JURIST - Paper Chase: Wednesday, March 7, 2012

[JURIST] The US government on Tuesday handed over [press release] 15 suspected Somali pirates it captured in January to the Republic of Seychelles for prosecution. The suspects are accused of attacking a ship and kidnapping 13 Iranian fisherman, all of whom the US Navy rescued. They will be tried in Seychelles' court established in 2010 [JURIST report] to prosecute international pirates. US State Department Spokesperson Victoria Nuland said the US "appreciate[s] Seychelles' regional leadership on counter-piracy ... as well as their plans to host a regional intelligence coordination center to support future piracy prosecutions." Nuland was referring to Seychelles' plans to work with the UK to form the Regional Anti-Piracy Prosecution and Intelligence Coordination Centre [press release] in its country to help combat the piracy problem.

Although Seychelles has been a leader in the fight against maritime piracy [JURIST news archive], countries around the world have been making strides in helping to solve the problem. Italy ordered its first international piracy trial last month against nine Somali pirates, while France began its first international piracy trial [JURIST reports] in November. In October the UN Security Council adopted a resolution encouraging states to criminalize and punish piracy after maritime piracy reached an all-time high [JURIST reports] in April. The UN also donated $9.3 million [JURIST report] in 2010 to fund piracy courts in Seychelles and Kenya, the only two countries that have created such courts.

[JURIST] UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief Heiner Bielefeldt [official website] said Tuesday that states should refrain from using official state religions [press release] as a means to enhance their national identity politics, "as this may have detrimental effects for the situation of individuals from minority communities." The statement was part of a presentation at the UN Human Rights Council session of his report [text, PDF] on freedom of religion, belief and recognition issues. The report summarizes improvements that have been made since the last report was made and clears up issues concerning differing definitions of "recognition" of religion and beliefs. According to the report:

In keeping with the universalistic understanding of human rights, States must ensure that all individuals can enjoy their freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief on the basis of respect for their self-understanding in this entire area. Respect for freedom of religion or belief as a human right does not depend on administrative registration procedures, as freedom of religion or belief has the status of a human right, prior to and independent from any acts of State approval.

Bielefeldt urged states to "offer appropriate options and procedures for religious or belief communities to achieve a status of legal personality if they so wish."

Controversy over separation of church and state and state recognition of religions is an issue for many countries. In August Hungarian churches challenged a law [JURIST report] that officially recognized only 14 of the 358 religious groups in the country. That same month, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld [JURIST report] a public university's denial of funding to Christian groups that required members to be of the same religion. In March, the Europe Court of Human Rights decided display of a crucifix in public schools [JURIST report] did not violate the European Convention on Human Rights. The UN has typically been a defender of freedom of religion, condemning a Switzerland ban on building minarets in 2009, as well as adopting a resolution [JURIST reports] encouraging countries to adopt defamation of religion laws.

[JURIST] Samsung Electronics [official website; Bloomberg backgrounder] filed a patent suit on Tuesday in the Seoul Central District Court in South Korea alleging Apple [official website; Bloomberg backgrounder] infringed three of its utility patents. Samsung alleges that Apple's iPhone 4S and iPad 2 infringe patents it owns involving methods of displaying data, the user interface and text messaging. This latest filing brings the litigation between Samsung and Apple to a total of 30 cases in 10 different countries. The litigation battle between the companies began in April 2011 when Apple sued Samsung [JURIST report] alleging the company copied its designs for the original iPhone and iPad in its Galaxy S line of smartphones and tablet devices. That litigation remains ongoing, with a judge denying [JURIST report] Apple's request for a preliminary injunction in December.

As smartphones and tablets continue to increase in popularity, companies increasingly seek to protect the technology involved in their creation. In November, the US International Trade Commission (USITC) [official website] ruled [JURIST report] for Apple on a patent complaint [JURIST report] brought by HTC [corporate website; Bloomberg backgrounder]. The USITC found that Apple had not violated Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 [PDF] by reasons of infringement of Patent Nos. 6,658,146, 6,683,978, 6,775,417 and 7,043,087 [texts]. These patents relate to HTC's recently acquired subsidiary S3 Graphics Co. The USITC ruling rejects the request to limit imports of MAC computers, the iPhone and the iPad. The decision also calls into question the rationale of the S3 acquisition [Bloomberg report] and could put pressure on HTC stock shares. HTC said it may challenge the ruling in the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit [official website], which specializes in patent law. This USITC ruling followed an earlier one in July which held that HTC infringed two Apple patents [JURIST report] relating to the Android operating system.

[JURIST] A judge in the Dane County Circuit Court [official website] on Tuesday issued an injunction temporarily blocking enforcement [order, PDF] of the state's controversial new voter identification law, Wisconsin Act 23 [text, PDF]. The injunction was issued by Circuit Court Judge David Flanagan who said that the Wisconsin law was more restrictive than similar laws that have been upheld in other states. The new law requires all voters to present a form of photo identification at the polls. The suit was filed in December by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), who argue that voter fraud is not widespread and that Wisconsin's law may disenfranchise minority voters. An appeal of the decision is expected. Additionally, Ben Sparks, the Communications Director for the Republican Party of Wisconsin [official website], has called for an investigation [press release] into Judge Flanagan's involvement in the case, alleging that Flanagan is biased because he signed a petition to recall Governor Scott Walker [official website].

This is one of four challenges to Wisconsin's voter ID law. In December, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the ACLU of Wisconsin and the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty [advocacy websites] filed a federal lawsuit [JURIST report] challenging the Wisconsin law. Lawsuits have also been filed by the Advancement Project and the League of Women Voters [JURIST reports]. There are now 31 US states [NCSL backgrounder] that require voters to present some form of ID at the polls, including 15 states that require photo ID, but the issue remains controversial. In August South Carolina's Senate Minority Caucus filed an objection [JURIST report] with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website], asking it to reject the state's new voter identification law. In June Missouri Governor Jay Nixon [official website] vetoed [JURIST report] a law requiring persons to present photo identification at voting booth. Last March the Georgia Supreme Court [official website] upheld [JURIST report] a law requiring voters to present one of six government-issued photo identifications in order to vote. In contrast, a three-judge panel for the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] struck down [JURIST report] a portion of Arizona law requiring proof of citizenship for voter registration in October 2010.