coverage.
  
  
• Nigerian Senate Speaker Adolphus Wabara resigned Tuesday after allegations were levied by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo [official profile] that Wabara took a $400,000 (USD) bribe from former Education Minister Fabian Osuji. Osuji was fired from his post in March for offering the bribe, and Wabara’s resignation comes two weeks after allegations were released that he was the bribe’s recipient. Both men deny the charges. Obasanjo has been pushing hard to end corruption in Nigeria [government website], a nation rife with graft and bribery problems. The resignation comes one day after the Nigerian Housing and Urban Development Minister Mobolaji Osomo was fired for failing to follow regulations for selling houses on government land and former Inspector General of Police Tafa Balogun was charged with graft in a criminal court. The investigations are being run by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission of Nigeria, which has the power to prevent, investigate, prosecute and penalize fraud and corruption in the government. Read the EFCC official press release. Reuters has more

[JURIST] The defense team [defense website in English] for Mikhail Khodorkovsky [JURIST News Archive] delivered its summation Tuesday, arguing that the state had failed to prove that the former CEO of oil giant Yukos [official site] had committed any crime. "This is a complete vacuum and in this vacuum we must defend ourselves," said defense counsel Genrikh Padva. Prosecutors closed their case last week, and demanded the maximum 10 year sentence for fraud and tax evasion. The nine month case has been criticized as being mere Kremlin retaliation for Khodorkovsky's funding of political opponents in the 2003 parliamentary elections. The final verdict is expected in May. Padva said Friday that Khodorkovsky could be pardoned under a traditional May 9 presidential amnesty to coincide with the celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II. AP has more. MosNews has local coverage of the trial.

[JURIST] Leading Tuesday's corporations and securities law news, Enron Task Force prosecutors have asked US District Court Judge Sim Lake to move former Enron [corporate website; JURIST Hot Topic archive] chief Ken Lay's [Wikipedia profile] trial date for personal banking fraud charges to May or June of this year. Lay's Enron fraud trial [Indictment, PDF; SEC Complaint, PDF], along with co-defendants ex-CEO Jeff Skilling [Wikipedia profile] and former top accountant Rick Causey, is scheduled to start in January 2006. Lay faces four personal bank fraud charges related to allegations that he lied to banks over how he would use a $75 million loan. Prosecutors used Lay's own statements that he wanted a speedy trial in asking for the trial date. Lay faces upwards of 30 year jail terms for each of the four counts. The Houston Chronicle has more and continuing coverage of the Enron trials.

In other news...

• According to a senior administration official, the Bush administration will support curbs in the mortgage portfolios held by home loan finance giants Fannie Mae [corporate website] and Freddie Mac [corporate website] to avoid risks to the US financial system. The administration is worried the pair have not filed reliable financial statements to the SEC. Reuters has more.
  
  
• David Boies, lawyer to former American International Group [corporate website] chairman Maurice "Hank" Greenberg [Wikipedia profile], said Greenberg would not have gone through with the reinsurance transaction which is under investigation by the SEC and New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer [official website] if he thought its accounting was illegal. Greenberg was forced to resign from the company last week due to the investigation. Bloomberg has more.
  
  
• Allied Domecq [corporate website], the world's second-largest drinks company, announced [Allied Domecq press release] Pernod Ricard [corporate website], the world's third-larges drinks company, may takeover the company. Pernod is working on a bid for Allied with US-based Fortune Brands [corporate website]. Read the Fortune Brands press release. BBC News has more.
  
  
• ChevronTexaco Corp. [corporate website], which announced [ChevronTexaco press release] it would buy Unocal Corp. [corporate website] yesterday, may sell Unocal's North American onshore fields and Asian power plants for an estimated $2 billion after the close of the purchase. ChevronTexaco's main purpose in the purchase was Unocal's offshore fields in the Gulf of Mexico, Indonesia and Thailand. Reuters has more.
  
  
• Morgan Stanley [corporate website] will pursue a spinoff of its Discover credit card business to existing shareholders which could raise nine billion dollars or more for the company. The move comes as former executives and shareholders have attempted to force chief executive Philip Purcell out of his position for poor management. Opponents to Purcell have launched a website detailing their complaints. Read the Morgan Stanley press release. AP has more.
  
  
• Verizon Communications Inc. [corporate website] announced it may abandon its $7.5 billion takeover bid for MCI Inc. [corporate website] rather than compete with Qwest Communications International [corporate website] $8.9 billion offer. Verizon's comments to MCI [Verizon letter, PDF] came after Qwest set a deadline for MCI to accept or reject their bid. AP has more.
  
  
• The EU and United States are ready to resume talks on subsidies given to aircraft rivals Airbus and Boeing [corporate website] but have not set a date ahead the April 11 deadline for legal action at the World Trade Organization [official website]. Reuters has more.
  
  
• US bankruptcy judge Judith Wizmur has approved Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts [corporate website] reorganization plan to exit bankruptcy. The plan will save the company $98 million a year in interest payments. The plan calls for bondholders to own about two-thirds of the company with Donald Trump owning about 30%, down from an original 56 percent. Trump also will remain chairman of the company but step down from the position of chief executive. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The Bush administration's top law enforcement officials urged renewal and expansion of USA PATRIOT Act [official text] provisions in testimony Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. FBI Director Robert Mueller [official profile] asked legislators to expand the FBI's administrative subpoena powers, which allow the government to obtain records without prior approval from a judge or grand jury. Additionally, Mueller stressed that the sections of the Patriot Act which allow law enforcement agencies to share information is particularly vital. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales [official profile] also urged continued support of the Act. Gonzales stated that some of the most controversial portions of the Act have proven to be the most helpful in investigating terrorist activities. Meanwhile on Tuesday, Senator Larry Craig [official site] and Senator Dick Durbin [official site] planned to reintroduce legislation to repeal key provisions of the Patriot Act. The ACLU has formed an unlikely alliance with the American Conservative Union [ACLU press release] to lobby Congress to repeal the Act's "library provision", which allows for secret warrants for certain documents, and could allow the government to spy on the library and bookstore purchases of innocent Americans. Senator Arlen Specter [official site], chairman of the Judiciary Committee, has also suggested that it should be more difficult for federal officials to use that provision. Read the full testimony [Senate Judiciary website] of Alberto Gonzales and Robert Mueller. Review an ACLU press release issued in anticipation of the Patriot Act hearings. AP has more.

[JURIST] Tens of thousands of Sudanese demonstrators Tuesday gathered at UN headquarters and US and UK embassies in Khartoum to protest the recently approved UN resolution [JURIST report] turning Sudanese war crimes trials over to the International Criminal Court. The protesters denounced UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as a coward and agent of the US. The demonstrations were promoted by the state-run mobile phone service that sent messages to phone users. Protesters called the UN action foreign intervention aimed at exerting control over the country. The UN Security Council approved the resolution last week to refer suspects linked to war crimes in the Darfur region, where millions have been left homeless and tens of thousands killed in fighting between rebel forces and Arab militias. Sudan [government website; JURIST news archive] has vigorously rejected the resolution [text], arguing the war crimes trials can be held in the country. The Sudan Tribune has local coverage. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Nonprofit organizations exempted from federal income taxes due to their charitable purpose are becoming top offenders for tax abuse and evasion, Internal Revenue Commissioner Mark W. Everson [official profile] warned the Senate Finance Committee [official website] in a letter. Everson said the IRS has found violations in virtually every type of nonprofit organization, and the sector risks losing the support of the public unless the abuses can be curbed. Everson said the revenue losses due to the abuses cannot be accurately tracked, although the nonprofit sector has swelled to $8 trillion in recent years. The Finance Committee is holding a hearing [agenda] today to look into abuses by tax-exempt nonprofits and possible reforms. Read Everson's letter [text, PDF] detailing the IRS's findings. The Washington Post has more [registration required].

[JURIST] A panel of Arab intellectuals concluded no major steps have been taken toward democracy in the Middle East in the 2004 Arab Human Development Report released Tuesday. The long-awaited report sponsored by the UN Development Program [official website] called reforms in the region "embryonic and fragmentary" and faulted the US for impeding progress through its actions in the region. The report, which covers events from October 2003 through 2004, was authored before recent events, including elections in Iraq and demonstrations in Lebanon, held up by some as signs of change. The report became embroiled in controversy after the US and Egyptian governments criticized drafts [JURIST report] of the report and delayed its publication for several months. The 2004 report was critical of what it considered occupations by US and Israeli forces in Iraq and Palestine. The Regional Bureau for Arab States has more on the AHDR reports. The UNDP has press summaries of the report, but the full report must be purchased. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The International Committee of the Red Cross [advocacy website] has urged the US to investigate a riot that broke out Friday [JURIST report] at the Camp Bucca prison camp in southern Iraq. Twelve Iraqi prisoners and four US guards were injured when prisoners began throwing rocks at guards and set several tents on fire, according to the US military. ICRC reports said 14 prisoners were wounded when guards fired rubber bullets to control the riot. The US military did not acknowledge the riot initially, until reports surfaced from Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr and the ICRC. A riot left four prisoners dead earlier this year [JURIST report] at Camp Bucca, the largest US-run prison camp in the country with more than 6,000 prisoners. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Members of Kyrgyzstan's parliament on Tuesday fell two short of the 50-person quorum needed to accept the resignation [JURIST report] of exiled President Askar Akayev [official profile]. The failure to vote extended a two-week-old political crisis that saw mass protests topple Akayev's government over disputed parliamentary election results. Many observers thought some stability had been achieved when the old parliament stepped aside for newly elected members and Akayev agreed to resign, but the failure to muster a quorum suggests some turmoil remains. The reason for the small attendance at the session was unclear, but one legislator said a quorum had not been present at the 75-member legislative body in several days. New presidential elections are currently scheduled for June 26. AP has more.

[JURIST] Ahead of key Senate Judiciary Committee [official website] hearings [meeting notice; JURIST report] Tuesday on whether Congress should extend the USA PATRIOT Act [PDF text], the Justice Department has released new data suggesting that some of the extraordinary powers accorded it under the Act have been used sparingly. For instance, according to the DOJ, section 213 warrants [DOJ press release] - allowing federal agents, with a court order, to enter a suspect's home secretly and search for evidence without immediately notifying the person of the search - have been used only 108 times between April 1, 2003 and January 31, 2005. DOJ officials say that the secret warrants represent less than 0.2 percent of all search warrants utilized by law enforcement. The number of warrants issued is on the rise, however, up from 47 for the period between October 2001 and April 2003. The DOJ maintains a special USA PATRIOT Act website. Additional House hearings on extension of expiring Patriot Act powers are scheduled for later this week. The New York Times has more. The Senate Judiciary Committee offers a live webcast of its Tuesday Patriot Act hearing, beginning at 9:30 AM ET.

[JURIST] Pursuant to a Security Council resolution passed Thursday, the International Criminal Court [official website] has received several boxes of evidence on alleged war crimes in Sudan's Darfur region collected by the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur [Commission report, PDF] while assessing the situation in Darfur earlier this year. Chief ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo is due to meet with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan Tuesday to receive the sealed list of 51 people accused by the UN commission of involvement in crimes in Darfur. Deputy ICC prosecutor for investigations Serge Brammertz [ICC profile] said Tuesday that with receipt of the commission documents, the ICC can now begin its investigation under Resolution 1593 [PDF text; JURIST report], but cautioned that it's too early to say when any ICC indictments or arrest warrants would be issued. Brammertz told reporters that he hoped the Sudanese government will help with the investigation, saying "We will cooperate with international institutions and governments to collect as much information as we can." The ICC offers documents and updates relating to its Darfur investigation. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] At least 3,797 people were executed in 2004 and at least 7,395 people in 64 countries were sentenced to death last year, according to the annual report on the use of capital punishment released by Amnesty International [advocacy website] Tuesday. In The death penalty worldwide: developments in 2004 [report text], Amnesty reports that the number of executions, which does not include executions that many governments fail to officially report, is the second highest figure the organization has recorded in the 25 years Amnesty has been monitoring capital punishment. The number of death sentences is the highest figure Amnesty has reported in 10 years. China topped the list, carrying out at least 3,400 executions in 2004, but Amnesty estimates the actual number could be closer to 10,000. A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that China is "a country ruled by law and rules in accordance with the law." Amnesty's report also names China and Iran as countries that still execute children, and praises the United States for last month's Supreme Court decision abolishing the death penalty for juveniles [JURIST report]. Read the Amnesty press release on the report and more from Reuters.

[JURIST] Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Tuesday, April 5.

The US Senate [official website] convenes at 9:45 AM ET today. Watch a live webcast of the session. The Senate Judiciary Committee [official website] is holding an oversight hearing on the USA Patriot Act at 9:30 AM ET. Watch a live webcast of the hearing.

The US House [official website] resumes session at 2 PM ET today. Watch a live webcast of proceedings. The House Judiciary Committee [official website] Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee is holding a 2 PM ET hearing on H.R. 1279 [bill summary], the Gang Deterrence and Community Protection Act. Watch a live webcast of the hearing.

Kansas will vote [AP report] on a constitutional amendment [text, PDF] banning gay marriage during statewide city and school elections today.

At the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the trial of Naser Oric [ICTY case backgrounder] continues today at 9:30 AM local time [3:30 AM ET]. Also today, the trial of Fatmir Limaj and others [ICTY case backgrounder] continues today at 2:45 PM local time [8:45 AM ET]. Watch a webcast of proceedings.