Recently in International Law Category

David Matusiewicz, a divorced Delaware optometrist, pleaded guilty today to federal bank fraud and kidnapping charges.

Since his crime spree reads like a television drama, it should be no surprise that he was profiled on America's Most Wanted

In 2007, Matusiewicz told his ex-wife that he was taking their 3 young daughters to Disney World in Florida. Instead, he fled with them to Central America via Mexico, taking his elderly mother along for the ride in a 33-foot mobile home.

That's not all.

It's official: Englewood, New Jersey sued the Libyan government and its contractor, Quattro Construction, for a temporary injunction to enforce stop work orders issued against the current work on the Libya-owned property.

You can read the complete lawsuit and stop work orders here:

Englewood, New Jersey's City Attorney Bill Bailey told FindLaw that the city's lawsuit seeking an injunction to halt all construction on the Libyan government's Englewood property  would be filed in approximately one hour -- around 4 p.m. EST / 1 p.m. PST.

Englewood's Mayor, Michael Wildes, also told FindLaw that the city was suing the Libyan government over the property's construction.

After Scotland's release last week of a convicted Lockerbie bomber from Libya, Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi reported plans to set up a large tent on the country's Englewood property, creating a firestorm of controversy.

Bradley Birkenfeld -- the American former UBS banker who played a central role in breaking the Swiss bank's secrecy and confidentiality in trying to protect its U.S. clients from evading payment of their U.S. taxes -- was sentenced to 40 months in federal prison today.

Birkenfeld helped turn Swiss Bank account secrecy's cachet -- at least for U.S. clients -- into 'cachet-less accounts,' the likes of which heads of state, terrorist leaders, and reputed drug traffickers have benefited from over the years.  The United States settled a lawsuit with UBS this week over the bank's refusal to turnover a list of its U.S. client accounts, and the Swiss government agreed to help them divulge the identities of at least 4,450 clients without breaking Swiss law.

Exactly what did Birkenfeld give the feds in exchange for today's sentence?

The sole defendant convicted and sentenced to life in prison for his role in the Lockerbie bombing terrorist attack was released by Scotland's Secretary of Justice and sent home to Libya today, a free man.

Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi was convicted for his role in the December 21, 1988 bombing of a packed Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 passengers and crew.  A three-judge panel from Scotland's High Court of Justiciary convicted al-Megrahi on January 31, 2001, just 7½ before the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks,

At the conclusion of their 82-page verdict (see below) rendered after lengthy trial, the judges pronounced al-Megrahi guilty, beyond a reasonable doubt, for deliberately placing the bomb on Flight 103 that blew up the plane and killed everyone on board:

In another blow to Swiss bank privacy and secrecy laws, UBS agreed to identify 4,450 of its U.S. clients sought by the IRS for allegedly hiding assets abroad illegally in order to avoid U.S. tax penalties.  The identities of these now 'cachet-less' Swiss bank accounts and their holders will be revealed.

Acting as an intermediary of sorts, the Swiss government agreed, under a written agreement with the U.S. to respond to treaty requests concerning tax information on UBS clients, by transmitting such requests to the Swiss bank, and ordering UBS to comply with the request covered under the countries' tax treaty.

UBS, the Swiss government, and the U.S federal government reportedly agreed to resolve their legal dispute over the identity of UBS clients whom the I.R.S. alleged were helped by the Swiss Bank to shield taxable income and assets.

The Swiss Federal Department of Justice and Police emphasized that the agreement was an "out-of-court settlement" to resolve the dispute, but declined to release further details.

Swiss bank accounts are the stuff of legend. Heads of state like former Russian President Vladimir Putin, architects of genocide like former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, terrorist figureheads like Osama bin Laden, and reputed drug traffickers reportedly all benefited from Swiss financial privacy laws that have kept the identities of account holders secret.

Switzerland's bank secrecy laws were once thought to be impenetrable...at least until the UBS scandal came along. What happened?