This blog post is part of our Frequently Asked Legal Questions series. On June 17, 2021, the Swedish parliamentary parties the Left Party, the Sweden Democrats, the Christian Democrats, and the Moderates expressed support for a motion for a vote of no confidence (Yrkande om Misstroendeförklaring) against the sitting Prime Minister Stefan Löfven. On June 21, 2021, […]
Today is the 806th anniversary of the day King John of England committed to undertake the reforms that were enumerated in Magna Carta. King John granted Magna Carta to his barons on June 15, 1215, in order to halt their rebellion and to regain their support for his leadership. While Magna Carta was a document […]
Jewish American Heritage Month is a time to celebrate the contributions Jewish Americans have made to America since the arrival of the first Jewish immigrants in New Amsterdam in 1654. Every year since 1980, Congress and the President have acted together to declare an official observance to recognize the contributions of Jewish Americans to American […]
This blogpost is part of our Frequently Asked Legal Questions series and describes the Swedish Sami Parliament election. This upcoming Sunday, May 16, 2021, the Sami Parliament (Sametinget) in Sweden holds its general election. The date also marks the 18th anniversary of the first Swedish Sami Parliament election in 1993. 1. What is the Sami Parliament […]
Technology and digitalization are changing the way we pay. The COVID-19 pandemic has only accelerated the trend away from cash to digital payments. Cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, are experiencing an all-time high. Central banks are taking note. On October 20, 2020, the Central Bank of The Bahamas launched the first worldwide retail central bank digital […]
This year, Switzerland celebrates 50 years of women’s suffrage. In a referendum held on February 7, 1971, 65.7 % of (male) voters approved the right of Swiss women to vote and stand for election at the federal level. As a result, article 74 of the Swiss Constitution was amended to state in paragraph 1: Bei […]
The following is a joint guest post by Elizabeth Boomer, an international law consultant, and George Sadek, a foreign law specialist, from the Global Legal Research Directorate of the Law Library of Congress. On March 29, 2021, the engineers of the Suez Canal Authority were finally able to restore passage through the Suez Canal after a 1,300-foot, 220,000-ton […]
The following is a guest post by Tariq Ahmad, a foreign law specialist in the Global Legal Research Directorate of the Law Library of Congress. He has previously contributed posts on Islamic Law in Pakistan – Global Legal Collection Highlights, the Law Library’s 2013 Panel Discussion on Islamic Law, Sedition Law in India, and FALQ posts on Proposals to Reform Pakistan’s Blasphemy Laws, Article 370 […]
This is a guest post by Elizabeth Boomer, an international law consultant in the Global Legal Research Directorate. Elizabeth has previously written for In Custodia Legis on Technology & the Law of Corporate Responsibility – The Impact of Blockchain, 30th Anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and United Nations […]
In honor of Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, I thought I would write something about political parity laws in Germany. Parity laws aim to counter female underrepresentation in parliament and have recently been enacted or are being discussed in a number of German states. Even though German women gained the right to vote […]