This is a guest post by Janeen Williams, legal reference librarian at the Law Library of Congress. Grammar enthusiasts have long debated the utility of the Oxford comma. In the past, authors have been advised that usage of Oxford commas (also known as serial commas) is an issue of style and will be determined by …
Every year on May 23, Germany celebrates the “Day of the Basic Law.” The Basic Law, Germany’s constitution, lays down fundamental rights, establishes the structure and administration of the Federal Republic of Germany, and sets out the legal framework of the three branches of government. Furthermore, it establishes the Federal Republic of Germany as a democratic, federal, …
This is a guest post by Nicolas Boring who has previously written for In Custodia Legis on a variety of topics including The Protection of Champagne Wine, FALQs: Freedom of Speech in France, How Sunday Came to be a Day of Rest in France, Napoleon Bonaparte and Mining Rights in France, French Law – Global Legal Collection Highlights, and co-collaborated …
The following is a guest post by Supreetha Sampath Kumar, a foreign law intern at the Law Library of Congress. This blog post is part of our Frequently Asked Legal Questions series. On November 8, 2016, the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, announced the “notebandi” initiative, declaring that the use of all Rupees (Rs.) 500 and …
This following is a guest post by Sayuri Umeda, a foreign law specialist who covers Japan and various other countries in East and Southeast Asia. She has previously written posts for In Custodia Legis on various topics, including testing of older drivers in Japan, English translations of post-World War II South Korean laws, laws and regulations passed …
On March 25, 1957 – 60 years ago tomorrow – the governments of France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg signed the “Treaties of Rome”, thereby establishing what would later become the European Union (EU). The “Treaties of Rome” consist of two different treaties: the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (EEC Treaty) and the Treaty establishing the European …
What impact do prolonged periods of stress and fear have on a soldier’s behavior? Do the horrors of war and terrorist acts justify conduct that would otherwise be unlawful? While such circumstances do not seem to amount to justification for violating the law, it is notable that “exceptional stressors” and constant threats faced by soldiers were recently considered …
In the summer of 2016, a little known provision of the German criminal code received international attention when it was invoked by the Turkish government on behalf of the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan who felt insulted by a poem written by the German satirist Jan Böhmermann. According to section 103 of the German Criminal Code, …