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Global Legal Monitor (GLM)
The Global Legal Monitor is an online publication from the Law Library of Congress covering legal news and developments worldwide. It is updated frequently and draws on information from the Global Legal Information Network, official national legal publications, and reliable press sources. You can find previous news by searching the GLM.
For questions about articles or copies of materials in the Law Library’s collections, contact us at glm@loc.gov.
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New Zealand: Environment - Requirements to Build Eased as Part of Stimulus Plan
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(Feb. 09, 2009) On February 2, 2009, New Zealand's Prime Minister, John Key, announced a proposal to revise the country's Resource Management Act (RMA). The changes are aimed at easing the way for development projects and home remodeling plans, which would help stimulate the economy. Other elements of the economic plan include increased public spending on roads, housing, the electricity infrastructure, schools, and hospitals, plus business tax changes that will benefit small- and medium-sized companies. (Vernon Small & Tracy Watkins, Government Bulldozes Barriers to Growth, DOMINION POST, Feb. 4, 2009, available at http://www.stuff.co.nz/4837091a6160.html.)
The major changes proposed for the RMA include:
- local councils would have to reduce their fees if they improperly delay processing an application for a project that would impact the natural environment;
- those applying for "resource consent" could, with council approval, skip a step and go directly to the Environment Court;
- current rules that require local council consent to trim or cut down trees of a certain size would be eliminated;
- the planning process at the district and regional levels would be streamlined and only cases with legal issues would be appealed to the Environment Court; and
- fines for violating environmental laws would be increased from NZ$200,000 to NZ$300,000 (about US$101,300 to 152,000) for individuals and to NZ$600,000 (about US$304,000) for companies. (Eloise Gibson, Government Cuts Red Tape to Help Homeowners, NZHERALD.CO.NZ, Feb. 4, 2009, available at http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10555022.)
Developers and business groups in general reacted favorably to the proposals, which are expected to make the approval process quicker and less costly for the approximately 50,000 environmental permits sought in the country annually. However, environmental groups expressed concern. Tree Council representative Hueline Massey complained that the suggested changes to the laws on trees had been "out of the blue" and that the existing rules had been created to end the "destruction of good trees without a good reason." (Id.)
- Author: Constance Johnson
- Topic: Environment More on this topic
- Jurisdiction: New Zealand More about this jurisdiction
European Union: Terrorism - Iranian Opposition Group off Terrorist List
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(Feb. 09, 2009) On January 26, 2009, the foreign ministers of the Member States of the European Union agreed to strike the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) off the list maintained by the EU of terrorist organizations. The agreement, which signals the end of a seven-year battle by PMOI against its inclusion on the EU list, is in compliance with a number of court judgments, the most recent reached in December 2008 by the European Court of First Instance, ordering the removal of the PMOI from the list.
PMOI is the Iranian opposition group, founded in the 1960s in opposition to the Shah, that carried out a number of armed attacks from 1980-1990 but gave up its arms in 2003. Tehran claims that PMOI is still dangerous. It is banned in the United States. For the time being, PMOI will be able to operate freely in the EU and raise funds. Meanwhile, France announced that it is preparing an appeal against the December 2008 court order. (EU Ministers Drop Iran Group from Terror List, EU OBSERVER, Jan. 26, 2009, available at http://euobserver.com/24/27472; see also Iranian Group's Status on Terrorist List, GLOBAL LEGAL MONITOR, Oct. 30, 2008, available at http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_755_text.)
- Author: Theresa Papademetriou
- Topic: Terrorism More on this topic
- Jurisdiction: European Union More about this jurisdiction
Brazil: Criminal Law - Castration for Pedophiles
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(Feb. 09, 2009) The Brazilian Congress is currently debating a proposed law that amends the Penal Code to impose a punishment of chemical castration on persons convicted of committing rape or other sexual crimes against children and adolescents. The proposal makes the chemical punishment mandatory for recurrent convicts and optional for first-time offenders. The author of the proposal, Senator Gerson Camata, was quoted as saying that in a recent case a pedophile had been arrested for killing two boys and that their deaths perhaps could have been avoided if the law existed, because the pedophile had been previously arrested for the crime of pedophilia. (Pedófilos Podem Sofrer Castração Química, O DIA ONLINE, Feb. 3, 2009, available at http://odia.terra.com.br/ciencia/htm/pedofilos_podem_sofrer_castracao_quimica_
125880.asp.)
- Author: Eduardo Soares
- Topic: Criminal Law More on this topic
- Jurisdiction: Brazil More about this jurisdiction
Brazil: Criminal Procedure - Federal Supreme Court Issues Binding Decision on Attorney Access to Evidence
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(Feb. 09, 2009) On February 2, 2009, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court (Supremo Tribunal Federal or STF) issued a binding decision (Súmula Vinculante No. 14) that grants attorneys in criminal cases the right to have access to documented evidence involving their clients, even if the criminal process is being carried on in secret. The decision was issued in response to a request made by the Federal Council of the Brazilian Bar Association in connection with numerous other decisions previously issued by the STF that allow attorneys to have access to criminal processes. It was the fourteenth binding decision issued by the court since its creation in 2004 and the first one issued as a response to an external request.
According to article 103-A of the Brazilian Constitution, after it has made reiterated decisions on constitutional matters, the STF may, ex-officio or upon demand, issue a decision that has binding effect on the other organs of the judiciary, as well as on the powers of direct and indirect administration of federal, state, and municipal governments. (Press Release, Supremo Tribunal Federal, Plenário Edita 14a. Súmula Vinculante e Permite Acesso de Advogado a Inquérito Policial Sigiloso (Feb. 2, 2009), available at http://www.stf.jus.br/portal/cms/verNoticiaDetalhe.asp?idConteudo=102548.)
- Author: Eduardo Soares
- Topic: Criminal Procedure More on this topic
- Jurisdiction: Brazil More about this jurisdiction
Iraq: Press - Kurdish President Pardons Imprisoned Journalist
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(Feb. 09, 2009) On November 24, 2008, Adel Hussein, a physician and freelance journalist, was found guilty of offending public decency, in violation of Chapter 8, article 403, of the Iraqi Penal Code. On December 7, 2008, Dr. Hussein was released from prison under a pardon granted by the President of the Kurdish region of Iraq, a practice that is commonplace at the start of every religious festival in both the region and the country.
Hussein had been sentenced to serve six months in the Mahata prison in the city of Erbil, the capital of the Kurdish region of Iraq, and fined 125,000 dinars (about US$109). He was originally prosecuted as the result of a complaint made by the Erbil City public prosecutor concerning an article Hussein had written for a scientific audience, which detailed the ramifications of sodomy. The article was published in April 2007 in the independent Kurdish bi-weekly political newspaper, HAWLATI. ( Reporters Without Borders, Kurdish President Pardons Doctor Who Was Jailed for Writing About Homosexuality, UNHCR Refworld website, Dec. 8, 2008, available at http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/493e3ac319.html (last visited Jan. 16, 2009).)
Chapter 8, article 403, of the Iraqi Penal Code states:
Any person who produces, imports, publishes, possesses, obtains or translates a book, printed or other written material, drawing, picture, film, symbol or other thing that violates the public integrity or decency with intent to exploit or distribute such material is punishable by a period of detention not exceeding 2 years plus a fine not exceeding 200 dinars or by one of those penalties. The same penalty applies to any person who advertises such material or displays it in public or sells, hires or offers it for sale or hire even though it is not in public or to any person who distributes or submits it for distribution by any means.
If the offence is committed with the intent to deprave, it is considered to be an aggravating circumstances [sic].
(Iraqi Penal Code [in Arabic], http://www.iraq-ild.org/LoadLawBook.aspx?SC=030220068157016 (last visited Jan.16, 2009); Ministry of Justice, The Penal-Code with Amendments (No. 111 of 1969) (STS 251/88) [published in AL-WAQAI' AL-'IRAQIYA, No. 2796, Sept. 26, 1980], http://law.case.edu/saddamtrial/documents/Iraqi_Penal_Code_1969.pdf (last visited Jan. 16, 2009).)
The non-profit international organization that defends journalists worldwide, Reporters Without Borders, expressed concern that a case involving the press was tried under the Penal Code, given that Kurdistan's leaders had issued a regional press law that would be applicable – Law 35 of 2007, issued on October 9, 2008 (Reporters Without Borders, supra). The regional law "prohibits the imprisonment of journalists as well as the closure or suspension of newspapers – key demands of press rights advocates and local journalists who fought against prior drafts of the legislation that they claimed were too restrictive." (Iraqi Crisis Report: Kurdish Press Law Draws Mixed Responses, Institute for War and Peace Reporting website, Oct. 17, 2008, available at http://www.iwpr.net/?p=icr&s=f&o=347233&apc_state=henpicr.) The first provision of the regional press law states:
The press is free and no censorship shall be imposed on it. Freedom of expression and publication shall be guaranteed to every citizen within the framework of respect for personal rights, liberties and the privacy of individuals in accordance with the law, as well as [commitment] to the principles of ethics in the Bordeaux Declaration of Principles on the Conduct of Journalists, adopted by the 1954 World Congress of the International Federation of Journalists, amended in 1986 and annexed hereto.
(Decree No. 24 of 2008: Press Law in the Kurdistan Region (Law No. 35 of 2007), Kurdistan Region Presidency website, Sept. 22, 2008, available at http://krp.org/docs/PressLaw-KRI.pdf; for the text of the Principles on the Conduct of Journalists, see IFJ Declaration of Principles on the Conduct of Journalists, International Federation of Journalists website, http://www.ifj.org/assets/docs/060/151/2bcb53c-c641f97.doc (last visited Jan. 16, 2009).)
- Author: Francisco Macías
- Topic: Press More on this topic
- Jurisdiction: Iraq More about this jurisdiction
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