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 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 …
This is a guest post by Kayahan Cantekin, a foreign law specialist in the Global Legal Research Directorate of the Law Library of Congress. In many countries around the world, discussions on whether and how to reopen schools continue to preoccupy people, especially in light of the unpredictable nature of the COVID-19 pandemic. Here in …
On this day in 1945, the most destructive war in human history came to an end when representatives of the Japanese government signed the instrument of surrender on board the deck of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. Overseeing the event was General of the Army and Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers Douglas MacArthur. Representatives of …
Like many of you, when returning to the office after working from home this spring, we were inundated with mail. Among the hundreds of shipping boxes awaiting us were more than 20 filled with German serial titles. I know that Germany is one of the more prolific publishers of legal material, but to see it …
Between July 18 and August 15, 1939, one of the most consequential letters in modern history was drafted by Albert Einstein and the Hungarian-born physicist Leo Szilard. The letter, which was eventually delivered to President Franklin Roosevelt,led to the Manhattan Project and the development of the first two atomic weapons. Szilard and two other Hungarian-born physicists, …
Every so often, the Digital Resources Division comes across a unique subject of debate. Most recently, the question of “the uniform or costume of persons in the diplomatic or consular service” caught our attention. (S. Exec. Doc. No. 31, 36th Cong., 1st Sess., at 1 (1860) reprinted in Serial Set Vol. 1031.) In an 1860 …
