[JURIST] AP is reporting that President Bush intends to nominate Congressman Christopher Cox (R-CA) [official website; profile] as the new chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to Republican officials. Current SEC Chairman William Donaldson announced earlier Wednesday that he would be stepping down effective June 30 [JURIST report].

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled Wednesday that federal inmates in western states within its jurisdiction may challenge their sentences. The case, United States v. Ameline [opinion], follows the US Supreme Court ruling earlier this year in United States v. Booker [opinion] where the high court ruled that federal judges were not required to conform to the sentencing guidelines set down by the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 [backgrounder]. In a 7-4 split decision the appeals court held that new sentences may not be required in all cases, but judges must revisit sentences and are similarly free to depart from mandatory sentencing guidelines. The Ninth Circuit ruling follows holdings in some other circuits but not others, setting the stage for another possible Supreme Court case. AP has more.

[JURIST] Chile's National Commission on Political Imprisonment and Torture, known familiarly as the Valech Commission, released a new report Wednesday indicating that children under the age of 12 were tortured during the rule of former Chilean dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet [JURIST news archive]. The commission was created in 2003 [dictionary of government backgrounder] to gather testimony of persons imprisoned and tortured under Pinochet's regime. The new report indicates that many of the children interviewed were jailed with their parents and reported being tortured. Pinochet has recently been at the center of an investigation into the disappearance of four French citizens, and last week a French judge renewed a warrant for Pinochet’s arrest [JURIST report]. Human rights groups have urged the Chilean Supreme Court to reconsider a January 25 decision [JURIST report] that ended investigations of human rights violations that occurred under Pinochet. Australia's ABC has more.

[JURIST] A lawyer for Australian Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks [advocacy website] said Wednesday that he has secured opinions from several international lawyers concluding that the US government's terror-related charges [PDF] against Hicks have no foundation in international law. Hicks, whose trial before a US military commission has been suspended pending the outcome of a process appeal by another detainee, has been imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] on allegations that he collaborated with the Taliban. In an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation [transcript], Hicks civilian lawyer David McLeod challenged the legality of the prosecution's case, and said Hicks' chances are “looking brighter as the days go by”. McLeod noted that the military commission process has been under such intense scrutiny that problems are being revealed in the prosecution's case on a daily basis. In March, Australian Attorney General Philip Ruddock asked the US to expedite proceedings against Hicks [JURIST report]. Australia's ABC has more.

[JURIST] US District Judge Tom S. Lee ruled Wednesday that Mississippi's law restricting abortions performed after the first-trimester violates the Fourteenth Amendment. The Jackson Women's Health Organization [factsheet] challenged a July 1, 2004 amendment to Mississippi Code § 41-75-1 [text] that required abortions after the first trimester be performed in a licensed hospital or ambulatory surgical facility. The statute previously mandated that abortions performed after sixteen weeks were required to be performed in the facilities. In 1994, Judge Lee granted a preliminary injunction to the Jackson Women's Health Organization, preventing the state from enforcing the law. Lee held then that the organization established a likelihood of success of a claim that the statute barred it from performing early second-trimester abortions for reasons wholly unrelated to safety or health concerns, and imposed an undue burden on women seeking abortions [Jackson Women's Health Organization Inc. v. Amy, 330 F. Supp. 820 (S.D. Miss. 2004)]. Under Mississippi law, abortion facilities are not eligible to become licensed as ambulatory facilities, and no ambulatory surgical facilities in Mississippi perform abortions. AP has more.

[JURIST] A day after President Bush dismissed as "absurd" [JURIST report] an Amnesty International rights report [AI press release] condemning the US for ill-treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and other facilities, US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld [DOD profile] Wednesday defended the US military's handling of Gitmo detainees, calling the AI report "reprehensible" but acknowledging that some prisoners have been "grievously" mistreated. Amnesty International USA Executive Director William F. Schulz [profile] quickly responded [AI USA press release] by accusing US officials of ignoring the hardship endured by prisoners held without charge and pointing a finger at Rumsfeld in particular:

The deliberate policy of this administration is to detain individuals without charge or trial in prisons at Guantanamo Bay, Bagram Air Base and other locations, where their treatment has not conformed to international standards. Donald Rumsfeld personally approved a December 2002 memorandum that permitted such unlawful interrogation techniques as stress positions, prolonged isolation, stripping, and the use of dogs at Guantanamo Bay, and he should be held accountable, as should all those responsible for torture, no matter how senior.

[JURIST] An Italian court has sent five members of left-wing extremist group the Red Brigades [Wikipedia article] to prison for life for involvement in the 2002 murder of Marco Biagi [EIRO report], an economic advisor to the government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi [BBC profile]. In addition to their sentences the five were ordered to pay Biagi's family $2 million and $120,000 to the university where Biagi taught and other institutions. A police scan of one of the killers' laptops led to the arrests of all five. AFP has more.

[JURIST] An exit poll announced on Dutch state television [NOS article in Dutch] indicates that Dutch voters have overwhelmingly rejected the EU constitution 63 to 37 percent. AP has more.

4:05 PM ET - BBC News has posted a Q & A on the uncertain future of the EU constitution after the Netherland's apparent rejection of the charter.

4:12 PM ET - Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende [Wikipedia profile] has conceded defeat in his campaign to have Dutch voters ratify the EU constitution. The Dutch government has posted a summary of his remarks. Balkenende said:

I'm disappointed, of course, and so are many other people....The government, along with many political parties and civil society, campaigned for a "yes". So, of course, we aren’t happy about this result....But there is also good news, like the high turnout and the energetic debate that has emerged all over Europe...

The Dutch government believes this ratification process should now continue as planned in other countries. At the end of the process, it will be important for us to see how each country has responded to the treaty...The Netherlands, as one of the founding fathers of the Union, will remain a constructive partner within Europe for taking on the problems that matter to all of us. I will tell my fellow European leaders that they must do justice to the Dutch "no". Because we understand the Dutch voters' concerns. About losing sovereignty. About the rapid pace of change, in which the public doesn’t feel involved. And about our financial contribution. The European Union must take account of these issues.

[JURIST] Leading Wednesday's international brief, Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail said today that two Dutch international aid workers affiliated should not have been arrested for allegedly falsifying a report on rape in Darfur [JURIST report]. Paul Foreman and Vince Hoedt, both directors for Medecins Sans Frontieres [NGO website], were arrested because they refused to reveal the sources used to create their report on rape in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region. The arrests were greeted with international outcry, prompting strong criticism [MSF report] from UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour and other international officials. Ismail refused to confirm that the charges were being dropped, but said that a "resolution was in sight." JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Sudan [JURIST news archive]. The Sudan Tribune has local coverage.

In other international legal news ...

• The Zimbabwe Human Rights Association [backgrounder] has filed for a court-ordered stay of the current eviction process going on in the Zimbabwean capital city of Harare, where police have evicted thousands of people and destroyed their illegally constructed dwellings. ZimRights filed the application for a stay in conjunction with Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, which previously filed to stop the arrests of illegal merchants and vendors [JURIST report] that are another part of the crackdown throughout Zimbabwe by police officials. ZimRights Director Munyaradzi Bidi has challenged the evictions as poorly planned by the government and has pointed to the hundreds of families now migrating to the rural areas surrounding Harare as evidence of the need for a stay on evictions and demolitions until the government comes up with alternative housing. Bidi said that estimates of the numbers evicted are as high as 200,000. Police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena said Tuesday that arrests of illegal merchants and squatters has reached 22,735 individuals. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Zimbabwe [JURIST news archive]. IRIN News has more.
  
  
• The UN Mission in Burundi [official website] announced Tuesday that it has increased UN military presence on the streets in major cities throught the nation in preparation for the first of four upcoming national elections to be held on Friday. ONUB spokesperson Penangnini Toure said that UN forces would be policing gatherings in the capital city of Bujumbura as well as other cities to ensure that peace is maintained. The Friday election is the first of a series of elections that represent the end of the UN outlined 43 month transitional phase. ONUB will also be deploying over 350 voting observers Friday to monitor and report on voting conditions throughout Burundi [government website in French]. Burundi's final election is scheduled for 19 August and will determine the countries first new president under the reorganized government. Read the press release [official PDF text in French] from ONUB Special Representative Carolyn McAskie [appointment text] calling on cooperation from all faction leaders in Friday's election. IRIN News has more.

[JURIST] The Fourth District Court of Appeal [official site] in Florida Wednesday rejected an appeal [opinion, PDF] from a widow who sued a gun company after her husband, a middle school teacher, was gunned down by a student while entering a classroom. Pam Grunow argued that Valor Corporation [corporate website] was negligent in selling the handgun used in the shooting of her husband in May 2000. A jury awarded her $1.2 million in November 2002, but that verdict was set aside by the trial court judge [Sun-Sentinel report], who ruled that a finding of negligence required a finding that the product was defective. AP has more.

[JURIST] A London judge on Wednesday approved the extradition of accused Moroccan terrorist Farid Hilali to Spain, deciding that he would not face religious or racial prejudice if sent there for trial. He stipulated, however, that Hilali could not be re-extradited to Morocco from Spain without British consent. Spain has accused Hilali of having ties to Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, suspected of leading an al Qaeda terror cell in Spain [JURIST report], and claims Hilali had prior knowledge of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Hilali, originally arrested in Britain in September 2003 on illegal immigration charges, has seven days to appeal the ruling or faces extradition within ten days. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] In hopes of finding clues about his 1955 murder [JURIST report], FBI personnel Wednesday began unearthing [JURIST report] a concrete vault containing the remains of Emmett Till [Wikipedia profile]. FBI spokesman Frank Bochte said that the reason for exhumation was to dispel rumors that the body was not that of Emmett Till and to hopefully find clues to provide Mississippi authorities with evidence that could lead to additional charges in the murder investigation. Till was fourteen when he was abducted from his uncle's home in Money, Mississippi and murdered, reportedly for whistling at a white woman. The publicity surrounding his brutal slaying helped propel the civil rights movement into a new era. Two white men charged with Till's murder were acquitted by an all-white jury [PBS trial overview] though they later confessed in a Look magazine interview [text]. Both men have since passed away. AP has more.

[JURIST] Bloomberg is reporting that US Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman William Donaldson [official profile] is stepping down on June 30.

3:15 PM ET - The SEC has posted a press release detailing the departure of Donaldson later this month.

[JURIST] The European Union began assessing proposals Wednesday from Microsoft Corp. meant to comply with a massive March 2004 antitrust ruling [JURIST report]. The proposal came in just before the midnight deadline [JURIST report] Tuesday and the EU competition commission [official website] is expected to take a few weeks to fully analyze the documents due to the large amount of paperwork submitted. The ruling in March of last year set a $623 million fine for the software giant for abusing its dominant market position by making it difficult for consumers to use music and video software other than those installed by Microsoft. The commission has called for Microsoft to develop a version of Windows without Media Player [Microsoft implementation plan] and has requested that an independent "monitoring trustee" to oversee implementation of the ruling. AFP has more.

[JURIST] AP is reporting that United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has fired suspended UN staffer Joseph Stephanides [JURIST report] for his role in the UN oil-for-food scandal [BBC timeline].

1:25 PM ET - Stephanides is the first UN staffer to be fired in the scandal. An AP story is now available here.

[JURIST] United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced on Tuesday [UN press release] that Iraq has officially asked for UN help in drafting a new permanent constitution [UN press release; JURIST news archive]. Annan acknowledged a letter from Hajim N. Al-Hasani, president of Iraq's Transitional National Assembly, asking for assistance to ensure that a new constitution is in place by August 15, leading to elections in December according to a timetable set down in Iraq's interim constitution, the Transitional Administrative Law [CPA text]. Officials are concerned that a further delay in crafting the new constitution, already put off somewhat by disagreements over the composition of the new Iraqi government, could lead to a power vacuum. UN News Centre has more.

[JURIST] Protestors clashed with 200 members of rival groups in front of the Kyrgyzstan Supreme Court on Wednesday, throwing sticks and flogging each other with horse-whips. The instigators, who arrived in buses from the North, stormed the court to evict protestors from the South, who had occupied the Supreme Court building on April 22, following a loss in March parliamentary elections [JURIST report]. Following the election, a revolt spread through the nation, leading to the ouster [JURIST report] of former President Askar Akaev [Wikipedia profile]. The protestors had seized the court demanding the resignation of all judges appointed by Akaev. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Two US citizens accused of conspiring to support al-Qaida [JURIST report] were denied bail on Tuesday in separate federal courts. Tarik Shah of New York and Dr. Rafik Abdus of Florida were both arrested in a government sting operation Friday. Shah allegedly promised to train terrorists in hand-to-hand combat while Abdus is believed to have agreed to treat "jihadists" in Saudi Arabia. Neither have entered a plea on the charge [FBI complaint, PDF] of conspiring to provide material support to al Qaeda. AP has more.

[JURIST] After assurances from her lawyer that she would attend a scheduled September trial in Serbia on abuse of power charges, Serbian authorities have cancelled an international arrest warrant for Mirjana Markovic [Wikipedia profile], the wife of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic [JURIST archives]. Markovic is said to have fled to Russia in 2003 to avoid the charges. The withdrawal of the warrant allows her to visit her husband, currently on trial for war crimes [JURIST report] at The Hague. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] Citizens of the Netherlands went to the polls Wednesday to vote on whether to accept the proposed European Constitution [text]. Recent opinion surveys say that nearly 60% of Dutch voters plan to reject the document, citing concerns such as discontent with the Dutch government, rising prices following introduction of the Euro, fears of being engulfed by a super-state, and planned enlargement of the EU to include Turkey. Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende has urged voters [official statement] to ignore the polls and to view the Constitution as a "positive development." While the Dutch referendum is non-binding, lawmakers have agreed to abide by the results as long as the outcome is clear and turnout is more than 30%. In a major set-back to the new EU pact, France voted No in a referendum Sunday [JURIST report]. The European Constitution needs approval by all 25 EU member nations to take effect in late 2006; observers fear that a No vote in the Netherlands will kill the charter. AP has more.

[JURIST] Florida Governor Jeb Bush [official website] Tuesday signed into law House Bill 1041 [status and text], providing for increased state oversight of clinics that provide second-trimester abortions. Bush said the law is about increasing safety standards [AP report] and does not affect constitutionally protected abortion rights. Opponents say its true goal is to close clinics [Sun-Sentinel report]. Read the Bush press release on the bill signing. This bill is the second abortion-related bill signed by Governor Bush this session. Last week Bush signed a measure [press release] requiring physicians to notify the parents of minors seeking abortions. The Miami Herald has more.

[JURIST] Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, sentenced Tuesday to nine years [JURIST report] in jail for fraud and tax evasion, will appeal the verdict [Khodorkovsky statement] but his lawyers say they do not expect the appeal to be considered until September [RIA Novosti report] at the earliest. President Bush said on Tuesday [press conference transcript] that the US is continuing to monitor the case [MosNews report] amidst concerns about due process and the rule of law in the trial.

[JURIST] California Attorney General Bill Lockyer on Tuesday formally appealed the March California Superior Court ruling [JURIST report] that the state's ban on same-sex marriage [JURIST news archive] is unconstitutional. That order was stayed in anticipation of this appeal. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Chinese authorities have detained Zhu Jiuhi, a Beijing lawyer and activist for the development of rule of law after he attempted to file a landmark civil suit against the provincial government and lower-level governments for confiscating private investors' oil wells estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. No official charges have been brought against Zhu and the investors, several of whom have also been detained, but internal documents outline broad charges of "distorting the facts," disrupting social order and breaking the law. Newsday has more. Zhu's arrest comes amid a government crackdown on journalists [Intl. Federation of Journalists press release], and members of other groups who are involved in politically sensitive issues. On Tuesday, China publicly accused Ching Cheong, chief China correspondent for Singapore's Straits Times newspaper, of spying for "foreign agencies" [JURIST report]. Additional charges of fraud have now been levied against a Chinese researcher for the New York Times, Zhao Yan, who was arrested last year on charges of leaking state secrets to foreigners. Prior to working for the Times, Zhao had exposed corruption by helping thousands of farmers write petitions seeking to stop corruption. Zhao was formally arrested last October, but no charges have been revealed and he has been denied access to his family and attorney. This new fraud charge allows the government to hold Zhao for another seven months without bringing him to trial. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The author of the Vanity Fair article that on Tuesday revealed the long-secret identity of "Deep Throat" is a San Francisco lawyer who first learned in 2002 that the Watergate leaker was former FBI deputy director W. Mark Felt [JURIST report]. A friend of his daughter told John O'Connor [professional profile], an attorney with the Howard Rice [law firm website] litigation firm that Felt was his grandfather. The two met to discuss revealing Felt's identity, and Felt signed a release in 2003 for O'Connor to go public with the story. The information was kept quiet until this week. Law.com has more.

[JURIST] After a protracted Senate battle over judicial nominees [JURIST report], President Bush Tuesday pledged to consult [press conference transcript] with members of the Senate on an upcoming nomination to the Supreme Court:

I'm obviously going to spend a lot of time reviewing the records of a variety of people and looking at their opinions and their character, and will consult with members of the United States Senate at the appropriate time.

I know there's been a lot of talk about consultation between the White House and the Senate, and we do consult -- obviously, we consult on district judges -- and that we listen to their opinions on appellate judges -- "their" opinions being the opinions from the home state senators, as well as others.

I look forward to talking to members of the Senate about the Supreme Court process to get their opinions, as well, and will do so -- and will do so. But, obviously, it's -- I told the American people I would find people of a certain temperament that would serve on the bench, and I intend to do that, but we will consult with the Senate.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia [official site] on Tuesday struck down part [opinion, PDF] of the Bush administration's new financial disclosure requirements for unions, but upheld others. A majority of the three-judge panel found that Labor Secretary Elaine Chao [official profile] exceeded her authority under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act [Dept. of Labor fact sheet, PDF] by requiring reports on union trusts over $250,000. However, the panel unanimously upheld the new rule that unions report each expenditure over $5,000. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The Libyan Supreme Court has postponed until November 15 a ruling on the death sentences of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor [backgrounder] who were convicted in May 2004 of purposely infecting 400 children with the virus that causes AIDS during an experiment to find a cure for the disease. The medical workers say they were tortured into confessing; they and supporting human rights groups argue that they were used as scapegoats by Libya to conceal unhygenic conditions in its hospitals. The postponement has been praised by EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner [press statement], Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passy and other groups [statement by Physicians for Human Rights] who had expressed concern about the outcome of the trial. Wikipedia has a timeline of the trial and charges. South Africa's Mail & Guardian has more.

[JURIST] Chinese UN Ambassador Wang Guangya [official profile] has said China is opposed to a recently-introduced resolution [JURIST report] that would expand the UN Security Council [official website] to include Brazil, Germany, India and Japan. In an interview with AP Tuesday, Wang called the plan "dangerous" and hinted China would use its veto power against it when the General Assembly votes in June. The draft, introduced by the 4 nations seeking membership - collectively known in diplomatic circles as the G-4 - must be approved by two-thirds of the 191 UN member states. Each new member must then be approved by a two-thirds vote and recieve unanimous approval by the Security Council's five permanent members [UN members webpage] - the US, Russia, China, Britain and France - each of which has veto power. UN leaders and many observers believe the Security Council should be expanded [JURIST report] because its composition still reflects the post-World War II era. China is particularly opposed to Japan's bid for permanent membership because of what many Chinese consider to be a lack of atonement for WWII abuses. AP has more.