[JURIST] Attorneys for US Representative Tom DeLay [official website; JURIST news archive] have requested internal communications from Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle [official website] in an effort to uncover information showing opposition to indicting the congressman. DeLay's legal team hopes the documents will strengthen their argument that the conspiracy [JURIST report] and money laundering [JURIST report] charges against him should be dismissed. Three grand juries heard testimony regarding the former House Majority Leader who has temporarily stepped down from his position, and two of those panels issued indictments. DeLay attorney Dick DeGuerin claims that Earle unlawfully participated in the second grand jury's deliberation on whether to seek another indictment, and that Earle coerced grand jurors into filing the criminal charges against DeLay. The first hearing in DeLay's trial is set to begin November 22 [JURIST report]. AP has more.

[JURIST] Theodor Meron, president of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website], said Friday during a visit to Belgrade that the tribunal is becoming impatient [ICTY press release] with Serbia's "endless delays" in handing over war crimes fugitives, including Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic. Meron spoke to reporters after leaving a meeting with Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, saying the prime minister committed "in unequivocal terms" that Serbia [JURIST news archive] would fulfill its remaining obligations to the international community. Handing over the two war fugitives is crucial for Serbia as the country vies for membership to the European Union [official website]. Negotiations began between the EU and Belgrade last month, partly in response to delivering 13 suspected war criminals [JURIST report] to the Hague in the last year, but Meron pointed out Friday that six months have passed since those suspects were handed over. Former Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic [ICTY case backgrounder] and his military commander Ratko Mladic [ICTY case backgrounder] are the two most wanted fugitives still at large since the Bosnian War ended nearly ten years ago. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Nepal [official website] has ruled to allow a law that prohibits criticism against the king and blocks private radio stations from broadcasting news programs. Last month, King Gyanendra [BBC profile] approved the ordinance [JURIST report] which authorizes imprisonment and higher fines against individuals who publish "banned items" and prohibits publication of stories that promote disrespect or hatred of the king. Lawyers for media groups petitioned the high court to stop the law's implementation [JURIST report] and even though the court's decision is not a final verdict, the groups are admitting defeat. A lawyer for Kantipur Publications [media website], the country's largest media group, said, "We have lost the case. Though the final decision is yet to come, it has little meaning." An editor for the Kantipur newspaper further said that protests would be the last resort for those opposed to the law. BBC News has more. Kantipur Online has local coverage.

[JURIST] The Pentagon has refused to allow expert witnesses to testify at the upcoming military commission [JURIST news archive] hearing for Australian terror suspect David Hicks [BBC profile; advocacy website; JURIST news archive], a decision that his US military lawyer says increases the likelihood that he will not receive a fair trial. Major Michael Mori [Ninemsn profile] said he retained five experts in international law, including a former judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and a US Defense Department expert, to testify on behalf of his client. Mori said the Pentagon's refusal to let them testify - presumably on international detention and trial standards for war criminals and POWs - makes Hicks' recent request for British citizenship [JURIST report] even more critical and the lawyer has filed an application to stay the proceedings while Britain continues to evaluate Hicks' petition. Hicks had applied for British citizenship in the hopes that the UK will press for his release from Guantanamo, but a decision on his application has not yet been made. Mori said the UK government is just stalling and that his client is qualified for British citizenship. Earlier this week the US Supreme Court said it would consider whether military commissions are lawful [JURIST report], but the Pentagon has so far decided to move forward [JURIST report] with the Hicks prosecution rather than wait for the high court's decision. Proceedings are set to begin November 18 [JURIST report]. From Australia, the Herald Sun has local coverage.

ALSO ON JURIST  Topic: Military Tribunals | Op-ed: Guantanamo Process as a Public Danger | Text: Military commission procedure changes [8/05]

[JURIST] The UK Labour Party government was accused Thursday of compromising the neutrality of the police force by asking them to support an anti-terrorism provision authorizing the detention of terror suspects without charge for up to 90 days, a proposal which was defeated [JURIST report] in the House of Commons [official website] earlier this week. The London Metropolitan Police Authority [official website] expressed support for the measure last month by sending a letter [text] to Clarke, but senior members of the Conservative party said UK Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour party also asked the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) for support to make the government's case. The request came from UK Home Secretary Charles Clarke [official profile], who Thursday accepted blame for the anti-terror provision's defeat [JURIST report], after he realized that the MPs were leaning toward voting against the measure. Conservative chief whip David Maclean [official website] said he is investigating the matter and has asked Tory MPs to submit details of letters, e-mails and phone calls that they received from chief constables asking them to vote in favor of the proposal. From the UK, the Telegraph has local coverage.

[JURIST] Leading Friday's environmental law news, representatives from countries surrounding the Barents Sea have held a meeting in Norway to discuss global warming and the Kyoto Protocol [text]. The Barents Euro-Arctic Council (BEAC) [official website] consists of representatives from Russia, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland and the European Commission. The BEAC adopted a number of resolutions [DOC text] on environmental issues, including calling for the development of bioenergy and other renewable energy sources, combating illegal logging, adopting best available technology standards for industry, and reducing pollution in the region. AFP has more.

In other environmental law news...

• The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) [official website] announced it will postpone a recommendation to the state Board of Environmental Quality on whether the state should opt-in to the federal "cap and trade" program that seeks to decrease mercury emissions from coal fired power plants. The DEQ had planned to make its recommendation on November 16, 2005, but has decided to postpone it until the US Environmental Protection Agency [official website] concludes its review of the new Clean Air Mercury Rules [EPA backgrounder]. The Idaho Mountain Express has more.
  
  
• The US Bureau of Land Management in Colorado [official website] sold 72,428 acres of public land during its quarterly oil and gas lease auction [official backgrounder] Thursday. A number of groups have notified the agency that they intend to sue over some of the leases, claiming that the land should be listed as wilderness or that endangered species will be threatened. Under terms of the sale, protest issues will be settled before the leases are dispensed. The Daily Sentinel has more.
  
  
• India's Central Pollution Control Board [official website] has issued a regulation conditioning approval of health care centers on their separation of mercury contaminated biowaste. The India government is also undertaking a project to study the emissions from incinerators burning hazardous materials, and will develop techniques and procedures to limit the emissions of mercury and other hazardous materials from health care centers into the environment. The Hindu has more.

[JURIST] Peru announced Thursday that it is removing its ambassador from Japan to protest Tokyo's refusal to extradite former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori [Wikipedia profile; personal website]. Fujimori was detained earlier this week in Chile [JURIST report] on an international arrest warrant and Japanese diplomats visited with Fujimori [BBC report], promising to defend Fujimori's rights. Chilean officials have so far been receptive to Peru's extradition requests, but have indicated that a fair trial will be held to determine whether to extradite Fujimori. The former president ruled Peru from 1990-2000, after which time he fled to Japan amidst charges of corruption [JURIST report]. Fujimori is recognized as a citizen by Japan because his parents were Japanese, and the country has declined to extradite him to Peru since no extradition treaty exists between the two countries. Peru's Foreign Minister Oscar Maurtua [official profile in Spanish] said that Fujimori entered Chile using his Peruvian passport and that "Japan lacks authority to intervene in the extradition process that Peru is pursuing with Chilean authorities." A spokesman for the Japanese Foreign Ministry [official website] said the country has not been formally told about the ambassador's withdrawal. Meanwhile, Peruvian courts are preparing the case against Fujimori, who faces 21 charges of corruption and human rights abuses [IPS report], totaling up to 225 years in prison if he is convicted. Jose Luis Lecaros, a justice on Peru's Supreme Court, said the government has a strong case against Fujimori that they will present at his extradition trial in Chile. AP has more.

[JURIST] Iraqi President Jalal Talabani [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] met with Pope Benedict XVI [official website] in the Vatican on Thursday, assuring him that new Iraqi constitution [JURIST news archive] will respect the rights of Christians. The Vatican was concerned that even though the constitution guaranteed religious freedom for all, it also named Islam as a "fundamental source" of legislation. According to Talabani, "the Iraqi constitution will consider all Iraqis, Christians included, equal, and will respect all religions." Talabani told the Pope that "All kinds of freedoms will be guaranteed for all." Approximately 800,000 Christians live in Iraq. The Vatican had no comment on the meeting. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Crown Prosecution Service [official website] released a report [PDF text] on Friday that shows prosecutions for hate crimes during April 2004 to March 2005 up 29 percent over the previous year [press release]. A record 4,660 people were prosecuted, and another 1,128 cases were dropped, many because witnesses failed to testify. The figures do not include incidents related to the July London bombings [JURIST news archive], but officials are uncertain if another increase will result. UK police initially reported no significant increase [JURIST report] in anti-Muslim violence after the bombings. Sir Iqbal Sacranie, head of the Muslim Council of Britain [advocacy website], said "After the bomb attacks in London we saw a spate of racist incidents. What will the figures be next year?" The Independent has more.

[JURIST] Australian Prime Minister John Howard [official profile] has denied complaints that controversial new anti-terrorism proposals [JURIST news archive; JURIST document] were "authoritarian" and would limit freedom of the press. Part of the plan includes allowing a 7-year prison sentence for sedition, defined as threatening the "peace, order and good government of the commonwealth". The Australian Press Council called for this provision to be removed [press release], calling it "unnecessary" and "anachronistic". There has not been a prosecution for sedition since 1960. "If legislation is required to punish incitement to terrorism, they must be in a restricted form that does not adversely affect other areas of freedom of speech or revive eighteenth century authoritarianism, as the current proposal does," said Ken McKinnon, chairman of the APC. Howard responded, "These laws will not stop journalists attacking the government, they will not stop cartoonists lampooning the prime minister and the leader of the opposition. They will not prevent free and open debate because in substance they are no different from the sedition laws that have existed in the past." Australian Attorney General Philip Ruddock [official profile] has agreed to review the sedition provisions after the bill is passed, which Howard says will happen before Christmas [JURIST report]. AFP has more.

ALSO ON JURIST  Op-ed: Rights at Risk: My Dissent from the Australian Anti-terror Bill [Jon Stanhope, ACT Chief Minister]

[JURIST] Televangelist Pat Robertson [personal website] told residents of Dover, Pennsylvania that they had "voted God out of your city" in local elections earlier this week by ousting eight school board members [JURIST report] who had supported teaching intelligent design in science classes. On Thursday's broadcast of The 700 Club he said:

I'd like to say to the good citizens of Dover: If there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God. You just rejected him from your city. God is tolerant and loving, but we can't keep sticking our finger in his eye forever. If they have future problems in Dover, I recommend they call on Charles Darwin. Maybe he can help them.

[JURIST] French immigrant communities and rights groups are criticizing the French government's decision to impose emergency laws [decree, PDF; JURIST report] in efforts to restore order after two weeks of rioting. The 1955 state of emergency law [JURIST document] was initially created to cope with a rebellion in Algeria, then a French colony, and the Movement Against Racism and for Friendship Among Peoples said the decision to reactivate the law "revives the wounds of violence and humiliation" of the past. In addition to imposing curfews and allowing police to place people under "house arrest," French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy [official profile, in French] has ordered that all foreigners convicted of taking part in the riots be immediately deported [JURIST report], even those who were not in France illegally. Amnesty International [advocacy website] has denounced the decision [statement], saying that the measure is discriminatory and possibly violates the European Convention on Human Rights [text]. Amnesty also expressed concern that "those threatened with expulsion may be denied access to a fair and public hearing before an independent and impartial tribunal to present their case against the executive decision." AP has more.

Meanwhile, Parisian police are on high alert Friday as France enters the Armistice Day [Wikipedia backgrounder] holiday weekend. The violence has subsided a bit since French President Jacques Chirac [official biography; BBC profile] ordered curfews earlier this week, but the number of vehicles set on fire in the neighborhoods directly around Paris increased Thursday night. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] US Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito [White House profile; US News profile] said Thursday that during his 15 years as a federal court judge, he never knowingly ruled on a case in which he had an obligation to recuse himself. Alito was responding to challenges made by US Senate Democrats Wednesday that Alito heard a 2002 case involving mutual fund company Vanguard [corporate website] when he had a six-figure investment with them, despite making a promise in 1990 to disqualify himself from cases involving certain firms, including Vanguard. Senate Judiciary Committee [official website] Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) [official website] sent Alito a letter Thursday urging him to promptly explain why he ruled in cases involving Vanguard and Smith Barney [corporate website], another firm that helped manage Alito's investments. Alito responded, "I have been committed to carrying out my duties... in accordance with both the letter and spirit of all applicable rules of ethics and canons of conduct," adding that he had concluded "there was not a legal or ethical obligation under the applicable rules... to recuse myself from every case involving the companies I listed." The White House has denied any wrongdoing by Alito. Reuters has more.

ALSO ON JURIST  Topic: Samuel Alito | Op-ed: Why Feminists and Liberals Have Nothing to Fear from Judge Alito

[JURIST] The Italian prosecutor's office in Milan has asked for 22 CIA operatives to be extradited to Italy to face charges for the alleged kidnapping of Egyptian cleric Abu Omar [Washington Post report] in 2003, according to an Italian prosecutor Friday. Omar was purportedly kidnapped on a Milan street before being taken to Egypt where he was reportedly tortured. Italian prosecutors allege that the abduction was part of a CIA "extraordinary rendition" program where torture suspects are kidnapped and then taken to other countries without court approval. The Italian government said it was not informed of the operation and the kidnapping strained relations between the US and Italy with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi [official profile] claiming it was a violation of Italian sovereignty [JURIST report]. Earlier this year, Milan Prosecutor Armando Spataro issued arrest warrants for the 22 CIA agents. Italy's Justice Minister Roberto Castelli [official biography] will decide whether to send the extradition request to the US. AP has more.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Italy orders arrest of six more CIA agents
• Italian prosecutor seeks six more arrest warrants in CIA kidnapping probe
• Italy may seek extradition of CIA agents who kidnapped imam in Milan
• Italian judge orders arrest of 13 CIA agents over imam deportation

[JURIST] The UN Joint Disciplinary Committee has concluded that the only employee fired during the UN oil-for-food scandal [JURIST news archive] did not violate staff rules and should be reinstated, according to the ruling obtained by the Associated Press Thursday. The three-judge UN appeals panel said that Joseph Stephanides was made into a "sacrificial lamb" because he was fired [JURIST report] mostly due to the intense public scrutiny that resulted after the scandal was made known. Stephanides was accused of releasing bidding information regarding an oil-for-food contract to Great Britain, but he maintains that he was following the instructions of a UN Security Council [official website] sanctions committee. The Joint Disciplinary Committee ordered that Stephanides' termination be reversed with backpay, that he be paid two years salary to compensate for the damage to his reputation and image, and that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan [official biography] issue a public apology. Annan is not required to accept the ruling, but a senior UN official said that Annan's advisors were contemplating the panel's decision. If Annan does not act on the ruling by Monday, which will be 30 days after the decision was handed down, Stephanides can appeal to the UN Administrative Tribunal [official website] for a binding decision. AP has more.

[JURIST] Senior White House advisor Karl Rove [official profile] spoke at the annual meeting of the Federalist Society [official website] Thursday to commend President Bush's conservative nominees to the US Supreme Court and denounce judicial activism. This was Rove's first public appearance since testifying before a grand jury last month in the ongoing CIA leak investigation [JURIST news archive]. Rove praised Bush's decisions to appoint conservative judges, including current Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito [White House profile; US News profile; JURIST news archive], saying for the past few decades the high court's justices have made "decision after decision after decision that strikes them as fundamentally out of touch with our Constitution." Rove pointed to past decisions including those that barred the death penalty for juveniles and declared the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional. Rove told the group that "conservative judicial principles would prevail" saying, "In America, conservatives are winning the battle of ideas on almost every front, and few are more important than the battle over our judiciary." Rove has not been indicted in the CIA leak case [JURIST report] but his future at the White House remains uncertain [Washington Post report]. C-SPAN has recorded video of Rove's remarks. Reuters has more.