Cryptocurrencies, once obscure and primarily associated with financing illegal activities, have become mainstream. Cryptocurrencies are a type of virtual currency that uses cryptographic algorithms to validate and secure transactions. The transactions are digitally recorded on a distributed ledger, such as a blockchain. As more and more people invest in and trade cryptocurrencies, governments around the …
European history is full of rulers whose names have included nicknames that designate some outstanding characteristic. For example, Richard I of England was known as Lionheart for his bravery in battle. Then there is Joan, Queen of Castile, also known as Joanna the Mad. She acquired this nickname after the death of her husband Philip …
This blog post is part of our Frequently Asked Legal Questions series. On November 29, 2021, the Swedish Parliament (Riksdag) elected its first female prime minister, Magdalena Andersson, for a second time. The first time was on November 23, 2021, on what was dubbed “Super Wednesday” (superonsdagen) in the Swedish press, when the newly elected PM stepped …
This month marks 28 years since the Danish Parliament first adopted its debt ceiling legislation, Act on Authorization to Take Out State Loans (Lov om bemyndigelse til optagelse af statslån (LOV nr 1079 af 22/12/1993). On December 17, 1993, Parliament voted to empower the government to take out state loans, without first asking for permission …
The following post is by Dante Figueroa, a senior legal information analyst at the Law Library of Congress. He has recently written for In Custodia Legis on the Italian Parliamentary Library; Spanish Legal Documents (15th to 19th Century); Recent Legislation Enacted by Italy to Tackle COVID-19; and Italy: A New Silk Road Between Italy and China – the Belt and Road Initiative. …
Today’s interview is with Yunzhou Wang, a foreign law intern working virtually in the Global Legal Research Directorate of the Law Library of Congress under my supervision. Describe your background. I was born in Huainan, a small city in China. I spent my first 18 years in that city. After I graduated from high school, I went to …
The following is a guest post by Clare Feikert-Ahalt, a senior foreign law specialist at the Law Library of Congress covering the United Kingdom and several other jurisdictions. Clare has written numerous posts for In Custodia Legis, including Weird Laws, or Urban Legends?; FALQs: Brexit Referendum; and The UK’s Legal Response to the London Bombings of 7/7. “At the eleventh …
This week, 501 years ago, between November 7 and 10, 1520, about one hundred people were executed in the town square in Stockholm, Sweden, in what became known as the Stockholm Bloodbath. A few days earlier, on November 4, 1520, King Christian II of Denmark, was crowned king of Sweden in Stockholm Cathedral. He was …
This is a guest post by Elizabeth Boomer, an international law consultant in the Global Legal Research Directorate. Elizabeth has previously written for In Custodia Legis on numerous topics, including Technology & the Law of Corporate Responsibility – The Impact of Blockchain, 30th Anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, United Nations Day – …
