Campaign finance has become a contentious issue recently, particularly after the Citizen's United decision, which eased restrictions [JURIST report] on political and campaign spending by corporations and unions based on First Amendment grounds. Earlier this month, California's Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) [official website] issued a rule [JURIST report] that will require sponsors of "thinly veiled" political ads reveal their funding sources. In addition, the Disclose Act [materials], which prohibits corporations receiving federal contracts worth more than $7 million from spending money on "electioneering communications" and prohibits foreign-controlled domestic corporations from financing campaigns, was approved by the House of Representatives, but stalled in the Senate [JURIST reports] in September.

Italian law enforcement officials seized €32 million from a Vatican bank account [CBC News report] in September and allege that the Vatican violated laws by not indicating where the money in some transactions was coming from. Italian prosecutors working on that case have expressed that recent actions by the Holy See to harmonize its legislation with EU law will not affect their position [AP report] on case related to the €32 million that have been seized. In addition to dealing with allegations of financial crime, the Vatican is still addressing allegations of sexual abuse within the Catholic church. Since 2007, in the US alone the Church has settled over 500 cases [JURIST news archive] of abuse for over $900 million.

The US District Court for the Southern District of New York's [official website] March ruling [opinion, PDF] nullified patents held on two genes linked to hereditary ovarian and breast cancer "[b]ecause the claimed isolated DNA is not markedly different from native DNA as it exists in nature." If the decision is upheld, it could invalidate patents covering nearly 2,000 human genes. The District Court's decision stands in contrast to the stance taken in the EU [Nature report], which allows such patents. Genetic research companies currently hold patents to approximately 20 percent of the human genetic code, many of which are associated with diseases such as Alzheimer's and cancer. The holder of a gene patent can prevent others from studying the gene and can also develop testing for specific genetic mutations, which they can then market without direct competition.

India, a party to the CBD, continued its emphasis on environmental protection last week when it introduced a new court system [JURIST report] devoted solely to environmental litigation. India has actively maintained an emphasis on environmental issues at a time of rapid growth. In June Australia, another signatory to the CBD, initiated proceedings [JURIST report] against Japan in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) [official website] for breaching its international obligations by failing to eliminate commercial whaling. Curtis Doebbler, a professor of law at the University of Nablus, has called climate change, and the associated loss of biodiversity, the greatest threat to the rights of Africans [JURIST op-ed].