Sidebar is JURIST's platform for legal professionals, offering perspectives by lawyers and judges on national and international legal developments. http://jurist.org/sidebar JURIST@pitt.REMOVE_THISedu JURIST Columnist Edsel Tupaz says that Philippine House Bill No. 6052 could breach international law by lowering the juvenile age of criminal responsibility to an age younger than the international community convergence point...House Bill No. 6052, titled "An Act Strengthening the Juvenile Justice System in the Philippines," was approved on second reading on May 8, 2012 in the House of Representatives of the Philippine Congress. Referring to "youthful offenders" and "children in conflict with the law," the bill seeks to lower the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 12 years of age, provided that criminal responsibility attaches only when http://jurist.org/sidebar/2012/05/edsel-tupaz-phillipines-juveniles.php 2012-05-15T11:00:00-05:00 http://jurist.org/sidebar/2012/05/edsel-tupaz-phillipines-juveniles.php Sean Gallagher JURIST Guest Columnist Doreen Hogle, a principal at Hamilton Brook Smith Reyonlds, argues that the recent Prometheus decision by the Supreme Court raises questions as to what innovations are subject to patent law protection and may result in stifled investment in technology...In March 2012, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in the case of Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories, Inc. The Court unanimously held that the claims of the patents-in-suit were not directed to patent eligible subject matter, as defined by 35 USC § 101, and therefore invalid. While the claims at issue were in the field of http://jurist.org/sidebar/2012/05/doreen-hogle-prometheus-patents.php 2012-05-10T18:00:00-05:00 http://jurist.org/sidebar/2012/05/doreen-hogle-prometheus-patents.php Jordan Barry JURIST Columnist Edsel Tupaz of Tupaz & Associates says that if the Philippines unilaterally takes China to an international court over the Scarborough Shoal or Spratly Islands dispute, the US is unlikely to enforce a judgment in the Philippines' favor despite the two countries' longstanding ties...Conflict between Chinese and Philippine naval ships in the waters of Scarborough Shoal is now on its fourth week. As of May 5, intelligence reports indicate that at least 30 Chinese vessels, including three government ships, are present in and around the small island group located 124 nautical miles from the Philippine province of Zambales http://jurist.org/sidebar/2012/05/edsel-tupaz-scarborough-ii.php 2012-05-07T14:00:00-05:00 http://jurist.org/sidebar/2012/05/edsel-tupaz-scarborough-ii.php Clay Flaherty JURIST Columnist Edsel Tupaz of Tupaz & Associates examines the territorial dispute between the Philippines and China over Scarborough Shoal, an island between the two countries, and notes the ongoing involvement of the US in the Philippines during this dispute...April 27, 2012, marks the formal end date of the Balikatan joint military exercises of US and Philippine military forces. Considered a yearly event, Balikatan draws its proximate basis from the 1999 US-Philippines Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), but the ultimate basis for the parties' joint exercises is the 1952 US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT). While Balikatan's timing may be coincidental, the http://jurist.org/sidebar/2012/04/edsel-tupaz-scarborough.php 2012-04-27T13:00:00-05:00 http://jurist.org/sidebar/2012/04/edsel-tupaz-scarborough.php Dwyer Arce JURIST Guest Columnist Philip D. Cave, a solo practitioner in the The Law Offices of Philip D. Cave, argues that Staff Sergeant Bates's mental state at the time of his alleged rampage will likely play a major role at trial and during sentencing...The discussion has started: was Staff Sergeant (SSG) Bales legally "insane" at the time of the alleged offenses and how will his mental state impact his trial? There will be some impact at sentencing, but it is harder to determine impact on the merits of a contested case. Easy question first: what about sentencing? Bales's mental state at http://jurist.org/sidebar/2012/04/philip-cave-court-martial.php 2012-04-17T16:00:00-05:00 http://jurist.org/sidebar/2012/04/philip-cave-court-martial.php Jordan Barry JURIST Columnist Edsel Tupaz of Tupaz & Associates says that the impeachment of Philippine Chief Justice Renato Corona highlights the tension between the constitutional authority of the judiciary and the elected branches of government...While the outcome of the impeachment trial against Philippine Chief Justice Renato Corona is far from certain, recent polls conducted by Pulse Asia show that 47 percent of respondents favor conviction. Only 5 percent believe Corona is innocent. This may be disturbing news for the defense. But one thing is certain — constitutional understanding at the grassroots of Philippine society is undergoing dramatic change. While the Philippine http://jurist.org/sidebar/2012/03/edsel-tupaz-impeachment-v.php 2012-03-29T13:00:00-05:00 http://jurist.org/sidebar/2012/03/edsel-tupaz-impeachment-v.php Dwyer Arce JURIST Guest Columnists David Rivkin, Jr. and Andrew Grossman of Baker Hostetler argue that in determining corporate liability under the Alien Tort Statute it is instructive to look at similar legislation that creates civil liability for torture, which was the subject of the case argued in tandem with Kiobel...The dozens of amicus briefs and columns concerning corporate liability under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Shell have overlooked or failed to appreciate the significance of a separate merits case, Mohamad v. Rajoub, that may well provide the key to unlocking the mysteries of the ATS in http://jurist.org/sidebar/2012/03/rivkin-grossman-kiobel.php 2012-03-16T16:00:00-05:00 http://jurist.org/sidebar/2012/03/rivkin-grossman-kiobel.php Sean Gallagher JURIST Guest Columnist Jeffrey White, Senior Counsel for the Center for Constitutional Litigation, P.C., argues that the Supreme Court should not extend the doctrine of qualified immunity in § 1983 cases beyond those available at common law when the section was enacted...Should "Abraham Lincoln [be] left holding the bag?" That appears to be how the petitioner would frame the central question for the US Supreme Court in Filarsky v. Delia. At oral arguments on January 17, 2012, at least one justice indicated that the answer might guide the Court's disposition of the case. Actually, the issue in this case is http://jurist.org/sidebar/2012/03/jeffrey-white-qualified-immunity.php 2012-03-14T15:00:00-05:00 http://jurist.org/sidebar/2012/03/jeffrey-white-qualified-immunity.php Sean Gallagher JURIST Columnist Edsel Tupaz of Tupaz & Associates, and Guest Columnist Ira Paulo Pozon of the Office of the Vice President of the Philippines, examine the application of the US doctrine of the "fruit of the poisonous tree" in the Philippines and its bearing in the violation of Philippines banking laws...The ongoing impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona brought back into the limelight issues of bank secrecy and confidentiality, which had not been so publicly heard of since the impeachment trial of President Joseph Ejercito Estrada in 2000. Accessory to the issue of bank secrecy is the doctrine of http://jurist.org/sidebar/2012/03/tupaz-pozon-fruit.php 2012-03-02T16:00:00-05:00 http://jurist.org/sidebar/2012/03/tupaz-pozon-fruit.php Dwyer Arce JURIST Columnist Edsel Tupaz of Tupaz & Associates, and Guest Columnist Ira Paulo Pozon of the Office of the Vice President of the Philippines, argue that the deliberative process privilege has been misapplied by Philippine courts to encompass officials beyond the executive branch and should not be applied in the ongoing impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona...The impeachment trial of Philippine Chief Justice Renato Corona continues to push the boundaries of Philippine constitutional thought, bringing with it a whole array of comparative analysis and tension between Philippine constitutional doctrine and US federal constitutional practices. The prosecution contemplated the issuance http://jurist.org/sidebar/2012/02/tupaz-pozon-privilege.php 2012-02-29T17:00:00-05:00 http://jurist.org/sidebar/2012/02/tupaz-pozon-privilege.php Dwyer Arce