[JURIST] Germany will introduce draft legislation tightening anti-corruption law, according to a Der Spiegel report to be published Monday. The move comes on the heels of scandals at Volkswagen AG and Siemens AG [corporate websites] and is intended to increase public prosecutors' power to investigate corruption of a broader range of implicated employees. The law would allow employees of foreign corporations to be indicted in Germany. German Minister of Justice Brigitte Zypries [official profile, in German] will present the law for adoption by the end of the quarter. AFX has more.

In 2005 Volkswagen personnel chief Peter Hartz resigned [JURIST report] in the midst of a criminal investigation alleging two of his former employees to have committed fraud while working for Volkswagen. He was indicted in November 2006 for allegedly paying illegal bonuses [Der Spiegel report] to the former head of the works council and his mistress. Hartz, a close friend of former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder [BBC profile], led a government panel that proposed changes to Germany's labor policy in 2002. Siemens AG is currently under investigation by the Nuremberg public prosecutor for possible foreign trade law violations related to its involvement in the United Nations' controversial Iraq Oil-for-Food program [JURIST news archive]. Der Spiegel has more.

[JURIST] The Japanese government is considering expanding the ability of Japan's Self Defense Forces [official website] to use arms in peacekeeping operations in ways that exceed the scope of self-defense, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported Sunday. If the revisions are enacted, Japanese troops will be able to participate in more aggressive international peacekeeping missions, such as ceasefire monitoring. The move would be consistent with the stated intention of new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe [official profile; BBC profile] to revisit [JURIST report] a key provision of the post-World War II constitution [text] limiting the Japanese military to defensive roles and operations.

Article 9 [text; Wikipedia backgrounder] of the 1946 charter effectively imposed by United States during the post-war occupation of Japan [backgrounder] reads:

Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes. 2) In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.

[JURIST] Ecuadorian President-elect Rafael Correa [official website, in Spanish; BBC profile] renewed his pledge to redraft the nation's constitution [text, in Spanish] in a speech in Quito Sunday. Correa, an economist who will take office Monday, declared that his first act as president will be to call a referendum to form a constitutional assembly to be charged with making "profound" socialist economic changes. Other proposals for the constitution aim to increase government accountability, including replacing congressional elections with regional rather than national votes and allowing recalls for all elected positions. Critics fear that Correa will use the assembly to expand presidential power.

A self-described member of the "Christian left" and founder of the Alianza PAIS party, Correa aligned himself with the Ecuadorian Socialist Party [party website, in Spanish] during last year's elections with the common goal of overhauling the nation's economy to aid the more than 60% of the population living in poverty. Correa is the most recent example of South America's shift to the left, already manifested in the administrations of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Bolivia's Evo Morales [JURIST news archive], both of whom joined Correa at his Sunday speech. In November Morales' Movement Towards Socialism party [party website] began the final stages of adopting populist reforms into an amended Bolivian constitution [JURIST report]. Though in the past he has emphasized that his presidency will be distinctly independent from his allies in the region, Correa remarked Sunday that "a sovereign, dignified, just and socialist Latin America is beginning to rise." AP has more.

[JURIST] Former Maoist insurgents are preparing to enter their first session of parliament in Nepal [JURIST news archive] after the Nepalese cabinet approved a draft interim constitution [eKantipur highlights; JURIST news archive] on Sunday. The party will hold roughly twenty-five percent of seats in the temporary parliament, which is set to pass the interim constitution and oversee elections to draft a permanent constitution.

The assumption of parliamentary power will represent a stark transformation by the Maoists from a group of communist rebels to a mainstream political party. Demanding a communist state, they began their insurgency campaign in 1996. After King Gyanendra [official profile] seized complete control of the government [JURIST report] in 2005, the Maoists allied themselves with the seven democratic parties in November of that year. In April of 2006, the King submitted to rising street demonstrations and agreed to reinstate democratic government [JURIST report]. The future of the monarchy in Nepal remains a particularly contentious point of negotiation by all sides. Maoist rebels agreed to the temporary constitution [JURIST report] in December. They are also set to assume certain cabinet positions in the coming weeks, though the specific positions are still being negotiated. Kanunisanchar.com has local coverage. AFP has more.

[JURIST] The CIA [JURIST news archive] and the American military have been accessing the banking and credit records of hundreds of American citizens suspected of ties to terror groups, the New York Times reported Sunday. Since 9/11 [JURIST news archive], the two US government arms have been using little-known provisions of the Right to Financial Privacy Act [text], the Fair Credit Reporting Act [text, PDF] and the National Security Act [text] to issue a version of a "national security letter" to domestic banks, credit companies, and other financial corporations. The letters request certain financial information but are generally "noncompulsory" as the CIA and the military have no domestic enforcement authority. The FBI [JURIST news archive] has also issued thousands of similar letters [Washington Post report] since Sept. 11. All three groups claim increased powers to probe the banking records of American citizens under the Patriot Act [JURIST news archive], passed in the wake of 9/11.

Democrats and civil liberties groups like the ACLU [JURIST news archive] have expressed serious concern over these and other domestic spying techniques, especially as exercised by government agencies focused abroad. The military and the CIA contend that such intelligence is invaluable in finding leads and strengthening other operations. The ACLU has won two suits against the FBI [ACLU backgrounder] related to national security letters. The New York Times has more.