November 14, 2007  nº 564  -  Vol. 5  
 

“The punches you miss are the ones that wear you out.”

Angelo Dundee
Boxing trainer


In today's Grammatigalhas: vocabulary and definitions of law.

  • Top News

EU will investigate Google deal

European Union regulators have launched an in-depth investigation into Google's $3.1bn takeover of online advertising firm DoubleClick. The EU Commission said its initial probe had shown the deal would raise competition concerns. It has set itself a deadline of 2 April 2008 to reach a decision. Google said it would work with the Commission to show how the acquisition would benefit publishers, advertisers and consumers. DoubleClick helps link up advertising agencies, marketers and web site publishers hoping to put ads online and track them. Google allows firms to target advertising at people using particular search terms and also stores information about users' internet surfing habits.

Yahoo settles its China lawsuit

Yahoo has settled a lawsuit filed by two Chinese journalists who were jailed after the company provided Chinese officials with information about their online activities. No details have been given of the settlement but Yahoo will be covering legal costs. The case alleged that Yahoo had provided information to the Chinese government that had then been used to prosecute the dissidents. Yahoo said it had to comply with Chinese laws to operate in the country. A Congressional panel criticised Yahoo for not giving full details to its probe into the jailing of a reporter by Chinese authorities. Yahoo had been "at best inexcusably negligent" and at worst "deceptive" in evidence given to the House Foreign Affairs Committee last year, the panel said. Yahoo argued that there was little connection between the information the firm gave and the ensuing arrests and imprisonment of its users. Yahoo also is establishing a fund to provide humanitarian and legal aid to people serving prison sentences for expressing their opinions online.

Brazil proposes to UN new int'l mechanism on mediating crises

Lula said a new international body should be created to operate alongside the UN Security Council to help mediate conflicts. Speaking about international crises, the president said it would be useful at times if the secretary general would listen to leaders, consulting with them alongside the formal work he has undertaken. Amorim said the proposal could bring fresh air to decades-old negotiations over the council's reforms. Lula also reiterated the long-standing Brazilian demand for a permanent seat in the council, saying that more permanent seats should be given to developing nations for the body's democratization.

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  • MiMIC Journal

China to relax entry prohibition against HIV-positive aliens 

The Ministry of Health of the People's Republic of China  said Monday that the government is working toward relaxing its strict policy  of denying all HIV-positive aliens entry to the country. A ministry spokesperson said that the policy was initially put in place before the transmission of HIV was fully understood. Under current law, temporary visitors are required to declare if they are HIV-positive, while those seeking Chinese residency must submit to an HIV test.

  • Grammatigalhas

Everyday "Legal" Jargon 

Vocabulary and definitions of law

LAW1. The principles and regulations established by a government and applicable to a people, whether in the form of legislation or of custom and policies recognized and enforced by judicial decision. 2. Any written or positive rule or collection of rules prescribed under the authority of the state or nation, as by the people in its constitution.  The Random House Dictionary  of the English Language.

LAW  1. A body of rules, whether proceeding from formal enactment or from custom, which a particular state or community recognizes as binding on its members or subjects.  Oxford Dictionary of the English Language.

LAW Rules of conduct of any organized society, however simple or small, that are enforced by threat of punishment if they are violated. Modern law has a wide sweep and regulates many branches of conduct.  Columbia Encyclopedia

LAW All the rules of conduct that have been approved by the government and which are in force over a certain territory and which must be obeyed by all persons on that territory (eg. the "laws" of Australia). Violation of these rules could lead to government action such as imprisonment or fine, or private action such as a legal judgment against the offender obtained by the person injured by the action prohibited by law. Synonymous to act or statute although in common usage, "law" refers not only to legislation or statutes but also to the body of unwritten law in those states which recognize common law. 

LAW   Rules established by a governing authority to institute and maintain orderly coexistence. An act of Congress (state legislature) that has been signed by the president (governor) or passed over his veto by Congress. Public bills,  when signed, become public laws, and are cited by the letters 'PL' and a hyphenated number. The two digits before the hyphen correspond to the Congress, and the one or more digits after the hyphen refer to the numerical sequence in which the bills were signed by the president during that Congress. 

In the Middle Ages, law was considered to have been dictated by Divine Will, and revealed to wise men. The most ancient legal precedents and customs were considered to be the best law, and much of Continental Europe wound up modeling secular law after the old Roman law. In Byzantium, secular and sacred law were somewhat intermingled, with secular law taking precedence. In Western Europe, however, religious and secular law were separate bodies. Church law was known as Canon Law, and applied to the clergy, to the secular world in matters of the administration of the Sacraments such as marriage, and to the immunity of the clergy from secular law. This is the root of the conflict between Church and State. St. Augustine arranged law thru three levels:  

Divine law, a perfect system comprehended thru faith and reason;  

Natural law, which could be understood by all creatures, lacked the perfection of faith, and could be improved by philosophy; 

Temporal (secular) law, obedience to which was enjoined on all Christians, save where it conflicted with Divine or Canon law.     

In its most general and comprehensive sense, law signifies a rule of action, and is applied indiscriminately to all kinds of action; whether animate or inanimate, rational or irrational. In its more confined sense, law denotes the rule, not of actions in general, but of human action or conduct.  Law is generally divided into four principle classes, namely: Natural law; The law of nations; Public law; and, Private or civil law. When considered in relation to its origin, it is statute law or common law. When examined as to its different systems it is divided into civil law, common law, canon law. When applied to objects, it is civil, criminal or penal.   It is also divided into natural law and positive law. Into written law, lex scripta; and unwritten law, lex non scripta. Into law merchant, martial law, municipal law and foreign law. When considered as to their duration, laws are immutable and arbitrary or positive. When viewed as to their effect, they are prospective and retrospective. Click here.  

LAW Latin lex. 1. A rule of action dictated by a superior being. 1 Bl. Com. 38. The command of a superior. 1 Shars. Bl. Com. 39. 2. In an important use "law" excludes the methods and remedies peculiar to equity and admiralty, and confines the idea to the action of tribunals proceeding by fixed rules, and employing remedies operative directly upon the person or property of the individual; as, in the expressions; a court of law, a remedy at law, an action at law, at law. Abbott's Law Dictionary. Click here.

LAW That which is laid down, ordained, or established . A rule or method according to which phenomena or actions co-exist or follow each other.  Law, in its generic sense, is a body of rules of action or conduct prescribed by controlling authority, and having binding legal force.  Black's Law Dictionary (1990).

LAWIn its most general and comprehensive sense, law signifies a rule of action; and this term is applied indiscriminately to all kinds of action; whether animate or inanimate, rational or irrational. 1 Bl. Com. 38. In its more confined sense, law denotes the rule, not of actions in general, but of human action or conduct. In the civil code of Louisiana, art. 1, it is defined to be "a solemn expression of the legislative will." Vide Toull. Dr. Civ. Fr. tit. prel. s. 1, n. 4; 1 Bouv. Inst. n. 1-3.

2. Law is generally divided into four principle classes, namely; Natural law, the law of nations, public law, and private or civil law. When considered in relation to its origin, it is statute law or common law. When examined as to its different systems it is divided into civil law, common law, canon law. When applied to objects, it is civil, criminal, or penal. It is also divided into natural law and positive law. Into written law, lex scripta; and unwritten law, lex non scripta. Into law merchant, martial law, municipal law, and foreign law. When considered as to their duration, laws are immutable and arbitrary or positive; when as their effect, they are prospective and retrospective. These will be separately considered.

LAW, POSITIVE. Positive law, as used in opposition to natural law, may be considered in a threefold point of view. 1. The universal voluntary law, or those rules which are presumed to be law, by the uniform practice of nations in general, and by the manifest utility of the rules themselves. 2. The customary law, or that which, from motives of convenience, has, by tacit, but implied agreement, prevailed, not generally indeed among all nations, nor with so permanent a utility as to become a portion of the universal voluntary law, but enough to have acquired a prescriptive obligation among certain states so situated as to be mutually benefited by it. 1 Taunt. 241. 3. The conventional law, or that which is agreed between particular states by express treaty, a law binding on the parties among whom such treaties are in force. 1 Chit. Comm. Law, 28.  A law dictionary adapted to the constitution and laws of the united states of America and of the several states of the American union  by John Bouvier  Revised Sixth Edition, 1856

LAWRule (which may be written or unwritten) by which a country is governed and the activities of people and organizations controlled; in particular, an Act of Parliament which has received the Royal Assent, or an Act of Congress which has been signed by the President of the USA, or which has been passed by Congress over the President's veto; a law has to be passed by Parliament; the government has proposed a new law to regulate the sale of goods on Sundays.   Dictionary of Law published by Peter Collin Publishing.

LAW1.  a binding custom or practice of a community : a rule of conduct or action prescribed or formally recognized as binding or enforced by a controlling authority (2) : the whole body of such customs, practices, or rules (3) : COMMON LAW b (1) : the control brought about by the existence or enforcement of such law (2) : the action of laws considered as a means of redressing wrongs.   Merriam Webster Dictionary.

LAW  1) any system of regulations to govern the conduct of the people of a community, society or nation, in response to the need for regularity, consistency and justice based upon collective human experience. Custom or conduct governed by the force of the local king were replaced by laws almost as soon as man learned to write. The earliest lawbook was written about 2100 B.C. for Ur-Nammu, king of Ur, a Middle Eastern city-state. Within three centuries Hammurabi, king of Babylonia, had enumerated laws of private conduct, business and legal precedents, of which 282 articles have survived. The term "eye for an eye" (or the equivalent value) is found there, as is drowning as punishment for adultery by a wife (while a husband could have slave concubines), and unequal treatment of the rich and the poor was codified here first. It took another thousand years before written law codes developed among the Greek city-states (particularly Athens) and Israel. China developed similar rules of conduct, as did Egypt. The first law system which has a direct influence on the American legal system was the codification of all classic law ordered by the Roman Emperor Justinian in 528 and completed by 534, becoming the law of the Roman empire. This is known as the Justinian Code, upon which most of the legal systems of most European nations are based to this day. The principal source of American law is the common law, which had its roots about the same time as Justinian, among Angles, Britons and later Saxons in Britain. William the Conqueror arrived in 1066 and combined the best of this Anglo-Saxon law with Norman law, which resulted in the English common law, much of which was by custom and precedent rather than by written code. The American colonies followed the English Common Law with minor variations, and the four-volume Commentaries on the Laws of England by Sir William Blackstone (completed in 1769) was the legal "bible" for all American frontier lawyers and influenced the development of state codes of law. To a great extent common law has been replaced by written statutes, and a gigantic body of such statutes have been enacted by federal and state legislatures supposedly in response to the greater complexity of modern life. 

2) n. a statute, ordinance or regulation enacted by the legislative branch of a government and signed into law, or in some nations created by decree without any democratic process. This is distinguished from "natural law," which is not based on statute, but on alleged common understanding of what is right and proper (often based on moral and religious precepts as well as common understanding of fairness and justice). 

3) n. a generic term for any body of regulations for conduct, including specialized rules (military law), moral conduct under various religions and for organizations, usually called "bylaws."

DIRITTO Il termine viene adoperato per indicare due diversi concetti:  — il Diritto oggettivo, cioè il complesso di regole che disciplinano la vita di una collettività e, in questo senso, Diritto è sinonimo di ordinamento giuridico; il Diritto oggettivo viene usualmente distinto in Diritto pubblico e in Diritto privato: il primo è rivolto a disciplinare la formazione, l’organizzazione e l’attività dello Stato e degli enti pubblici [vedi] nonché i loro rapporti con i privati; il secondo, invece, interviene a regolamentare i rapporti tra soggetti in posizione di parità, e quindi sia i rapporti tra privati che quelli tra privati e P.A., nei casi in cui quest’ultima non riveste una posizione di supremazia;  — il Diritto soggettivo, cioè il potere di agire a tutela di un proprio interesse riconosciuto al soggetto dall’ordinamento giuridico [vedi anche Diritti soggettivi].  Nel campo del Diritto pubblico la figura del Diritto soggettivo è stata delineata soprattutto per la necessità di differenziarla dall’interesse legittimo [vedi Interessi legittimi]. In tal modo si è potuta ripartire, in linea di massima, la giurisdizione tra giudice amministrativo e giudice ordinario.  La distinzione tra Diritto in senso oggettivo e soggettivo risale al diritto romano, in cui il Diritto oggettivo era definito norma agendi e quello soggettivo facultas agendi.

LEGGE   Il termine Diritto in generale designa sia la norma giuridica [vedi] che la fonte di produzione della norma stessa [vedi Fonti del diritto] e ricorre sia nei testi legislativi che nella stessa Costituzione.  

• Diritto formale e materiale. Per Diritto in senso formale si intendono quegli atti deliberati dalle due Camere o dagli altri organi cui è costituzionalmente attribuita la funzione legislativa (Consigli regionali e Consigli provinciali di Trento e Bolzano) secondo il procedimento disciplinato dagli articoli 70 e ss. Cost., dai regolamenti parlamentari, dagli statuti regionali e dai regolamenti dei Consigli regionali e provinciali. Per Diritto in senso materiale si intendono tutti gli atti a contenuto normativo, indipendentemente dagli organi che li pongono in essere e quale che sia il procedimento della loro formazione. La dottrina ha delineato anche la figura delle Diritto meramente formali che, pur avendo aspetto formale di Diritto, non hanno contenuto normativo, non sono in grado, cioè, di innovare il diritto oggettivo. L’iniziativa di tali atti appartiene al Governo o comunque a soggetti estranei alle Camere, che non possono disporre, se non in misura limitata, del loro contenuto. Grazie ad esse il Parlamento esercita poteri di controllo e d’indirizzo politico [vedi]. 

• Diritto ordinaria.  È la Diritto deliberata dal Parlamento secondo il procedimento disciplinato, nelle sue linee essenziali, dagli artt. 70 ss. Cost. e, più ampiamente, dai regolamenti parlamentari [vedi Procedimento legislativo]. L’appartenenza al tipo Diritto ordinaria comporta l’assoggettamento a un regime giuridico peculiare, sinteticamente riassunto dall’espressione forza o valore di Diritto. I due termini sono impiegati nella Costituzione in modo scambievole, anche se la dottrina talvolta indica con forza l’efficacia di Diritto, con valore il suo regime giuridico. In particolare la Diritto ordinaria: — è idonea a modificare o abrogare, nell’ambito della sua competenza, qualsivoglia disposizione vigente, fatta eccezione per quelle di rango costituzionale; — è in grado di resistere all’abrogazione e alla modificazione da parte di fonti ad essa subordinate; — può essere soggetta al controllo di conformità alla Costituzione e alle altre disposizioni di rango costituzionale soltanto da parte della Corte Costituzionale [vedi]; — può essere sottoposta a referendum [vedi] abrogativo ex articolo 75 Cost.

Dizionario Simone

DROIT   Les droits, sont des prérogatives attachées aux personnes qui sont des sujets de droit de jouir d'une situation juridique et qu'elles peuvent faire reconnaître en s'adressant aux tribunaux. Pour la commodité, le droit est divisé en matières qui sont enseignées séparément en fonction de la spécificité de chaque discipline; (par exemple, pour ce qui est du droit privé, le droit civil, le droit commercial, le droit social, la procédure civile ....) et chacune de ces disciplines se subdivise à son tour (droit de la famille, droit des biens, droit des successions, droit des sûretés.....). Ces droits que l'on dénomme des "droits subjectifs " par opposition au "Droit" avec une majuscule, comprennent des pouvoirs ou des avantages individuels (exemple, droit au mariage), s'appliquent à des biens corporels ( exemple une automobile) ou à des biens incorporels (exemple les droits définis par la législation sur la propriété commerciale ou la législation sur la propriété intellectuelle).  

Le " Droit " est l'ensemble des disciplines juridiques qui s'intéressent au fondement, à la formation, à l'histoire, à la comparaison des système juridiques, à la naissance, aux conditions de mise en oeuvre, au transfert des droits et la manière dont ils se perdent .

Le droit international privé est constitué par l'ensemble des principes, des usages ou des conventions qui gouvernent les relations juridiques établies entre des personnes régies par des législations d'Etats différents. Des conventions internationales définissent le statut, les droits des personnes physiques ou morales lorsqu'elles ne se trouvent plus sur leur territoire national ou lorsque leurs conventions mettent en cause des relations de nature internationale (pour un exemple voir " Régimes matrimoniaux " in fine).

Bibliographie:

Carbonnier, Jean, Droit civil : introduction, 26e éd. ref, Paris, PUF, 1999.
Julliot de la Morandière (L.), Droit civil., Paris, éd. Cours de droit, 1926
Doucet (V.), "Statuer ce que de droit" et l'office du juge, Paris, édité par l'auteur, 1995.

LOI   Au sens large, une "loi" est une disposition normative et abstraite posant une règle juridique. On distingue d'une part, les lois constitutionnelles qui définissent les droits fondamentaux, fixent l'organisation des pouvoirs publics et les rapports entre eux, les lois organiques et d'autre part, les lois ordinaires.  Au sens formel, la loi est une disposition prise par une délibération du Parlement par opposition au "règlement" qui est émis par une des autorités administratives auxquelles les lois constitutionnelles ont conféré un pouvoir réglementaire. La Constitution du 4 octobre 1958 dans son article 34 a réglé le partage entre le domaine réservé au pouvoir parlementaire et celui qui appartient au domaine réglementaire. À cet égard on distingue le "décret", acte pris par le Président de la République et l'"arrêté"qui est pris par les ministres, les Préfets, les sous-Préfets et par les maires en fonction des attributions que leur confèrent la Constitution et les lois. Le respect de la constitutionnalité des lois est assuré par le Conseil Constitutionnel tandis que la légalité des règlements administratifs est contrôlée par les juridictions administratives.

Bibliographie:

Greffe (P.), La Publicité et la loi : Droit français, Union européenne et Suisse, 9e éd, Paris, Litec 2000.
Laroche (P.), Une illustration de la difficulté de bien légiférer, édité par l'auteur , Paris, 1999.
Dictionnaire du droit privé par Serge Braudo.

As If Your Life Depended On It… or How to get to Carnegie Hall? - Practice, practice

A law unto (oneself)

A totally independent operator: An executive who is a law unto herself.

Take the law into (one's) own hands

To mete out justice as one sees fit without due recourse to law enforcement agencies or the courts.

Law 

    Once Law was sitting on the bench,
        And Mercy knelt a-weeping.
    "Clear out!" he cried, "disordered wench!
        Nor come before me creeping.
    Upon your knees if you appear,
    'Tis plain your have no standing here."
   
    Then Justice came.  His Honor cried:
        "Your status? -- devil seize you!"
    "Amica curiae," she replied --
        "Friend of the court, so please you."
    "Begone!" he shouted -- "there's the door --
     I never saw your face before!"

From Ambrose Bierce, Devil’s Dictionary

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  • Historia Verdadera

Papelera

El Canciller de Uruguay, Reinaldo Gargano, que inicialmente anticipó de un virtual rompimiento del diálogo entre los presidentes Tábaré Vásquez y Néstor Kirchner sobre el conflicto de la papelera Botnia, ahora salió al frente para alclarar que aun hay posibilidades de asumir acciones conjuntas para reabrir la frontera de Fray Bentos, aunque no precisó cuándo. Pero confirmó que el presidente Vázquez asistirá al acto de asunción de Cristina.

CAN – UE 

La ministra de Comercio Exterior y Turismo peruana, Mercedes Aráoz, aseguró que su país defenderá la postura de segmentar las negociaciones del acuerdo de asociación de la CAN con la Unión Europea.

México – Reforma

Las reformas constitucionales en materia electoral de México fueron publicadas en el Diario Oficial de la Federación, con lo que a partir de este miércoles hay un plazo de 30 días para la renovación del Consejo General del Instituto Federal Electoral en el país centroamericano.

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  • Brief News

Brazil's Aids policy 'remarkable'

Bargaining with pharmaceutical firms to bring down the price of Aids drugs and producing cheap generic versions has saved Brazil $1bn, a study has shown. Infection rates in the Latin American country have been kept at a similar level to the US, the report finds. And more than 180,000 Brazilians have access to Aids treatment. Brazil's achievement is described as "remarkable", in the study published by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health in the United States. By threatening to produce cheaper generic versions of existing drugs, the government has repeatedly persuaded companies to reduce their prices. Earlier this year Brazil broke the patent on the Aids drug Efavirenz and decided to import a cheaper version from India.

Political delay on Iraq death row

In prison cells guarded by American forces near Baghdad, the notorious "Chemical Ali" and two other former top officials in Saddam Hussein's regime wait to be handed over to the Iraqi government for execution. It should have happened more than a month ago. The fact that it did not has stirred a tense row between the US embassy and Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's administration. Both sides are locked in their positions and refusing to budge. "We insist that the law be implemented and that these men be handed over in accordance with the law," said Prime Minister Maliki.

'Hidden costs raise' US war price

Democrats in the US Congress say "hidden costs" have pushed the total to about $1.5 trillion - nearly twice the requested $804bn. Higher oil prices, treating wounded veterans, and the cost to the economy of pulling reservists away from their jobs have been taken into account. The White House has called the report politically motivated.

EU accounts failed for 13th year

The auditors for the EU have refused to sign off the bloc's financial accounts - for the 13th year in a row. A report by the European Court of Auditors criticizes nearly every major area of the EU's expenditure. Errors of legality and regularity still persist in the majority of the EU's 106bn euro annual budget. The auditors say there are weaknesses across the board and complain of neglect and presumed attempts at fraud. The European Commission has blamed member states for audit failings.

Bhutto Calls on Musharraf to Resign

Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto will remain under detention for at least another day.  She calls for President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to step down. She also rules out any future power-sharing deal with the military ruler.

'Fast economic growth' in Africa

The economic outlook for Africa is improving after a decade of growth of 5.4% for the continent that matches global rates, the World Bank has said. The trend indicates that a fundamental change is occurring in Africa. But the report says ongoing investment is needed to sustain long-term development on the continent.

Calling Out eBay

A lawyer for Tiffany said eBay has failed to properly police its online auction site to stop the sale of counterfeit jewelry.

Brazil plans changes to oil laws-regulator

Brazil's oil market regulator said on Tuesday the government plans to change rules on oil and natural gas exploration, seeking to increase returns to public coffers. The decision to change the so-called Petroleum Law, which was approved in 1997 and opened Brazil's market to foreign oil companies, was made last week after state-controlled Petrobras said its Tupi field may have large recoverable reserves. It is expected that only the regulatory environment of the Petroleum Law will be affected.

Brazil Senate Panel Passes Extension of Financial Tax

A Brazilian Senate panel approved a proposal extending a tax on financial transactions after the government agreed to lower the tax rate to build support. Finance Minister Guido Mantega agreed today to lower the tax rate and give up as much as 20 billion reais ($11.3 billion) of revenue between 2008 and 2011 in order to build support for its renewal in the Senate. The so-called CPMF will be cut by 0.02 percentage points each year until reaching 0.30 percent in 2011 from 0.38 percent now. The reduction will be done after the renewal of the tax receives full passage. The CPMF, which is a charge on financial transactions dating to 1996 that generates about 10 percent of government revenue, will expire at the end of the year without Senate approval. The government has offered a package of tax benefits as a way to win approval over opposition that included some members of the ruling coalition.

EU set to reform telecom sector

The European Union is set to launch new proposals to reform the telecoms sector, in a bid to increase competition and create a single market. Draft proposals are expected to include plans to create a regional watchdog and give Brussels greater power to regulate competitive issues.  

Bank of America in sub-prime hit

Bank of America has revealed that it will have to write off $3bn of bad debts and warned that its losses could grow. It is to spend another $600m supporting some of its funds because the value of their investments is uncertain. But Bank of America said that it considered the potential losses to be "manageable". It is the latest bank to reveal losses as a result of investments linked to the US sub-prime home loans market.

HSBC US bad debt exposure $3.4bn

HSBC has said its bad debts from the US sub-prime lending crisis were $3.4bn in the third quarter. But the bank's overall profits will be more than a year ago as revenue growth offset the bad debt charge. 

Tax Spat

Wal-Mart's Italian operation has helped the retailer cut its tax bill in Illinois by millions of dollars a year. But Illinois objected, setting off a legal dispute that has become part of a wider effort by states to crack down on those kinds of tax maneuvers.

Supreme Court agrees to hear paralegal fees case 

The US Supreme Court  on Tuesday granted certiorari in Richlin Security Service v. Chertoff (06-1717) , a case where the Court will consider whether paralegal services can be recovered at the market rate when determining the payment of attorneys' fees. The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled  that the Equal Access to Justice Act  permits only the reimbursement of paralegal services as the cost of the expense to the attorneys rather than as fees at the market rate. A decision in this case would resolve a split among the circuit courts of appeal.

Europe rights watchdog says EU terror list violates basic human rights 

The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly  Monday criticized procedures used by the UN Security Council and the European Union for blacklisting individuals and organizations on its terror list, adopting a draft report  by parliamentarian Dick Marty  that characterized the procedures as "totally arbitrary" and lacking in credibility. Marty's report said that the lists violate basic human rights by not informing individuals or groups when they've been added to the blacklist or giving them an opportunity to respond to the allegations.

  • Daily Press Review

Anti-French riot erupts in Chad
BBC News, Centrist newscaster, London, England

Ban Ki-moon calls for greater protection of civilians affected by conflict
CongoPlanet.com, Independent online news aggregator

Deep Brain Surgery: Ghana makes medical history
GhanaWeb, Online news portal, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Somalia: Mogadishu Clashes Devastating Civilians
Human Rights Watch (Africa), International news press releases

Load-shedding underway
iafrica, Online news portal, Cape Town, South Africa

Eskom starts load shedding
Independent Online, News portal, Cape Town, South Africa

Hoax email man shot in Pretoria
Mail & Guardian Online, Liberal, Johannesburg, South Africa

SA braces for more power cuts
News24.com, Online news portal, Cape Town, South Africa

UN promises to back afforestation efforts in Brazil
Brazil Sun, Independent online news aggregator

Panday to blame for PNM victory
Caribbean News Portal, Online news aggregator

US: Guantanamo Judge Allows Military Commissions to Proceed in Khadr Case
Human Rights Watch (Americas), International news press releases

Angola-Brazil:  Portuguese - the Common Language of Trade
IPS Latin America, International cooperative of journalists, Rome, Italy

Lights out! - PNP spokesmen Paulwell, Spencer resign portfolios
Jamaica Gleaner, Independent daily, Kingston, Jamaica

Peru: Photo of the day - Cerro Verde Invests US$900 Million
Living in Peru, News portal, Lima, Peru

Report says 14 of 17 Blackwater shootings unjustified
The Globe and Mail, Centrist daily, Toronto, Canada

Harper approves Mulroney inquiry
Toronto Star, Liberal daily, Toronto, Canada

Indonesia, Malaysia meet to strengthen border management cooperation
Antara News, News agency, Jakarta, Indonesia

Teacher Wanted by Police for Leaking Test Questions
Chosun Ilbo, Conservative daily, Seoul, South Korea

CRPF on patrol, Nandigram peaceful
India Express, News portal, Mumbai, India

Priyanka Vadra's monkey business
India Times, Conservative daily, New Delhi, India

The dollar tumbles
Japan Times, Independent centrist, Tokyo, Japan

Floodwaters recede, evacuees return home
Malaysian Star, Online news portal,  Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

Drought-hit Aussie brewers save water
New Zealand Herald, Conservative daily, Auckland, New Zealand

'Silly' woman stands in front of freight train
People's Daily Online, English-language, Beijing, China

Prisons boss under cloud
Sydney Morning Herald, Centrist daily, Sydney, Australia

Crucial Left-UPA panel meeting on Friday
The Hindu, Left-leaning daily, Chennai, India

Terror protection plans to be unveiled
BBC News, Centrist newscaster, London, England

Ryanair sues European Commission
BreakingNews.ie, Online news portal, Cork, Ireland

Police have 100 questions for McCanns
Daily Express, Conservative tabloid, London, England

Now Government admits 10,000 illegal immigrants could be in security jobs
Daily Mail, Conservative daily, London, England

T-Mobile sells 10,000 iPhones in one day
DMeurope, Online news portal, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Council suspends deputy chief over misconduct allegations
icLiverpool, Online news portal, Liverpool, England

Coalition shaken by German resignation
International Herald Tribune, Independent daily, Paris, France

Nintendo Wii sold out before Christmas
The Telegraph, Conservative daily, London, England

I thought Diana would survive, says doctor
Times Online, Conservative daily, London, England

Gaza Terrorists Wound Israeli Soldier
Arutz Sheva, Online, right-wing, Tel Aviv, Israel

Sadr MP Demands Dissolution of Iraq Parliament
Asharq Al-Awsat, Pan-Arab daily, London, England

Strike halts most French train traffic
Gulf News, Independent daily, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Politics-US:  Dems Put War Costs at 3.5 Trillion Through 2017
IPS Middle East, International cooperative of journalists, Rome, Italy

Royal Jordanian to offer OnAir mobile and Internet services
Middle East North African Network, Online financial portal, Amman, Jordan

Top U.S. Diplomat will Visit Pakistan
Nahamet, Online news portal, Beirut, Lebanon

Abbas, Peres hail US summit  as 'historic opportunity'
The Daily Star, Independent daily, Beirut, Lebanon

More than two million Yemeni children out of school
Yemen Times, Independent weekly, Sana'a, Yemen

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