Library Boy

Study on Impact of Intervenors at Supreme Court of Canada

2009-11-03T12:53:00.002-05:00

University of Toronto law professors Ben Alarie and Andrew Green have posted a draft of a new paper to the Social Science Research Network.

The paper is entitled Interventions at the Supreme Court of Canada: Accuracy, Affiliation, and Acceptance:

"Do interveners matter? Under Chief Justice McLachlin the Supreme Court of Canada has allowed an average of 176 interventions per calendar year and interveners have cumulatively made submissions in half of the cases heard by the Court. This level of activity suggests that interveners are doing something. But what is it that they are doing?"

"In the abstract, there are at least three functions that the practice of intervention might perform. First, hearing from interveners might provide objectively useful information to the Court (i.e., interveners might promote the 'accuracy' of the Court’s decision-making). A second possibility is that the practice of intervention allows interveners to provide the 'best argument' for certain partisan interests that judges might want to 'affiliate' with. A third possibility is that interventions are allowed mainly (if not only) so that intervening parties feel they have had their voices heard by the Court and by the greater public, including Parliament, regardless of the effect on the outcome of the appeal (i.e., the Court might be promoting the 'acceptability' of its decisions by allowing for an outlet for expression)."

"It is disconcerting that until now the effects of interventions on the decision-making of the Supreme Court of Canada have not been systematically explored through empirical analysis. A growing body of literature has examined the role of amicus curiae at the Supreme Court of the United States. To date, however, the related literature in Canada is slim and, to the extent it exists, does not deploy the empirical methods necessary to test independently for the influence of interveners on the decisions of individual judges. This work fills this gap in the existing literature and expands our collective understanding of the consequences of the practice of intervention at Canada’s highest court. We find evidence that interveners matter more than many observers might expect. "

They are presenting the paper this Friday at a Symposium on the Role of Intervenors in Public Interest Litigation at the Faculty of Law of the University of Toronto.

Hill Times Supplement on Canadian Copyright Reform

2009-11-02T12:34:00.003-05:00

The Hill Times, the Ottawa-based weekly that covers the federal government and Parliament Hill, has a new Policy Briefing on Communications and Intellectual Property (it is the November 2, 2009 link).

It contains a series of articles about copyright reform by government and opposition spokespeople and by analysts.

CanLII Now Offers Point-In-Time Territorial Legislation Databases

2009-11-01T18:10:00.003-05:00

CanLII, the Canadian Legal Information Institute that offers free Internet access to primary Canadian legal material, now has point-in-time legislation from the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon:

"The new features include:
Access to past versions;
Coming into force dates of amendments;
Information with respect to repealed and superseded legislation;
Search with specific in force dates;
Version comparison;
Track changes with RSS feeds."

CanLII now offers point-in-time capability for all Canadian jurisdictions (federal, provincial and territorial).

Annual Report 2008-2009 of the Australian Law Reform Commission

2009-11-01T17:58:00.002-05:00

The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) has published its annual report for 2008-2009:

"2008–09 has been another very busy one for the ALRC, with a focus on organisational renewal and increasing productivity. Following the release in August of the landmark Privacy Report, For Your Information: Australian Privacy Law and Practice, (ALRC 108, 2008)—which involved one of the largest national and international consultation exercises in the ALRC’s history—the ALRC was referred two new inquiries: a review of Commonwealth Secrecy Laws; and a review of the Royal Commissions Act 1902 (Cth) and related issues. Both of these major inquiries are due to be completed by the end of October 2009."

"The then Opposition Australian Labor Party (ALP) went into the last federal election in November 2007 with a platform of commitment to more openness, accountability and transparency in the operation of executive government. Among other things, the ALP pledged to implement the major recommendations in the ALRC’s report on freedom of information (FOI) law and practice, Open Government (ALRC 77, 1995), as well as those in the ALRC’s review of federal sedition laws, Fighting Words (ALRC 104, 2006)."

"In some respects, the ALRC’s current review of secrecy laws represents one of the final pieces in the puzzle (a regime providing strong whistleblower protections would be another key piece), since over the past decade or so the ALRC has provided reports and recommendations to successive governments about improving FOI; privacy laws and practices; the protection of classified and security sensitive information; the preservation of archival resources; and client legal privilege in federal investigations."

UK Law Commission Consultation on Intestacy

2009-10-31T16:05:00.003-04:00

The Law Commission in the United Kingdom has just published a consultation paper reviewing the law of intestacy and family provision claims on death.

The intestacy rules govern the inheritance of assets where a person dies without leaving a will disposing of the whole of his or her property.

The paper reviews the current law, discusses options for reform and puts forward questions for consultees, including provisional proposals for reform. Areas highlighted for potential reform include:

the entitlement of a surviving spouse, where the deceased also left children (perhaps from another relationship), or other relatives;
whether certain cohabitants should have a place in the intestacy rules, the conditions which have to be met, and how much of the estate they should receive;
trusts for children on intestacy and the effect of adoption on a child’s entitlement;
family provision claims by adult children;
the distinction made in the intestacy rules between full brothers and sisters and half-brothers and sisters;
the criteria to be met by dependants applying for family provision;
family provision claims where the deceased did not have his or her permanent home in England and Wales.

The Law Commission has prepared an overview of the Consultation Paper. As well, the National Centre for Social Research was commissioned to conduct focus group research for this project (results dated March 31, 2009).

The consultation period closes on 28 February 2010.

Ontario Law Librarians Profiled in US Publication

2009-10-29T18:53:00.004-04:00

The most recent issue of AALL Spectrum, the monthly publication of the American Association of Law Libraries, contains an article entitled Doing More with Less - Innovative ideas from small law libraries by Dave Whelan, legal information manager for the Law Society of Upper Canada in Toronto:

"A tight economy highlights a common feature in smaller law libraries—the need to do more with less. One-person librarians are used to doing every type of library task
because there is no one else to do it. Even with limited staff time and the same budget limitations that many law libraries are experiencing, these creative librarians are finding ways to innovate."

"Some are using open source software to create inexpensive solutions. Others are using novel applications and relationships to extend their reach beyond traditional library services."

"The libraries profiled below are all in Ontario, Canada, and are associated with law associations ... There are 48 law association libraries spread out across the province, spanning over 900 miles from east to west."

The article looks at local innovations relating to open source circulation tools, remote access software to manage electronic legal research by lawyers at remote locations, creation of RSS feeds and continuing legal education.

Most of the people mentioned in the article are members of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries.

The full table of contents for this AALL Spectrum issue is available on the publication website.

Statistics Canada Juristat October 2009 Issue

2009-10-28T20:42:00.004-04:00

Statistics Canada has just published the October 2009 of its Juristat bulletin.

The periodical provides analysis and detailed statistics on a variety of justice-related topics and issues.

This issue has articles on:

rates of police-reported violence against seniors
homicide in Canada in 2008
trends in police-reported serious assaults
parenting after separation and divorce
a profile of victim services in Canada during 2007/2008

UK Law Reports Get Their Own YouTube Channel

2009-10-28T20:24:00.002-04:00

The Incorporated Council of Law Reporting (ICLR) in the United Kingdom, the people who bring us the authoritative and official Law Reports, have their very own YouTube video channel.

Videos include interviews with the Law Report editors, a history of the ICLR, a video on the process of how a case goes from trial to official report, and a brief introduction to case law research using both online databases and hard copy reference works.

And check out their wonderfully produced video A Tale of Two Citations:

"This short featurette featuring two barristers. One of them serenely competent and well-prepared with the proper law reports to support her case, and the other rather less well-organised, chaotically downloading and printing transcripts from the internet, much to the judges irritation".

Canadian Bar Association Article on Technology in Canadian Courts

2009-10-27T12:49:00.003-04:00

CBA PracticeLink, a publication of the Canadian Bar Association, features a Guide to Courtroom Technology in Canada :

"Certain high-profile trials have proven the value of technology usage in courtrooms. Yet most trials in Canada still do without even common technologies, like video conferencing, document management systems and document displays. "

"And this absence spawns dissatisfaction."

It looks at technologies for e-discovery and e-trials as well as at the barriers to their wider adoption.

At the Supreme Court of Canada where I work, we have gone through a courtroom modernization to become e-trial-friendly. In May 2008, the Osgoode Hall Law School blog The Court interviewed Louise Meagher, the Deputy Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada, about the project.

American Library Association Website on Google Book Settlement

2009-10-26T20:27:00.004-04:00

The American Library Association (ALA) has put together a website on the proposed Google Book Settlement.

In late 2008, Google and associations representing U.S. authors and publishers came to a deal to end a class action lawsuit for copyright infringement launched against the search giant.

Google is scanning millions of books, including many still covered by copyright, in order to make them available over the Internet.

The proposed settlement is still before the courts in New York City.

The ALA site contains:

official settlement documents
summaries and analysis
court "briefs" (facta)
news stories

Fifth International Symposium on Wikis

2009-10-25T15:42:00.003-04:00

WikiSym 2009, the Fifth International Symposium on Wikis and Open Collaboration, started today in Orlando, Florida. It runs until Tuesday.

The proceedings of the event are available online.

One of the presentations is entitled Wiki for Law Firms by Urs Egli (Egli Partners Attorneys-at-Law, Zurich, Switzerland) and Peter Sommerlad (HSR Hochschule für Technik, Rapperswil, Switzerland).

[Source: ResourceShelf]

Technorati State of the Blogosphere 2009

2009-10-25T15:31:00.003-04:00

The Technorati site has published its most recent State of the Blogosphere report:

"Since 2004, our annual study has followed the growth and trends in the blogosphere. For 2009, we took a deeper dive into the entire blogosphere, with a focus on professional bloggers. This year’s topics include: professional blogging activities, brands in the blogosphere, monetization, twitter & micro-blogging and bloggers’ impact on US and World events."

The report features many online interviews, including one with Globe and Mail technology journalist Mathew Ingram.

New York Law School Seminar on Google Book Settlement

2009-10-23T12:35:00.003-04:00

The Institute for Information Law & Policy at New York Law School recently organized an event called D Is For Digitize on the topic of the proposed class action settlement between Google and U.S. publisher and author organizations.

Those organizations objected to the search giant’s mass scanning of in-copyright books.

The event brought together academics and lawyers who looked at the settlement through the lenses of copyright, civil procedure, antitrust, information policy, literary culture, and the publishing industry.

Videos for many of the presentations are available online.

LibraryLaw Blog has blogged the event.

Earlier Library Boy posts about the dispute include:

Google Settles Lawsuit With U.S. Authors and Publishers (October 28, 2008)
Google Book Scanning Project Settlement: More Reaction and Analysis (February 23, 2009)
Association of American Publishers on Recent Google Book Project Settlement (February 24, 2009)
Controversy Heats Up Over Google Book Search Settlement (August 24, 2009)
How To Find Court Filings in the Google Book Settlement (September 8, 2009)
Google Book Search Bibliography (September 14, 2009)
Google Book Scanning Court Hearing Postponed (September 22, 2009)
American Library Associations Publish Summary of Google Books Litigation Court Filings (October 6, 2009)

New Research Guide on International Trade Law

2009-10-22T13:53:00.003-04:00

The GlobaLex collection at New York University has just updated its Guide on the Harmonization of International Commercial Law.

It is written by Duncan E. Alford, Director of the Law Library and Associate Professor of Law at the University of South Carolina School of Law.

"Since World War II, international trade has grown exponentially and with it the importance of international law. With the increased business between companies in different nations, the need for increased harmonization of commercial laws has become apparent. Knowledge of international commercial law has become important for the transactional lawyer, even those outside major metropolitan areas. Several years ago, LexisNexis and the International Bar Association jointly sponsored a survey of attorneys in eight countries, including the United States. The results of the survey reveal that while the practice of law is still largely domestic, the convergence of laws in certain areas, particularly trade and investment, is occurring. The vast majority of the attorneys surveyed believed that the international standardization of trade and investment law would be beneficial."

"This guide collects sources for these harmonized commercial laws and leads the legal researcher to Internet sources on this complicated area of international law. The guide begins with a discussion of the intergovernmental organizations (in some cases supranational) whose purpose is to harmonize commercial laws. The guide then identifies the important treaties that have harmonized commercial law, particularly the law of the sale of goods, and finally identifies research institutes that support the harmonization of commercial law. I have purposefully excluded conventions dealing with the transport of goods, the taking of evidence, insolvency, arbitration and procedural matters from this article. Documents of GATT and the World Trade Organization are also excluded."

Impartiality of Juries Threatened by Web?

2009-10-22T13:32:00.004-04:00

The following article caught my attention the other day: Googling jurors warning from top Scottish lawyer.

"Donald Findlay QC, one of Scotland's top criminal lawyers, has warned that the impartiality of the jury system is at risk due to jurors using internet search engines and has warned that the Government cannot continue with its 'ostrich-like' attitude to the problem (...) "

"Judges and sheriffs routinely warn jurors that they must not discuss evidence outside the courtroom and that they must only reach their verdict based on admissible facts. But Mr Findlay says judges are failing to warn jurors not to use their mobile phones, or computers at home overnight, to look up the name of an accused, or examine the scene of the crime using Google Earth."

I find the whole topic fascinating.

In fact, I recently proposed a panel discussion at next year's annual conference of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL) in Windsor on the impact of social networking media and Google on jury trials. My panel idea has just been accepted by the organizing committee.

There have been a number of incidents in the United States where lawyers have asked the presiding judge at a trial to disqualify a juror for misconduct or to declare a mistrial because of what jurors have posted on their personal blogs, Twitter accounts or Facebook pages.

There have also been concerns about jurors doing online research, "visiting" a crime scene on Google Earth or following Twitter or blog feeds written by reporters or others during a trial. Another concern: tipping off witnesses to proceedings in the courtroom before they testify.

In this country, we have not faced the same problems as those that have occurred south of the border. But are Canadian judges anticipating such problems? How does a judge handle all of this?

For the panel, I am trying to get a judge, a jury expert and a reporter who has liveblogged a jury trial.

More background on the topic:

Here is a Lawyers Weekly article from June 12, 2009: Twitter in the courtroom: a fad, or here to stay?
Here is an article from the August 2009 issue of TRIAL, the journal of the American Association for Justice (formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America):
Texts and “tweets” by jurors, lawyers pose courtroom conundrums
This is an article from the Providence Journal (Rhode Island)
New juror policy accounts for new technology

Canadian Legal Publisher 2010 Price Trends

2009-10-20T20:20:00.003-04:00

The Vendor Liaison Committee of the Canadian Association of Law Librarians (CALL) has compiled some preliminary information about price trends for Canadian law publications in 2010.

There is information for publishers such as Canada Law Book, Carswell, CCH, Éditions Yvon Blais, Emond Montgomery Publications, Irwin Law, LexisNexis, SOQUIJ and Wilson & Lafleur.

Compare with last year's price trends.

More information on library-vendor relations can be found on the Committee's section of the CALL website.

EU Publications Office Digitizes All Its Documents Back to 1952

2009-10-19T12:35:00.003-04:00

The Publications Office of the European Union has digitized millions of pages from all of its publications since 1952 and made them available for free via the EU Bookshop Digital Library:

"The Publications Office's archives have long represented a veritable treasure trove of European history. These publications can once again see the virtual light of day through the Publications Office Digital Library."

"The Publications Office Digital Library was a response to a growing demand to digitise out-of-print publications. In 2007, the Publications Office launched a PDF-on-demand service, wherein users could request publications to be retrieved from the archives and scanned as needed. They turned out to be in such high demand that within six months the service was saturated. To better serve the users, it was decided to scan the industrial volumes of the entire archive."

"The result – less than two years later – is an electronic library of more than 14 million pages of web-optimised PDFs progressively available to the public free of charge."

To find archival material, use the EU Bookshop search engine, making sure to select the "Digital Library (Archive)" checkbox.

UN Study on International Organ Trafficking

2009-10-19T12:23:00.004-04:00

The United Nations and the Council of Europe have released a new study that calls for an international convention to combat organ trafficking.

The study is entitled Trafficking in organs, tissues and cells and trafficking in human beings for the purpose of the removal of organs:

"The Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women was concerned that organ trafficking and trafficking in human beings for the purpose of organ removal, long considered to be myths, seem to be realities all over the world. These phenomena exist for many reasons, but particularly because of extreme poverty and discrimination, including gender discrimination. In general, victims of trafficking in human beings tend to be women and children who know far too little about their rights or how to appropriately assert them. It is important to look into the existence of a gender aspect with regard to trafficking in human beings for the purpose of organ removal in particular, as well as with regard to live donators implicated in trafficking in organs, tissues and cells."
"The Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe and the Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women decided to join their efforts and agreed that the study should be prepared jointly in the framework of co-operation. As well as considering both the medical and legal aspects, it was agreed also to look at ethical problems and organisational and other measures, with a view to providing an overview of the current legal and factual situation, including from a gender aspect, examining existing measures to combat both forms of crime and exploring further avenues to fight them."

Reminder: Supreme Court of Canada Facta For Upcoming Hearings Available Online

2009-10-18T16:26:00.003-04:00

The electronic facta filed by the parties in cases before the Supreme Court of Canada are available on the Court's website. This has been so for cases filed since February 2009.

For example, if you want to find out about the arguments of the parties in upcoming hearings on the fall 2009 season, you only need to click on the style of cause (party name) link for a particular case.

For example, on November 16, the Court will hear an appeal from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation over the issue of a publication ban in a murder trial. There is a link to the facta in this case in the left-hand navigation column under the category "SCC Case Information".

"Governance and Recordkeeping Around the World" October 2009 Issue

2009-10-18T16:13:00.003-04:00

The Governance and Recordkeeping Around the World newsletter, published by Library and Archives Canada, "highlights issues pertaining to government and recordkeeping practices in the public and private sector".

The October 2009 issue has just been published on the Library and Archives Canada website.

It includes:

news items from Canada and around the world
announcements of upcoming events (meetings, workshops)
project and product news in areas such as digitization, archives, e-discovery and databases
surveys
selected papers and readings

Family Violence in Canada: A Statistical Profile

2009-10-16T12:26:00.002-04:00

The Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics has published its twelfth annual Family Violence in Canada report:

"Each year the report has a different focus. This year, the focus of the report is a profile of shelters that provide residential services to women and children fleeing abusive situations. Data for this profile come from the Transition Home Survey, a biennial census of residential facilities for female victims of family violence in Canada."

"In addition, using police-reported data, the report also presents fact sheets, data tables and figures examining spousal violence, family violence against children and youth, family violence against seniors (aged 65 years and older), and family-related homicides."

CanLII 2008 Annual Report

2009-10-15T12:37:00.002-04:00

CanLII, the Canadian Legal Information Institute, recently published its annual report for 2008.

CanLII, a not-for-profit organization created by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, makes primary sources of Canadian law freely available via the Internet.

2008-2009 Annual Report of the International Criminal Court

2009-10-15T12:28:00.003-04:00

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued its annual report for 2008-2009.

It covers the period from 1 August 2008 to 31 July 2009 and is the fifth annual report of the institution to the United Nations.

"The Court continued to be seized of four situations during the reporting period. The situations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and the Central African Republic were each previously referred to the Court by those States parties to the Rome Statute themselves. The situation in Darfur, the Sudan, had been referred by the Security Council. Six other situations on four continents were under preliminary analysis by the Office of the Prosecutor, namely, those in Afghanistan, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Georgia, Kenya and Palestine. No decision on whether to open an investigation in those situations was taken."

The ICC is the first permanent, treaty-based, international criminal court established to help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community.

More information about the structure, activities, and legal texts of the Court are available on its website.

2009 Federal Annual Report on Reviews of Possible Miscarriages of Justice

2009-10-14T12:49:00.003-04:00

In the most recent Weekly Checklist of federal government publications, the 2009 annual report by Justice Canada on applications for ministerial review in cases of possible miscarriages of justice is listed:

"Since 1892, the Minister of Justice has had the power, in one form or another, to review a criminal conviction under federal law to determine whether there may have been a miscarriage of justice."
"Currently, the conviction review process begins when a person submits an application for ministerial review (miscarriages of justice), also known as a 'conviction review application'."
"The application for ministerial review must be supported by 'new matters of significance' – usually important new information or evidence that was not previously considered by the courts. If the Minister is satisfied that those matters provide a reasonable basis to conclude that a miscarriage of justice likely occurred, the Minister may grant the convicted person a remedy and return the case to the courts – a referral of the case to a court of appeal to be heard as a new appeal, or a direction for a new trial."
(...)
"Under section 696.5 of the Criminal Code, the Minister of Justice is required to submit an annual report to Parliament regarding applications for ministerial review (miscarriages of justice) within six months of the end of the fiscal year. This is the seventh annual report, and it covers the period April 1, 2008, to March 31, 2009. Under the regulations, the report must address the following matters:
the number of applications for ministerial review made to the Minister;
the number of applications that have been abandoned or that are incomplete;
the number of applications that are at the preliminary assessment stage;
the number of decisions that the Minister has made;
and any other information that the Minister considers appropriate".

The Weekly Checklist includes a listing of book and serial titles which have been released during the previous week by the Parliament of Canada, federal departments, and Statistics Canada.

Blog Series on Law-Related E-Books

2009-10-13T12:36:00.002-04:00

Eugene Volokh, a law prof who contributes to the collective Volokh Conspiracy blog, has completed an multi-part series on the future of legal publishing and the trend towards e-books.

The parts are:

The Future of Books Related to the Law?
Why Legal Books Are Likely To Go Electronic (Pretty Soon)
What Manufacturers and Publishers Need To Do To Facilitate The Move to Electronic Delivery of Legal Books — Lifting Technological Barriers
What Manufacturers and Publishers Need To Do To Facilitate The Move to Electronic Delivery of Legal Books — Reducing Costs to Compete With Used Books
What Manufacturers and Publishers Need To Do To Facilitate The Move to Electronic Delivery of Legal Books — Competing with Library Lending
How E-Readers Can Change the Content of Legal Books
E-Readers, and Going Beyond the Current Publication System for Scholarly Law Books
Could the Advent of E-Readers Lead Law Journals to Move Into E-Book Publishing?
How Might the Advent of E-Readers Affect the Creation and Distribution of Legal Textbooks?