The first trial of alleged Indonesia bomber Umar Patek began Feb. 13 in the West Jakarta District Court over his role in several terrorist plots including the Jakarta church bombings in 2000 and the 2002 Bali nightclub bombing. Patek was arrested in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in 2011, just a few weeks before US special forces killed Osama bin Laden in the same town. If convicted Patek could face life imprisonment or a death sentence. Patek is not facing "terrorism" charges under Indonesia law, since the terrorism law came into effect in 2003 after both bombings and cannot be applied retrospectively. Patek is believed to be a member of the alleged al-Qaeda-linked organization Jemaah Islamiyah, which claimed responsibility for the Bali nightclub bombings. His trial is expected to last months.

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Feb. 10 expressed its concern over the trial of Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon, which involves his investigations of acts that occurred during the Spanish Civil War and subsequent dictatorship of Gen. Francisco Franco. OHCHR spokesperson Rupert Colville indicated that judges should not be criminally charged for investigations performed within the scope of their judicial duties. Colville stated, "judges should not be subject to criminal prosecution for doing their job...Spain is obliged under international law to investigate past serious human rights violations, including those committed during the Franco regime, and to prosecute and punish those responsible."

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Feb. 10 reiterated its call for international action to protect civilians in Syria, calling for Syrian officials suspected of crimes against humanity to be tried before the International Criminal Court (ICC). High Commissioner Navi Pillay is now scheduled to address the UN General Assembly next week regarding the latest humanitarian developments in Syria, where the ongoing uprising challenging the autocratic rule of President Bashar Assad has resulted in a bloody government crackdown that has seen more than 5,000 people killed since March. Reports of increased violence in recent days prompted Pillay earlier this week to urge international intervention on behalf of the Syrian people.

The Court of Appeals in Milan on Feb. 6 announced the overturn of a lower court's verdict on Tunisian former Guantánamo Bay detainee Mohamed Riadh Ben Nasri. Nasri was convicted of terrorism association two years ago, after he was transferred from Guantánamo to stand trial in Italy. He was sentenced to six years in prison for recruiting martyrs to commit acts of terrorism. Nasri and his lawyer alleged that he was tortured extensively while being detained by US forces. It is unknown if this influenced the court's decision, as Nasri contended that he was beaten until he admitted he was part of al-Qaeda. The court also upheld the sentence of Tlili Lazar under similar charges. Reasoning behind the two decisions will be released in the next 30 days.

Four accused assassins of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri will be tried in absentia, a UN tribunal said Feb. 1. The UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) at The Hague said that after considering the efforts taken by the prosecution and the authorities to apprehend the suspects, they would move forward with the trial. The four alleged Hezbollah members are accused of involvement in a February 2005 truck bomb that killed Hariri and 22 other people. The STL determined that the prosecution took "all reasonable steps" to apprehend and inform the accused, and that the proceedings were a "last resort":

The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan on Jan. 26 overturned an injunction won by Chevon Corporation to block enforcement of what the US oil company claims is a fraudulent, multibillion-dollar judgment in Ecuador for polluting the Amazon rainforest. In reversing the decision made by the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, the Second Circuit held that Chevron may not challenge the approximately $18 billion Ecuadoran judgment before enforcement of that judgment has actually been sought by the Ecuadoran plaintiffs. In its interpretation of the Uniform Foreign Money-Judgments Recognition Act, the court concluded that judgment-debtors like Chevron can challenge a foreign judgment's validity under the Act only defensively and in response to an attempted enforcement. The court found that an effort of enforcement by the Ecuadoran plaintiffs had not yet been undertaken anywhere, and might never be undertaken in New York. While both Chevron and the Ecuadorian plaintiffs have yet to comment on the decision, Chevron has long contended (press release, PDF) that it has never conducted oil operations in Ecuador and that the allegations of environmental and social harm in the Amazon are therefore false.

Judge Carl Barber of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana on Jan. 27 issued an order that British Petroleum (BP) will be held liable for a portion of the damages owed by Transocean stemming from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. BP will be required to indemnify Transocean against any damages directly created by the pollution itself that are awarded through the litigation pending against it. BP will not be required to pay any punitive damages or civil fines as a result of these suits. The court did not rule on whether BP or Transocean would be held strictly liable, negligent or grossly negligent for the equipment failure and subsequent oil spill that created the pollution. Transocean is the company that owned the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that was contracted by BP, which subsequently caused the oil spill. This ruling is separate from a ruling issued by Barber in August, which permits punitive damages against BP, but that ruling pertained to claims brought against BP directly.

Blackwater, now known as Academi, reached a confidential settlement agreement Jan. 7 with survivors and families of victims in a 2007 shooting incident in the Nisour Square area of Baghdad that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead. A subsequent FBI investigation revealed that 14 of the deaths were unjustified acts of excessive force. A federal judge ruled last year that the lawsuit could proceed in North Carolina state court, saying that nonresidents lack the right to sue in federal court for injuries sustained outside of the country but that federal courts are obligated to remand such cases to the state level, where North Carolina law permits such suits. Lawyers for the victims confirmed the settlement, and Academi said the settlement would allow the company to move forward while providing compensation to the victims and allowing closure for the losses they suffered. This settlement closes the last lawsuit against the company for the 2007 incident.