Showing papers in "International journal of legal information in 2014"
TL;DR: In this paper, the evolution of the traditional Catalan legal system after the end of the Spanish War of Succession up to the late 20th-Century is discussed, focusing on the traditional Catalonian legal system and law compilations that survive beside the brand new Spanish Civil code.
Abstract: This contribution deals with the evolution of the traditional Catalan legal system after the end of the Spanish War of Succession (early 18th-Century) up to the late 20th-Century. It shows how the traditional Catalan legal system survived and evolved through the end of the Old Regime to the 19th-Century constitutional system, and focuses on the traditional Catalan legal system (and law compilations) that survives beside the brand new Spanish Civil code, along with other Spanish existing regional legal regulations (due to historical surviving legal systems from pre-existing kingdoms).
11 citations
TL;DR: Information Literacy (IL) has been defined by the ACRL as the ability to identify, access, evaluate, and apply information in an ethical manner as discussed by the authors. But IL skills are not an ossified set of behaviors, and IL skills cannot evolve in an intellectual vacuum, without the content that allows for such skills to emerge from practice.
Abstract: Information Literacy (IL) has been defined by the ACRL as the ability to identify, access, evaluate, and apply information in an ethical manner. However, IL skills are not an ossified set of behaviors, and IL skills cannot evolve in an intellectual vacuum, without the content that allows for such skills to emerge from practice. As such, IL should be contextualized within the structures and modes of thought of particular disciplines. In response, a burgeoning IL in law movement has arisen, applying the standards of identification, accessing, evaluation, application, and ethical analyses to legal information and the research methods and tools unique to the practice of law. This article traces the development of this movement in three distinct jurisdictions: the United States, the United Kingdom, and Turkey.
4 citations
TL;DR: Land use law or zoning law (Derecho urbanistico, in Spanish, or Droit de l'urbanisme, in French) deals with the regulation of land use as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Land use law or zoning law (Derecho urbanistico, in Spanish, or Droit de l'urbanisme, in French) deals with the regulation ofland use. The regulation of urban planning is a part of that legal branch. Urban planning decides about the existence and situation of housing (including affordable housing), green areas, schools and other important infrastructures in the cities.
3 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide comprehensive recommendations for legal researchers investigating European data protection law, including the existing and forthcoming European Union data protection regulatory scheme, EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights.
Abstract: This research guide provides comprehensive recommendations for legal researchers investigating European data protection law. Topics covered include the existing and forthcoming European Union data protection regulatory scheme, EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights. The guide is up to date as of October 2013.
3 citations
2 citations
TL;DR: There is a difference between voluntarily giving somebody an amount of money and having the same amount taken away from one, maybe even without one noticing it at first as discussed by the authors, and hardly anyone would assent to the idea that one is to hand over one's wallet, let the seller take whatever he or she sees fit and return the wallet, with the buyer only being able to find out much later, how much was taken.
Abstract: There is a difference between voluntarily giving somebody an amount of money and having the same amount of money taken away from one, maybe even without one noticing it at first. Even though the economic situation might be the same, it is the loss of control, of sovereignty over one's own affairs, which we find troublesome. Likewise, hardly anyone, when buying something from a complete stranger, would assent to the idea that one is to hand over one's wallet, let the seller take whatever he or she sees fit, and return the wallet, with the buyer only being able to find out much later, how much was taken.
2 citations
TL;DR: Learning the rules of legal citation is a challenge for new and seasoned legal researchers alike as mentioned in this paper, and good instruction and practice are required to master these rules, which is why it is important to have a rule book when learning to play a new sport.
Abstract: Learning the rules of legal citation is a challenge for new and seasoned legal researchers alike. Good instruction and practice are required to master these rules. Think about the first sport you learned to play. Did you master all the rules the first time you played the game? Do most people even read a rule book when learning to play a new sport? Initially, it is a challenge for any player learning the game to follow all of the rules correctly. Generally, only coaches study the rule book. The rules of the game are very important so coaches and players know what is and is not permitted “on the field.” Most rules are disseminated orally and learned through practice. Law professors who teach legal research or supervise legal writing are the coaches in the game of legal citation; they must disseminate the rules to their students. The professors have a duty to stimulate a student's mastery of legal citation rules to meet the proficiency required of legal writing in the profession. Law students who do not master the rules of legal citation are more likely to plagiarize.
2 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors take a look into the different arguments and scenarios surrounding the Catalan process and present the shortest presentation ever made, as the answer is so simple: YES!
Abstract: This question could become the shortest presentation ever made, as the answer is so simple: YES! But in order to make it clear, we must take a look into the different arguments and scenarios surrounding the Catalan process.
1 citations
TL;DR: A thorough presentation of LOT for both the neophyte and the sophisticated LOT scholar can be found in this paper, where the point is to deal with each inevitable crisis and minimize the impact market crises have on the vast majority of humanity across all borders.
Abstract: allows for lower barriers to business fonnation (Djankov), and better protection of shareholders (La Porta). Similarly convincing are the other articles that deal with the third field of inquiry the connection between law and social ordering. This volume is a thorough presentation of LOT for both the neophyte and the sophisticated LOT scholar. As a non-LOT scholar, I would note that this volume wants to be an objective presentation of the theory and it lacks any critical perspective. In the post-2008 climate, law and economics would seem to need a boost of credibility. Nothing in the collection and little in the LOT scholarship talks about the best legal system to minimize economic crashes for the masses. If the comparative purpose of LOT is to strengthen shareholders rights across national borders, then LOT has achieved its goal and its new phase should be implementing common law systems everywhere. However, in the new social and economic order where the gap between the middle class, the pylon of any capitalist system, and the top I%, the pylon of oligarchic Russia, which scarily enough seems to have infiltrated the social hierarchy of today's USA, too, perhaps LOT should focus on other issues that go beyond the wellbeing of the few or their definition of market stability. Market stability is cyclical. The point is how to deal with each inevitable crisis and minimize the impact market crises have on the vast majority of humanity across all borders. I know I would applaud such a theoretical endeavor.
1 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a short but dense volume that moves from specific local examples of infamy to a brief analysis of congressional intent in shaping the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, a review of the Reconstruction and Readmission Acts, an explanation of the expansion of crimes which carried the penalty disfranchisement, and an examination of state constitutions and criminal codes is presented.
Abstract: snapshot of how legal hierarchies both reflect and produce social hierarchies and cultural change.\" This book is compelling and provides an important insight into the racial component that still informs the issues of felon disfranchisement today. However, the author's main arguments are sometimes hard to follow in this short but dense volume that moves from specific local examples of infamy to a brief analysis of congressional intent in shaping the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, a review of the Reconstruction and Readmission Acts, an explanation of the expansion of crimes which carried the penalty disfranchisement, and an examination of state constitutions and criminal codes. Any of these topics could arguably rate its own book. Nonetheless, I would recommend this volume to anyone interested in understanding disfranchisement and its racial component in American legal history.
1 citations
TL;DR: In 1995, Robert Ambrogi, former columnist for Legal Technology News, wrote about the potential of the Internet's potential to revolutionize the accessibility and delivery of legal information as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: In 1995, Robert Ambrogi, former columnist for Legal Technology News, wrote about the Internet's potential to revolutionize the accessibility and delivery of legal information. Almost 25 years later, Ambrogi now describes his initial optimism as a “pipe dream.” Perhaps one of the greatest problems facing the legal industry today is the sheer inaccessibility of legal information. Not only does this inaccessibility prevent millions of Americans from obtaining reliable legal information, but it also prevents many attorneys from adequately providing legal services to their clients. Whether locked behind government paywalls or corporate cash registers, legal information is simply not efficiently and affordably attainable through traditional means.
TL;DR: In this paper, an overview of the legal regulation of same-sex couples in Spain and Catalonia is presented, from legal disregard of same sex couples to the admission of samesex marriages by the Spanish Law in 2005, upheld by Spanish Constitutional Court.
Abstract: This paper aims to provide an overview of the legal regulation of same sex couples in Spain and Catalonia. It will present how regulations have evolved, from legal disregard of same sex couples to the admission of same sex marriages by the Spanish Law in 2005, upheld by the Spanish Constitutional Court. Reference will be made to Catalan law, as it provided the first comprehensive regulation on same-sex cohabitation. And finally, it will highlight some challenges still faced by same sex couples, as regards assisted reproduction.
TL;DR: In this paper, an interdisciplinary article focusing on the interplay between information and communication technology (ICT) and international law (IL) is presented, where the authors focus on the ways in which ICT can enhance equitable participation in international legal structures, particularly through capturing the possibilities associated with big data.
Abstract: This is an interdisciplinary article focusing on the interplay between information and communication technology (ICT) and international law (IL). Its purpose is to open up a dialogue between ICT and IL practitioners that focuses on the ways in which ICT can enhance equitable participation in international legal structures, particularly through capturing the possibilities associated with big data. This depends on the ability of individuals to access big data, for it to be structured in a manner that makes it accessible and for the individual to be able to take action based on it.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide a detailed analysis of the various aspects of the debate in Africa over the efficacy of international criminal accountability mechanisms, particularly the ICC, including questions regarding questions regarding whether the ICC is biased against Africans.
Abstract: The timing for a book on international criminal justice and Africa is ideal. A number of African countries were pivotal to the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC). However, it is no secret that many of these same countries continue to grow impatient with it, having come to perceive the Court as biased against Africans. Individual countries are now taking steps to curb, or even end, its reach. At this level, although various countries openly criticize the ICC, Kenya appears to be the first to take the matter further. Kenya, whose current head of state and his deputy are both under indictment, has recently set in motion a process for withdrawing from the ICC, with its parliament approving a motion to that effect.' The next step, introducing a bill to repeal the International Crimes Act, a law implementing the Rome Statute, is expected soon. If Kenya actually follows through, it will undoubtedly set a precedent that other countries in the region may start to follow. African countries have also taken a stand against the ICC collectively through the African Union (AU). In 2009, the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government adopted a decision vowing not to cooperate with the ICC in enforcing the arrest warrant against President AI Beshir of Sudan. The AU is currently working to have ICC's actions against the Kenyan and Sudanese presidents deferred and to put a stop to the prosecution of sitting heads of State by the ICC. Africa and the Future of International Criminal Justice puts all these and other issues into perspective. It provides a detailed analysis of the various aspects of the debate in Africa over the efficacy of international criminal accountability mechanisms, particularly the ICC, including questions regarding
TL;DR: A concise picture of the Catalan society and the "Catalan family" can be found in this paper, where the average age for a first marriage is over thirty years for both women and men.
Abstract: As we speak about Family Law, I want to begin my exposition with a concise picture of the Catalan society and the “Catalan family”. Our concept of family, like other neighboring societies, has changed substantially in relation to the preceding generations. Catalonia today is an aging society with rather low fertility, increasing divorce rates and a large increase in the number of single households (the result of an increased life expectancy). Furthermore, the man is no longer the only household member who contributes to household income; in more and more families both men and women engage in paid employment. The female employment rate has risen in a big way, which explains that the average age for a first marriage is over thirty years for both women and men. This fact means in practice that Catalonian couples have few children: one, two, or as a heroic common project, three.
TL;DR: The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) as mentioned in this paper is a preferential trade agreement between the United States and seven other countries, including Singapore, New Zealand, Brunei, and Chile.
Abstract: In September 2008, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced the United States’ intention to join Singapore, New Zealand, Brunei, and Chile in what was then called the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement, a preferential trade agreement. Since then, the agreement has grown in scope and ambition. The negotiations to create what is now known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) have expanded to include seven other nations. The USTR wants the TPP to be “an ambitious, next-generation, Asia-Pacific trade agreement that reflects U.S. economic priorities and values.” According to the USTR's webpage dedicated to the agreement, the administration is “working in close partnership with Congress and with a wide range of stakeholders, in seeking to conclude a strong agreement that addresses the issues that U.S. businesses and workers are facing in the 21st century.”
TL;DR: The use of foreign law, for some, is in tension with national sovereignty: one Congressman claimed that citation amounted to a surrender of lawmaking to the control of foreign courts and foreign governments, and potentially represented the start of an internationalist slide in foreign policy and security and military strategy as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The issue of whether constitutional courts should refer to foreign law has become the subject of debate and discussion around the world. In the US in particular, a heated judicial and academic debate on the issue has spilled into a political controversy extending to the introduction of federal and State Bills to prohibit judicial citation of foreign law and to Congressional proposals for such citation to be an impeachable offence. The use of foreign law, for some, is in tension with national sovereignty: one Congressman claimed that citation amounted to a surrender of lawmaking ‘to the control of foreign courts and foreign governments', and potentially represented the start of an internationalist slide in foreign policy and security and military strategy as well. However, these normative debates about foreign law play at best a muted role in Australian jurisprudential and political life, and we do not directly engage with them here. Rather, we consider to what extent, and how, Australian High Court judges engage with foreign and international legal materials in constitutional cases. In this article we track the frequency of citation in constitutional cases and provide a substantive analysis of the ways in which those materials are used.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss best practices for library consultants and provide advice on how to avoid pitfalls in the context of an international case study, and provide guidance on the use of change management skills in law librarians.
Abstract: Consultants are retained to assist libraries in identifying, designing, and implementing solutions to a wide variety of strategic, management, operational, and human resources issues. The goal of the library-consultant relationship is to improve the operations of the organization. Although often unrecognized as such, law librarians are natural consultants. Librarians are problem solvers, and as such develop and use many of the same skills as consultants in their everyday roles in the law library.For those versatile librarians skilled in change management and interested in pursuing these challenging professional opportunities, this article discusses best practices for library consultants and provides advice on how to avoid pitfalls in the context of an international case study.
TL;DR: Deakin and Pistor as mentioned in this paper considered the merits of legal origin theory in three fields of inquiry: the study of comparative law, the analysis of the relation between law and markets, and the understanding of the role of legal systems in social ordering.
Abstract: In this volume, Simon Deakin, Professor of Law at the University of Cambridge and Katharina Pistor, the Michael I Sovern Professor of Law at Columbia Law School, considered the merits of of Legal Origin Theory (LOT) in three fields of inquiry: the study of comparative law, the analysis of the relation between law and markets, and the understanding of the role of legal systems in social ordering. In their succinct and provocative introduction, Deakin and Pistor discuss the evolution of this legal theory without shying away from its controversial nature. The 17 contributions, which range in date from 1936 to 20 I I, show the fortitude, if not the relevance, of this theory. The academic quality of each contribution shows it is worth investigating. To clarify the terminology, roughly speaking legal origin theory is a theoretical hybrid that purports to be able to explain why some nations are richer than others. It does so by connecting the strength of financial markets and the structure of corporate ownership to the legal origin of domestic (national) legal (civil or common law) systems. However, LOT is not as simplistic as comparing these two legal systems. LOT does more than enable the scholar to argue that one system is more suited for market stability, an exercise as scientific as, let's say, horse betting. As Columbia Law Professor David Pozen explained almost a decade ago,5 during this century, LOT represented the bread and butter of comparative law and economics. LOT enables comparative legal and economic studies because of the demonstrated interconnection between legal reform and economic output. A country's legal system does affect that country's institutional and economic development. Think no further than Stalin-Soviet Russia and Putin-style capitalist Russia. The authors featured in this volume, Rafael La Porta, Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes, and Andrei Shleifer, convincingly argue from a comparative and a law and economics point of view that common law seems to be a driver of good government from a shareholder perspective, because, inter alia, it