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The US Supreme Court [official website] ruled unanimously Monday in McBurney v. Young [opinion, PDF; JURIST report] that Virginia has the right to exclude non-residents from accessing state records under its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) [text]. The court determined the law did not violate the Privileges and Immunities Clause [text] of Article IV of the US Constitution, as it did not burden any fundamental privilege or immunity. The court also found the information was not part of the interstate market and thus did not implicate the dormant commerce clause [Cornell LII backgrounder]. Justice Samuel Alito delivered the opinion, stating that the law does not implicate either constitutional provision, as Virginia "provides a service that is related to state citizenship." Petitioners allege that Virginia's citizens-only FOIA provision violates four different "fundamental"privileges or immunities: the opportunity to pursue a common calling, the…

  España está decidida a convertirse en un centro internacional de referencia en materia de arbitraje legal. Haces unos días, el ministro de Asuntos Exteriores, José Manuel García-Margallo, quien apostaba por un sistema de arbitraje ágil en materia de inversiones para impulsar la internacionalización de las pymes españolas, especialmente en Latinoamérica. Los primeros pasos en este sentido no han tardado en llegar.   Esta semana, reputados árbitros, juristas y economistas españoles han dado buena cuenta de la fortaleza de España en este ámbito durante la celebración del VII Congreso Latinoamericano de Arbitraje, que se celebra en Lima y reúne a cerca de 400 profesionales del sector de todo el mundo. Además, entre los organizadores y patrocinadores se encuentran varias firmas del país, desde el Club Español del Arbitraje, hasta Telefónica,…

  O Projeto de Lei 6826/2010, que responsabiliza cível e administrativamente pessoas jurídicas por atos contra a administração pública, está disponível para download no link abaixo.   Download 2: 68262010.pdf.

  Same-sex marriage got huge headlines at the Supreme Court last month, but in the world of science and medicine, the case being argued on Monday is far more important. The lawsuit deals with a truly 21st century issue — whether human genes may be patented.   Myriad Genetics, a Utah biotechnology company, discovered and isolated two genes — BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 — that are highly associated with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. Myriad patented its discovery, giving it a 20-year monopoly over use of the genes for research, diagnostics and treatment. A group of researchers, medical groups and patients sued, challenging the patent as invalid.   There is no way to overstate the importance of this case to the future of science and medicine. In the view…

  A quadrupling of legal fees and tighter restrictions on time limits for lodging applications will choke off the "soaring number of judicial review" cases brought before the courts, according to the Ministry of Justice.   Announcing detailed changes following a six-week long consultation, the justice secretary, Chris Grayling, will say on Tuesday that it will prevent claims being used as a "cheap delaying tactic" in planning and immigration appeals.   But the proposals have been condemned by immigration lawyers and Labour's justice spokesman, Sadiq Khan, who warned it would result in more "unlawful decisions going unchecked".   The changes the government will announce include:   • Introducing a £215 court fee for anyone seeking a hearing in person after their initial written judicial review application has been turned down.…

The Supreme Court on Monday said it would not weigh in on a major Second Amendment question that has divided the lower courts: May states bar or strictly limit the carrying of guns in public for self-defense? The justices turned down a case concerning a New York State law that requires people seeking permits to carry guns in public to demonstrate that they have a special need for self-protection. In urging the justices to hear the case, the National Rifle Association called the law “a de facto ban on carrying a handgun outside the home.” As is their custom, the justices gave no reasons for declining to hear the case. In November, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in New York, upheld the law. California, Hawaii,…

  "ADI's banned advertisement can be viewed here," says the Animal Defenders International website – neatly summing up the paradox that has split the European court of human rights.   As the court acknowledged, it is perfectly lawful for ADI to publish on YouTube a 30-second commercial, showing a child in a cage, as part of its campaign to protect great apes from exploitation ("my mate's a primate").   But the grand chamber of the European court has now decided by a bare majority of nine votes to eight that UK laws banning the commercial from being broadcast on television or radio do not breach the animal defenders' human rights.   Section 321(3) of the Communications Act 2003 brings the film into the ambit of paid political advertising, which has never been permitted on television or radio.   Both…

The European Parliament has voted against propping up the EU’s emissions trading scheme in a move that sent prices plunging to new lows in the world’s biggest carbon market. In what some analysts fear will be a significant setback for global efforts to tackle climate change by putting a price on carbon emissions, members of parliament voted 334-315 on Tuesday against a measure known as “backloading”. This would have temporarily removed some 900m allowances from the over-supplied emissions trading system. The EU carbon price fell more than 40 per cent to a new record low of €2.63 a tonne as news of the result filtered out. Carbon industry figures said they were deeply disappointed by the result. “The carbon market in Europe has suffered a real blow today,” said Baroness…

  Sérgio Augusto Guedes Pereira de Souza, membro do Conselho de Pesquisadores do IIEDE, publicou pelo Inter-American Center Of Tax Administrations seu trabalho de conclusão do Minerva Program do Institut Of Brazilian Issues, curso de pós-graduação em Economia da George Washington University School Of Business (USA, Washington-DC).   O trabalho, de título Economic Globalization and Tax Evasion, pode ser visualizado na íntegra AQUI.