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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 search previous news by searching the archive.
For questions about articles or copies of materials in the Law Library’s collections, contact us at glm@loc.gov.
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Ethiopia: Nongovernmental Organizations - New Law on Nongovernmental Organizations Passed
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(Jan. 13, 2009) On January 6, 2009, the Ethiopian Parliament passed into law the Proclamation for Registration and Regulation of Charities and Societies, which seeks to regulate activities of non-governmental organizations. The Proclamation establishes an oversight agency and detailed rules to regulate the establishment, fundraising, and membership of trusts and endowments, civil society organizations, and charities. It restricts activities in "human and democratic rights, gender or ethnic equality, conflict resolution, the strengthening of judicial practices or law enforcement" to Ethiopian organizations whose funding from "foreign sources" does not exceed ten percent of their spending funds. (New Law on Charities Passed Despite Objections, IRIN, Jan. 6, 2009, available at http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200901070659.html.)
The Proclamation has come under heavy criticism both from national and international groups. Critics have argued that the Proclamation is a "scheme to stifle societal and voluntary initiatives" and that it will "hurt human rights groups critical of the government and … disrupt aid operations." (Id.)
- Author: Hanibal Goitom
- Topic: Nongovernmental Organizations More on this topic
- Jurisdiction: Ethiopia More about this jurisdiction
European Union: Export Controls - Arms Exports to Israel
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(Jan. 13, 2009) Until December 8, 2008, each Member State of the European Union had the discretion to decide on a case-by-case basis whether to allow exportation of conventional arms and the transfer of technology to a third country, as long as the general legal requirements established by the EU were met and no embargo or other sanction was imposed by the EU, the Security Council of the United Nations, or the Organization on Security and Co-operation in Europe. Since 1998, EU Members had agreed voluntarily to apply the broad guidelines pertaining to arms exports. The guidelines were contained in the 1998 European Code of Conduct on Arms Exports. The Code, however, lacked binding force because it was simply a political agreement.
On December 8, 2008, the Council of the EU finally responded to the long-standing call by some EU Members and, in particular, the European Parliament to adopt binding rules on arms exports. As a result of the Council's action, the Code has been transformed into a legally binding document that must be incorporated into the legal systems of the EU Members. (Council Common Position Defining Common Rules Governing the Control of Exports of Military Technology and Equipment, 15972/1/08 REV 1, Dec. 8, 2008, available at http://register.consilium.europa.eu/pdf/en/08/st15/st15972-re01.en08.pdf.)
Currently, at the European Union level, arms exports are subject to the following legal instruments: 1) the December 8, 2008, Council Common Position on the Control of Exports of Military Technology and Equipment, which replaced the 1998 European Code of Conduct on Arms Exports; 2) Regulation (EC) No. 1334/2000 Establishing a Community Regime for the Control of Exports of Dual-Use Items and Technology (as amended); and 3) Common Position 2003/468/CFSP on the Control of Arms Brokering. A Common List of Military Equipment was established in 2000 and is regularly updated.
The Common Position retains eight criteria that were set forth in the Code of Conduct, but they are now mandatory and must be applied by EU Members to the export of conventional arms, including related software and military technology. In practice, the process of applying these criteria occurs during the review of an export license request by an EU Member and prior to making a decision as to whether or not to permit exportation of arms to a third country. The criteria for a decision to permit such exports, as contained in the Common Position and the Code of Conduct, include:
- the compatibility of the exportation of arms with the exporter's international commitments;
- the risk of the exportation being used for internal repression or of the recipient country's being involved in serious violations of human rights;
- the danger of the exportation's provoking or prolonging armed conflicts; and
- the danger of the exports being diverted to third parties or to a terrorist organization.
The EU had released annual reports on implementation of the Code of Conduct. Statistics recently released by the EU in its 2008 report on arms export licenses indicate that in 2007, EU Member States allowed the exportation of about €200 million worth of arms exports to Israel. EU Members are not required to provide detailed and accurate accounts of such exports. According to the report, 18 Member States authorized a total of 1,018 licenses to Israel worth €199,409,348 (about US$269 million), with France, Germany, and Romania being the top three exporters. France issued export licenses valued at €126 million (about US$170 million); Germany, €28 million (about US$38 million); and Romania, €17 million (about US$23 million). In addition, Bulgaria, Germany, Poland, Romania, and the United Kingdom exported small arms and ammunition to Israel valued at €12 million (about US$16 million). Sweden and eight other EU countries did not export any arms to Israel. (Leigh Phillips, Arms Exports to Israel from EU Worth €200m, EU OBSERVER, Jan. 1, 2009, available at http://euobserver.com/9/27359/?rk=1.)
- Author: Theresa Papademetriou
- Topic: Export Controls More on this topic
- Jurisdiction: European Union More about this jurisdiction
France: Criminal Procedure - Reform of the Criminal Investigation System
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(Jan. 13, 2009) On January 7, 2009, during his address to the Cour de Cassation, France's highest judicial Supreme Court, President Nicolas Sarkozy confirmed his wish that investigating judges no longer lead criminal investigations in France; if his wish is fulfilled, it would end a 200-year-old tradition. Investigating judges are specifically designated to investigate serious criminal cases after the initial police investigation phase. They aim to discover the objective truth, rather than the guilt of a particular suspect. To fulfill their task, they have been given extensive powers. They carry out "in accordance with the law, all acts of investigation that they consider useful for the establishment of the truth." (Art. 81, Criminal Procedure Code (Dalloz 2008).)
A reform plan may be presented to Parliament sometime in 2009, after a Commission presided over by Philippe Léger, a former Attorney General for the European Court of Justice, presents its findings and proposals in February. A majority of the members of the Commission are said to be in favor of doing away with the investigating judges. If the post is discontinued, the police and the Public Prosecutor's Office would be in charge of criminal investigations under the supervision of an independent judge, who would not participate in the investigation.
The reform proposal provoked strong protests from the various judges' unions and from members of the opposition parties. They see it as "the death of an independent judiciary system, as the public prosecutor's office is in the hands of the executive power." (Magistrats et politiques s'insurgent contre la suppression du juge d'instruction, LEMONDE.FR, Jan. 6, 2009, available at http://www.lemonde.fr [archives].)
President Sarkozy has also asked that, as part of the reform, the decision to put an individual on provisional detention be taken by a panel of judges and not by a single judge as is currently the case. (Alain Salles, M. Sarkozy envisage de supprimer le juge d'instruction, LEMONDE.FR, Jan. 6, 2009, available at http://www.lemonde.fr [archives]; M. Sarkozy confirme qu'il veut supprimer le juge d'instruction, LEMONDE.FR, Jan. 7, 2009, available at http://www.lemonde.fr [archives].)
- Author: Nicole Atwill
- Topic: Criminal Procedure More on this topic
- Jurisdiction: France More about this jurisdiction
France: Terrorism - Fight Against Terrorism
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(Jan. 13, 2009) Law 2008-1245 of December 1, 2008, prolongs the application of articles 3, 6, and 9 of Law 2006-64 of January 23, 2006, on Combating Terrorism and on Various Provisions Concerning Security and Borders Controls, which was passed by the French Parliament following the London bombings of July 2005. These three provisions were in force only until December 31, 2008, at which time they had to be re-evaluated by Parliament. The Law extends their application for an additional four years, until December 31, 2012.
Article 3 facilitates identity checks in international trains. Article 6 authorizes access to telephone and Internet-connection data by specially empowered police officers. Telephone and Internet providers (including providers of free services) are required to keep connecting data for one year and are obligated to provide them, if needed, to these officers. Finally, in order to combat and prevent terrorism, article 9 authorizes specially empowered officers from the national police and gendarmerie to have access to numerous databases, including those with information on license plates, driving licenses, identity cards, passports, visa requests, residency permits, and records of denial of entry into French territory. (Loi No. 2008-1245 du 1er décembre 2008 visant à prolonger l'application des articles 3, 6, et 9 de la loi 2006-64 du 23 juillet 2006 relative à la lutte contre le terrorisme, JOURNAL OFFICIEL [Official Gazette of France], Dec. 2, 2008, at 18361.)
- Author: Nicole Atwill
- Topic: Terrorism More on this topic
- Jurisdiction: France More about this jurisdiction
China: Disasters - Law on Earthquake Prevention and Disaster Relief Amended
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(Jan. 13, 2009) On December 27, 2008, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress passed amendments to the Law on Protecting Against and Mitigating Disasters from Earthquakes, which was adopted more than ten years ago on December 29, 1997. The amended Law will be effective on May 1, 2009. The number of articles in the Law has been nearly doubled, from 48 to 93, and two new chapters have been added, on planning for protection against and mitigating earthquake disasters (chapter 2) and on supervisory control (chapter 7). (Authorized for Issuance: Law on Protecting Against and Mitigating Earthquake Disasters [in Chinese], XINHUANET, Dec. 27, 2008, available at http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2008-12/27/content_10568695.htm; Sixth Meeting of National People's Congress Standing Committee Votes to Pass Revised Law on Protecting Against and Mitigation Earthquake Disasters [in Chinese], LEGAL DAILY, Dec. 28, 2008, available at http://www.legaldaily.com.cn/0705/2008-12/28/content_1009132.htm.)
Among other changes, the revised Law stipulates that quake-proof standards higher than those for local buildings must be observed for construction projects such as schools, hospitals, and other sites in which people are concentrated and that effective measures should be adopted to strengthen the capacity of existing buildings to withstand earthquakes (art. 35, para. 3; art. 39). There is also a newly added requirement for schools to give instruction on earthquake emergency-response awareness and mandatory rescue training, in order to foster students' safety awareness and their capacity to rescue themselves and others. News media are responsible for issuing public interest announcements on earthquake disaster prevention and response and on self-help and mutual-help awareness (art. 44, paras. 3 & 4). The amended Law also requires grassroots governments to teach villagers about earthquake emergency response and to conduct drills to improve their safety awareness and ability to help themselves and each other (art. 44, para. 1).
The revised Law has a number of new provisions on "transitional settlements." It is stipulated, for example, that in carrying out transitional settlement, every possible effort should be made to protect farmland and to avoid causing damage to nature reserves, sources of potable water, and ecologically fragile areas. The land used for transitional settlement should be set aside for temporary use; it may first be put into use, with procedures for that use arranged after the fact. If the time limit has expired and the land has not been transferred for use in perpetuity, it should be restored to its original use after being reclaimed (art. 61). The amendments provide that in selecting sites for reconstruction projects, earthquake fault zones or ecologically fragile areas prone to disasters such as floods, mud slides, and surface cave-ins, as well as to contagion from epidemic disease, should be avoided (art. 67, para. 2).
The revised Law encourages individuals and organizations to report to the authorities in charge about a possible earthquake or unusual phenomena. However it states that only the government, not individuals or organizations, may release earthquake forecasts to the public (arts. 26-29).
Foreign organizations or individuals who, in violation of the Law's provisions, engage in earthquake monitoring activities in the territory of China or in maritime areas under China's jurisdiction without having received approval, will be ordered by the State Council departments in charge of earthquake work to halt their unlawful activities. Monitoring results and installations will be confiscated and the perpetrators will be fined from 10,000 to 100,000 yuan (about US$1,466 to $14,656); if the circumstances are serious, they will be fined 100,000 to 500,000 yuan (art. 86, para. 1). In addition, in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Control of Aliens' Entry and Exit, foreigners who commit such acts should have their stay in China cut short or have their credentials for residing in China revoked; if the circumstances are serious, they should be given notice to leave the country or be deported (art. 86, para. 2).
Expanding on the current Law's relevant provisions, the revised Law prohibits misappropriation, withholding, and embezzlement of earthquake emergency relief funds and of funds and goods for post-quake disaster transitional settlements and for restoration and reconstruction. Governments at the county level and above are to strengthen management and supervision of the utilization of such funds and goods, make it public, and also register the collection, allocation, provision, and utilization of funds and goods, and establish and amplify files for the record (art. 77, paras. 1 & 2). The amended Law further stipulates that finance departments and auditing organs, within the scope of their respective official duties, will order those who misappropriate, withhold, or embezzle relief funds or funds and goods for transitional settlements or for restoration and reconstruction to make a correction and the misappropriated, withheld, or embezzled goods and funds to be recovered; any illegal gains will be confiscated. Work units will be given a warning or a circulated notice of criticism and responsible personnel will be given administrative sanctions (art. 90).
The amended Law also has a new, general provision prescribing pursuit of criminal liability for acts in violation of the Law's provision that constitute a crime (art. 91). (Id.; Explanation on 'The Law on Protecting Against and Mitigating Earthquake Disasters (Draft Revised Text)' [in Chinese], The Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China website, Oct. 29, 2008, available at http://www.gov.cn/jrzg/2008-10/29/content_1134041.htm; Law on Protecting Against and Mitigating Earthquake Disasters [in Chinese & English, adopted on Dec. 29, 1997, and in force on Mar. 1, 1998], http://www.lawinfochina.com/law/display.asp?ID=1097&DB=1 (last visited Jan. 8, 2008); China Sets Stricter Construction Standards for Schools after Earthquake, GOV.cn, Dec. 27, 2008, available at http://www.gov.cn/english/2008-12/27/content_1189560.htm.)
- Author: Wendy Zeldin
- Topic: Disasters More on this topic
- Jurisdiction: China More about this jurisdiction
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