The Law Library of Congress has developed a guide to our collection of foreign legal gazettes. Gazettes are generally the first place that a ruling body will publish its laws, making them an invaluable resource for foreign legal research. The Law Library has been collecting foreign legal gazettes since the mid-19th century. We are one of …
In recent months we have witnessed major changes in many areas, particularly following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the Law Library of Congress Legal Research Institute’s Foreign and Comparative Law Webinar Series, we will be presenting a webinar on global developments in election and campaign finance laws, both before and during the pandemic. …
The following is a guest post by Sayuri Umeda, a foreign law specialist who covers Japan and other countries in East and Southeast Asia. Sayuri has previously authored posts on New Era, New Law Number, Holy Cow – Making Sense of Japanese Wagyu Cow Export Rules, Japanese Criminal Legal System as Seen Through the Carlos Ghosn Case, Disciplining Judges for “Bad Tweets”, Engagement under Japanese Law …
The permeation of misinformation and disinformation relating to any conceivable issue, particularly on social media platforms, is rampant. This problem has become particularly acute with the advent of the COVID-19 global pandemic. A policy document issued by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OCED) described the ubiquity of false information and the challenge it presents in …
Unlike most countries, Austria does not have just one constitutional document, like the Constitution of the United States for example, but several documents that have constitutional status. Of these documents, the most important one is the Austrian Federal Constitutional Law (Bundes-Verfassungsgesetz). It was adopted by the Constituent National Assembly on October 1, 1920—100 years ago today—and entered into force …
When a novel coronavirus was first reported as having been contracted by people in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, there was a lot of discussion about the potential source of the virus. On January 12, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a statement saying that “[t]he evidence is highly suggestive that the outbreak is …
Please join us for the Law Library's upcoming webinar: "Worlds Apart: Legal Responses to COVID-19 in New Zealand and Sweden" at 2 p.m. EDT on Thursday, September 24, 2020. This webinar is the latest installment in the Law Library's series of webinars focused on foreign and comparative law. In this webinar, we will discuss and compare the overarching policies and approaches of the two countries, outline the relevant laws, and a look at how the two governments have communicated with the public about the pandemic and the approaches taken.
Eritrea is one of the most difficult African jurisdictions for which to conduct legal research. This is primarily because the country’s laws are not easily accessible. While a few proclamations and notices have been uploaded to various websites piecemeal, there is not a central location where researchers can access the laws of the country for …