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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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India: Courts - Special Courts to Try Riot Cases
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(May. 04, 2009) Five special fast-track courts will be set up to try cases resulting from riots in the Indian state of Gujarat in 2002. The events had resulted in numerous deaths – estimates range from 1,000 to 2,500 people, most of them Muslims – following a train fire in which 60 Hindus perished. Some Hindu groups have claimed that the fire was not accidental, as an early investigation concluded, but instead was started by Muslim protestors.
The courts, whose establishment was ordered by India's Supreme Court on May 1, 2009, will be in five separate districts within Gujarat, despite the desire of the National Human Rights Commission and rights activists that the trial be held entirely outside of the state. There have been accusations of witness intimidation in the riot cases; the Supreme Court has requested police protection for witnesses and ordered quarterly progress reports on the trials. In 2003, a court in Gujarat acquitted 21 people in one riot-related case that concerned the deaths of 14 people; in 2004 the Supreme Court ordered a retrial in that case, and 2006, nine people were convicted and received life sentences for the killings.
The Supreme Court has also taken actions showing its concern that Gujarat's government has not adequately protected Muslim citizens. On April 28, 2009, the Court, acting on a petition filed by the widow of Ehsan Jafri, a Muslim political leader who was murdered, ordered an investigation into the role of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, a leading member of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. The investigation will focus on nine cases, including Jafri's. Modi was exonerated by a commission established within Gujarat last year, but has been accused of ignoring the violence. (Special Courts for Gujarat Riots, BBC NEWS, May 1, 2009, available at http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wor
ld/south_asia/8028236.stm?ad=1; Special Courts to Try India's 2002 Religious Riots, REUTERS, May 1, 2009, available at http://www.reuters.com/article/asiaCrisis/idUSDEL75016.)
- Author: Constance Johnson
- Topic: Courts More on this topic
- Jurisdiction: India More about this jurisdiction
Peru: Labor - Labor Inspection Law Amended
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(May. 04, 2009) On April 8, 2009, President Alan Garcia Perez of Peru signed a law amending article 6 of the General Law on Labor Inspection, dealing with the assignment of jurisdictions for the authorities (Law No. 28806). Article 6 states that inspector supervisors and labor inspectors are authorized to carry out, in their entirety, all the requirements of inspection functions pursuant to the principles and provisions of this law.
In the exercise of their respective functions, inspector supervisors, labor inspectors, and auxiliary inspectors enjoy technical and functional autonomy and are guaranteed independence from any improper external influence under article 6 of Convention No. 81 of the International Labor Organization. The new Peruvian Law also defines the specific functions assigned to the auxiliary labor inspectors. (Law No. 29346, EL PERUANO [the official gazette], Apr. 9, 2009, available at http://www.congreso.gob.pe/ntley/Imagenes/Leyes/29346.pdf.)
- Author: Dario Ferreira
- Topic: Labor More on this topic
- Jurisdiction: Peru More about this jurisdiction
Peru: Health and Safety - Universal Health Insurance
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(May. 04, 2009) On April 8, 2009, President Alan Garcia Perez of Peru signed a framework law on universal health coverage. The law guarantees the full right of every individual to social security in matters of health and sets forth norms concerning access to, and the functions of, regulation, financing, provision of services by, and supervision of health insurance. The principles of universal health coverage set forth under Chapter I of the new law are:
- universality - health is a basic right established in the Constitution and other legal documents and agreements signed by Peru, and therefore every person residing in the country has the guarantee of health protection without discrimination and at every stage of life;
- solidarity – assuring that the costs for each person in need are met with resources proceeding from taxpayer contributions and the State;
- unity - the coordination of policies, institutions, systems, procedures, financing, and provision of services to attain the objectives proposed in the law;
- completeness – the provision of all services needed to solve specific health problems;
- fairness - the health care system is to provide quality services to the entire Peruvian population, prioritizing the most vulnerable people and those with limited resources, and adopting measures to avoid discrimination based on financial standing or risk;
- irreversibility - rights acquired to health care benefits cannot be affected by future health care policies; and
- participation - involvement of citizens in the formulation and follow-up of universal health coverage policies.
Other chapters of the law cover: agents related to the process of universal health coverage (Ch. II); health insurance plans (Ch. III); financing of universal health coverage (Ch. IV); and formulation of services by the institutions providing health care (Ch. V). (Law No. 29344, EL PERUANO [the official gazette], Apr. 9, 2009, available at http://www.congreso.gob.pe/ntley/Imagenes/Leyes/29344.pdf.)
- Author: Dario Ferreira
- Topic: Health and Safety More on this topic
- Jurisdiction: Peru More about this jurisdiction
United States: Constitutional Law - U.S. Supreme Court Restricts Searches of Vehicles During Arrests
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(May. 04, 2009) The U.S. Supreme Court has held that a warrantless search of a vehicle incident to an arrest is constitutional only if the arrestee is within reaching distance of the car's passenger compartment at the time of the search or if it is reasonable to believe the vehicle contains evidence of the offense for which the occupant was arrested.
The case heard by the Court concerned evidence seized in the search of a car driven by Rodney Gant, who was arrested for driving with a suspended license. Gant's vehicle was searched while Gant was in the back of a patrol car. The search uncovered a bag of cocaine. At his trial before an Arizona court on drug charges, Gant moved to suppress the evidence from the warrantless search as a violation of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which forbids "unreasonable searches." The trial court declined to suppress the evidence, ruling that a warrantless search of a car incident to arrest is permissible, and Gant was convicted. On appeal, the Arizona Supreme Court reversed, holding that a warrantless search is only permissible to secure evidence relevant to the arrest or to protect the officers from danger.
The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Arizona Supreme Court, holding that a warrantless search of a vehicle incident to arrest is allowed "only when the arrestee is unsecured and within reaching distance of the passenger compartment at the time of the search," or where there is reason to believe that there is evidence "relevant to the crime of arrest" in the vehicle. (Arizona v. Gant, 556 U.S. __, No. 07-542, Slip op. (Apr. 21, 2009), available at http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/08pdf/07-542.pdf.)
- Author: John Cannan
- Topic: Constitutional Law More on this topic
- Jurisdiction: United States More about this jurisdiction
Malawi: Abortions - Legal Action Against Government on Abortion
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(May. 04, 2009) It was reported on April 29, 2009, that Women in Law in Southern Africa-Malawi (WILSA-Malawi), a women's rights group in Malawi, is bringing a legal action against the Malawian government for prohibiting women from access to safe abortions. According to Seodi White, WILSA-Malawi's executive director, forcing a woman to carry an unwanted pregnancy is an intrusion on her body. Citing the United Nations Committee on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), White argued that denial of a medical procedure that only women need, such as abortion, is a form of discrimination. White stated that:
Access to legal and safe abortion services is essential to the protection of women's rights to non-discrimination and equality. Where women are compelled to continue unwanted pregnancies, it puts them at a disadvantage, because abortion is a medical procedure that only women need.
White also argued that the laws currently in place in Malawi put women's health and life in danger by forcing them to look for unsafe alternatives in traditional healers and illegal clinics. (Pilirani Semu-Banda, Women's Group Sues Govt. over Abortion Rights, IPS, Apr. 29, 2009, available at http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=46671.) According to Malawi's government statistics, 30% of maternal deaths are caused by abortion, and Malawi's maternal mortality is the highest in Africa next to Sierra Leone. (Id.)
The current Malawi Penal Code imposes harsh penalties on individuals who perform abortion procedures on their person or the persons of others and on those who facilitate the procedures. Administering an abortion for another person is a felony punishable, on conviction, with 14 years of imprisonment. Administering or allowing others to administer an abortion procedure on one's own person is a felony punishable, on conviction, by seven years of imprisonment. Intentionally supplying drugs or instruments for administering an abortion is also a felony, punishable by three years of imprisonment. (Penal Code, 2 LAWS OF MALAWI, Cap. 7:01 (2003) (official source).)
- Author: Hanibal Goitom
- Topic: Abortions More on this topic
- Jurisdiction: Malawi More about this jurisdiction
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