Polish prosecutors opened an investigation into the alleged mistreatment of al-Nashiri in September in response to the request [JURIST reports] filed by human rights group Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI) [advocacy website] and al-Nashiri's lawyers. OSJI stated that the filing represents the first attempt by an extraordinary rendition [JURIST news archive] victim to pursue a legal remedy within the Polish court system. The commencement of the investigation came one week after former Polish prime minister Leszek Miller denied any knowledge [JURIST report] of a secret CIA prison in Poland and indicated that he would not discuss allegations of torture until the Polish government's investigation is complete. Earlier this month, lawyers for Guantanamo detainee Abu Zubaydah asked Polish prosecutors [JURIST report] to investigate claims that Zubaydah was abused in the secret CIA prison, hoping Zubaydah's investigation would be done in conjunction with al-Nashiri's investigation. Allegations against Poland were first raised in a June 2007 report [text; JURIST report] to the Council of Europe [official website] by Swiss Senator Dick Marty. The report concluded that numerous European governments had cooperated with the CIA secret prison program. In February 2007, the European Parliament condemned more than a dozen European states [JURIST report] for their roles in the program. Several nations have been accused of obstructing European probes into the secret prison allegations, including Poland [JURIST report], which allegedly housed the largest CIA detention facility in Europe [JURIST report].

In June, Nazarbayev announced during a local TV broadcast that he would not sign a controversial law [JURIST report] that would grant him several presidential powers for life, even if he stepped down from office. Nazarbayev's supporters believed that the president has earned such protections due to his ability as a nation builder. Opponents had urged the president not to sign the bill. The draft law moved quickly through Kazakhstan's parliament in May, with the upper and lower houses [JURIST reports] approving the bill in under a week. The amendment has been criticized both internationally and domestically with opponents accusing Nazarbayev's supporters of trying to install a constitutional monarchy. In 2007, Nazarbayev approved a constitutional amendment [JURIST report] removing term limits on his own presidency, effectively allowing him to remain president for life. Under the amendment, subsequent presidents will have to abide by the law limiting them to two terms in office. The amendment also reduced presidential terms from 7 years to 5.

Allen's suit comes as several of the named defendants face unrelated litigation alleging misappropriation of intellectual property. Connecticut company XPRT Ventures LLC sued [JURIST report] eBay in July claiming the infringement of six patents for online auctions and payment systems. In April, a federal appeals court found that eBay is not required to actively monitor its website [JURIST report] for the sale of counterfeit goods. The ruling came shortly after a French court ordered [JURIST report] the company to pay LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) [official website] damages for paying search engines to direct consumers to counterfeit LVMH products. LVMH previously secured a $63 million judgment [JURIST report] in 2008 for failing to prevent the sale of counterfeit luxury goods that infringed on registered designs. Patent holding company NTP filed suit [JURIST report] in July against Apple and Google, among other smart phone makers, related to the use of e-mail systems utilizing technology patented by NTP. The US International Trade Commission (ITC) [official website] launched an investigation in June into allegations by HTC Corp [corporate website] accusing Apple of patent infringement on certain portable electronic devices. In October 2009, Finnish telecommunications company Nokia [corporate website] filed suit [JURIST report] against Apple alleging that the company infringed 10 of its patents since the first iPhone was released in 2007. The patents cover wireless data transmission, speech coding and security/encryption.

By promoting the principle of transparency in power exercise and the system of supervisors for building a clean government, the personnel for law and discipline enforcement have been encouraged to foster the sense of conscientious acceptance of supervision from all quarters, so as to constantly improve their capabilities and levels in law and discipline enforcement, thus providing the organizational guarantee for China's endeavor to combat corruption and build a clean government.

The report is a continuation of the Chinese government's on-going battle against what is perceived to be pervasive corruption [JURIST news archive] in official channels. In July, the Chinese government executed a top judicial official [JURIST report] after a corruption probe in the southwestern city of Chongquing revealed he had taken nearly $2 million in bribes and had been protecting a number of organized crime gangs. In March, the Hebei Province People's High Court upheld a life sentence for the former vice president of China's Supreme People's Court (SPC), Huang Songyou, who had been convicted [JURIST reports] of bribery and embezzlement. Earlier that month, SPC president Wang Shengjun called for increased efforts to fight corruption [JURIST report] in the country's court system. In January, the SPC announced new anti-corruption rules [JURIST report] in an effort to increase public confidence in the rule of law.