[JURIST] The New Jersey Supreme Court [official website] Wednesday ruled [PDF text] that for the state to constitutionally take private property, it must show that the property is blighted. The high court's unanimous ruling eliminates the use of eminent domain [JURIST news archive] to take property that is merely "not fully productive." In Gallenthin Realty Development, Inc. v. Borough of Paulsboro, the town of Paulsboro had attempted to obtain and redevelop, by eminent domain, largely unused property that had been identified as wetlands. The court held:

Because the New Jersey Constitution authorizes government redevelopment of only "blighted" areas, the Legislature did not intend to apply [eminent domain] where the sole basis for redevelopment is that the property is "not fully productive." Rather, [eminent domain] applies only to areas that, as a whole, are stagnant and unproductive.

[JURIST] A joint report [PDF text] delivered to President George W. Bush Wednesday by the US Department of Health and Human Services, the US Department of Education, and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official websites] on the ability of state and local officials to prevent community violence - including school shootings - has found that educational, health, and law enforcement workers don't understand privacy laws, a problem that inhibits efficient information sharing between agencies. The report also found that states do not uniformly report the names of individuals prohibited from possessing firearms to the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) [FBI backgrounder]. The report recommends federal action be taken to clarify privacy laws for individuals, and that the DOJ act to encourage the uniform reporting of information to NICS. Bush had requested the report in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings [JURIST news archive] in April, which left 32 students and faculty dead. The New York Times has more.

Also on Wednesday, the US House of Representatives passed the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007, which closes a loophole [JURIST reports] that allowed Virginia Tech shooter Seung-Hui Cho [Wikipedia profile] to purchase firearms despite a court order [text] for psychiatric treatment. The bill mandates improvements in state reporting to the NICS, making record sharing automatic.

[JURIST] Congressional investigators Wednesday issued subpoenas [Leahy press release] for former White House counsel Harriet Miers [official profile] and former White House Political Director Sara Taylor [SourceWatch profile] in their ongoing probe of the US Attorney firing scandal [JURIST news archive]. US House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) [official website] issued the subpoena [PDF text] for Miers, while Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) [official website] issued the subpoena [text] for Taylor. Two additional subpoenas were also issued requesting White House documents relevant to the building investigation. Taylor, who left her White House job on May 30, is requested to give testimony on July 11; Miers, who resigned January 4 [JURIST report], will appear the following day.

The investigation centers around the firing of eight federal prosecutors across the country, with allegations that White House officials ordered the firings for political reasons. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales [official profile] has been at the center of the accusations, as have presidential adviser Karl Rove [official profile] and former Gonzales chief of staff Kyle Sampson [official press release], who resigned in March. Following his resignation, Sampson testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee [JURIST report] that Gonzales and Miers were deeply involved in discussions about the firings of the federal prosecutors. He said that staff made recommendations but Miers and Gonzales ultimately made the decisions about the firings. Taylor was implicated in the firings more recently; on Tuesday, the Department of Justice released documents [document archive] indicating she was closely involved with the firing of US Attorney Bud Cummins. AP has more.

[JURIST] Citigroup, UBS, Morgan Stanley, and Deutsche Bank [corporate websites] were charged Wednesday in Milan in connection with the collapse of Italian dairy giant Parmalat SpA [corporate website; JURIST news archive]. Judge Cesare Tacconi issued the indictments accusing the banks of a form of criminal negligence for not revealing to the market that Parmalat was not financially healthy. Thirteen employees working in the banks were also individually charged. A lawyer representing approximately 32,000 bondholders who joined the criminal trial as civil parties after losing money from Parmalat's bankruptcy told AP that the addition of the banks as defendants could result in a recovery of approximately $400 million for his clients. The banks have all, at present or in the past, denied wrongdoing.

Parmalat filed for insolvency in December 2003, with about $17.3 billion of debt, after realizing there was a massive $4.9 billion discrepancy in its books. Suits and counter-suits have been filed in both Italy and the US against a number of parties, including Citigroup [JURIST report], Parmalat's former auditors [press release, PDF], and Bank of America [corporate website; JURIST report]. Bank of America, which was not charged in Wednesday's proceeding, is pursuing a counterclaim [JURIST report] against Parmalat, alleging that company engaged in fraud and is maliciously suing the bank to try to shift blame. In November, a US district judge directed the companies to seek a settlement [JURIST report]. AP has more.

[JURIST] Prosecutors in Switzerland [JURIST news archive] said Wednesday that they have decided to appeal last week's acquittal [JURIST report] of all 19 executives and consultants charged in connection with the collapse of Swissair Group [liquidation website; Wikipedia backgrounder], the former Swiss national airline. Zurich prosecutors had been considering an appeal [press release, in German] since the decision was handed down on June 7, and will file it with the Superior Court of Zurich by June 27. The defendants had been found not guilty on criminal charges of damaging creditors, mismanagement, forging documents, and making false statements about Swissair's financial solvency.

The ruling in favor of the executives also included compensation of more than 3 million CHF ($2.5 million USD) between them, to be paid for by taxpayers. Unions of former employees, politicians, shareholders, and others decried the ruling [Swissinfo report]. The airline's collapse cost thousands their jobs, and it is believed that creditors' claims total as much as $23 billion. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US House of Representatives Wednesday passed the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 [HR 2640 materials], which closes a loophole [JURIST report] that allowed Virginia Tech shooter Seung-Hui Cho [Wikipedia profile] to purchase firearms despite a court order [text] mandating psychiatric treatment. The bill mandates improvements in state reporting to the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) [FBI backgrounder], making record sharing automatic. It also allocates $250 million for states to make improvements, and imposes benchmarks for states to improve their systems. If states fail to meet those benchmarks, the legislation would withhold federal funds from the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 [42 USC 3756 text]. The bill must still be approved by the Senate and signed by the president before becoming law.

Previous legislation to improve enforcement of the NICS [HR 297 backgrounder], similar to Wednesday's bill, was introduced in the House of Representatives the past three terms but never became law. Wednesday's bill had the support of the National Rifle Association [advocacy website], who stress that they do not believe it is a form of gun control [NRA report], as it only enforces current federal law, and does not exclude any new parties from obtaining firearms. Virginia Governor Timothy Kaine closed the NICS reporting loophole [JURIST report] in that state by executive order [text; press release] in the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shootings. AP has more.

[JURIST] The warden of a prison where Jonathan 'Jack' Idema [BBC profile], the last of three imprisoned US citizens convicted of illegal imprisonment and torture in Afghanistan in 2004, confirmed Idema's release Wednesday, saying that Idema left Afghanistan shortly after his release on June 2. Idema, a former member of the US Army Special Forces, was arrested by Afghan forces [JURIST report] as a vigilante along with US journalist Edward Caraballo [personal website] and ex-serviceman Brent Bennett in July 2004 after a raid on their house in Kabul revealed eight captive Afghans. Idema said that the Pentagon sanctioned their operations, a claim the US State Department has denied [JURIST report].

In April, US lawyers said that Idema's release was "imminent" [JURIST report]. On March 21, US District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan ordered [PDF text; opinion, PDF] the US Department of State and Federal Bureau of Investigation to respond to allegations by Idema that they ordered his torture while in Afghan custody. US government lawyers have asked that the case be dismissed because the Afghan government has granted Idema amnesty. AP has more.

[JURIST] European Data Protection Supervisor Peter Hustinx [official website] expressed concern in letters [PDF text; press release, PDF] sent Monday to the Portuguese ministers for justice and the interior that privacy and data protection are increasingly being sacrificed in the name of security and national defense. The letter was sent just weeks before Portugal takes over the European Union [official website] presidency from incumbent Germany [German presidency website]. Hustinx, who advises EU governing bodies on privacy rights, challenged the view that people must be willing to give up fundamental freedoms for security:

This position could be potentially dangerous and may produce more problems than it seeks to solve. Not only does it reveal a lack of understanding of the current framework of human rights in general, and data protection legislation in particular, which both enable proportionate measures that are necessary for public security or defence, it also ignores the lessons learned about the abuse of fundamental rights from dealing with terrorism within Europe's borders over the last 50 years.

[JURIST] A Filipino court acquitted Imelda Marcos [Wikipedia profile] of all five charges of tax evasion Wednesday, finding that the prosecution failed to demonstrate criminal intent in Marcos' failure to pay income and estate taxes between 1985 and 1989. Marcos, the widow of former President Ferdinand E. Marcos [official profile], is accused along with her husband of having looted the Filipino economy of up to $10 billion through embezzlement schemes.

The two fled the Philippines in 1986 following a popular coup supported by the military [BBC backgrounder]. Approximately $1.24 billion dollars have been recovered, with assets valued up to $4.4 billion in the Philippines and nearly $80 million abroad being pursued by up to 600 lawsuits. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Navy Rear Adm. Mark H. Buzby [official profile], commander of Joint Task Force - Guantanamo Bay, told AP Tuesday that there are two ongoing investigations into the apparent suicide death [JURIST report] of a Saudi Arabian detainee, adding that the two separate investigations are focusing on how Abdul Rahman Ma'ath Thafir al-Amri [Wikipedia profile] committed suicide and why guards failed to prevent the death. Results from al-Amri's autopsy, which was performed by a pathologist from the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) [official website] with an independent observer from the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's Office of Florida, have not been released.

Al-Amri, who had been involved in persistent hunger strikes and had dropped his weight from approximately 150 pounds to 88.5 pounds by November 2005, was detained in a solitary cell for "high value" and non-compliant detainees. According to a report written by an unnamed officer during al-Amri's Combatant Status Review Tribunal [DOD materials], al-Amri intended "to go [to Afghanistan] and fight for a cause that he believed in as a Muslim towards jihad, not to go and fight against the Americans." Government documents indicate that al-Amri had maintained he did not travel to Afghanistan to fight Americans, stating that Americans had trained him while al-Amri was serving in the Saudi military and he "could have [killed Americans] while he was side by side with them in Saudi Arabia." Al-Amri, like the three Guantanamo detainees who committed suicide in June 2006 [JURIST report], was among a group of detainees who had never met with an American lawyer during his detention at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive]. AP has more.

[JURIST] Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski [official profile] said Tuesday that Poland would insist on new discussions on voting within the Council of the European Union before Poland will agree to any proposed EU constitutional "treaty" [JURIST news archive]. Kaczynski voiced his objection to the proposed "double majority" voting system, which requires at least 55 percent of the ministers to vote in favor of a measure but also requires that the ministers voting in favor represent at least 65 percent of the EU's total population. The proposal diminishes the comparable voting power of Poland, and also makes it more difficult for minority member states to delay majority initiatives. Poland currently benefits from the existing qualified majority voting system [BBC backgrounder], which allocates a specific weight to each minister's vote based on population but has also been progressively adjusted to give less populous states like Spain and Poland more voting weight. The Council of European Union, composed of 27 ministers representing the member states, is one of the two highest legislative institutions in the European Union.

Last Thursday, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and French President Nicolas Sarkozy agreed that the controversial European constitution [text] should be reconstituted into a "simplified treaty" whose ratification would not require the support of the voters of individual countries. The "treaty" proposal, which would amend the organization and powers of the EU, is supported by Spain but is opposed by Italy [JURIST reports]. Under the "treaty," a president and foreign minister would oversee the 27-country organization. In addition, veto rights in some areas, including immigration policies, would be eliminated. Voters in France and the Netherlands [JURIST reports] rejected the original draft constitution in national referenda in 2005, effectively derailing the ratification process and throwing the constitution into legal limbo. The Independent has more.

[JURIST] Judges of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) [official website] said Wednesday that they have unanimously adopted [press release, PDF] internal rules for the ECCC following the conclusion of a two-week meeting that convened [JURIST reports] on May 31. The judges said the new rules would facilitate "fair, transparent trials before an independent and impartial court." The rules are designed to integrate Cambodian law with the structure of the UN-Cambodian hybrid court, and cover a range of issues, including establishing the burden of proof for a conviction at the beyond reasonable doubt standard, and allowing victims to join lawsuits as civil parties, but without the right to obtain individual financial compensation. In addition, the ECCC will guarantee that defendants have "an effective team of Co-Lawyers, one Cambodian and one foreign." Prosecution teams will also be structured in the same manner. The judges said they were "acutely aware that the Cambodian people have waited a long time for this process to get under way" and stressed their commitment to "completing these trials in a timely manner while ensuring the highest standards of justice are upheld."

The Defense Support Section (DSS) of the ECCC welcomed [statement, PDF] the adoption of the rules as a "great achievement and important step to ensure fair trials." The DSS, however, expressed its disappointment that the ECCC will not allow local-Cambodian defense lawyers to appear before the court on a "stand-in" basis, saying that having to wait for "foreign lawyers to fly in" for short hearings, which increases the cost of the tribunal and could possibly cause further delays. Other international tribunals, such as the Special Court for Sierra Leone, the Sarajevo War Crimes Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the International Criminal Court [official websites] allow comparable "stand-in" arrangements.

Tribunal judges have struggled with integrating international criminal law with Cambodian law, which is heavily influenced by the French legal system. The internal rules for the tribunal have been a source of intense controversy for months. Judges failed to reach an agreement at a November 2006 meeting and at a subsequent meeting [JURIST reports] in January 2007. A March meeting made progress [JURIST report], but still left unresolved details concerning fees and other procedural details. The legal fees dispute was finally resolved in late April [JURIST report]. The ECCC was established by a 2001 law [text as amended 2005, PDF] to investigate and try those responsible for the Cambodian genocide that occurred under the 1975-1979 Khmer Rouge [MIPT backgrounder; JURIST news archive] regime. The genocide resulted in the deaths of over 1.7 million people from maltreatment, disease and malnutrition. To date, no top Khmer Rouge officials have faced trial. Questions have been raised concerning exactly how many of the Khmer Rouge's top officials will face the tribunal, as several of those responsible for the genocide have recently died [JURIST report] and others are in failing health. AP has more.

[JURIST] The judicial panel of the UK House of Lords ruled [judgment text] Wednesday that Human Rights Act of 1998 (HRA) [text] applies to British soldiers overseas in the case of killed Iraqi detainee Baha Musa [Herald report]. The Law Lords upheld a lower court judgment [JURIST report] and held that because Musa was killed while under British detention he was therefore "within the jurisdiction" of the United Kingdom for the purposes of the HRA, which incorporates the European Convention on Human Rights [PDF text] into UK law. Liberty [advocacy website] Director Shami Chakrabarti hailed [press release] the decision as a "historic" ruling that would hold the UK government to its human rights obligations.

In the same judgment, however, the Lords ruled against the families of five Iraqis killed by British armed forces, ruling that because the killings did not occur within the UK's legal jurisdiction, the HRA did not apply. The Lords found that those deaths occurred when the UK was not in "effective control" of Basra, the region where the killings occurred, and therefore were outside the UK's legal jurisdiction. The UK Ministry of Defence [official website] has previously argued that the HRA was intended to protect European citizens, not Iraqis, and that applying the HRA in a combat zone would harmfully restrict British soldiers. The Lords also rejected a government argument that the families of the deceased should seek redress in the European Court of Human Rights [official website] not British courts, finding that the argument was "contrary to the central policy" of the Human Rights Act.

Musa died in 2003 after suffering 93 injuries, including a broken nose and broken ribs, during 36 hours of detention. A UK court dismissed charges [JURIST report] against seven soldiers [BBC trial timeline] believed to be responsible for his death earlier this year, though Musa's family is currently pursuing a lawsuit against the UK Defense Ministry [JURIST report]. Only one of the seven soldiers implicated, Corporal David Payne, was convicted on a charge related to Musa's death after pleading guilty [JURIST report] to inhumane treatment. Payne was sentenced to one year in jail [JURIST archive] and became the first convicted UK war criminal from the Iraq conflict. Other detainees confined with Musa were hooded and could not confirm the identities of the soldiers who caused Musa's death. AP has more. BBC News has additional coverage.

[JURIST] The Missouri Supreme Court has rejected efforts by the city of St. Louis to recoup $15 million in lead paint removal costs from paint and pigment manufacturers. In its 4-3 opinion [text], the high court upheld a lower court's ruling, determining that the city's inability to connect any specific manufacturer to the paint at a particular cleanup site prohibited the city from recovering damages. The court held that under Missouri law, the city is required to demonstrate actual causation between the manufacturer and the lead paint public nuisance. St. Louis argued that the manufacturers should be found to be liable under the legal theory of market-share liability, which the Missouri Supreme Court rejected in 1984.

In February 2006, a Rhode Island jury found three lead paint manufacturers responsible for creating a public nuisance [JURIST report] that had contaminated thousands of homes and continued to poison children. The sale of lead paint was banned in 1978 after studies concluded that lead content caused serious health problems to children. In July 2005, the Wisconsin Supreme Court extended the "risk contribution theory" to lead-paint manufacturers [JURIST report] and allowed a suit filed against lead paint manufacturers to proceed. Risk contribution theory allows those who can not trace their injuries to a specific company to still collect damages if they can prove a product was dangerous, it created their injuries, the defendant marketed or produced it, and negligently produced or marketed it. AP has more.

[JURIST] Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper [official website] unveiled a series of reforms Tuesday designed to address the backlog of claims [press release] by aboriginal tribes over land seized by the Canadian government, saying a system would be created to solve the disputes "once and for all by impartial judges on a new Specific Claims Tribunal." The proposal, titled the Specific Claims Action Plan [backgrounder], would establish a new independent tribunal to permanently resolve existing disputes that have failed dispute resolution negotiations. The plan is designed to make financial compensation more transparent, and would set aside approximately $250 million for 10 years to fund claim settlements.

Harper's proposal, which must be approved by Parliament, would also "speed up processing of small claims and improve flexibility in the handling of large claims" and refocus the Indian Specific Claims Commission [official website] "to concentrate on dispute resolution." Phil Fontaine [official profile], the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations [official website] joined in support of Harper's proposal, saying it was a "positive response." Details of the proposed legislation will be be drafted by the First Nations, and provincial and territorial governments. Last Thursday, Amnesty International accused Harper's government of stalling the discussion and adoption [JURIST report] of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples [text]. Harper has also been criticized for failing to honor the Kelowna Accord [backgrounder] an agreement between Canada and indigenous leaders that committed $5 billion over a period of 10 years to address poverty on Canada's First Nation reserves [backgrounder]. AP has more.