[JURIST] The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) [advocacy website] Tuesday settled [settlement, PDF; press release] its lawsuit against the New York Police Department (NYPD) [official website] challenging the department's tactics for dealing with large protests. Under the settlement, the NYPD agreed to make sure protesters can get into designated demonstration areas and that any "pens" (enclosed areas) have sufficient openings such that protesters can exit, and also not to send police horses into crowds without adequate warnings.

The lawsuit [NYCLU materials] stemmed from "controversial" policing tactics employed by the NYPD during a February 15, 2003 demonstration [NYT report] against military action in Iraq, in which several named plaintiffs were injured. AP has more.

[JURIST] A New Jersey Superior Court judge ruled [PDF text] Tuesday that a $7 billion lawsuit [JURIST report] filed by Italian dairy giant Parmalat SpA [corporate website] against Citigroup [corporate website] could go forward on a claim that Citigroup aided and abetted former Parmalat executives in misappropriating company money. Parmalat has alleged that Citigroup helped obscure the state of Parmalat's finances and helped to move the ill-gotten gains of former Parmalat executives through its bank accounts. Judge Jonathan N. Harris dismissed several of Parmalat's claims, including fraud claims brought under New Jersey's Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act [statute materials] and racketeering claims brought under the state's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act [statute materials]. The trial is scheduled for May 5.

Citigroup was among four banking giants indicted [JURIST report] by an Italian judge in June 2007 for not revealing to the market that Parmalat was not financially healthy. Parmalat filed for insolvency in December 2003 after discovering accounting discrepancies totaling nearly $5 billion in debt. AP has more. Reuters has additional coverage.

[JURIST] A US military court opened an Article 32 hearing [press release] in Baghdad on Tuesday for a civilian military contractor accused of aggravated assault. Earlier this month, the US military charged [JURIST report] Alaa "Alex" Mohammad Ali, a dual Iraqi-Canadian citizen working as a translator in Iraq, with the February stabbing of another contractor. He is the first civilian charged by the military since a 2006 amendment to the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) [text] granted the military jurisdiction over civilians accompanying US troops in a combat zone. His Article 32 hearing, the military equivalent to a civilian grand jury proceeding, was delayed [JURIST report] late last week. AP has more.

Prior to the 2006 UCMJ amendment, contractors working in Iraq were exempted [PDF text] from prosecution in that country. The amendment, found in Section 522 of the 2007 defense authorization bill [2 2766 materials; LawReader backgrounder], significantly changed the military's jurisdiction to bring civilian contractors within the military's jurisdiction during a "contingency operation" rather than its previous requirement that Congress actually declare war. Last fall, Congress took further steps [JURIST report] to bring US contractors within the jurisdiction of the military with the 2008 defense authorization bill [HR 1585 materials]. The issue of criminal jurisdiction over US military contractors working in Iraq gained notoriety last fall when several Blackwater USA [corporate website; JURIST news archive] employees allegedly killed at least eight Iraqi civilians [JURIST report]. The US Department of Justice has run into legal hurdles [JURIST report] trying to bring criminal charges against the Blackwater employees.

[JURIST] UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Tuesday marked the tenth anniversary of the death of dictator Pol Pot [BBC profile] by urging [statement; UN News report] the international community and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) [official website; JURIST news archive] to continue efforts to bring senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge to justice. Ban said:

I would like to remind the international community of the urgent importance of bringing to closure one of history's darkest chapters. The United Nations and the Royal Government of Cambodia remain actively engaged in efforts to hold the Khmer Rouge senior leaders and those most responsible accountable for their horrific crimes. With the support of the international community, it is my hope that the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia will soon deliver long-overdue justice for the people of Cambodia.

[JURIST] A three-judge panel in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit heard arguments Tuesday regarding the constitutionality of a private body established by Congress to oversee accounting practices in publicly traded companies. In 2006, conservative business organization Free Enterprise Fund challenged [JURIST report] provisions in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 [PDF text] establishing the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) [official website], alleging that it violates the separation of powers doctrine. In 2007, the District Court for the District of Columbia granted summary judgment [opinion, PDF] in favor of the PCAOB, finding that the plaintiffs' facial challenge failed to establish that no set of circumstances could exist under which the Act would be valid. The five-member PCAOB board is appointed and overseen by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) [official website]; plaintiffs argued Tuesday that the board is outside of presidential control and endowed with too much unchecked prosecutorial and police power. The US Department of Justice, arguing for the government, said that scrutiny from the presidentially appointed SEC is sufficient to render the board constitutional.

Consistent with the overall purpose of Sarbanes-Oxley, the PCAOB board was created in response to the collapse of Enron and the other corporate fraud scandals [JURIST news archives] that made headlines in 2002. Dow Jones has more.

[JURIST] Lawyers for Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr [DOD materials; JURIST news archive] argued before a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit Tuesday that the court has jurisdiction to intervene in Khadr's case to determine whether only detainees found to be "unlawful enemy combatants" may be subject to a military commission [DOD materials], or if such hearings also apply to "enemy combatants." Department of Justice lawyers argued that under the Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA) [S 3930 materials], no civilian court can consider an appeal of a war crimes case until a military court has issued a final judgment. Chief Judge David B. Sentelle said that the MCA does not appear to expressly grant jurisdiction, but no final ruling was issued.

Khadr, now 21, faces life imprisonment after allegedly throwing a grenade that killed one US soldier and wounded another while fighting with the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2002. He was charged [charge sheet, PDF; JURIST report] in April 2007 with murder, attempted murder, conspiracy and providing material support for terrorism, as well as spying. Khadr's trial was originally scheduled to begin May 5, but last month US military judge Col. Peter Brownback postponed the trial [JURIST report] and instead scheduled a May 8 hearing in order to hear arguments on a number of evidence issues that must be reconciled before the trial can begin. AP has more.

[JURIST] An Egyptian military court handed down its final verdict [MB press release] Tuesday in the military trial of 40 senior members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood [party website; FAS backgrounder], sentencing 25 of the accused to prison time and acquitting 15 others. The 40 Brotherhood members were originally charged with terrorism, but those charges were later dropped; the trial, which lasted for over a year, dealt with lesser charges that included possessing ant-government literature and being a member of a banned group. Deputy guide for the Brotherhood Khairat al-Shatir [BBC report] was among those sentenced Tuesday, receiving a jail sentence of seven years. Al-Shatir has denied the charges, saying that they were politically motivated. Reuters has more.

The 40 defendants were initially arrested in a raid [BBC report] in December 2006 and but were acquitted of all charges last January in a criminal court in Cairo. They were then rearrested shortly after release and Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak [official profile] ordered the transfer of the cases to a military court [JURIST report]. They were the first Muslim Brotherhood members to face a military trial since 2001.

[JURIST] The rule of law is a necessary prerequisite to achieving all eight of the UN's anti-poverty Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) [official website; official backgrounder], UN Office on Drugs and Crime Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa [official profile] said in an address [text; press release] Monday at the opening of the 17th session of the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice [official website]. He went on to say:

Economic analysis has consistently shown the clear correlation between weak rule of law and weak socio-economic performance ... [I]n countries ravaged by crime and corruption, and where governments lost control of their land, the poor suffer the most, and the services provided to them get delayed, or never arrive. They - the so-called "bottom billion" - have no access to justice, health and education and face rising food prices: how can such countries meet the MDGs?

Poorly governed countries are the most vulnerable to crime, and pay the highest price in terms of erosion of social and human capital, loss of domestic savings, reduction of foreign investment, white-collar exodus, increased instability, and faltering democracy. Seen in this light, the rule of law takes on a whole new importance: when established, l'etat de droit can unleash the welfare potentials of nations. When it's lacking, underdevelopment perpetuates itself.

I invite this Commission to impart new momentum to its crime control work first, by contributing to the mid-term review of MDGs (scheduled at the General Assembly in September 2008) and second, by undertaking measures so as to facilitate the realization of the MDGs in the next half period (2008-2015).

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] handed down decisions in two tax cases Tuesday, including MeadWestvaco Corp. v. Illinois Department of Revenue [LII case backgrounder; JURIST report], where the Court overturned an Illinois state court decision allowing the state to tax a portion of the $1 billion capital gain realized by MeadWestvaco's predecessor when it sold its interest in Lexis/Nexis. The Court wrote:

The Due Process and Commerce Clauses forbid the States to tax "'extraterritorial values.'" ... A State may, however, tax an apportioned share of the value generated by the intrastate and extrastate activities of a multistate enterprise if those activities form part of a "'unitary business.'" We have been asked in this case to decide whether the State of Illinois constitutionally taxed an apportioned share of the capital gain realized by an out-of-state corporation on the sale of one of its business divisions. The Appellate Court of Illinois upheld the tax and affirmed a judgment in the State's favor. Because we conclude that the state courts misapprehended the principles that we have developed for determining whether a multistate business is unitary, we vacate the decision of the Appellate Court of Illinois.

The Internal Revenue Code provides that taxpayers seeking a refund of taxes unlawfully assessed must comply with tax refund procedures set forth in the Code. Under those procedures, a taxpayer must file an administrative claim with the Internal Revenue Service before filing suit against the Government. Such a claim must be filed within three years of the filing of a return or two years of payment of the tax, whichever is later. The Tucker Act, in contrast, is more forgiving, allowing claims to be brought against the United States within six years of the challenged conduct. The question in this case is whether a taxpayer suing for a refund of taxes collected in violation of the Export Clause of the Constitution may proceed under the Tucker Act, when his suit does not meet the time limits for refund actions in the Internal Revenue Code. The answer is no. ...

We therefore hold that the plain language of 26 U. S. C. §§7422(a) and 6511 requires a taxpayer seeking a refund for a tax assessed in violation of the Export Clause, just as for any other unlawfully assessed tax, to file a timely administrative refund claim before bringing suit against the Government.

[JURIST] China has disciplined nearly 3,000 people and imposed criminal penalties on over 530 more for their involvement in illegal land seizures, an official from the Chinese Law Enforcement and Supervision Bureau under the Ministry of Land and Natural Resources [official website, in Chinese] said Monday. Bureau director Zhang Xinbao said Monday that the punishments were part of a new effort to combat illegal land transfers that have led to unrest across the country. AP has more. Xinhua has local coverage.

Property in China [JURIST news archive] is essentially state-owned, but land use titles do convey their holders a form of ownership; corrupt local officials have long been accused of illegally confiscating property from individuals and transferring title to property developers and industrial parks. In recent months, China has been pushing for stricter enforcement of laws prohibiting illegal land seizure [JURIST report].

[JURIST] Myanmar's military government has arrested more than 20 peaceful demonstrators protesting the scheduled May 10 national constitutional referendum [JURIST report], the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) said Tuesday. The NLD also said that government security forces have detained a close aide of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi [BBC profile; JURIST news archive].

Opposition groups have urged citizens to reject [JURIST report] the proposed constitution put forth by the military government, which has been described as a "sham" intended to legalize military rule. The draft constitution reserves 25 percent of the parliamentary seats for the military [JURIST report] and would also block Aung San Suu Kyi from seeking office. The military junta has also rejected calls for international observers. Earlier this week, UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar Paulo Sergio Pinheiro criticized the timing of the referendum, saying it was "surreal" to hold a referendum while the military government continues to persecute critics of the proposed charter. AP has more.

[JURIST] The National Assembly of Pakistan [official website] unanimously adopted a resolution late Monday calling for a United Nations investigation into the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto [BBC obituary; JURIST news archive]. The resolution now goes to the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In January, President Pervez Musharraf ruled out the possibility of a UN investigation [JURIST report], saying that such an investigation was not necessary since there is no suggestion that another state was involved.

Bhutto's widow, Asif Ali Zardari [BBC profile], has repeatedly called for an international probe [JURIST report] and has accused Musharraf's regime of involvement in the assassination. The United States has already taken the position that a UN investigation is unnecessary. In March, Pakistani authorities filed preliminary charges [JURIST report] against top Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud [BBC profile]. Meshud, who is the commander of the Tehrik-e-Taliban, a group of Islamic militants with links to al Qaeda, has denied involvement in the assassination. AP has more.

[JURIST] The UK Ministry of Defense [official website] confirmed Tuesday that it has reached a settlement with an Iraqi teenage civilian who was paralyzed in an accidental shooting in Basra in 2003. The plaintiff, who was 13 at the time of the shooting, had filed a civil negligence action in the UK High Court after relocating to the UK. The final terms of the settlement still have to be approved by the court, but the plaintiff is expected to receive £2 million in compensation from the Defense Ministry. The plaintiff was shot when a British soldier accidentally dropped and discharged his firearm.

The MoD has said the circumstances of the case were exceptional and should not considered a precedent for future cases. The family of Iraqi hotel receptionist Baha Musa [Herald report; JURIST news archive], who died in British military custody in 2003, has also filed suit against the Ministry. In March, Defense Secretary Des Browne said that the Ministry will admit "substantive breaches" [Times Online report] of Musa's protected right to life and prohibition on torture under the European Convention on Human Rights [text]. Musa suffered 93 separate injuries and died after 36 hours under British military custody. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] At least 1200 people were executed worldwide in 2007, and 88 percent of those executions took place in five countries: China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the USA, according to a report [PDF text; press release] released Tuesday by human rights group Amnesty International. Saudi Arabia had the most executions per capita, and China had the highest total at 470, but Amnesty cautioned that the number of executions it was able to confirm are likely much lower than the actual number. Amnesty found that at least 1,252 people were executed in 24 countries; 3,347 people were sentenced to death in 51 countries; and 27,000 people are now on death row. The Sydney Morning Herald has more.

In the US, the Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether the lethal injection procedure [DPIC backgrounder] now used in most states meets the constitutional test for cruel and unusual punishment. Until the Supreme Court ruling in Baze v. Rees (07-5439) [docket; JURIST report], expected before the Court adjourns for the term in June, courts have stayed executions from taking place in several states, including Texas, Arizona, Nevada, Virginia, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida [JURIST reports].