This is a guest post by Kayahan Cantekin, a foreign law specialist in the Global Legal Research Directorate of the Law Library of Congress. In many countries around the world, discussions on whether and how to reopen schools continue to preoccupy people, especially in light of the unpredictable nature of the COVID-19 pandemic. Here in …
On this day in 1945, the most destructive war in human history came to an end when representatives of the Japanese government signed the instrument of surrender on board the deck of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. Overseeing the event was General of the Army and Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers Douglas MacArthur. Representatives of …
Like many of you, when returning to the office after working from home this spring, we were inundated with mail. Among the hundreds of shipping boxes awaiting us were more than 20 filled with German serial titles. I know that Germany is one of the more prolific publishers of legal material, but to see it …
Between July 18 and August 15, 1939, one of the most consequential letters in modern history was drafted by Albert Einstein and the Hungarian-born physicist Leo Szilard. The letter, which was eventually delivered to President Franklin Roosevelt,led to the Manhattan Project and the development of the first two atomic weapons. Szilard and two other Hungarian-born physicists, …
Every so often, the Digital Resources Division comes across a unique subject of debate. Most recently, the question of “the uniform or costume of persons in the diplomatic or consular service” caught our attention. (S. Exec. Doc. No. 31, 36th Cong., 1st Sess., at 1 (1860) reprinted in Serial Set Vol. 1031.) In an 1860 …
Currently, there is no known cure or vaccine for COVID-19. Countries therefore have to find other ways to control and mitigate the spread of this infectious disease in order to break the chain of human-to-human transmission. Many governments have turned to electronic measures to provide information to individuals about the COVID-19 pandemic, check symptoms,trace contacts …
While working from home together with other Law Library staff our foreign law specialists and analysts have been busy researching many legal issues related to COVID-19, including Continuity of Legislative Activities during Emergency Situations (March 2020) on measures taken in various countries for continuing legislative activities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Recently, we also published a …