The original sexual harassment law, in place since 1992, defined the crime as an abuse of authority. The law was revised in 2002. The council on Friday found this new definition, which defines the crime as "the act of harassing others with the goal of obtaining sexual favors," is unconstitutionally vague. Last year, France signed a Council of Europe (COE) treaty vowing to end violence against women [JURIST report]. The treaty targets crimes including rape, forced marriage, female genital mutilation, sexual harassment, forced abortion and forced sterilization. In 2006, the COE released a report criticizing [JURIST report] France's human rights record and identifying impunity for domestic violence as a shortcoming in the French judicial system.

The Mexican government has been taking steps to protect journalists. In March, the Mexican Senate unanimously passed [JURIST report] a bill making it a federal crime to attack journalists. Passage of this law came days after UN Special Rapporteur Margaret Sekaggya released a report [JURIST report] of threats faced by human rights journalists and called for extra protection of them. Sekaggya released a similar report in October, which said that human rights workers were still being harassed and attacked [JURIST report] even a decade after adoption of an international declaration for their protection. In September, Reporters Without Borders [advocacy website] released a report saying that almost 80 journalists had been targeted [press release] and attacked in Mexico in the last 10 years.

Other states that have passed similar laws have run into trouble with conflicting federal laws regulating the production and sale of marijuana. In March, a federal court dismissed a suit [JURIST report] challenging US attorneys' authority to prosecute medical marijuana providers in California, saying the federal attorneys do have this authority. In January, the US District Court for the District of Montana [official website] ruled [JURIST report] that the state's laws allowing the sale of medical marijuana did not protect dispensers from federal prosecution. Connecticut has nevertheless been taking steps toward legalization of marijuana. Last year, the state passed a law [JURIST report] decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana.

The US Department of Defense (DOD) [official website] referred charges [JURIST report] to a military commission in April against the five alleged conspirators, drawing criticism from groups like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] who said the trials should take place in federal court. The DOD announced in May that it had sworn charges against the five men [JURIST report] for the 9/11 attacks. Last April, US Attorney General Eric Holder [official website] announced the five defendants would be tried by a military commission [JURIST report] after the Obama administration abandoned attempts to have the 9/11 suspects tried in civilian courts. Holder had wanted the accused be tried before a federal civilian court [JURIST report] but referred the cases to the DOD after Congress imposed a series of restrictions [JURIST report] barring the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to the US.