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A conselheira do Conselho Administrativo de Defesa da Econômica (Cade), Ana Frazão, afirmou que já intimou a OGX, petroleira do grupo EBX, e a Petrobras, para prestar esclarecimentos sobre a compra de participação de 40% da estatal, pela empresa de Eike, no bloco BS-4, na Bacia de Santos, antes do órgão antitruste brasileiro analisar a operação. Em evento realizado pelo Instituto Internacional de Estudos de Direito do Estado, a conselheira afirmou que as duas empresas foram intimadas na quarta-feira (31). “Diante das graves consequências que podem surgir dali, eu as intimei, para que possam se defender”, afirmou. “Atribui a elas [as companhias] um prazo de dez dias para que se manifestem. E, após essa manifestação, aí eu vou tomar as providências cabíveis”. Na prática, o órgão analisa se houve uma…

[JURIST] Military Judge Denise Lind on Tuesday found Army Pfc. Bradley Manning [advocacy website; JURIST news archive] guilty of violations of the Espionage Act [18 USC § 794 et seq., text] for his disclosure of classified information to anti-secrecy organization, Wikileaks [website]. The judge, however, acquitted Manning of the more serious charge of "aiding the enemy." In 2010 Manning leaked more than 700,000 government documents, diplomatic cables and a controversial classified video [YouTube video] of a 2007 US helicopter strike in Iraq that resulted in the deaths of numerous civilians and two Reuters journalists. The US Army [official website] formally charged Manning in July 2010, but his bench trial did not begin until last month at Forte Meade, Maryland, nearly three years after his initial arrest [JURIST reports]. Manning reportedly faces [BBC report] approximately 136 months to life in prison. The court is expected to sentence Manning on Wednesday.…

  Brasília - A Argüição de Descumprimento de Preceito Fundamental (ADPF) n° 59, ajuizada pelo Conselho Federal da Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil (OAB) para propor que seja feita ampla auditoria da dívida externa brasileira e tentar elucidar as condições em que a dívida foi construída, terá o ministro Luís Roberto Barroso como relator. A substituição se deu com base no artigo 38 do Regimento Interno do Supremo Tribunal Federal, devido à aposentadoria do então relator, o ministro Carlos Ayres Britto.   No entendimento do presidente nacional da OAB, Marcus Vinicius Furtado, é preciso que o país tenha conhecimento de que forma tal dívida foi constituída, especialmente durante o período da ditadura militar. "Temos que fazer a memória e a verdade sobre quem e porque a dívida foi contraída e…

  A cut in the number of Crown Prosecution Service lawyers of almost 25%, coupled with rising administrative errors in the courts, has triggered fears that budget reductions are causing a significant breakdown in the criminal justice system.   And research suggests that the cutbacks, which have resulted in substantial redundancies and court closures, may not be saving taxpayers any money at all.   Freedom of information requests carried out by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism for the Observer reveal that in the past three years the CPS in England and Wales has lost 202, or 23%, of its barristers, and 518, or 22%, of its solicitors. The number of witness care officers and managers, the officials charged with ensuring key witnesses attend court, has dropped by 43% since 2010, from 230 to 131.…

El Tribunal Supremo ha archivado la querella que la Asociación para la Defensa del Valle de los Caídos presentó el pasado mes de febrero contra el senador del PNV Iñaki Anasagasti por un supuesto delito de incitación al odio relacionado con el contenido de un artículo que publicó en DEIA, bajo el título «La derecha española vuelve a enseñar los dientes». El alto tribunal no ve ilícito alguno en el contenido de este artículo, en el que el senador reconocía haber dicho en un debate que «lo que mejor podían hacer con el Valle de los Caídos, previo al hecho de sacar los restos de los allí enterrados, era volar todo».   En otro párrafo, el senador nacionalista acusaba al Gobierno actual de «mantener en Madrid para su culto la…

  Así consta en la respuesta que el Gobierno ha hecho llegar a la portavoz de UPyD, Rosa Díez, quien quería conocer si el Ejecutivo tenía previsto dotar de más medios a los tribunales y a la Fiscalía para luchar contra esta lacra después de que el titular del Ministerio Fiscal, Eduardo Torres Dulce, pidiese a principios del pasado mes de abril más medios materiales y personales para investigar los casos de corrupción.   En su contestación, a la que tuvo acceso Europa Press, el Ejecutivo explica que, al margen de las medidas que tiene previsto implementar para una "adecuada" reforma de la legislación en la lucha contra la corrupción y la presentación de nuevas propuestas legislativas, tiene "la voluntad política" de articular instrumentos "prácticos" que doten de "mayores y…

  No ano em que completa uma década, o Instituto Internacional de Estudos de Direito do Estado (IIEDE) dará continuidade à sua tradição de promover debates permanentes sobre temas vinculados ao campo do Direito regulatório, desta vez com um seminário sobre a nova lei de defesa da concorrência, que estabeleceu, há pouco mais de dois anos, novo marco normativo para as operações de fusão e aquisição no Brasil. No próximo dia 2 de agosto, a entidade promove, na sede da Fecomercio, no Rio de Janeiro, o seminário “Devido Processo Regulatório no Cade – A Nova Lei de Defesa da Concorrência em Debate”.   A Lei 12.529, de maio de 2011, reorganizou a estrutura administrativa das agências responsáveis por validar as operações de fusão e investigar a formação de cartéis no país.…

  The U.S. Supreme Court term just ended was good for business—but not, percentage-wise, as good as you might think.   The annual Mayer Brown analysis of the high court's business docket shows that in the 25 cases last term that pitted a business against an individual or government agency, business prevailed in 16—a 64 per cent win rate. That compares with 86 per cent rate of victory during the previous term, 48 per cent in 2010 and 62 per cent in 2009.   "This was plainly a good term for business interests," said Mayer Brown partner Lauren Goldman, who prepared the report. "But it is hard to generalize. You can't discern any pro-business bias. They decide each case on its own merits."   Some of the business wins this past term…

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] on Tuesday that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) [official website] policy allowing the importation of a drug used in the execution of state prisoners was illegal. The court did not give deference to the federal agency's policy of neither approving or reviewing shipments of sodium thiopental from Dream Pharma [corporate website], a British manufacturer, because the policy was arbitrary and capricious. The court said sodium thiopental, a drug whose manufacture and purpose of use has not been regulated by the FDA, was "misbranded" and an "unapproved new drug," violating the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) and the Administration Procedure Act (APA) [texts]. The court concluded, "The FDA acted in derogation of [its] duties by permitting the importation of thiopental, a concededly misbranded and…

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit [official website] on Tuesday affirmed [opinion, PDF] a lower court's decision to block components of South Carolina's immigration law [SB 20 text]. Relying on the Supremacy Clause, the court ruled that the plaintiffs have an implied right of action to seek injunctive relief from the act on federal preemption grounds. The court also ruled that plaintiffs need not wait to be arrested under the challenged sections of the act before they can assert a constitutional claim, stating that "they need not live under a cloud of 'prolonged uncertainty' as to their rights." Ruling on the merits, the court decided that the presumption against preemption does not apply here because immigration is an area traditionally regulated by the federal government. Moreover, the broad sweep of the law…