On this day in 1989, the South African president, F. W. de Klerk, soon after assuming the presidency, ordered the desegregation of the country’s beaches. He promised that the repeal of the Reservation of Separate Amenities Act of 1953, which segregated beaches and many other public facilities, would soon follow. The Reservation of Separate Amenities …
The following is a guest post by Tariq Ahmad, a legal research analyst in the Global Legal Research Directorate of the Law Library of Congress. Tariq has previously contributed posts on Islamic Law in Pakistan – Global Legal Collection Highlights, the Law Library’s June 4, 2013 Panel Discussion on Islamic Law, Sedition Law in India, …
In this edition of On the Shelf we’re examining a rather large title both in size of the individual volumes and the total number of volumes that comprise a complete set. Staatskoerant is the current official government gazette of the Republic of South Africa. The title has been published continuously since 1961 when South Africa …
During a vacation in New Zealand in September, I was able to visit a new exhibition at Te Papa (New Zealand’s national museum) called Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War. The exhibition, which opened in April, provides insight into this particular aspect of World War I by telling the stories of eight New Zealanders involved …
The following is a guest post by Clare Feikert-Ahalt, foreign law specialist for the United Kingdom at the Law Library of Congress. She previously wrote a Halloween-themed blog post for In Custodia Legis on the issue of revealing the presence of ghosts when selling houses. With Halloween fast approaching, I’ve prepared a ghost story – …
Earlier today China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported that the Communist Party of China (CPC) has issued a communique announcing that all married couples will be allowed to have two children. This decision brings an end to the decades-long “one-child policy.” Still, the new “two-child policy” will need to be adopted by provinces, autonomous regions, …
The following is a guest post by Theresa Papademetriou, a senior foreign law specialist at the Law Library of Congress who covers the European Union, Greece, Cyprus and Council of Europe. Theresa has previously blogged on “European Union Law – Global Legal Collection Highlights,” “European Union: Where is the Beef?,” “New Greek Regulation Designed to Fight Tax Evasion Problem: Will …
The newest entry in our On the Shelf series is one of my favorites: Das Österreichische Recht. Well favorite may not be the right word. Those few of us who have had the pleasure of working with this title both love and fear it. Das Osterreichische Recht is a 113 volume looseleaf set containing the …
Prior to the 5.8 magnitude earthquake in the DC area in August 2011, it would have been a safe bet to say that most local long time residents didnt think about earthquakes often. Although that earthquake was considered fairly run-of-the mill, according to USGS, it certainly got everyones attention in the District, Maryland and Virginia. …