American Bar Association publishes its "must-do" list for the next president of the United States

23/10/2008

The American Bar Association has published what it calls a memorandum to the next president�of the United States, regarding his first thirty days in office. It begins: "Once you take office in January, Mr. President-elect, you will face all manner of challenges related to the rule of law—issues with dramatic impact on the day-to-day lives of all Americans and others who come into contact with the U.S. government." The action list includes:

• immediate steps to�ensure that whenever a foreign person is captured, detained, interned or otherwise held within the custody of or under the physical control of the United States, or interrogated in any location by agents of the United States (including private contractors), he or she is treated in accordance with the minimum protections afforded by Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions of 1949;
• ratification of the 1998 Rome Statute for an International Criminal Court; and
• reform to the judicial selection and nomination process.

View the memorandum�on the ABA Journal web site >

23 October 2008

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