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Category: Global Law

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Murder in the Cathedral – Legal Dispute Turned Deadly

Posted by: Margaret Wood

We have written several “today in history posts” recently and this is another.  Today, December 29, is the 847th anniversary of the murder of Thomas Becket in his cathedral in Canterbury, England.  This date is also his feast day in the Roman Catholic calendar of saints. I previously wrote about Thomas Becket and the origins …

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Standardization and the Law

Posted by: Jenny Gesley

On December 22, 1917—100 years ago today—the German Institute for Standardization (Deutsches Institut für Normung, DIN) was founded. DIN develops the content of standards and coordinates the work of other bodies involved in the process. It is organized as a private non-profit organization and has entered into an agreement with the German government to be recognized …

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Christmastime in England: Prohibitions and Permissions

Posted by: Margaret Wood

The following is a guest post by Clare Feikert-Ahalt, a foreign law specialist at the Law Library of Congress covering the United Kingdom and several other jurisdictions.  Other recent posts by Clare include Regulating the Rag and Bone Man and Jediism in Not a Recognized Religion in England and Wales. It is the holiday season once more, when …

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Disappearance of a Prime Minister

Posted by: Kelly Buchanan

On this day fifty years ago, December 19, 1967, it was announced that the then-Prime Minister of Australia, Harold Holt, was officially presumed dead. Mr. Holt, who had been Prime Minister for 22 months, from January 1966, had disappeared two days earlier while swimming in the ocean at Cheviot Beach near Portsea, in the state of …

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Two Koreas Separated by Demilitarized Zone

Posted by: Kelly Buchanan

This following is a guest post by Sayuri Umeda, a foreign law specialist who covers Japan and various other countries in East and Southeast Asia. She has previously written posts for In Custodia Legis on various topics, including English translations of post-World War II South Korean laws, laws and regulations passed in the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake, and …

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Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree, how much tax do I owe for thee?

Posted by: Jenny Gesley

It is generally believed that the modern Christmas tree tradition originated in Germany in the 16th century. (William D. Crump, The Christmas Encyclopedia (2001)). Thus, it makes sense that Christmas trees first started appearing in the United States in the 1830s when German settlers in Pennsylvania put them on display. (Id.) As we enter the holiday season, …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Researching New Zealand’s Laws Related to “Doing Business”

Posted by: Kelly Buchanan

On October 31, 2017, the World Bank released the fifteenth edition of its Doing Business report, subtitled “Reforming to Create Jobs.” As with the fourteenth edition, New Zealand was given the highest “ease of doing business” ranking among 190 countries. The report explains that “[t]he overall measure of the ease of doing business gives an …