Last month Kenyatta and his co-defendant, former civil service chief Francis Muthaura, asked [JURIST report] the ICC to review the decision to move forward with the trial. The two Kenyans had announced [JURIST report] in December that, despite their upcoming trials, they would be running together in the next presidential election, scheduled to take place in March. In October the ICC called for complete cooperation [JURIST report] from the Kenyan government in the investigation and trial process. Also facing trial are journalist Joshua Arap Sang [case materials] and former cabinet minister William Ruto [case materials]. In June the ICC expressed its desire to start the two Kenyan trials simultaneously [JURIST report] to avoid any appearance of bias in the March 2013 presidential election.

Over the past several years, state legislatures across the country have been implementing measures affecting abortion rights, prompting legal challenges in many instances. On Wednesday the Arkansas State legislature voted to override [JURIST report] the governor's veto of the Arkansas Human Heartbeat Protection Act, which bans most abortions after 12 weeks. Last month the Alabama House of Representatives approved a bill [JURIST report] tightening regulations for abortion clinics, which critics maintain will result in the closure of many abortion clinics in the state. In January the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit [official website] upheld [JURIST report] a Massachusetts law that established "buffer zones" for abortion clinics, which prohibits protesting within 35 feet of an abortion facility. Also in January a federal judge in Kansas ordered [JURIST report] a trial for a challenge to a state law prohibiting insurance companies from covering abortions. In December a state judge in Georgia enjoined a law [JURIST report] banning doctors from providing abortions for women more than 20 weeks into gestation. In November, Montana voters passed a referendum [JURIST report] requiring facilities and doctors to inform parents of minors before performing an abortion.

The EU's cap-and-trade system model of limiting carbon output has created controversy both in and out of Europe. In December 2011 the EU's highest court upheld [JURIST report] carbon-dependent fines against airlines for emissions. Enforcement of penalties against airlines began in 2012 after the scheme was upheld by a lower EU court despite claims by the US which alleged that the scheme violated international treaty [JURIST reports].

Fracking has been a contentious issue in the US recently. Earlier this month JURIST guest columnist Nicolas Parke debunked the rumors [JURIST op-ed] around fracking. In February JURIST guest columnist Samantha Peaslee detailed the future of fracking [JURIST op-ed] in Colorado in the wake of recent lawsuits against fracking companies in the state. In September Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection and Public Utility Commission filed a brief arguing that a recent Pennsylvania court decision which struck down portions of a law allowing the state to determine where fracking could occur was an error [JURIST report]. In July North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue vetoed a bill [SB 820 materials; JURIST report] that would have lifted the state's ban on fracking. Last May Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin signed into law [JURIST report] a bill outlawing fracking in the state. Last January the New Jersey Legislature passed an amendment to a bill that establishes a one-year ban on fracking [JURIST report]. Legislators re-introduced the bill last year after New Jersey Governor Chris Christie conditionally vetoed legislation in June 2011 that would have permanently banned fracking in New Jersey [JURIST report]. In October 2011 the Environmental Protection Agency announced plans to develop standards [JURIST report] for wastewater discharge from fracking. June 2011 New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sued the US government [JURIST report] for its alleged failure to study the risks of fracking.

Colombia has drawn attention from UN rights bodies several times recently. In October UN experts urged [JURIST report] Colombia to reconsider proposed constitutional reforms affecting the military criminal law. In August UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous people James Anaya [official website] also called upon [JURIST report] the government of Colombia to advance its negotiations with indigenous authorities in northern Cauca regarding the military presence in the area, as well as other pressing issues. Last December the representative to Colombia for the OHCHR called for a peaceful solution [JURIST report] to the country's ongoing armed conflict involving hostages held by paramilitary rebels.

Also on Wednesday the Supreme Court of Italy [official website, in Italian] upheld a ruling [Reuters report] clearing Berlusconi of tax fraud charges in connection with Mediatrade, the broadcast rights unit of his Mediaset [corporate websites, in Italian] corporation. However, he remains a defendant in several other cases. In January a Milan court set a timetable [JURIST report] for hearings in the former prime minister's underage sex trial, setting the last session of the trial for early March. There, Berlusconi is charged [JURIST report] with paying then 17-year-old dancer Karima "Ruby" El Mahroug for sex and abusing his power by asking police to release her after she was detained for an unrelated theft crime. Also that month, Milan judges rejected [JURIST report] Berlusconi's appeal to postpone his tax fraud trial until after the national elections. In January 2011, however, the Constitutional Court of Italy [official website, in Italian] held hearings and subsequently struck down [JURIST reports] portions of a law [materials, in Italian] backed by Berlusconi granting the premier and and other public officials temporary immunity from charges while in office. Despite numerous trials, Berlusconi has never actually served prison time.

This is the latest in the process of prosecuting those responsible for the crimes committed by the Gaddafi regime following the uprising in Libya. Last month the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] called on Libya [JURIST report] to extradite former Gaddafi intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi [BBC profile]. In January the ICC asked Libya to address reports [JURIST report] that it planned to try Saif al-Islam Gaddafi and al-Senussi in domestic courts. In October Libyan government lawyers urged the ICC [JURIST report] to allow the men to be tried in Libya and promised that the trial would be fair. In August Saif al-Islam stated that he preferred to be tried by the ICC [JURIST report] out of fear that Libya would not try him fairly.

Samsung and Apple have been involved in patent disputes around the globe. Earlier this month a judge for the US District Court for the Northern District of California reduced [JURIST report] the amount of damages that Samsung is required to pay for infringing Apple patents. In January Koh ruled that Samsung did not willfully infringe Apple's patents partially abrogating the jury verdict [JURIST reports]. However, Koh declined to overturn the jury's findings on validity and infringement and also refused to grant Samsung a new trial on grounds that the trial was allegedly manifestly unfair. Last month the Tokyo District Court rejected [JURIST report] a patent infringement claim brought by Samsung alleging that Apple stole its data transmission technology. In August the same court dismissed Apple's claim [JURIST report] against Samsung holding that latter did not violate Apple's patents of synchronizing music and video data. An appeal followed [JURIST report] two months later.

Wednesday's vote comes only six days after lawmakers voted to override the governor's veto [JURIST reports] of the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act [HB 1037, PDF] which bans most abortions in the state 20 weeks after conception. That law made Arkansas the eighth US state to ban or restrict abortions after 20 weeks. Similar laws restricting reproductive rights [JURIST backgrounder] are currently facing legal challenges in Arizona and Georgia [JURIST reports].

This bill is the most recent in overarching legislative reform initiated by Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto [official website, in Spanish; BBC profile]. Last week Nieto signed into law the country's most expansive education reforms [JURIST report] in seven decades. In September the Chamber of Deputies approved a bill after 14 hours of debate that provides for a broad range of reforms to Mexico's labor market. The bill seeks to improve the transparency of Mexico's trade unions and make labor regulations more flexible.

O'Malley announced in January that he would file legislation to repeal capital punishment [JURIST report] in Maryland, stating that the death penalty is expensive and ineffective. In 2008, the governor created [JURIST report] the Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment [official website] after an unsuccessful attempt [JURIST report] to repeal the death penalty in 2007. Outside of Maryland, Connecticut [JURIST report] became the seventeenth state to abolish the death penalty and the fifth to do so in the previous five years, which it did last April. New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, and Illinois [JURIST reports] have all recently eliminated the death penalty, while 33 states retain its use, according to the Death Penalty Information Center [advocacy website]. However, California voters declined to repeal the death penalty [JURIST report] on the most recent ballot, with 47 percent of voters supporting the repeal last November.

Casey reaffirmed the central holding in Roe v. Wade ... that a woman has a right to an abortion "before viability ... without undue interference from the State," but it also re-affirmed states' "legitimate interests from the outset of the pregnancy in protecting the health of the woman and the life of the fetus that may become a child." ... Properly interpreted, then, Casey dictates the opposite result reached in the decision below: laws like Oklahoma's medical abortion regulation are permissible. ... By failing to conduct the analysis Casey requires the Oklahoma Supreme Court perverted part of the "essential holding" of Roe.

Oklahoma has been at the center of controversy recently regarding reproductive rights [JURIST backgrounder]. The Oklahoma law restricting the use of abortion-inducing drugs was scheduled to take effect on November 1, 2011, but was temporarily blocked [JURIST report] in October. In April 2011 Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed into law [JURIST report] a bill prohibiting abortions after 20 weeks. The law allows abortions past the 20-week mark only in certain extenuating circumstances where the mother faces death or serious injury. A doctor who performs an abortion in violation of the time limit would be subject to criminal prosecution for a felony, but the woman undergoing the procedure would not face a penalty. Last year an Oklahoma state judge extended a temporary injunction [JURIST report] blocking enforcement of HB 2780.

The procedures and policies regarding the 9/11 [JURIST backgrounder] military commission hearings have faced significant scrutiny. In February lawyers for the US Navy contended [JURIST report] that surveillance equipment deployed throughout the Guantanamo Bay detention center was not used to breach attorney-client privilege. Earlier in the month a military judge ordered the removal [JURIST report] of any monitoring system that censors the public broadcast of the hearings. In September, a federal judge rejected [JURIST report] new restrictions on the ability of lawyers representing detainees who have had their habeas corpus challenges denied or dismissed to access their clients. In February 2012 the chief US military tribunal judge ruled [JURIST report] that the content of attorney-client mail inspected at the Guantanamo Bay prison is confidential and may not be released.

Gun control has long been a contentious issue in the United States. The constitutionality of an assault weapons ban was recently discussed [JURIST op-ed] by JURIST guest columnist Nicholas Johnson of the Fordham University School of Law. Earlier this month, the Maryland Senate approved a bill [JURIST report] that would make it harder to get a gun license. In mid-January, on the one-month anniversary of the Newtown shooting, Obama announced his signing of 23 executive orders [JURIST report] intended to strengthen existing gun laws, as well as urging Congress to reinstate the assault weapons ban that expired in 2004. The previous day New York Governor Andrew Cuomo [official website] signed legislation [JURIST report] intended to impose tighter restrictions on gun and ammunition sales, banning any magazine that can hold more than seven rounds and implementing instant background checks on all ammunition purchases at the time of sale.

The Malian government allegedly denies knowledge of these acts of violence targeting particular ethnic groups amidst scrutiny from international sources. Last month Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] urged the Malian government to prosecute soldiers [JURIST report] who participate in violence toward suspected Islamist rebels and supporters. Earlier that month the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights [official website] confirmed sending a four-person team to investigate [JURIST report] the claims of violence. ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda [official profile] also announced an investigation [JURIST report] into possible war crimes in January. In July six West African nations requested [JURIST report] for an ICC investigation into war crimes in Mali.