[JURIST] Swiss voters are set to determine the future direction of their small country's role in Europe in a referendum Sunday. The Swiss are not voting on the EU Constitution - traditionally-neutral Switzerland is not a member of the Union [EU backgrounder on EU-Swiss relations] - but Swiss citizens will nonetheless decide whether to adopt common border controls with the European community. Though a majority of Swiss voters support an increasingly close association with Europe, in recent weeks the margin has decreased as France [JURIST report] and the Netherlands [JURIST report] recently rejected the EU charter. The battle over the direction of Switzerland pits the nationalist Swiss People's Party (SVP) [official website in Swiss-German] in the "no" group against the strong pro-business lobby seeking to integrate and get out the "yes" vote. The Financial Times has more.

[JURIST] Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas [Wikipedia profile] Saturday issued a decree officially delaying the scheduled July 17 parliamentary elections in the Palestinian Authority [official website] to allow time to settle a disagreement over election law changes. Holding up the vote is a dispute over the method for picking candidates. The delay is likely to please Abbas' Fatah party [party website in Arabic], currently reeling from recent charges of corruption. Militant group Hamas [Wikipedia profile], experiencing a surge in support in recent local elections, opposes the delay. No new election date has been set, and observers expect no vote for several months. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] In a State Department human trafficking report [text] released Friday the US accused 14 nations [country reports] of failing to adequately stop the flow of slaves traded into prostitution, child sex work, and forced labor. According to the State Department, as many as 800,000 people are purchased and sold annually, many because of false promises of better work opportunities. Among the 14 nations were 4 US allies in the Middle East: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirites, and Qatar. Saudi Arabia, a key US partner in the war on terror, was specifically targeted [DOS report] for failing to prosecute slave traders and not meeting "minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking." A member of the Saudi Arabian National Human Rights Association expressed surprise [Aljazeera report] at the findings and insisted that in Saudi Arabia there were specific campaigns to arrest traffickers. AP has more.

[JURIST] After jurors in the trial of former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy [JURIST news archive] told Judge Karon Bowdre [JURIST report] Friday that they were unable to reach a verdict, Bowdre told them to continue deliberating, stressing the time and expense invested by the government to try the case. Prosecutor Richard Smith dispelled any rumors of a possible settlement, even with a mistrial [JURIST report] likely, by stating flatly, "We're not striking a deal." Scrushy is accused of directing a massive $2.7 billion accounting fraud. AP has more.

[JURIST] A panel of the US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals [official website] Friday struck down [PDF opinion] a Virginia law prohibiting a controversial late-term partial-birth abortion procedure, finding it unconstitutional because it lacks an exception to protect a woman's health. The 2-1 decision upheld a 2003 ruling finding the law "unconstitutional on its face." In a pointed dissent Judge Paul V. Niemeyer declared that the majority's decision, "in essence, constitutionalizes infanticide of the most gruesome nature." A spokesperson for the Center for Reproductive Rights [advocacy website] in New York hailed the decision [press release] as correctly following Supreme Court precedent and placing high value on the health of women. The Washington Post has more.

[JURIST] Saddam Hussein's morale has dropped due to the the magnitude of the charges against him and the fact that his trial will be before an impartial court, according to Judge Raid Juhi [NYT report] of the Iraqi Special Tribunal [official website, English version], speaking in an interview published Saturday in the London-based newspaper Asharq al-Awsat [newspaper website in Arabic]. Juhi said that Saddam and other detained former regime leaders are facing punishments ranging from life in jail to the death penalty. Saddam lawyer Khalil al-Duleimi disagreed with Juhi's comments, saying Saddam was in "high spirits" at their last meeting in April. No official date has been set for the trial but, echoing recent comments by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani [JURIST report] Juhi said he expected Saddam to go before the Tribunal in the next two months. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Navajo Nation's Tribal Council voted Friday to override Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr.'s [Navajo Nation profile] veto of a same-sex marriage ban [JURIST report] it approved last month for the UnitedS States' largest Indian reservation. The Dine Marriage Act of 2005 defined marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman. The vote on the veto override was 62-14 with one delegate explaining why gay marriage is forbidden by the Navajo ways: "It all boils down to the circle of life. We were put on this earth to produce offspring." The Navajo Nation [official website] has over 180,000 residents in areas of New Mexico, Arizona and Utah. Navajo President Shirley recently discussed gay marriage in Native America on Democracy Now [transcript and audio]. AP has more.

[JURIST] Italian prosecutors have appealed the 2004 acquittal [JURIST report] of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi [BBC profile] on charges that he bribed judges to block competing industrialist Carlo De Benedetti from buying a state-owned food conglomerate. In 1985, judges stopped the sale and the food group eventually ended up being partitioned and sold in pieces. In Italy, both acquittals and convictions are appealable. Berlusconi, a wealthy businesman, owns a large segment of the Italian media market [business profile] and has faced many criminal cases where the statute of limitations have either run out or he has been acquitted. AP has more.

[JURIST] Former FBI No. 2 W. Mark Felt [Wikipedia profile], also known as "Deep Throat", is not likely to be prosecuted for revealing information to reporters during the Watergate scandal [Washington Post retrospective] according to US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, speaking Friday. Felt's identity was revealed earlier this week [JURIST report] in a Vanity Fair article, but the incident occurred 30 years ago and Gonzales said the Justice Department has other priorities. While former members of the Nixon administration contend that the information Felt released was confidential, it is not certain that he actually broke any laws. AP has more.