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Category: Ask A Librarian

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Budget Resolutions and Authorizing Legislation

Posted by: Margaret Wood

I have previously written about the budget process and appropriations.  Now, I am turning to authorization legislation. In theory, process for funding the government is an orderly one in which each year the President proposes a budget; the U.S. Congress passes appropriations legislation; the enrolled bills are sent to the President for signing; and voila, government agencies …

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Do You Have to Actually be Present on Your Wedding Day in The Gambia?

Posted by: Hanibal Goitom

Here at the Global Legal Research Center we receive many interesting foreign law inquiries.  Questions about laws that govern matters of personal status, including customary and religious laws, arise frequently from many of the African jurisdictions I cover.  One of the issues that I have had the opportunity to research is the legality of proxy …

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Introduction to Canon Law – Global Legal Collection Highlights

Posted by: Margaret Wood

The following is a guest post by Dante Figueroa, a Senior Legal Information Analyst at the Law Library of Congress.  Some of Dante’s recent posts include Resources and Treasures of the Italian Parliamentary Libraries, The Italian Legislature and Legislative Process: A Recent Institution in an Ancient Legal System, and  A Fresh Update on the Canonical …

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Presidential Signing Statements

Posted by: Hanibal Goitom

The following is a guest post by Shameema Rahman, Legal Reference Specialist in our Public Services Division.  Shameema is a frequent contributor to In Custodia Legis; her most recent post was entitled Where Can I Find a Congressional Bill? Law Library patrons often approach us with inquiries on presidential statements.  Examples of these types of inquiries include: …

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Where Can I Find a Congressional Bill?

Posted by: Hanibal Goitom

The following is a guest post by Shameema Rahman, Legal Reference Specialist in our Public Services Division.  Her most recent post was: Using Secondary Legal Resources to Locate Primary Sources. As a Law Library of Congress reference librarian I am often asked this question by our patrons.  THOMAS and the Government Printing Office’s Federal Digital System (FDsys) website are great sources …

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Using Secondary Legal Resources to Locate Primary Sources

Posted by: Hanibal Goitom

The following is a guest post by Shameema Rahman, Legal Reference Specialist in our Public Services Division.  Shameema is no stranger to In Custodia Legis. Her previous posts include: World Digital Library and the Qatar Foundation; Classes Offered by the Law Library of Congress; and Researching an Unfamiliar Country’s Law. This spring several of the staff in …

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Referendum on New Zealand’s Voting System

Posted by: Kelly Buchanan

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 …