Today (currently Saturday, November 26 in New Zealand) is election day in New Zealand. In addition to voting for a candidate standing in their district (“electorate“) and for the political party that they want in Parliament, voters will be participating in a referendum on whether the electoral system should be changed. The current electoral system …
The following is a guest post by Dante Figueroa, Senior Legal Analyst at the Law Library of Congress. On November 22, 2011, from noon to 1:30 pm, the Law Library of Congress will host the renowned Venezuelan academic, intellectual, and constitutional scholar Allan Brewer-Carías, who will present a lecture titled: The Connection between the U.S. …
I was recently in Stockholm where I paid a visit to the National Library of Sweden (Kungliga Biblioteket, or “KB”), which is situated in a very pretty park. According to its website, the National Library “has been collecting virtually everything printed in Sweden or in Swedish since 1661.” A brochure about the Library provides an …
The following is a guest post by Nicole Atwill, Senior Foreign Law Specialist in the Global Legal Research Center. I recently watched Dominique Strauss Kahn’s return to France on the French news as I vacationed there. There was nonstop live television coverage during the day. Many commentators pointed out that although Dominique Strauss Kahn (“DSK”) …
Last week Cynthia talked about International Plain Language Day and the global movement to improve the use of plain language in government and legal writing. This week, as a follow-up to International Plain Language Day, I would like to take a look at New Zealand‘s approach to using plain English in the country’s laws. I became familiar …
This week the Law Library of Congress hosted Professor Joseph Raz who delivered a very thought-provoking lecture for the second Kellogg Biennial Lecture in Jurisprudence. Professor Raz is a leading proponent of legal positivism, which looks to the sources of laws as the basis for their validity, rather than their content. During the lecture, he offered …
The 2011 Rugby World Cup kicked off in New Zealand on September 9th with a glittering opening ceremony followed by the first match between New Zealand and Tonga. (Note that the New Zealand national rugby team is commonly called the “All Blacks.”) I’ve had a couple of very busy weekends watching a number of the …
The following is a guest post by Francisco Macías, Senior Legal Information Analyst. The 18th Annual Global Legal Information Network (GLIN) Directors’ Meeting took place at the Library of Congress last week on September 7 and 8. The representatives from the 24 jurisdictions (including the United States) that attended the meeting are pictured below. The …
When I last wrote about Happy Feet (the intrepid emperor penguin who took an extended vacation in New Zealand while recovering from a very long swim and a belly full of sand and twigs), he was being pampered at the Wellington Zoo while fans from around the world watched and waited to see what would …