At the conclusion of Bensouda's initial trip in February, she determined that the ICC would work with the Guinean legal system [AFP report] to prosecute the offenders. Meanwhile, Guinean Prime Minister Jean Marie Dore [NYT profile] said that his country's legal system would have great difficulty [BBC report] prosecuting the crimes due to the lack of an impartial judicial system. Earlier that month, a commission created by Guinea's junta announced that former Guinean junta aide Lieutenant Aboubacar Cherif "Toumba" Diakite is the sole government official to blame for the massacre [JURIST report]. The commission's conclusion contradicts a UN report [JURIST report] that blamed Camara, Minister for Special Services Moussa Tiegboro Camara, and Toumba for the September 28 slayings. In October, the ICC placed the Guinean military under preliminary investigation for human rights violations related to the Conakry incident, and the UN and Guinea both announced they were creating commissions to investigate [JURIST reports] the killings.

Parts of Europe continue to struggle with their Nazi history. Last month, a German court convicted a UK bishop [JURIST report] for denying the Holocaust. In February, the Hungarian Parliament [official website, in Hungarian] passed a bill [JURIST report] that prohibits denials of the Holocaust. In November, the German Federal Constitutional Court [official website, in German] upheld [JURIST report] legislation prohibiting public support and justification of the Nazi regime.

Earlier this month, a Honduran truth and reconciliation commission [JURIST report] was tasked with understanding what happened before, during, and after the coup and making recommendations for the future. In January, Honduran President Porfirio Lobo [NYT profile] granted amnesty to both Zelaya and military leaders accused of participation in the coup. Also in January, the Honduran Supreme Court [official website, in Spanish] exonerated six military leaders [JURIST report] accused of abuse of power for their alleged role in the coup. In December, the Honduran Congress voted 111-14 not to reinstate [JURIST report] Zelaya. His ouster was the result of a judicial order [press release, in Spanish] that asserted Zelaya had broken Honduran law by attempting to conduct a controversial referendum on constitutional reform [JURIST report], contrary to a Supreme Court ruling.

Our review found that some people who arrived before polls closed were unable to vote because Returning Officers did not have discretion to let them vote after 10pm. We are calling for urgent changes to electoral law so that any elector who is entitled to vote and who is queuing at a polling station at the close of poll will be allowed to vote. However, Returning Officers in the areas affected did not properly plan for, or react to, polling day problems. That is unacceptable. People in these areas were badly let down and have every right to be angry.

Parliamentary elections have been a target for reform in the UK for many years. In February, former UK prime minister Gordon Brown on Tuesday proposed a referendum [JURIST report] to reform the nation's election system. Brown has proposed an alternative voting system in which voters would rank candidates in order of preference. In February 2009, legislation was proposed [JURIST report] that would allow the removal of members of the House of Lords [official website] for improper behavior. In 2007, then-UK prime minister Tony Blair pushed [JURIST report] for a half-elected, half-appointed House of Lords that removed all but 92 House members who still inherit their parliamentary seats. Proposals were initiated in 2006, with the release of a document by a cross-party working group on Lords' reform that hinted at a half-elected, half-appointed House with 450 Lords sitting in the chamber. In 2003, cabinet members rejected [BBC report] five different reform initiatives that varied from an entirely elected to entirely appointed House of Lords.

The court began hearing [JURIST report] the legal challenge to the NRO late last year. The NRO was signed [JURIST report] by former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] in 2007 as part of a power-sharing accord allowing former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto [BBC profile] to return to the country despite corruption charges [JURIST report] she had faced. The ordinance also applies to similar charges against politicians who were charged but not convicted of corruption between 1988 and 1999.

Spain and France have both made great strides recently in its attempts to limit ETA influence. In March, French prosecutors filed preliminary terrorism charges [JURIST report] against a suspected former leader of the ETA, along with two other people who are believed to be senior members of the group. A judicial source said that the charges against the alleged ETA members stem from preparations to commit a terrorist act, including theft, forgery, and illegal arms charges. That same month, the Spanish National Court sentenced [JURIST report] former Basque separatist party leader Arnaldo Otegi to two years in prison for promoting terrorism in a speech he gave. In January, Spanish judge Fernando Grande-Marlaska ruled [JURIST report] that ETA had tried three times to assassinate former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar in 2001 but had failed. Grande-Marlaska detailed the three assassination attempts [El Pais report, in Spanish] as part of a description of the alleged crimes of ETA leader Pedro Maria Olano Zabala, who was arrested in the Basque region earlier that month.

The UK's new coalition government has shown a willingness to reexamine existing legislation. On Tuesday, the government announced they will review [JURIST report] the country's Human Rights Act [BBC backgrounder] after two Pakistani terror suspects successfully avoided deportation by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission [official website] due to concerns for their safety. The Human Rights Act has been a point of contention between liberal and conservative groups in the UK. In 2006, then-prime minister Tony Blair called for an amendment to the act to allow the government greater discretion to protect public safety, while conservative leaders called for the act to be repealed [JURIST reports]. Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] urged the new UK government to continue its support of the act last week in addition to a request for the government to set up a judiciary inquiry [JURIST report] on torture [JURIST news archive] allegations. The rights group claimed that allegations of complicity in the torture of terrorism suspects have badly damaged the nation's reputation and that steps need to be taken to restore the nation's reputation as "a nation that respects human rights."

Collateral damage has been a major issue in both the Afghanistan and Iraq [JURIST news archives] wars. Last month, a military appeals court reversed the conviction [JURIST report] of US Marine Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III for the 2006 killing of an Iraqi civilian, citing lack of a fair trial. Hutchins was serving an 11-year sentence, reduced from 15 years [JURIST report], for his role in the April 2006 kidnapping and murder of Iraqi civilian Hashim Ibrahim Awad in Hamdania [USMC materials; JURIST news archive]. He was convicted [JURIST report] in 2007 of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, making a false official statement, and larceny. Six Marines pleaded guilty [JURIST report] to charges related to their roles in the incident, which involved Awad being removed from his residence and killed, then arranged with a shovel and firearm to appear as if he were planting an improvised explosive device.

Many jurisdictions are currently considering legislation that would ban the burqa. On Wednesday, the French Cabinet approved legislation [JURIST report] that would ban the wearing of the burqa or other face veils in public. On Tuesday, hearings began [CBC report] in Quebec's legislature on a bill introduced in March that would ban women from wearing full face veils from public services. Earlier this month, European Parliament [official website] Vice President Silvana Koch-Mehrin [official website, in German] expressed her support for a continent-wide burqa ban [JURIST report]. In April, the Belgian House of Representatives voted 136-0 to approve [JURIST report] a bill that would ban the burqa and other full face veils in public.

International piracy of American intellectual property weakens a segment of our economy that long has supported innovation and great American jobs. Congress must work on a bipartisan basis to protect the creative industries and the jobs they support. The United States has been on the losing end of the largest theft of intellectual property in history. This must be stopped, and soon.

Earlier this month, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) [official website] placed Russia, China, and Canada [JURIST report] on its Priority Watch List [text, PDF] of 12 countries that are not adequately protecting intellectual property rights [press release]. In March, the Canadian government pledged to strengthen copyright laws [JURIST report]. Last year, the USTR placed Canada on its priority watch list [JURIST report] for the first time. In January 2009, a dispute settlement panel of the World Trade Organization (WTO) [official website] found for the US [JURIST report] that large parts of China's intellectual property scheme are inconsistent with its obligations under several international treaties, including the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) [text].

Every year, more than 1.2 million people die on the roads around the world, and as many as 50 million others are injured. ... Studies indicate that using a mobile phone increases the risk of a crash by about 4 times. And yet in some countries up to 90 percent of people use mobile phones while driving. We must instil [sic] a culture of road safety. A culture in which driving while distracted - on the phone, or text messaging - is unacceptable. ... I want every driver in the world to get the message: Texting while driving kills. No SMS is worth SOS. The United Nations is leading by example. That is why I am issuing an administrative instruction aimed at promoting road safety, saving lives and prohibiting all drivers of UN vehicles from texting while driving. I thank the leaders here for being a driving force for road safety. Together, we have a message to all drivers of the world: Don't let using a mobile for a few seconds make you or others immobile for life.

Several countries have been enacting cell phone use bans while operating motor vehicles in response to the increase in cell phone related accidents. In October, Ontario enacted a law banning the use of handheld devices [JURIST report] while driving, outlawing text messaging and talking on a cell phone while behind the wheel. Ontario joins other jurisdictions in Canada and the US to pass similar bans including Quebec, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Labrador, California, and New York. Earlier this October, US President Barack Obama signed [JURIST report] an executive order [text] making it illegal for federal employees or government contractors to use text messaging while driving. Despite numerous studies showing that drivers using handheld phones are more likely to get into a crash or near crash, some have criticized bans on using technology while driving. Dave McCurdy, CEO of the Auto Alliance [advocacy website], an automobile industry advocacy group, cautioned [Huffington Post op-ed] that increasing restrictions on technology use in automobiles may cross a threshold and hinder more than help. But the Auto Alliance's official position [press release] supports legislation that bans text messaging while driving.