Top of page

Category: Global Law

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

The Law Library’s Canon Law Collection

Posted by: Kelly Buchanan

The following is a guest post by Dario Ferreira, Senior Legal Information Analyst at the Law Library of Congress. In addition to the laws of different countries, the Law Library also collects books and documents relating to the legal systems and codes of different religions.  For example, the Law Library is a great source of …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

2011: Year of France’s Overseas Territories

Posted by: Kelly Buchanan

The following is a guest post by Nicole Atwill, Senior Foreign Law Specialist at the Law Library of Congress. In February 2011, the French government launched the Year of Overseas Territories (Année des outre-mer) with a conference on the future of coral reefs.  The Year of Overseas Territories highlights the historic place and contemporary role …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Ireland’s Election

Posted by: Kelly Buchanan

The following is a guest post by Steve Clarke, Senior Foreign Law Specialist at the Law Library of Congress. Ireland employs a very complicated single transferable voting system to elect the 166 members of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas.  Under this system, in which voters rank their choices, between three and five …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

The History of the Mexican Constitution

Posted by: Francisco Macías

As a Mexican-born American, I’m always looking for occasions to celebrate.  I guess this festive nature is simply dyed-in-the-wool (or dyed-in-the-cotton, if you’re Southern-raised, as I am).  With that in mind, I wanted to write a bit about the Mexican Constitution – especially since two related holidays take place in the month of February:  Mexican …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

What’s Hot this Year in the Global Legal Monitor

Posted by: Kelly Buchanan

As we’ve mentioned previously, the Law Library has a great news service called the Global Legal Monitor.  Often these stories about legal developments in many different jurisdictions are ones that don’t feature in U.S. newspapers or news programs, and they link or refer to a wide range of different sources of information.  On the homepage …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

New Zealand’s National Day – Controversy and Celebration

Posted by: Kelly Buchanan

Waitangi Day – New Zealand’s national day, commemorated with a public holiday on February 6 each year – is different from the national days of many other countries.  It doesn’t celebrate a declaration or statute of independence at the end of a conflict or revolution or following a decolonization process, and it doesn’t celebrate a …