This week the Supreme Court of California [official website] ruled [JURIST report] that several insurance companies must pay the state up to $60 million to clean up an industrial waste storage site. In a unanimous decision California's high court declared that consecutive state-purchased policies of various insurance companies require that each company pay up to its damage cap for toxic waste spillage at the Stringfellow Acid Pits in Riverside County. Also this week the US Court for the Ninth Circuit [official website] reversed [JURIST report] a decision by the US District Court for the Northern District of California [official website], which had ruled in favor of an Oregon-based Islamic nonprofit corporation challenging the Bush administration's warrantless wiretap program. The California district court had held that the federal government implicitly waived sovereign immunity under Section 1810 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) [LII backgrounder]. Earlier this month the US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] filed an amicus brief [JURIST report] with the California Supreme Court arguing that undocumented immigrants should not be able to practice law in the US even if they passed a state bar exam.

Somalia has been urged by the international community to ensure that the country's transition is proceeding peacefully. Last Wednesday the country's constituent assembly approved [JURIST report] a draft of the new constitution with over 96 percent of the 645 ballots cast in the special 825-member assembly after eight days of debate. The new constitution also has to be ratified by a national referendum. In June President Ahmed and the TFG signed [JURIST report] a decree establishing the legal framework by adopting a new constitution convened by the National Constituent Assembly (NCA). During the same month UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official profile] told [JURIST report] officials at the Istanbul II Conference on Somalia [materials] that Somalia must take all efforts to smoothly transit into a permanent government with a new constitution. In May Somalia was called on to address the issue of legitimate judicial systems [JURIST report] in Mogadishu and South Central Somalia after the UN Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Somalia found that there were significant difficulties in harmonizing Sharia law with modern international and human rights law.

In June the Constitutional Court nullified [JURIST report] the latest parliamentary election based on procedural flaws. The court held that the new parliament [official website, in Arabic] was unconstitutional and that the 2009 parliament should be reinstated. It came only two days after Kuwait's ruler Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] suspended [NYT report] the parliament for a month in response to escalating tensions between the more liberal, western-backed lawmakers and the Islamist-led lawmakers. The tension grew when two cabinet ministers resigned under the pressure of the Islamist-led lawmakers who tried to gain more seats. A similar ruling took place a week earlier when the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt [official website] dissolved [JURIST report] the Egyptian Parliament [official websites] because it found that one-third of the parliament's members were elected illegally. The court, by invalidating the entire parliament, affirmed the lower court's decision of February [JURIST report] when the High Administrative Court of Egypt ruled that voting system used in the recent parliamentary election was unconstitutional.

This discriminatory law serves no purpose other than to single out a small minority of people and deprive them of critical protections. The state is unconstitutionally interfering with the benefit plans established by city and county governments, school districts, and community colleges, and that's hurting hardworking employees and their families.

Employer benefits for partners in same-sex couples has been a contentious legal issue recently. In July the Obama administration amended regulations [JURIST report] to offer same-sex domestic partners of federal employees some retirement benefits. The new regulation [text, PDF] adds "same-sex domestic partners to the class of persons for which an insurable interest is presumed to exist," which allows the employee to designate their partner as a recipient to their annuity after they pass away. Another regulation change [text] also permits children of an employee's same-sex domestic partner to receive a child-care subsidy in some instances. In June a same-sex couple in New York filed a class-action lawsuit [JURIST report] against a hospital seeking to compel the hospital to provide spousal healthcare benefits. In April a judge for the US District Court for the Northern District of California [official website] ruled [JURIST report] that denial of insurance benefits to the same-sex spouse of a federal employee is discriminatory.

President Basescu survived [JURIST report] the national referendum last week when the vote, despite yielding 88 percent majority in favor of Basescu's resignation, was invalidated for failing to achieve the required threshold of 50 percent voter turnout. Prime Minister Victor Ponta [BBC profile], a member of the Social Liberal Union (USL) party that gained the majority seat in the parliament, led the referendum accusing the president. USL had voted [JURIST report] in early July to impeach the president in a 256-114 vote, at the same time passing an elimination of the referendum law's 50 percent turnout provision. The Supreme Court, however, reinstated [JURIST report] the requirement holding that in case of a lower than 50 percent turnout the referendum would be invalid.

Contrary to the district court's conclusion, it is well-settled that the term "involuntary servitude" is not limited to chattel slavery-like conditions. The amendment was intended to prohibit all forms of involuntary labor, not solely to abolish chattel slavery.

Forced labor and slavery are serious legals issue worldwide. Earlier this week the UK High Court ruled [JURIST report] that two government back-to-work schemes do not constitute forced labor. Last 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.

Michigan has been at the center of controversy recently regarding education law and policy. In July the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan (ACLU) [official website] filed a lawsuit alleging that the state of Michigan and the Highland Park school district violated state and federal law by failing to ensure that students are reading at grade level [JURIST report]. According to the ACLU two-thirds of students in the Highland Park School District lack the basic reading skills to pass Michigan proficiency standards. The lawsuit, apparently the first of its kind, requested immediate help from the state [press release], including research-based methods of instruction, highly trained educators and administrators, a process for monitoring progress, new educational materials and textbooks and a clean and safe learning environment.

Marijuana use has created legal controversy around the world, especially in the US. In June the Chicago City Council [official website] voted to decriminalize [JURIST report] the possession of small amounts of marijuana, detailing that police officers may issue tickets to individuals found to be in possession of 10 grams of marijuana or less. In May the Connecticut Senate passed a bill [JURIST report] allowing citizens to obtain marijuana for medical use under certain conditions, making Connecticut the seventeenth state to allow sale of marijuana for medical use. Other states that have passed similar laws have run into trouble with conflicting federal laws regulating the production and sale of marijuana. In March the US District Court for the Eastern District of California [official website] dismissed a suit [JURIST report] challenging US Attorneys' authority to prosecute medical marijuana providers in California. 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 passing a law decriminalizing possession [JURIST report] of small amounts of marijuana.

It is important to note in this context that Sections 12 and 13 of the [Legal Services Authorities Act] do not make any distinction between the trial stage and the appellate stage for providing legal services. In other words, an eligible person is entitled to legal services at any stage of the proceedings which he or she is prosecuting or defending. In fact the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee provides legal assistance to eligible persons in this Court. This makes it abundantly clear that legal services shall be provided to an eligible person at all stages of the proceedings, trial as well as appellate.

The right to counsel has been the subject of numerous court cases worldwide in recent years. In February 2011, the Supreme Court of India ruled [JURIST report] that criminal defendants have a right to counsel under the Indian Constitution. In October 2010 the UK Supreme Court ruled that Scottish police could no longer question a suspect in custody [JURIST report] without the presence of a lawyer. A week earlier the French Court of Cassation ruled that all persons in custody of French law enforcement, including terrorism suspects, are entitled to consult with lawyers [JURIST report] from the outset of criminal proceedings. Also that month the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Canadians do not have the right to have counsel [JURIST report] present during custodial interrogations under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms [text]. In May 2009 the US Supreme Court ruled that the Sixth Amendment [Cornell LII backgrounder] does not require police to cease interrogations [JURIST report] after a suspect had invoked his right to counsel, ruling that the Fifth Amendment [Cornell LII backgrounder] provides adequate protection.

Religious freedom is an issue throughout the world. Last month the US Department of State (DOS) [official website] released [JURIST report] its annual International Religious Freedom Report [materials] documenting threats to religious freedom around the globe. The report detailed current international threats to religious liberty, especially laws that punish religious traditions and blasphemy laws that are often used to punish religious tolerance. In June a German court ruled [JURIST report] that circumcising young boys based on religious traditions is prohibited even if the parents consent to the procedure. In March a UN expert urged states to refrain from using official state religions [JURIST report] as a means to enhance their national identity politics, "as this may have detrimental effects for the situation of individuals from minority communities." Last August Hungarian churches challenged a law [JURIST report] that officially recognized only 14 of the 358 religious groups in the country.

Neither the State nor the insurers dispute that progressive damage to property at the Stringfellow site "occurred" during numerous policy periods. In addition, the insurers concede that in cases such as this it is impossible to prove precisely what property damage occurred during any specific policy period. The fact that all policies were covering the risk at some point during the property loss is enough to trigger the insurers' indemnity obligation.

Environmental cleanups have been a contentious legal issue both in the US and abroad recently. Last week the UN welcomed a new project [JURIST report] initiated by the government of Nigeria to resolve the oil contamination affecting the people of Ogoniland. Earlier this month a court in Brazil ordered Chevron to suspend all oil drilling in Brazil [JURIST report] in the wake of two recent oil spills off the coast of Rio De Janeiro. In April a Brazilian prosecutor filed another lawsuit against Chevron [JURIST report] relating to a leak in one of its coastal oil fields. In March 35 Nigerian villages filed suit [JURIST report] against Shell [corporate website] in a London court alleging Shell's slow response in cleaning up two oil spills in a neighboring river ruined their livelihoods. A similar suit was filed in November of last year by a Nigerian village against Royal Dutch Shell PLC in the US District Court in the Eastern District of Michigan [official website].

Emotions are running high, grievances are decades old and the recent violence has ignited a potent combination of fear and anger within both communities. It is vital that people's immediate humanitarian needs are met, while, at the same time, fundamental issues are addressed to prevent future occurrences of communal conflict.

Myanmar has been unsuccessful in resolving the sectarian violence prevalent in the country despite attempts by President Thein Sein [BBC profile] to bring peace to the communities, making the country subject to international criticism. Earlier this month the US Congress on a voice vote approved a bill [JURIST report] extending the ban on imports from Myanmar. A day earlier Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] released a 56-page document [report, PDF] accusing Myanmar security forces of human rights abuses against a minority religious community [JURIST report] in June. In July UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official profile] expressed concern over the continued violence and human rights violations prevalent in Myanmar's Rakhine state since clashes began between its Buddhist and minority Rohingya [BBC backgrounder] Muslim communities in May. A week earlier Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] reported [JURIST report] that the violence between the two groups has increased since a state of emergency was declared in the western state of Rakhine. Earlier in July a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) [official website] reported that 10 UN staff and aid workers had been arrested [JURIST report] in the northwestern Rakhine state and three of them are facing unknown criminal charges.

Florida has been at the center of several election law controversies recently. Earlier this month a federal judge blocked enforcement [JURIST report] of a Florida statute that prevents minors from donating more than $100 to any political candidate or committee within an election period. Last month Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner [official profile] announced that the federal government will allow Florida access [JURIST report] to a US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) [official website] immigration database to challenge individuals' voting rights if the state suspects them of not being US citizens. In June a judge for the US District Court for the Northern District of Florida denied a request by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official websites] to issue a temporary injunction barring Florida from continuing the practice of purging its voter rolls [JURIST report]. The DOJ alleged that Florida's policy violates the Voting Rights Act (VRA) [text] as well as the National Voter Registration Act [text], which requires all voter roll maintenance to cease 90 days before the primary election, meaning all purging in Florida should have stopped by May 16. Florida also faces challenges to its purging policy from the ACLU-FL and a coalition of rights groups [JURIST reports] on behalf of several Florida citizens.

Several states will include a same-sex marriage question on their ballot in the upcoming election. In June citizens in Washington and Maryland [JURIST reports] received enough votes to challenge newly passed same-sex marriage legislation. Each state's ballot will contain a section asking voters to accept or reject the new legislation. Similarly, a group supporting same-sex marriage in Maine achieved enough signatures [JURIST report] in February to have the question of same-sex marriage appear on its ballot. Earlier that month New Jersey governor Chris Christie vetoed legislation [JURIST report] that would have legalized same-sex marriage in the state, and called for a state-wide referendum on the issue. Also in February the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] struck down [JURIST report] California's Proposition 8 [JURIST news archive], a voter-approved [JURIST report] same-sex marriage [JURIST news archive] ban.

In February Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] expressed concern [JURIST report] over the short time-frame of the investigation and advocated six-month extension of the probe. Earlier that month International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] then-Prosecutor [official website] Luis Moreno-Ocampo was granted permission [JURIST report] by a pretrial chamber to expand his investigation of war crimes in the Ivory Coast to incidents dating back to 2002. In December Gbagbo appeared before the Pre-Trial Chamber III of the ICC [JURIST report] for an initial hearing, during which the court verified Gbagbo's identity and ensured that he was informed of the four charges against him, including murder, persecution, inhumane acts and rape and other forms of sexual violence. Gbagbo was taken into custody [JURIST report] in November for his appearance before the court. In October Moreno-Ocampo traveled to the Ivory Coast [JURIST report] to investigate allegations of war crimes committed during post-election violence following the November 2010 elections.