Clergy abuse has become a contentious legal issue in recent years, as the Vatican has come under intense scrutiny related to allegations of sexual abuse of children by local church officials. In November a UK court ruled [JURIST report] that Catholic priests qualify as employees, meaning that the Catholic church could be held liable for sexual abuse by clergy members. In September Amnesty International [advocacy website] claimed [JURIST report] that clergy members' abuse of Irish children amounted to torture. The report, titled In Plain Sight [text, PDF] called special attention to "people in positions of power" who "ignore their responsibility to act." Also in September, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) [advocacy website] filed a complaint [JURIST report] with the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] against Vatican officials, including Pope Benedict XVI, for widespread sexual abuse and subsequent concealment of thousands of incidents. Since 2007, the Church has settled over 500 cases [JURIST news archive] of clergy abuse in the U.S. alone, totaling more than $900 million.

South Carolina's photo identification law only places upon the voter an affirmative responsibility to obtain an approved photo identification card and bring it to the polls. ... Because these photo identification requirements are not a bar to voting but a temporary inconvenience no greater than the inconvenience inherent in voting itself, they do not deny or abridge the right to vote on account of race, color, or membership in a language minority.

There are now 30 US states that require voters to present some form of ID at the polls, including 14 states that require photo ID, but the issue remains controversial. In Wisconsin, several civil rights groups filed a lawsuit [JURIST report] in December challenging the new voter identification law [2011 Wisconsin Act 23]. In June 2011, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon [official website] vetoed [JURIST report] a law requiring persons to present photo identification at voting booth. In March 2011, 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. In October 2006, the Supreme Court ruled that Arizona could enforce its voter ID law [JURIST report], which requires voters to show government-issued voter ID cards [JURIST news archive] at the polls.

Berlusconi, who resigned as prime minister in November, has been a defendant in nearly 50 cases. In July an Italian appeals court ordered Fininvest [corporate website], a holding company owned by Berlusconi, to pay €560 million in damages and fees to Compagnie Industriali Riunite (CIR) Group [corporate website]. The complaint stemmed from Fininvest's 1991 acquisition of Italian publishing company Mondadori [corporate website], during which Fininvest bribed a judge in exchange for favorable decisions. In April neither Berlusconi nor the alleged prostitute attended the beginning of the prostitution trial [JURIST report], and the court adjourned after only 10 minutes. Both parties deny having a sexual relationship and Berlusconi has denied any wrongdoing, calling the accusations groundless. In January 2011 the Italian Constitutional Court [official website, in Italian] held hearings and subsequently struck down [JURIST reports] portions of a immunity law [materials, in Italian] backed by Berlusconi that would have granted the premier and other public officials temporary amnesty from any charges while holding office.

The ECHR rulings could have broad implications going forward [NYT report] and may play a role in the UK as the British government investigates [JURIST report] whether tougher media regulations are necessary. In July, British Prime Minister David Cameron [official website] announced the formation of a panel to investigate journalism practices in the nation, after allegations of "phone hacking" [JURIST report] surfaced in the British media. The panel is investigating the media and reporters' relationship with police and politicians, as well as the tactics media agents use to get information. While the UK judges are currently split [JURIST report] over the role ECHR decisions should play in the British court system, the ECHR's ruling could limit media reforms proposed by the panel, particularly regarding coverage of celebrities.

Last week, Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] accused [JURIST report] Syria's army and security officers of engaging in the torture of children [press release]. The allegations stemmed from HRW's documentation of cases in which children were reportedly detained, tortured, and shot in their homes, as well as prior findings that the Syrian government has been involved in torturing and killing civilian protesters. HRW has subsequently urged the UN Security Council [official website] to take action and pressure the Syrian government to end the inhumane violence against children still allegedly occurring in homes, streets, and schools. Last month, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon [official profile] demanded [JURIST report] Syria's president Bashar al-Assad [BBC backgrounder] to end the violence against its citizens and strive to establish democracy. Ban previously condemned [JURIST report] Syrian government leaders and violent protesters in December for the continuous bloodshed within the country. The violence in Syria has also been decried by the UN Human Rights Council, the UN General Assembly's Human Rights Committee and the Arab League [JURIST reports]. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights [official website] has reported [UN report] that more than 5,000 people have died since the anti-government protests in Syria began last March.

The result [of lax federal enforcement] has been the funneling of an increasing tide of illegal border crossings into Arizona. Indeed, over the past decade, over a third of the nation's illegal border crossings occurred in Arizona. ... This flood of unlawful cross-border traffic, and the accompanying influx of illegal drugs, dangerous criminals and highly vulnerable persons, have resulted in massive problems for Arizona's citizens and government, leaving them to bear a seriously disproportionate share of the burden of an already urgent national problem.

SB 1070 has had a polarizing effect since its passage. Legislatures in states such as Utah, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Indiana [JURIST reports] have passed immigration laws in the past two years that mirror Arizona's. While SB 1070 has spawned many new state laws in its image, it has also attracted sharp criticism. In July 2010, the American Bar Association (ABA) [official website] filed a brief [JURIST report] urging the US District Court for the District of Arizona [official website] to block SB 1070 from taking effect. The ABA's brief came on the heels of a US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] lawsuit challenging the SB 1070's constitutionality. In May 2010, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] filed a suit seeking to block implementation of the new law [JURIST report]. Earlier in May 2010, a group of UN human rights experts argued that SB 1070 may violate international standards [JURIST report].

With respect to aggravating circumstances, the Chamber notes the position of trust in which Jelena Rasic found herself in at the time of her crimes. Members of Defence teams are obligated to act conscientiously with full respect of the law and applicable rules, something which certainly also holds true for any professional involved in the proceedings before the Tribunal. As officers of justice, they must at all times be aware of their duties and must never allow themselves to affect others, such as prospective witnesses, in a criminal manner. However, Jelena Rasic did just that.

The ICTY is currently facing a suit [JURIST report] initiated by Vojislav Seselj [official website, in Serbian; JURIST news archive], a former Serb nationalist politician and war crimes suspect, for unreasonable delay in his trial. He claims USD $2.6 million in damages. He was charged with three counts of crimes against humanity and six counts of war crimes, and in October he was sentenced to 18 months [JURIST report] for releasing information of protected witnesses. In December the ICTY convicted a former Yugoslav intelligence officer [JURIST report] on charges of contempt for failing to testify. Court argued that such failure was against the interest of justice. In the same month, former Serbian general pleaded not guilty [JURIST report] to charges for executing more than 30 Muslim prisoners. Earlier of the month, ICTY with International Criminal Tribune for Rwanda (ICTR) [official website; JURIST news archive] reported [JURIST report] to the UN Security Council [official website] their progress in tracking and arresting fugitives for the tribunals' mandates.

Texas Governor Rick Perry [official website] signed the measure into law in May, but it was blocked in August after a challenge [JURIST reports] from the CRR. Laws similar to the Texas law have also been considered in other states. Early this month, the Virginia Senate approved a bill [JURIST report] that would require women seeking an abortion to have an ultrasound before the procedure. The law would impose requirements including the audio provision of fetal heartbeat and a determination of the gestational age of the fetus. In October, a judge for the US District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina [official website] issued a preliminary injunction [JURIST report], blocking part of the state's abortion law that required a physician to perform an ultrasound and describe the images to the patient. In March 2010 the Supreme Court of Oklahoma [official website] ruled [JURIST report] that a state law [SB 1878, DOC] imposing broad restrictions on abortion, including the requirement of an ultrasound prior to the procedure, violated that state's constitution.

Although the Constitution permits communities to enact most laws they believe to be desirable, it requires that there be at least a legitimate reason for the passage of a law that treats different classes of people differently. There was no such reason that Proposition 8 could have been enacted. Because under California statutory law, same-sex couples had all the rights of opposite-sex couples, regardless of their marital status, all parties agree that Proposition 8 had one effect only. It stripped same-sex couples of the ability they previously possessed to obtain from the State, or any other authorized party, an important right—the right to obtain and use the designation of 'marriage' to describe their relationships. ... Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite sex couples. The Constitution simply does not allow for "laws for this sort."

Last week the Ninth Circuit ruled that videos from the Proposition 8 trial must remain sealed [JURIST report]. The court heard arguments in December on whether the video recordings should be released to the public and whether the district court should have vacated Judge Vaughn Walker's original ruling [JURIST reports] because he later revealed that he was in a same-sex relationship. The Ninth Circuit initially heard arguments on Proposition 8's constitutionality in December 2010, but then asked the California Supreme Court [JURIST reports] to rule on whether defendants had standing to appeal. The high court ruled in November that they did have standing [JURIST report].

The ICJ is currently reviewing 13 cases. Last week, the court ruled [JURIST report] that Germany has immunity from claims brought in foreign courts by victims of the Nazi regime. The court found that a 2008 decision by Italy's Supreme Court [JURIST report] violated Germany's sovereign rights by allowing an Italian national to seek reparations in response to his deportation in 1944. Germany appealed this decision to the ICJ, which heard oral arguments [JURIST report] in September 2011. The ruling by the ICJ is final and binding, effectively ending thousands of reparations claims against Germany. In December, the ICJ ruled that Greece wrongly blocked [JURIST report] the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) from joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) [official website] in a dispute over the use of the name "Macedonia." Greece objects to FYROM's use of "Macedonia" out of concern that the country will use the moniker to make claims to regions of Northern Greece [JURIST comment] that also are known by the name Macedonia. The ICJ order may have been a largely symbolic victory for FYROM because the court did not sanction Greece, nor did it order the country to refrain from taking similar action in the future.

The Maldives has faced ongoing unrest since Mohamed's arrest, as well as other political struggles following the adoption of its constitution [JURIST report] in late 2008. Last month, the UN called for Mohamed's release days after the Maldives Minister of Foreign Affairs [official website] asked the UN to help them resolve [JURIST reports] what they called a judicial system failure. The same week, a group of Maldives lawyers submitted [JURIST report] to the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] the case, calling Mohamed's continued detention a violation of the International Convention on the Protection of all Persons against Enforced Disappearance [text]. In the country's first democratic elections in 2008, Nasheed defeated longtime political opponent Maumoon Abdul Gayoon [BBC profile], ending his 30-year rule. During today's street protests, some worried that the violence may have been a coup attempt by Gayoon, but the government has denied [Reuters report] such claims.

As many as 140 million women and girls worldwide have undergone some form of FGM, which is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) [official website] as "all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or injury to the female genital organs for nonmedical reasons." Efforts in several countries, however, have sought to eliminate or reduce the practice. In 2009, Uganda unanimously outlawed FGM [JURIST report] and imposed harsh penalties anyone who conducts the procedure to face imprisonment. In 2010, Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] called on the government of Iraqi Kurdistan [JURIST report] to outlaw female genital mutilation and to develop a comprehensive legislative plan to reduce FGM in the region.

In April, Italy deported a different Tunisian national [JURIST report] and former Guantanamo Bay detainee for his connections to an extremist group that had planned various acts of terrorism in the country. Abdel Ben Mabrouk was transferred to Italy in 2009 in the same group as Nasri, part of US efforts to shut down the prison at Guantanamo. Despite criticisms, Guantanamo Bay remains open and an active detainment center for US prisoners. Last month, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official website] expressed disappointment that the US government has failed to close the detention facility. President Barack Obama ordered the facility closed by January 2010, but congressional opposition and administrative setbacks [JURIST reports] prevented the administration from meeting the deadline.

The NDAA was not signed into law [JURIST report] without controversy. According to Obama, his administration will implement the controversial provisions, including that saying "all necessary and appropriate force" may be used to detain those suspected of terrorism, in a manner which will provide the maximum measure of flexibility. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) vigorously chastised the President stating that the statute is dangerous due to its lack of temporal or geographic limitations. Both houses of Congress reached an agreement [JURIST report] on the language of the NDAA's most controversial sections in mid-December. Earlier in December, the Senate Armed Services Committee unanimously approved [JURIST report] a provision in the NDAA that gives the military complete control and custody over terror suspects. Shortly before the SASC's decision, the ACLU issued a report [pdf] claiming that the US is diminishing its "core values" [JURIST report] with regard to various counterterrorism measures put in place during the 10 years since the 9/11 attacks.

In February 2009, a five-judge panel of the UK's Law Lords ruled unanimously that Qatada could be deported [JURIST report] to Jordan despite fears he might be tortured upon his arrival. This decision overruled an April 2008 decision by the Court of Appeal blocking [JURIST report] deportation. Qatada was originally ordered deported [JURIST report] in February 2007. He was expected to be one of the first terror suspects to be deported under the UK's 2005 extradition oversight agreement [JURIST report] with Jordan.

Israel has never put forth any concrete security rationale for blanket policies that have made life a nightmare for Palestinians whom it considers unlawful residents in their own homes. The current policies leave families divided and people trapped on the wrong side of the border in Gaza and the West Bank. Israel should revise these policies and process requests for families to reunite, so that Palestinians can live with their families where they want.

While HRW has urged Israel to change its policies concerning Palestinian residencies, Israel has recently made some changes on its own accord to certain legislative policies. In January, an Israeli government panel approved a bill [JURIST report] that would make it illegal to use any Nazi symbols, names, or images, including the use of the term "Nazi" and any clothing resembling that worn by prisoners at concentration camps. Also in January, the Israeli Knesset passed a bill [JURIST report] that imposes harsher penalties on illegal migrants in Israel, as well as on Israelis who help illegal migrants. The bill amends the Prevention of Infiltration Law of 1954, broadening the law to include not only individuals suspected of terrorism, but all illegal migrants.

In 2009, a sharply divided Montana Supreme Court [official website] ruled [JURIST report] that physician assisted suicide is not banned by state law, making Montana the third state to allow the practice after Oregon and Washington. The court upheld in part and reversed in part a lower court ruling, agreeing with its finding that physician assisted suicide is not illegal under state law, but giving no opinion on the greater constitutional question addressed by the lower court. Instead, it found in a 4-3 decision that physician assisted suicide was not rendered illegal under state statute or by public policy concerns.

I remain of the firm conviction that justice and accountability measures, as well as measures to ensure access to the truth, are fundamental for Myanmar to move forward towards national reconciliation. During my mission, I made a careful assessment as to whether the National Human Rights Commission could play a role in this regard. However, considering the lack of independence and the limited capacity of the Commission, it is crucially important that the Government of Myanmar involve stakeholders, including victims of human rights violations, in order to get their advice and views on how and when to establish truth, justice and accountability measures. It is also important to learn lessons from other countries that have experience in these processes.

Myanmar has made a series of reforms following a transfer of power from a military regime to a civil system last March. Last month Myanmar President Thein Sein [BBC backgrounder] signed a clemency order on that shortened sentences for many prisoners on humanitarian grounds in celebration of Myanmar's independence day. In December the Myanmar government announced that the political party of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi [JURIST news archive] would be allowed to register for the next elections, an announcement that followed Suu Kyi's release [JURIST reports] in November after eight years under house arrest. In September, Myanmar's government created the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission (MNHRC) [JURIST report] to safeguard citizens' constitutional rights.

The Working Group considers the need to address the problem of security in the country as a legitimate and critical issue of concern. It believes that the right to security is an important human right that is interlinked with the right to life. At the same time the Working Group reiterates that the right to liberty and to be free from arbitrary deprivation of liberty is also of extraordinary value and that there is a dire need to safeguard both fundamental rights. The need for public security cannot therefore be pursued or achieved without due consideration of the right to liberty and the right to be free from arbitrary arrest and detention.

Human rights groups have been increasingly vocal about the need for human rights amidst recent protests and investigations of detention facilities. In January, Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] released [JURIST report] its annual World Report, leading with a criticism of Western governments' support of Middle Eastern regimes that stifle and suppress protests. In December, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay urged [JURIST report] the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] for investigation into crimes against humanity committed by the Syrian government. An estimated 7,000 detainees are still being held without due process by Libyan revolutionaries, according to a UN report [JURIST report] made public in November. In October, UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) [official website] released a report stating that the prisoners in some Afghan-run detention facilities have been beaten and tortured.

Egypt's crackdown on NGOs has drawn criticism for months. In January, the Egyptian government denied cracking down on pro-democracy NGOs after officials raided the offices of 17 different NGOs [JURIST reports] the previous week. Authorities stated that the raid was part of an investigation of illegal political funding activities, but accusations spread that the government was trying to silence the military council's vocal opposition. A spokesperson for the US State Department said that the raids on NGOs did not positively reflect the Egyptian government's commitment to democracy. Despite Egypt's assurances to the US that it would return to the NGOs all property and assets seized in the raids, the Egyptian military also proclaimed that it would not tolerate foreign interference [Reuters report] in the nation's affairs. This week's decision to investigate NGO employees coincides with ongoing violence in Egypt [NPR report], where more than 70 people were killed Thursday during a riot in a soccer stadium and as many as 13 killed in protests during the last five days.

Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam, faces the death penalty in Libya for crimes against humanity based on charges of killing protesters. If he is transferred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] to stand trial, he would be one of the most prominent figures to be tried by the ICC. Last week, in response to international criticism, the Libyan Ministry of Justice announced [JURIST report] that it will be commandeering "makeshift prisons" around the country to prevent further torture of detainees. Deputy Minister Khalifa Ashour acknowledged that primarily loyalists to former dictator Gaddafi have been tortured in unregulated prisons. Allegations of war crimes and human rights violations have been widespread in the aftermath of the Libyan conflict. In January Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] reported the recent deaths of several Libyan detainees who were apparently tortured while in custody [JURIST report]. In the midst of the Libya conflict, the ICC issued an arrest warrant [JURIST commentary] for Saif al-Islam, who was an extremely recognizable figure in the Gaddafi regime.

Kody Brown and his four wives, the plaintiffs in this case, are stars of TLC's reality show Sister Wives [official website]. A police investigation [Utah News report] against them has been ongoing since September 2010, when the show was first announced and premiered. Utah's Anti-Bigamy Statute [statute, text] has been on the books since 1862. While polygamy is now recognized in most of Africa and the Middle East, it is still illegal in most of North and South America, Europe and China. In 2005, the US District Court for the District of Utah rejected a similar lawsuit [JURIST report] brought against Utah's Anti-Bigamy Statute, reaffirming the 1879 US Supreme Court case Reynolds v. United States [text], which upheld a conviction under an anti-polygamy law as constitutional.

Sgt. Calvin Gibbs was convicted of three counts [JURIST report] of premeditated murder in November and was sentenced to life in prison. Gibbs admitted that he cut off fingers from the bodies to keep as trophies but claimed he was acting in self-defense and that they had fired first. Specialist Jeremy Morlock had pleaded guilty [JURIST report] in March to the same premeditated murders and received a sentence of 24 years in prison. As part of his plea deal, Morlock agreed to testify against Gibbs and the rest of his co-defendants. Private Andrew Holmes pleaded guilty [JURIST report] to murder in September and was sentenced [JURIST report] to seven years in prison as part of a plea deal. A month earlier, Specialist Adam Winfield also pleaded guilty [JURIST report] to involuntary manslaughter in connection with the deaths, and was sentenced to three years in prison.

No private child-placing agency shall be required to consider or consent to any placement of a child for foster care or adoption when the proposed placement would conflict with the religious tenets of any sponsor of the agency or other organization or institution with which the child-placing agency is affiliated or associated. ... Refusal of a private child-placing agency to consider or consent to any placement of a child pursuant to this section shall not form the basis of any claim for damages.

Last month an Iowa court ruled that both same-sex parents' names must be recorded on birth certificates. In October the US Supreme Court [official website] denied certiorari [JURIST report] in Adar v. Smith [backgrounder], in which a same-sex couple asked Louisiana to include both of their names on the birth certificate of their adopted child. In April the Arkansas Supreme Court struck down [JURIST report] a state ban on adoptions by same-sex couples. The Supreme Court of Mexico in August 2010 upheld a Mexico City law [JURIST report] allowing adoptions by same-sex couples. Two years before that, a Florida court ruled that a state statute [JURIST report] preventing same-sex couples from adopting children was unconstitutional.

Scientology, founded by American science fiction author L Ron Hubbard in 1954, has also been challenged in Russia, which recently banned its main texts [JURIST report]. Prior to that, in 2009, Russia attempted to block Scientology from registering as a religion, which prompted the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) [official website] to condem the decision as discriminatory. That same year, Belgian prosecutor Jean-Claude Van Espen said Scientology should be classified as a criminal organization [JURIST report] after completing a 10-year investigation into the church's activities.