The following is a guest post by Nicole Atwill, Senior Foreign Law Specialist. The Black Code tells us a very long story that started in Versailles, at the court of Louis XIV, the Sun King, in March 1685 and ended in Paris in April 1848 under Arago, at the beginning of the ephemeral Second Republic. …
The following is a guest post by James Martin, Reading Room Operations Coordinator. On January 5, 2011, the 112th Congress assembled in Washington for the beginning of its term. The first order of business for the House of Representatives was administering the oath of office, as set forth at title 5 United States Code §3331, …
The following is a guest post by Margaret Wood, Legal Reference Specialist in our Public Services Directorate. At the start of a new Congress, the librarians at the reference desk in the Law Library of Congress’ Reading Room receive a flurry of questions about Congress, THOMAS, and the legislative process. So, at the start of …
The following is a guest post by Roberta Shaffer, Law Librarian of Congress. It is that time again when so many of us reflect upon achievements, and shortcomings, of the previous year and look forward to keeping ambitious resolutions for the new year. In the past few days as the Law Library of Congress staff …
The following is a guest post by Roberta Shaffer, Law Librarian of Congress. This holiday letter is also available in PDF. With the year drawing to a close, I want to send you my best wishes for the New Year and to provide you with important Law Library of Congress updates as we head into …
The following is a guest post by Steve Clarke, Senior Foreign Law Specialist. As Kelly Buchanan mentioned a couple of weeks ago, on December 10, 2010, Law Librarian Roberta Shaffer moderated a panel discussion in which each of the four participants addressed an aspect of the Cultural Property Rights of Indigenous People in recognition of …
The following is a guest post by Nicole Atwill, Senior Foreign Law Specialist. One of our readers suggested that I write about the role of the doctrine as source of law in contemporary French law. This subject took me back in time to my law school days in Grenoble, France, where I studied under some …
The following is a post by Nicole Atwill, Foreign Law Specialist for France and other French-speaking jurisdictions and one of our new guest bloggers. As Kelly noted in a previous post, we Foreign Law Specialists keep up to date with legal news and events in the jurisdictions that we cover. Browsing through several French newspapers …
The following is a guest post by Taru Spiegel, Reference Specialist in the European Division. A lawyer I know who does legal drafting says that there is no need to use archaic terms such as “aforethought,” “forthwith,” “wherefore,” or “to wit.” Legal language should be clear, concise, and unambiguous. Everybody should be able to understand …