Legal news from JURIST's Paper Chase‏

Here's your daily summary of legal news from Paper Chase, the real-time legal news arm of JURIST... Russia protest leader sentenced to 5 years in prison for embezzlement
[JURIST] A Russian court on Thursday sentenced political activist and lawyer Alexei Navalny [BBC profile] to five years in prison for embezzling USD $500,000 from a state-owned timber company. Navalny, a strong critic of President Vladimir Putin [official website, in Russian] and a crusader against alleged governmental corruption, declared that the charges against him were baseless [Al Jazeera report]. The verdict against Navalny drew criticism [BBC report] from his supporters, who contend that the proceedings were politically motivated. US Ambassador... [more].
Posted by Max Slater on Jul 18, 2013 01:27 pm

ICC president calls on international community to bring war criminals to justice
[JURIST] Judge Sang Hyun Song [official profile], the president of the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website], on Tuesday urged the international community [press release] to commit to bringing perpetrators of war crimes and genocide to justice. Song's statement marked International Criminal Justice Day, July 17, which was the date that the Rome Statute [text, PDF] was signed in 1998, officially creating the ICC. Song declared that although the court has brought many criminals to justice in its 15-year existence,... [more].
Posted by Max Slater on Jul 18, 2013 12:26 pm

Bangladesh lawmakers approve changes to labor law
[JURIST] Bangladesh lawmakers approved a new labor law this week in response the collapse of the Rana Plaza building, which killed about 1,129 garment workers in April. Although the new law broadens the scope of industries that can participate in union practices, it also places a high standard on the steps required to form a union in all industries. According to Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website], the law requires that a union receive signatures [HRW report] in support of... [more].
Posted by G. Redd on Jul 18, 2013 11:35 am

Aghanistan president approves new election laws
[JURIST] Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai [official website] ratified two new election laws on Wednesday. The UN had pressed the president to improve the election commission he had threatened to disperse after it disqualified 25 percent of the 2009 ballots, sparking violence across the country. By reinvigorating the Independent Election Commission [official website] and establishing an independent commission for voting complaints, the UN is hoping for a peaceful democratic transition when Karzai steps down from office, as a genuine democratic election... [more].
Posted by G. Redd on Jul 18, 2013 10:43 am

Rights groups challenge NSA surveillance
[JURIST] The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) [advocacy website] on Tuesday filed a lawsuit [complaint, PDF] in the US District Court for the Northern District of California [official website] against the National Security Agency (NSA) [official website]. The lawsuit seeks an injunction [AP report] against the NSA, Justice Department, FBI and directors of the agencies for allegedly violating plaintiffs' First Amendment [text] right of association, as well as their Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights, by illegally collecting various call records. The... [more].
Posted by Theresa Donovan on Jul 18, 2013 09:41 am

Guantanamo guards allowed to continue detainee genital searches
[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia [official website] on Wednesday granted the US government's motion for a temporary delay in enforcement of a court order banning genital searches at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST backgrounder]. The searches at issue are being conducted any time a detainee is transported to the area for meeting with counsel regarding habeas corpus matters. The US District Court for the District of Columbia [official website] last week ordered [order, memorandum opinion] Guantanamo... [more].
Posted by Jaimie Cremeans on Jul 18, 2013 09:35 am

Federal appeals court rules plaintiffs lack standing to challenge anti-terrorism law
[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit [official website] on Wednesday ruled [opinion, PDF] that plaintiffs who were challenging an anti-terrorism law on grounds that it could stifle freedom of the press lacked standing to challenge the law, but noted that there are parts of the law that should be reviewed. The National Defense Authorization Act for 2012 (NDAA) [text, PDF] affirms the president's authority under the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) [text] to detain... [more].
Posted by Jaimie Cremeans on Jul 18, 2013 08:47 am

China authorities detain anti-corruption activist Xu Zhiyong
[JURIST] Chinese activist and lawyer Xu Zhiyong was arrested by Chinese authorities on Wednesday on suspicion of having "gathered crowds to disrupt public order." Xu, a law lecturer at the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications [academic website] and founder of the Open Constitution Initiative (Gongmeng) [Economist report], was placed under house arrest [AP report] on April 12. Xu's arrest come after Chinese President Xi Jinping [NYT profile] pledged to increase efforts to combat government corruption. Xu was previously detained... [more].
Posted by Peter Snyder on Jul 18, 2013 08:15 am

Federal judge denies credit rating agency's motion to dismiss fraud lawsuit
[JURIST] A judge for the US District Court Central District of California [official website] on Tuesday denied [opinion, PDF] a motion by McGraw-Hill Companies and Standard & Poor's Financial Services (S&P) [corporate websites], a unit of McGraw Hill Financial, to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the US government. The five billion dollar lawsuit accuses S&P of misrepresenting the credit risk of complex financial products including residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS) [SEC backgrounder] and collateralized debt obligations (CDO) [CNN backgrounder]. According... [more].
Posted by Peter Snyder on Jul 18, 2013 07:17 am