[JURIST] The Swiss Federal Office of Justice [official website] on Friday announced that it has filed a brief in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida arguing that a lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) [official websites] seeking information on 52,000 UBS [corporate website] account holders suspected of tax evasion violates its national sovereignty as well as Swiss banking law. The Swiss government is not a party to the case and as filed the brief as amicus curiae. The Swiss government has also expressed concern over the potential ramifications of the lawsuit on negotiations [Reuters report] with the US to revise the tax treaty [text, PDF] between the two countries.

In March, the Swiss government it will follow standards [press release; JURIST report] set by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) [official website], adopting a more stringent definition of tax evasion and agreeing to cooperate with other countries in evasion investigations. Unlike many other countries, Switzerland differentiates between tax fraud and tax evasion [NYT report], and tax evasion is not a crime. While this policy has not changed, by adopting the definition of tax evasion under Article 26 of the OECD Model Tax Convention [text, PDF] Switzerland will henceforward share information "with other countries in individual cases where a specific and justified request has been made." The Swiss government also made clear that by adopting the OECD definition it was not ending bank secrecy. A statement [press release] by the Federal Department of Finance on Saturday said that while the situation for non-resident foreigners has changed, the "decision will have no bearing on legally resident foreigners in Switzerland." Owners of Swiss bank accounts have traditionally enjoyed great privacy, but Swiss banks have recently released information on certain clients. Earlier in March, UBS closed more than 14,000 accounts [USA Today report] owned by US citizens following a court settlement over accusations it assisted its clients with tax evasion.

[JURIST] The Criminal Court in Liberia [JURIST news archive] on Friday acquitted former interim president Gyude Bryant [BBC profile] of embezzlement charges. The former leader was charged [JURIST report] with the embezzlement of $1.4 million during his interim presidency, which lasted from October 2003 to January 2006. The charges stemmed from an audit conducted by the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) [official website], the organization that oversaw the interim government of Liberia following nearly 14 years of civil war [GlobalSecurity backgrounder]. Bryant was acquitted for lack of evidence, along with four others [Liberia Star Radio report] including former speaker of the House of Representatives, Edwin Snowe [BBC Backgrounder].

Current Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf [BBC profile] was elected in 2005 [JURIST report] and made campaign promises to address rampant corruption in the nation. In 2007, following his arrest, Bryant's defense lawyers urged the court to block his prosecution, arguing that Bryant was entitled to presidential immunity under the Liberian constitution [text]. Government lawyers, however, successfully argued that Bryant should not be entitled to immunity [Inquirer report] because he served as a caretaker and not a democratically elected president. Bryant was appointed by regional peace brokers to head Liberia after the civil war.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit [official website] on Friday denied a stay of deportation [order, PDF] for accused Nazi prison guard John Demjanjuk [NNDB profile; JURIST news archive]. Last month, the court granted [order, PDF; JURIST report] a stay of deportation to consider Demjanjuk's appeal of an order by the Board of Immigration Appeals that denied his emergency stay of deportation [JURIST report]. Demjanjuk faces deportation to Germany, where in March a Munich district court charged [JURIST report] him with 29,000 counts of accessory to murder for his alleged involvement at the Sobibor [Death Camps backgrounder] concentration camp. Lawyers for Demjanjuk, 89, had argued that deporting him to Germany would amount to torture. In denying Demjanjuk's request for a stay of deportation, the court reasoned:

Based on the medical information before the court and the government’s representations about the conditions under which it will transport the petitioner, which include an aircraft equipped as a medical air ambulance and attendance by medical personnel, the court cannot find that the petitioner’s removal to Germany is likely to cause irreparable harm sufficient to warrant a stay of removal.

[JURIST] The Supreme Court of India [official website] on Friday ordered the formation of five special courts to hear cases stemming from the 2002 Gujarat riots [BBC backgrounder]. The court did not move the cases outside of Gujarat however, as the National Human Rights Commission [advocacy website] had requested [press release], instead ordering [Times of India report] that the courts be set up in the Ahmedabad, Anand, Sabarkanta, Gulbarga, and Mehsana districts. The chairman of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) said that he believes that trials will be completed within a year [Hindu report].

The violence in Gujarat in 2002 began following a fire aboard a train [Times of India report], allegedly set by Indian Muslims, that killed 57 Hindu pilgrims. Following that incident, more than 1,000 people were killed [BBC report] in violence that lasted for two months. The SIT was commissioned last year to handle inquiries into the cases.

[JURIST] The Maine Senate [official website] voted 21-14 in favor of a bill [text] that would allow same-sex marriage [JURIST news archive] in the state. The vote split mainly along party lines, with only one Democrat voting against the measure. The bill will now go before the Maine House of Representatives [official website] on Tuesday, where it is expected to pass [NYT report]. The bill would then go before Governor John Baldacci, who has yet to take a public position [Bangor Daily News report] on the issue.

The vote came one day after the New Hampshire Senate [official website] voted 13-11 to approve [JURIST report] a bill [HB 436 text] permitting same-sex marriage. The New Hampshire House of Representatives [official website] approved the bill [JURIST report] in March by a vote of 186-179. Last month, Vermont became the fourth state to legalize same-sex marriage, joining Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Iowa [JURIST reports].

[JURIST] The Japanese government on Thursday pledged to donate USD $4.17 million [press release, PDF] to assist the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) [official website], the tribunal set up to try former members of the Khmer Rouge [BBC backgrounder]. The funding comes at an opportune moment for the ECCC, which projected a $4.3 million dollar shortfall [budget] for 2009. According to the Japanese Embassy in Cambodia [official website], the funding is in response to a request from the Cambodian government [press release, PDF] because Japan:

strongly support[s] the role of the ECCC created by the international agreement between the Royal Government of Cambodia and the United Nations in delivering justice to the Cambodian people for the atrocities committed under the Khmer Rouge regime.

[JURIST] Justice David Souter [official profile; JURIST news archive] of the US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] will retire at the end of the 2008 term in June, according to Thursday reports [Washington Post report]. Souter has not issued a a public statement and no formal announcement has been made by the Court, but the White House was reportedly informed of Souter's decision. There has already been much speculation [Washington Post report] about President Barack Obama's possible nominees, with primarily women and minorities on the list. The last three Supreme Court appointees were white males. Obama declined to comment [AP report] on Souter's retirement Friday.

Souter, 69, was nominated to the Supreme Court by then-president George H.W. Bush and was seated in October 1990. He previously served on the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and the New Hampshire Supreme Court. Souter was viewed as one of the more liberal justices, often siding with Justices John Paul Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Stephen Breyer.

3:30 PM ET - Souter has submitted a letter of resignation [text, PDF], and the Supreme Court has issued a press release [text, DOC] confirming his resignation.

[JURIST] The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) [official website] on Thursday added Canada [JURIST news archive] to its Priority Watch List [text, PDF] of 12 countries that are not adequately protecting intellectual property rights [USTR press release]. In its 2009 Special 301 Report [text, PDF], the USTR also elevated Algeria and Indonesia to the list and removed South Korea. Canada has been added to the list because it "has not delivered on these commitments by promptly and effectively implementing key copyright reforms." No other Western Democracy is on the list. USTR Ambassador Ron Kirk [official profile] said:

As U.S. right holders, businesses, and workers suffer losses from international piracy, counterfeiting, and other forms of IPR theft, the Special 301 Report provides a critical policy tool for focusing on urgent problems that undermine one of America’s great strengths in the global economy – our innovation and creativity. ... In this time of economic uncertainty, we need to redouble our efforts to work with all of our trading partners – even our closest allies and neighbors such as Canada – to enhance protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights in the context of a rules-based trading system.

[JURIST] The Brazilian Supreme Court [official website, in Portuguese] on Thursday overturned a law restricting the press [press release, in Portuguese] as unconstitutional. The court ruled 7-4 that the Press Law [Law No. 5250/67 text, in Portuguese], which was enacted in 1967 and allowed for censorship of news media, books, and other forms of communication, is incompatible with the Brazilian Constitution [text, in Portuguese]. The law was enacted while the country was under military rule [AP report] but has not been regularly enforced since the country returned to democratic rule in 1988. Thursday's ruling completely repealed [Consultor Juridico report, in Portuguese] the law.

Although Brazil is South America's largest media market, in 2007, the International Press Institute [advocacy website] called Brazil [text] "one of the most dangerous countries in the Western Hemisphere in which to practice journalism" because of the threats and violence facing investigative reporters. In 2006, Reporters Without Borders [advocacy website] said that local media in Brazil experiences less press freedom [RWB report] than national media because of an "unacceptable degree of violence as well as harassment and abuse of power by local officials."

[JURIST] A bill [S.896 materials] that would have aided homeowners in foreclosure was rejected 45-51 [roll call vote] Thursday by the US Senate [official website]. The financial industry had lobbied heavily against the proposed legislation that had come to be known as the "cramdown bill" for a provision that would have allowed bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages from lenders that had not already offered better terms to their borrowers. The bill had been sponsored by Senators Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Richard Durbin (D-CT), and Charles Schumer (D-NY) [official websites], and had been touted as a way "to prevent mortgage foreclosures and enhance mortgage credit availability." After the vote, Durbin vowed to continue working to pass the legislation [statement], saying "[w]e’ve given the bankers who got us into this crisis every opportunity to responsibly address this crisis and they have failed. I’ll keep working to give homeowners every legal means to save their homes." Among those opposing the legislation, US Senate Republican Whip Jon Kyl (R-AZ) [official website] countered [statement] that "while attempting to solve a specific problem for a particular group of people, we could end up exacerbating the situation for all the people that want to refinance or take out loans in the future."

Durbin had been working on the bill for two years and had also been working intensively in negotiating to calm lenders' objections that the measure could cause mortgage rates to go up to compensate for the "cramdowns." Earlier in the week, the Obama administration announced that the Making Home Affordable [official website] plan would increase in scope to lower payments on second mortgages [official press release] by using money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). The $700 billion financial rescue bill [JURIST report] creating the TARP, which provides economic assistance to at-risk financial institutions, was passed in October.

[JURIST] Al Qaeda operative Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri [NYT profile; JURIST news archive] pleaded guilty Thursday to charges of conspiring to provide material support [18 USC § 2339B] to a foreign terrorist organization after reaching a plea agreement [text, PDF] with federal prosecutors that may send him to jail for 15 years. Prosecutors said that al-Marri, a "sleeper operative" for al Qaeda who arrived in the country on September 10, 2001, will admit to conspiring [DOJ press release] with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] to plan attacks on the US. Attorney General Eric Holder [official profile] said [press release] that the al-Marri investigation and subsequent guilty plea showed that "our criminal justice system can and will hold subsequent terrorists accountable for their actions." He said that the al-Marri prosecution by a US civilian court showed that there was "no tension" between keeping "the American people safe and our civil liberties intact" and seemed to suggest that further such prosecutions are to be expected. Pursuant to the plea agreement, Al-Marri also agreed not to appeal any sentence, pursue a habeas petition or oppose his deportation to Qatar or Saudi Arabia after serving his criminal sentence. There has been speculation [SCOTUS blog report] that al-Marri may ask for credit for time served, having been held at a naval bring in South Carolina since 2003.

In March, at an arraignment hearing before the US District Court for the Central District of Illinois [official website], al-Marri pleaded not guilty [JURIST report] to charges of providing material support to al Qaeda, and his trial date was set for May 26. Earlier that month, the US Supreme Court [official website] granted [order, PDF; JURIST report] a motion [text, PDF] by the US government to dismiss as moot an appeal challenging al-Marri's indefinite detention, following the Obama administration's decision to try al-Marri in US federal court [JURIST report]. Al-Marri was indicted [indictment text; DOJ press release] in February on two charges of providing material support to al Qaeda and conspiring with others to provide material support to al Qaeda. Previously, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit [official website] had held [JURIST report] that al-Marri could be detained indefinitely.

[JURIST] US Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton [official profiles] addressed questions [video] about the specific plans for closing the Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detention facility before the US Senate Committee on Appropriations [official website] on Thursday. Gates and Clinton presented the FY 2009 Supplemental Request, which included requests for $50 million for the Department of Defense (DOD) and $30 million for the Department of Justice (DOJ) [official websites] to facilitate Guantanamo's closure. Appropriations chairman Daniel Inouye (D-HI) [official website; opening statement, PDF] along with Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Sam Brownback (R-KS) [official websites] raised questions about the specifics of the Guantanamo plan. The additional $30 million for the DOJ will supplement the review of all the detainee files to determine which of about 250 detainees can be transferred to other countries, and which can be tried in an Article III court, or in a military commission. Gates indicated that 50-100 detainees may not be able to be cleared for release. Gates also conceded there is not yet a specific plan for the DOD funds, saying the "plug in the budget for $50 million [is] a hedge that would allow us to get started if some construction is needed to accommodate those detainees." The US is still considering accepting some of the cleared detainees [JURIST report], like the Uighurs [JURIST news archive], to demonstrate to other countries whom the US is petitioning for assistance that they present no real danger. Many communities, such as Kansas, have already expressed strong opposition to receiving any of the detainees. Clinton added that the Department of State (DOS) [official website] is working intensively with other countries to "try to convince them to take back some of their own nationalities' detainees, and perhaps others" but that the numbers will be contingent on the DOJ review.

Earlier this week, US Attorney General Eric Holder [official profile] said that the US has cleared 30 Guantanamo Bay detainees for release and will begin formally requesting [JURIST report] that European countries accept them within weeks. In March, top officials from the Obama administration met with leaders from the European Union (EU) [official website] to discuss preliminary plans to transfer [JURIST report] Guantanamo Bay detainees to European countries. Individual member states have also indicated their openness to accepting detainees, including Lithuania, Ireland, Germany, and Portugal [JURIST reports]. Other states have expressed reservations about accepting detainees, including Poland and Spain, while Italy [JURIST reports] and the Netherlands [AFP report] have said they will not accept detainees.