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[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Minnesota [official website] ruled [text, PDF] Wednesday that part of a Minnesota statute prohibiting the advising or encouraging of suicide is unconstitutional. The court overturned the conviction of William Melchert-Dinkel, who was convicted in 2011 of two counts of aiding suicide, after a judge found he "intentionally advised and encouraged" two individuals, one in Canada and one England, to commit suicide. The court found that the terms "advises" and "encourages" within Minn. Stat. § 609.215[text] which makes it illegal to "intentionally advise, encourage, or assist another in taking the other's own life," were unconstitutional in violation of the First Amendment [text, LII backgrounder]. The court upheld the "assist" portion of the law concluding "that the proscription against 'assist[ing]' another in taking the other's own life is narrowly drawn to serve the State's compelling…

  The justice secretary's decision to cut legal aid for prisoners is a matter of political judgment, even if inmates "suffer serious adverse effects", the high court has ruled.   Dismissing an appeal by the Howard League for Penal Reform and the Prisoners' Advice Service, judges said they could not overturn decisions made by Chris Grayling, who is also lord chancellor, as part of his efforts to save £220m a year from criminal legal aid.   Lady Justice Rafferty and Mr Justice Cranston, sitting in London, said: "We can well understand the concerns ventilated through these claims. A range of impressive commentators have argued that the changes to criminal legal aid for prison law … will have serious adverse effects for prisoners. But we simply cannot see, at least at this point in…

  Mothers who bring up babies born through surrogacy agreements are not entitled to maternity leave, the European court of justice (ECJ) has ruled.   The surprise decision is a setback for a British NHS worker and an Irish teacher who brought claims, but will not affect the UK government's promise of more generous terms in future.   The court said the EU's pregnant workers directive was designed only to help workers who had recently given birth, but added that members states were "free to apply more favourable rules for the benefit of commissioning mothers".   Under the Children & Families Act, from next year British mothers who raise children delivered through surrogacy arrangements will be given the right to paid leave.   The ECJ said: "EU law does not require that…

  The chairwoman of the Senate intelligence committee, Dianne Feinstein, on Tuesday accused the Central Intelligence Agency of a catalogue of cover-ups, intimidation and smears aimed at investigators probing its role in an “un-American and brutal” programme of post-9/11 detention and interrogation.   In a bombshell statement on the floor of the US Senate, Feinstein, normally an administration loyalist, accused the CIA of potentially violating the US constitution and of criminal activity in its attempts to obstruct her committee’s investigations into the agency’s use of torture. She described the crisis as a “defining moment” for political oversight of the US intelligence service.   Her unprecedented public assault on the CIA represented an intensification of the row between the committee and the agency over a still-secret report on the torture of…

[JURIST] An administrative judge for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) [official website], Patrick Geraghty [official profile] dismissed [text, PDF] a fine brought by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) [official website] against a drone operator Thursday. The ruling effectively strikes down [Politico report] the FAA's bans on the use of commercial drones put in place in 2007. Geraghty found that the ban was not enforceable because the FAA did not comport with an official rule-making process before it issued the rule. With this decision, it is now legal to use drones at a low altitude for commercial purposes. On Friday the FAA announced their intent to appeal [Reuters report] the decision in order to maintain safety for airliners. The FAA stated [press release] that its appeal "will have the effect of staying the decision" until the independent safety board decides on the case. Drone…

El portavoz nacional de Jueces para la Democracia, Joaquim Bosch, ha considerado este viernes que la prueba de 'Potencial Evocado Cognitivo P300' o 'test de la verdad' puede vulnerar derechos «fundamentales» como el derecho a no declarar contra uno mismo de una persona imputada o su derecho a la intimidad, dado que se accede a sus recuerdos a través de este análisis. En su opinión, la prueba «no debería admitirse contra la voluntad» del imputado y, aún estando de acuerdo en someterse a ella, ha dudado de que «pueda servir como prueba de cargo» para condenar a una persona, para apreciar que debería abrirse un debate sobre «si cualquier injerencia externa en el ámbito de los recuerdos de una persona resultaría admisible desde el punto de vista de la protección…

  El BOE de hoy publica el Real Decreto 150/2014, por el que se modifica el Reglamento de la Ley 34/2006, sobre acceso a las profesiones de abogado y procurador de los tribunales, para establecer los criterios por los que se realizará la prueba que capacitará para el ejercicio de ambas profesiones, tal como ayer aprobó el Consejo de Ministros.   Dicha ley estimó necesario adquirir una cualificación profesional más allá de la sola obtención de una titulación universitaria tanto para la consecución del título profesional de abogado (quien presta asistencia letrada bajo esa denominación) como el de procurador (que ejerce la representación procesal de las partes en los procesos judiciales).   Ese proceso de capacitación profesional se adquiere mediante la superación de una formación especializada a través de la realización…

  President Barack Obama told Democratic donors Wednesday that U.S. Supreme Court nominations hang in the balance of this year's midterm elections.   Speaking at a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee fundraiser, Obama linked the party's goal—keeping control of the Senate—to a number of policy issues and to who might eventually sit on the nation's highest court.   "If you care about women getting equal pay for equal work or having control over their health care decisions, or who is in the Supreme Court determining those laws, you better hope Democrats stay in the Senate," Obama said at the fundraiser in Virginia, according to a White House transcript.   "If you care about making sure that we’re investing in early childhood education and continuing to reform our schools to make them serve…

  Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc (RR/), Europe’s largest maker of commercial jet engines, said the U.S. Department of Justice has joined U.K. fraud prosecutors in an investigation into bribery and corruption at the company.   “The group is currently under investigation by law enforcement agencies, primarily the Serious Fraud Office in the U.K. and the U.S. Department of Justice,” the company said in its annual report. “Breaches of laws and regulations in this area can lead to fines, penalties, criminal prosecution, commercial litigation and restrictions on future business.”   The SFO started a formal investigation in December and in January asked the government for an extra 19 million pounds ($26 million) to pay for “blockbuster” probes, including Rolls-Royce. The involvement of U.S. prosecutors potentially increases the range of fines Rolls-Royce faces.…

OUTRA OPINIÃO - FÁBIO MEDINA OSÓRIO Publicado:3/03/14 - 0h00 A partir da vigência da Lei Anticorrupção, no final de janeiro, passou a existir no Brasil um novo marco regulatório da probidade empresarial. A Lei 12.846/13 cria novas e severas sanções. Entre as penalidades administrativas, agora há multa, e a empresa terá de pagar também a divulgação da sentença condenatória em meios de comunicação. Não bastassem as sanções administrativas, a empresa pode responder a uma ação civil pública, visando à sua dissolução por via judicial — sem prejuízo de incidência da reparação dos danos e de outras sanções impostas por tribunais de contas ou pelo Judiciário. De uma forma ou de outra, agora há um espectro regulatório sancionador muito amplo sobre as pessoas jurídicas que negociam com o poder público, tudo a…