Forced labor and slavery are serious issues that seriously affect many people around the world. This week the International Labor Organization (ILO) [official website] Domestic Workers Convention (DWC) [text] was ratified by the Philippines, giving the international treaty its second ratification and paving the way for the convention to enter full force of law. Domestic workers are frequent victims of forced labor, and the ILO created the DWC to set the first global standards for domestic workers worldwide to ensure they receive generally the same protections available to other workers [JURIST report] such as weekly days off, work hour limits, limits on in-kind payment, minimum wage, clear information on terms and conditions of employment, and other benefits. In June the ILO released a report on forced labor, estimating that nearly 21 million people around the world work in forced labor [JURIST report] and noting that women represent 55 percent of forced laborers worldwide. The agency adopted the DWC [JURIST report] at last year's annual meeting of ILO member states, the 100th Session of the International Labor Conference [official website]. The ILO is a specialized agency of the UN.

Rights groups and political activists in Russia have expressed concern over other recently passed laws they say are aimed at restricting civil rights. Last week Putin signed a bill into the law that re-criminalizes slander and libel [JURIST report] in the country. Last month, Putin signed [JURIST report] into law a bill that labels all non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that receive foreign funding as "foreign agents" and requires them to register with the Justice Ministry. Opponents of this new law say that its purpose is to curb free speech [RFE/RL report] and limit information available to the public. Earlier this month, Russian politicians asked [JURIST report] the country's constitutional court to review a recently passed law that increases penalties against protesters who violate regulations. The State Duma also recently approved a bill regulating Internet use that some fear the government will use to oppress speech. In May Russia also for the first time convicted a gay rights activist [JURIST report] under a law prohibiting the spread of "homosexual propaganda" to minors, which caused concern from human rights groups.

Lord Judge is expected to retire next year after five years as Lord Chief Justice. In October Lord Judge ruled that UK courts are not bound by decisions from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and speaking before the Lords Constitution Committee [official websites] suggested that while UK courts are not required to follow the ECHR [JURIST report], they should consider ECHR decisions when deciding cases. In March 2011 the UK Ministry of Justice [official website] announced the creation of a commission that will consider the implementation of a British Bill of Rights [JURIST report], which former Lord Chief Justice Lord Woolf warned would conflict with the ECHR, in that continued adherence to the convention combined with the creation of a Bill of Rights would create complications for judges in determining which to follow and further the existing conflict between the UK and the ECHR. In January 2010 a UK court began the first non-jury criminal trial in England or Wales in more than 400 years after Lord Judge made the decision to conduct the trial without a jury [JURIST reports] under a Criminal Justice Act 2003 [text] provision that allows a court to hold a judge-only trial if there is "evidence of a real and present danger" that jury tampering may take place and it is determined that other measures to prevent tampering would be ineffective. Lord Judge cited cost concerns regarding the expense of maintaining security for jurors in that particular trial and noted there have already been three aborted attempts to conduct the proceedings.

In June 2011 the Supreme Court ruled [opinion, PDF] in Arizona Free Enterprise Club's Freedom Club PAC v. Bennett [Cornell LII backgrounder] that an Arizona campaign finance regulation that provided publicly financed candidates with additional government subsidies, triggered by independent expenditure groups' speech against such candidates or by the candidates' privately financed opponents, violates the First Amendment [text]. The court held 5-4 that such a system substantially burdens political speech and is not sufficiently justified by a compelling state interest to satisfy the First Amendment. Counsel for the respondent argued that "public funding of elections results in more speech and more electoral competition" and furthers a governmental interest of staving off "real and apparent corruption in politics."

Striking a balance between government interests and the privacy of drivers has been a subject of legal controversy in recent years. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced last month that its affiliates in 38 states had sent letters to local and state police departments asking them to clarify [JURIST report] how they use information obtained fromcameras mounted near roads and highways that photograph and record license plate numbers. The ACLU expressed concern that some police departments were gathering and saving information about the traffic patterns of law-abiding citizens. The US Supreme Court [official website] ruled [JURIST report] in January that the government's attachment of a global positioning system (GPS) device to a vehicle, and its use of that device to monitor the vehicle's movements, constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment [text].

Various immigration laws are currently facing judicial review in courts across the country. In early July Georgia argued [JURIST report] before the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit [official website] that its immigration law is constitutional based on the ruling in Arizona v. United States. The Eleventh Circuit court had deferred [JURIST report] the ruling on Alabama [HB 56, PDF; JURIST report] and Georgia [HB 87 text; JURIST report] immigration laws until a decision was made by the Supreme Court in the Arizona immigration law case. Similar legislation has passed in Utah, South Carolina and Indiana [JURIST reports].

Turkey had faced numerous military coups in the past before the 2003 plot. Trials against the perpetrators in the coups are still ongoing. However, the judge's decision to refer the 2003 case to the prosecution had raised uncertainty related to the other conspiracy trials involving military coups. In May, Turkish police arrested [JURIST report] six former military officials for their involvement in the 1997 coup which led Turkey's Islamist-led government to resign. The six officials were among the 10 suspects prosecutors included in their arrest warrants charging them with participating in forcing the resignation of Necmettin Erbakan [NYT profile], an Islamist prime minister. In April the Ankara 12th High Criminal Court began its trial [JURIST report] of the last two surviving leaders of Turkey's 1980 coup, former general Kenan Evren [official profile], who may face possible life sentence [JURIST report], and former air force commander Tahsin Sahinkaya. The coup led to three years of military rule, during which 50 people were hanged and half a million arrested. The trial came after the court accepted the indictment against the two officials in January based on charges pressed [JURIST reports] by the prosecution a week earlier. In 2010 a Turkish court also began the trial [JURIST report] of 33 retired and active naval officers who allegedly planned to overthrow the government and implement military rule.

Authorities around the world have been tracking down members and supporters of the al Qaeda and other terrorists groups. Last month, French authorities announced [JURIST report] that they arrested a suspected terrorist who was born in Tunisia in 1977 and resided in the French city of Toulon and allegedly has ties to al Qaeda. In June a New York native and terrorism suspect pleaded guilty [JURIST report] to charges that he provided the al Qaeda with money and computer assistance. In February Egyptian authorities reportedly arrested [JURIST report] a former al Qaeda military commander at an airport in Cairo. Saif al-Adel was detained upon his arrival after noticing that his name appeared on the passenger list on a flight from Pakistan. During the same month, a judge for the US District Court for the Western District of Kentucky allowed [JURIST report] certain secret evidence to be used against a suspect who was charged with attempting to provide material support to terrorists and terrorist organizations and conspiracy to transfer weapons to terrorist organizations, specifically al Qaeda.

In June the ILO released a report on forced labor, estimating that nearly 21 million people around the world work in forced labor [JURIST report] and noting that women represent 55 percent of forced laborers worldwide. The ILO is a specialized agency of the UN. The agency adopted the DWC [JURIST report] at last year's annual meeting of ILO member states, the 100th Session of the International Labor Conference [official website]. That same month Megan McKee, University of Pittsburgh School of Law Class of 2012 and a legal researcher for the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law, wrote about the need for greater rights for migrant workers [JURIST comment], especially for those employed as domestic workers, and marked DWC's adoption as a "remarkable" passage of a "historic" international treaty.

Last week, the Court of Appeals in Kenya upheld a lower court's decision to set the date [JURIST report] of the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections for March 4, 2013. Kenya's upcoming election has attracted international attention because it will be the first since the violence that followed the 2007 elections [JURIST news archive]. Four individuals are currently facing trial before the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website; JURIST backgrounder] for fomenting the violence. Earlier this month, the ICC set the trial dates [JURIST report] for the two Kenyan post-election violence cases for next April. Last month the Chief Prosecutor of the ICC expressed his desire to start the two trials simultaneously [JURIST report] to avoid any appearance of bias in the March 2013 presidential election.

The country's judiciary has been in conflict with the executive branch since political leaders have rejected the court's order to investigate into the president's alleged corruption. The legislature and the president approved the law in order to protect the new PM from possible contempt of court proceedings for failure to reopen the investigation against Zardari. His predecessor Yousuf Raza Gilani [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] was disqualified from being a member of Parliament after an April contempt conviction [JURIST reports] and removed from office. The court had granted [JURIST report] an additional two weeks for Ashraf to comply with its order last week. The court had ordered [JURIST report] the new prime minister in late June to investigate the corruption allegations against the president. Ashraf, like his predecessor, has argued that the president is immune from prosecution under the country's constitution. The court in response claimed that no one is above the law and thus, the investigation against the president should proceed. During the same month, a Pakistani court ordered [JURIST report] the arrest of Makhdoom Shahabuddin [BBC profile], a former health minister from Punjab Province and the nominee for the country's then-vacant prime minister position for allegations that he was involved in irregularities in the amount of the controlled drug Ephedrine circulating within the country during his tenure as health minister. The arrest order was issued the same day the president nominated Shahabuddin to fill the position of former prime minister Gilani.

The draft law for a Temporary Judicial Council lacks protection against the arbitrary removal or transfer of judges. The National Constituent Assembly should address this shortcoming before passing a law that it defines as temporary but could have lasting impact. ... An independent judiciary is a key pillar of a democratic governmen. The assembly should adopt strong safeguards for judicial independence.

Tunisia has faced political turmoil since former president Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] left office amid nationwide protests. A Tunisian military court last month sentenced Ben Ali in absentia to life in prison [JURIST report] for his involvement in the killing of 43 protesters during last year's Tunisian revolution which resulted in the death of more than 200 protesters. Ben Ali was already sentenced to life in prison [JURIST report] for his involvement in the killing of 22 protesters. He has also been sentenced to 20 years [JURIST report] on charges of inciting violence and murder in connection with the death of four protesters. The two sentences were added to previous sentences amounting to 55 years in prison including 15 years for drug and gun charges and 35 years [JURIST reports] on charges of theft and unlawful possession of money and jewelry. In April the country's military appeals court upheld [JURIST report] the convictions against the former president for torturing military officers over an alleged coup plot in 1991. In January a military court started its trial against Ben Ali focusing on who ordered snipers to kill 41 protesters during last year's revolution. Ben Ali had denied [JURIST report] all charges brought against him.