JURIST's legal news service, powered by a team of over 40 law student reporters and editors led by Professor Bernard Hibbitts at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. http://jurist.org/paperchase JURISTremove_this@pitt.edu [JURIST] French President Nicolas Sarkozy [official website, in French] said Monday his government would proceed to draft a law [press release, in French] that would make it easier to deport illegal immigrants and strip immigrants accused of violent crimes of their French citizenship. The proposal targets immigrants who kill or attempt to kill public officials or police officers within 10 years of having gaining French citizenship. The law will also set out financial sanctions for those accused of polygamy and... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/sarkozy-proposes-new-immigration-measures.php 2010-09-06T11:35:44-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/sarkozy-proposes-new-immigration-measures.php Carrie Schimizzi ... [JURIST] Prosecutors in Bahrain [BBC backgrounder] on Saturday charged 23 Shiite Muslims with terrorism-related offenses and conspiring to overthrow the government, claiming that they were acting under the direction of an unnamed foreign government. The suspects, who have been under arrest since August, are charged with undermining national security [NYT report] and planning violence, intimidation and subversion through an international terrorist network. At least 10 prominent Shiite opposition figures were formally charged by prosecution officials, including Abduljalil al-Singace, Mohamed Habeeb... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/bahrain-officials-charge-shia-opposition-leaders-with-planning-to-overthrow-governement.php 2010-09-06T11:24:13-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/bahrain-officials-charge-shia-opposition-leaders-with-planning-to-overthrow-governement.php Carrie Schimizzi ... [JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit [official website] issued a decision [text, PDF] Friday allowing two people to file habeas corpus petitions against removal orders from the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) [official website] despite provisions of the REAL ID Act (RIDA) [text, PDF; JURIST news archive] removing jurisdiction from federal courts to hear such claims when they are late. The government had moved to dismiss the appeals for untimeliness under RIDA, but the petitioners, Worklis... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/appeals-court-allows-judicial-review-for-untimely-immigration-review-petitions.php 2010-09-06T10:38:44-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/appeals-court-allows-judicial-review-for-untimely-immigration-review-petitions.php Erin Bock ... [JURIST] An independent journalist is expected to go on trial for allegedly libeling Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abult Gheit [official website] according to Sunday press reports. Gheit alleges that Hamdi Qandeel insulted him [AFP report] in an article he wrote for the independent daily Shorouk [official website, in Arabic] in which Qandeel analogized statements made by Gheit to garbage leaked from a garbage bag. Qandeel could face prison time or a fine if found guilty. Qandeel's case does not mark... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/egyptian-journalist-to-go-on-trial-for-libel.php 2010-09-05T16:53:40-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/egyptian-journalist-to-go-on-trial-for-libel.php Erin Bock ... [JURIST] An appeals court in Argentina Friday reopened an investigation into crimes against humanity committed in Spain during the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War and the subsequent regime of General Francisco Franco [BBC profile]. The Spanish government adopted an amnesty law in 1977 [JURIST report] after Franco's death barring investigation and prosecution of such crimes. Under "universal jurisdiction" doctrine the Second Chamber of Argentina's House of Federal Criminal Appeals plans to send a "diplomatic request" [BBC report] to the Spanish government... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/argentina-appeals-court-re-opens-investigation-into-spanish-civil-war-crimes.php 2010-09-05T16:17:03-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/argentina-appeals-court-re-opens-investigation-into-spanish-civil-war-crimes.php Erin Bock ... [JURIST] The classified advertising website Craigslist [website] removed its "adult services" section Saturday, replacing it with a "censored" label after 18 state attorneys general criticized the section in a letter [text] sent last month. The letter, written by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal [official website] and joined by the attorneys general of 17 other states, called on Craigslist to remove the section due to alleged "rampant prostitution advertisements" and because it is supposedly used to facilitate human trafficking of women... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/craigslist-removes-adult-services-section-under-pressure-from-state-ags.php 2010-09-05T12:26:28-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/craigslist-removes-adult-services-section-under-pressure-from-state-ags.php Dwyer Arce ... [JURIST] Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Iran [GlobaLex backgrounder] on Saturday concluded the one-day trial of Shiva Nazar Ahari, a journalist arrested following the 2009 presidential election [JURIST news archive]. During the Tehran trial, conducted by head judge Pyrbasy, Ahari faced charges of warring against God [CHRR report], known in Islamic law as Moharebeh, conspiring to commit a crime, propaganda against the revolution and disturbing the public order, violating several articles of the Islamic Penal Code of Iran... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/trial-concludes-in-case-of-iran-journalist-charged-with-moharebeh.php 2010-09-05T11:17:47-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/trial-concludes-in-case-of-iran-journalist-charged-with-moharebeh.php Dwyer Arce ... [JURIST] Over 100,000 people in 130 cities across France protested Saturday against the security policies of President Nicolas Sarkozy [official website, in French]. The protesters called the expulsion of illegal Roma [JURIST report] and a recent bid to ban the burqa [JURIST report], xenophobic [Le Monde report, in French] and said they make minority groups scapegoats for France's crime problems. The League of Human Rights [advocacy website, in French] released a statement [text, in French] about the protests, saying "Tens... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/protests-held-across-france-against-sarkozys-xenophobic-security-measures.php 2010-09-04T15:35:28-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/protests-held-across-france-against-sarkozys-xenophobic-security-measures.php Sarah Paulsworth ... [JURIST] Canada has allocated $105 million to build new prison cells at four existing prisons in anticipation of a drastic increase in prisoners over the next several years. The Canadian government's plan [National Post report] envisages the creation of 2,700 new spaces at the prisons within three years, in response to an expected 25 percent increase in the number of people incarcerated. According to a Correctional Service of Canada [official website] spokeswoman, the major catalyst [Ottawa Sun report] for the... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/canada-to-spend-105-million-on-prison-expansions-in-anticipation-of-prisoner-increase.php 2010-09-04T13:22:51-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/canada-to-spend-105-million-on-prison-expansions-in-anticipation-of-prisoner-increase.php Sarah Paulsworth ... [JURIST] The US Court of Military Commission Review [official website] will hear en banc an appeal by former Osama Bin Laden [JURIST news archive] driver Salim Ahmed Hamdan [DOD materials; JURIST news archive] according to media reports. The decision was revealed late Friday in a one-page order [Miami Herald report] given to attorneys working on Hamdan's case. Hamdan was convicted [JURIST report] in August 2008 of providing material support for terrorism [charge sheet, PDF] and sentenced to 66 months of... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/hamdan-appeal-to-be-reviewed-en-banc-by-us-court-of-military-commission-review.php 2010-09-04T11:31:59-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/hamdan-appeal-to-be-reviewed-en-banc-by-us-court-of-military-commission-review.php Sarah Paulsworth ... [JURIST] The Paris Court of Appeals on Friday upheld a 2008 judgment against the online auction house eBay [corporate website] for its role in the sale of counterfeit goods but significantly reduced the amount of damages eBay has to pay. The appeals court cut the damages [AP report] to be paid to French luxury goods giant LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) [corporate website] from 38 million euros (USD $49 million) to 5.7 million euros (USD $7.3 million). The original... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/france-appeals-court-upholds-judgment-against-ebay-but-reduces-damages.php 2010-09-03T16:08:47-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/france-appeals-court-upholds-judgment-against-ebay-but-reduces-damages.php Zach Zagger ... [JURIST] Two individuals detained during the Group of 20 (G-20) [official website] summit in Toronto in July filed a class action suit [statement of claim, PDF] on Thursday on behalf of 1,150 individuals detained during the summit. The individuals, Miranda McQuade and Mike Barber, named three defendants in the suit, the Canadian Attorney General, the Toronto Police Services Board and the Regional Municaplity of Peel Police Services Board [official websites]. The plaintiffs claim that law enforcement committed numerous intentional torts... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/canada-g-20-protesters-file-class-action-suit-against-ag-and-toronto-police.php 2010-09-03T13:19:31-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/canada-g-20-protesters-file-class-action-suit-against-ag-and-toronto-police.php Brian Jackson ... [JURIST] The US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] announced Thursday that a Hawaii grand jury has indicted six people on human trafficking charges [press release]. The defendants allegedly enticed approximately 400 Thai nationals to come to the US by falsely promising them job opportunities and then forcing them to work at farms in Washington and Hawaii by threatening economic harm. According to the indictment, the six people, three of whom work for Global Horizons Manpower, charged the Thai nationals... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/doj-brings-charges-in-largest-us-human-trafficking-case.php 2010-09-03T13:05:08-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/doj-brings-charges-in-largest-us-human-trafficking-case.php Matt Glenn ... [JURIST] A judge for California's 3rd District Court of Appeal [official website] ruled [case summary; San Francisco Chronicle report] Wednesday that neither Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger nor Attorney General Jerry Brown [official profiles] is required to appeal last month's federal district court decision [JURIST report] finding California's ban on same-sex marriage [JURIST news archive] unconstitutional. Supporters of Proposition 8 [text, JURIST news archive], which banned same-sex marriage in California, had hoped the state would appeal the decision since it is not... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/california-appeals-court-refuses-to-order-state-to-appeal-same-sex-marriage-ruling.php 2010-09-03T12:15:50-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/california-appeals-court-refuses-to-order-state-to-appeal-same-sex-marriage-ruling.php Matt Glenn ... [JURIST] Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang said Friday that last month's trial of four men sentenced to death for a 2009 attack on the presidential palace was fair. Obiang stated that the country's laws were respected, and procedures guaranteeing a legal, open and fair trial [AFP report], including the guarantee of defense counsel, were followed. Jose Abeso Nsue, Manuel Ndong Anseme, Alipio Ndong Asumu and Jacinto Micha Obiang, all government employees, were executed immediately after being convicted by a military... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/equatorial-guinea-president-says-coup-plotters-had-fair-trial.php 2010-09-03T10:28:08-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/equatorial-guinea-president-says-coup-plotters-had-fair-trial.php Megan McKee ... [JURIST] Judges of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website] warned Friday that the genocide trial of Radovan Karadzic [case materials; JURIST news archive] may take another four years—two years longer than expected. As the UN Security Council [official website] is urging the ICTY to close its doors, Friday's hearing [AP report] was called to discuss methods to streamline what has become the tribunal's lengthiest and most complex case. To speed things up, the prosecution urged... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/icty-judges-warn-karadzic-trial-likely-to-continue-until-2014.php 2010-09-03T09:24:28-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/icty-judges-warn-karadzic-trial-likely-to-continue-until-2014.php Megan McKee ... [JURIST] The International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA), a joint venture undertaken by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) [official websites], Austria and others, opened its doors [press release] on Thursday. Based in Laxenburg, Austria, the school is designed to educate public and private entities on the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) [materials] and train them in its applications. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official website] remarked [text]:Across the world, intolerance of corruption is growing. The... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/un-sponsored-anti-corruption-agency-opens-in-austria.php 2010-09-03T08:18:13-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/un-sponsored-anti-corruption-agency-opens-in-austria.php Daniel Makosky ... [JURIST] Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] called Wednesday on Bahraini authorities to make a prompt investigation into torture allegations [press release] made by four Shia activists who have been detained for more than two weeks. On August 27, after 15 days of solitary confinement, Abd al-Jalil al-Singace, one of the detained men, was brought for formal questioning and arraignment by Attorney General Ali Fadhul al-Buainain. Al-Singace told al-Buainain he had been handcuffed and blindfolded the entire time, beaten on... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/rights-group-urges-bahrain-to-investigate-torture-allegations.php 2010-09-02T15:23:59-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/rights-group-urges-bahrain-to-investigate-torture-allegations.php Megan McKee ... [JURIST] Current and former international prosecutors on Tuesday signed the fourth Chautauqua Declaration [text, PDF] praising recent advances in international law and urging countries to continue supporting the international courts in order to maintain the spirit of the Nuremburg Principles [text]. The prosecutors, who have worked with the International Criminal Court (ICC), the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL), the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), the Extraordinary Chambers in the... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/prosecutors-urge-continued-support-of-international-tribunals.php 2010-09-02T13:39:34-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/prosecutors-urge-continued-support-of-international-tribunals.php Hillary Stemple ... [JURIST] The UN announced Thursday that it will delay the release of a report [UN News Centre report] that accuses Rwandan forces of committing acts of genocide in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] during the years following the 1994 Rwandan genocide [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive]. According to a statement by the UN Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) [official website], the report will be released on October 1 to allow... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/un-delays-release-of-controversial-drc-genocide-report.php 2010-09-02T11:14:48-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/un-delays-release-of-controversial-drc-genocide-report.php Andrea Bottorff ... [JURIST] A criminal court in Thailand on Thursday convicted two members of the pro-government People's Alliance for Democracy Network [party website, in Thai; BBC backgrounder], known as "yellow shirts," of defaming former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra [BBC profile; JURIST news archive]. Yellow shirt movement founder and Thai media mogul Sondhi Limthongkul and his former television co-host Sarocha Pornudomsak were convicted [AFP report] of defaming Thaksin during their television show by accusing him of insulting the monarchy. The two were sentenced... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/thailand-court-convicts-yellow-shirts-of-slandering-ex-pm.php 2010-09-02T09:10:28-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/thailand-court-convicts-yellow-shirts-of-slandering-ex-pm.php Jay Carmella ... [JURIST] A judge for the US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana [official website] on Wednesday denied [order, PDF] the government's motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Hornbeck Offshore Services [corporate website] and several other drilling companies challenging the government's latest moratorium on offshore drilling. The moratorium directive was issued on July 12 [JURIST report] by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar [official website] after the district court and US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/federal-judge-rules-against-drilling-moratorium.php 2010-09-02T08:03:53-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/federal-judge-rules-against-drilling-moratorium.php Erin Bock ... [JURIST] The US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] announced [press release] Wednesday that it has charged [complaint, PDF] Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimulla Mehsud [NYT profile] in connection with the December 30 attack [WP backgrounder] on Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) [official website] Afghan outpost Camp Chapman that left nine people dead. Mehsud identifies himself as the head of Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) [CTC Sentinel Backgrounder], a Pakistan-based terrorist cell affiliated with the Afghan Taliban. The filing in the US District... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/doj-files-criminal-charges-against-pakistan-taliban-leader.php 2010-09-01T15:31:30-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/doj-files-criminal-charges-against-pakistan-taliban-leader.php Daniel Richey ... [JURIST] Former Illinois governor George Ryan [JURIST news archive] on Tuesday filed a motion [materials] in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois [official website] asking the judge to vacate his prison sentence, following a recent US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] decision that allegedly set new precedent supporting Ryan's appeal. In June, the Supreme Court ruled [opinion, PDF] in Skilling v. United States [Cornell LII backgrounder; JURIST report] that the "honest services" doctrine [18... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/illinois-ex-governor-ryan-appeals-conviction-following-honest-services-ruling.php 2010-09-01T13:24:03-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/illinois-ex-governor-ryan-appeals-conviction-following-honest-services-ruling.php Andrea Bottorff ... [JURIST] The Court of Appeals for the Fifth District of Texas [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Tuesday that the state ban on same-sex marriage [JURIST news archive] does not violate the US Constitution. The court also held that state trial courts do not have jurisdiction to hear cases involving the divorce of same-sex couples married in another state, overturning a 2009 ruling in which the 302nd Family District Court [official website] held that it had jurisdiction [JURIST report] over same-sex... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/texas-appeals-court-upholds-same-sex-marriage-ban.php 2010-09-01T13:05:27-05:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/09/texas-appeals-court-upholds-same-sex-marriage-ban.php Dwyer Arce ...