Law Commission of England Consultation on Misconduct in Public Office

Earlier this month, the Law Commission of England and Wales launched a consultation on Misconduct in Public Office [all the documents at the bottom of the page]:

"Misconduct in public office is a common law offence: it is not defined in any statute. It carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. The offence requires that: a public officer acting as such; wilfully neglects to perform his duty and/or wilfully misconducts himself; to such a degree as to amount to an abuse of the public’s trust in the office holder; without reasonable excuse or justification. "

"Historically the offence held public officers to account for their misconduct, where there were no other adequate ways of doing so. Nowadays such misconduct will usually amount to another, narrower and better defined, criminal offence."

"The offence is widely considered to be ill-defined and has been subject to recent criticism by the government, the Court of Appeal, the press and legal academics."

(...)

"We have identified a number of problems with the offence:

1. 'Public office' lacks clear definition yet is a critical element of the offence. This ambiguity generates significant difficulties in interpreting and applying the offence.
2. The types of duty that may qualify someone to be a public office holder are ill-defined. Whether it is essential to prove a breach of those particular duties is also unclear from the case law.
3. An 'abuse of the public’s trust' is crucial in acting as a threshold element of the offence, but is so vague that it is difficult for investigators, prosecutors and juries to apply.
4. The fault element that must be proved for the offence differs depending on the circumstances. That is an unusual and unprincipled position.
5. Although 'without reasonable excuse or justification' appears as an element of the offence, it is unclear whether it operates as a free standing defence or as a definitional element of the offence."

Appendix F of the consultation document contains international comparisons that outline the situation in Canada, Hong Kong, Australia, Scotland and a number of Caribbean countries.

Irish Law Reform Commission Issues Paper on Regulatory Enforcement and Corporate Offences

Earlier this week, the Irish Law Reform Commission released an Issues Paper on Regulatory Enforcement and Corporate Offences:

"It addresses a wide range of questions concerning two related matters. The first is whether the supervisory and enforcement powers of the State’s main financial and economic regulators are adequate or need to be supplemented by, for example, civil financial sanctions and more effective co-ordination between regulators. The second is whether there are gaps in the criminal law that do not deal sufficiently with serious wrongdoing by corporate bodies, in particular regarding current fraud legislation and the general rules for attributing criminal liability to corporate bodies."

"The broad context for this Issues Paper can be traced to the financial and economic collapse that emerged in 2008. A number of studies discussed below have identified failings in regulatory supervision and enforcement in the years preceding the collapse. The close relationship between regulatory law and criminal law also brings into focus the effectiveness of existing criminal offences and the ways in which they might affect how companies behave and are regulated. Significant reforms to both the regulatory framework and criminal law have been enacted since 2008 but important areas remain to be addressed. This Issues Paper identifies a number of these on which the Commission now seeks views. Many of these can be linked to the financial and economic collapse of 2008, but a number potentially have a wider application beyond financial regulation, including those concerning fraud offences and the attribution of criminal liability to corporate bodies. To that extent, this Issues Paper addresses future risks as well as risks already identified as arising from the financial collapse of recent year."

The report examines how other jurisdictions like the UK, Australia and the US handle issues such as the enforcement powers of financial and economic regulators, the use of negotiated compliance agreements to avoid prosecution, cooperation between regulators, corporate fraud, "reckless trading", etc.

Supreme Court of Canada: New Library Titles

The list of new library titles added to the Supreme Court of Canada collection for January 15-31, 2016 is now available on the Court website.

It includes a book on what the scifi series Star Trek can teach people about the law.

It is possible to subscribe via e-mail to receive the list. 

Canadian Library Association Votes to Dissolve and Make Way for New Library Federation

This is a follow-up to the Library Boy post of January 6, 2016 entitled Canadian Library Association Special Meeting in January to Vote on New Library Federation.

Yesteerday, the membership of the Canadian Library Association (CLA) voted on a proposal to dissolve the CLA and replace it with a federation consisting of library associations from across the country. The CLA proposal was released last December.

The membership voted in favour of the proposal:

"The dissolution of CLA follows an extensive process during which CLA worked with a large number of library associations across Canada to develop a proposal to advance the interests of libraries. The proposed Canadian Federation of Library Associations [link] unifies the diverse library communities across Canada. CLA’s membership took this decision with a view to the future. Changing times and a proliferation of other library associations has seen a decline in CLA membership resulting in challenges in sustaining an effective organization. It was clearly time to reconsider the viability of the organization. The Executive Committee unanimously supported the motion to dissolve CLA in order to enable the creation of a new national federation. Over the next few months CLA will undertake the normal requirements to wind down an organization and pave the way for the Federation."

"While the demise of CLA is regrettable, the rise of the Federation as a new and more effective voice for Canada’s libraries is a reason to celebrate."

Library of Parliament's HillNotes Back for 42nd Parliament

The Library of Parliament's HillNotes blog is back for the Canada's 42nd Parliament: 

"Readers can expect analyses and concise articles on topics ranging from Canada’s supply management regimes to trade negotiations, health care, changing demographic landscape, our role in international affairs and our evolving telecommunications industry, to name but a few." (...)

"HillNotes builds upon the Library of Parliament’s tradition of high-quality and non-partisan research and information services to parliamentarians and committees of the Senate and House of Commons. These posts will continue to match the same high standards of the many other informational resources offered by the Library."

Other useful Library of Parliament publications include:

• LEGISinfo for tracking bills in the House of Commons and the Senate
• the Current Publications series that provides in-depth studies of policy issues
• Legislative Summaries explain the purpose and history of bills, analyze their key clauses, and, where available, include media reaction and comments from interest groups.

Series in Montreal Daily La Presse on Quebec's New Code of Civil Procedure

The Montreal French-language daily La Presse today published a series of articles on Quebec's new Code of Civil Procedure that came into force on January 1, 2016.

• Nouveau Code de procédure civile: qu'en disent les experts ?
• Les avocats de nouveau «maîtres en solutions»
• Régler les différends ailleurs qu'au tribunal
• Plus de pouvoirs pour les juges
• Ce qu'il faut savoir sur la réforme
• Code de procédure civile: question de vocabulaire
• La médiation déjà au coeur du système judiciaire 
• Le Code de procédure civile en chiffres

Earlier Library Boy posts about the new Code of Civil Procedure:

• Quebec's New Code of Civil Procedure in Force Since January 1st (January, 12 ,2016): "Quebec's new Code of Civil Procedure came into force at the beginning of the year. The Quebec Ministry of Justice website has posted material explaining the main highlights of the changes (...)"
• Quebec Legal Info Service CAIJ Adds New Annotated Code of Civil Procedure (January 21, 2016): "CAIJ, the Centre d'accès à l'information juridique (the network of courthouse law libraries associated with the Québec Bar Association), has recently added an annotated version of the province's new Code of Civil Procedure (...). It includes the text of the Code, a list of changes in legal terminology, a concordance between the new and old Codes, background commentaries for each section from the provincial Ministry of Justice, links to related regulations, links to related research questions answered by the CAIJ libraries, as well as links to debates in the Québec National Assembly and positions adopted by the Québec Bar Association."

Canadian Association of Law Libraries Diana M. Priestly Memorial Scholarship Deadline February 1st

The deadline for the Diana M. Priestly Memorial Scholarship awarded by the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL) is coming up soon: February 1, 2016:

"Established in honour of the late Diana M. Priestly, a distinguished Canadian law librarian, and in recognition of her distinctive contribution to Law Librarianship, the Scholarship is intended to support professional development in the field and is awarded to a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant: 

• who has previous law library experience and will be enrolled in an accredited Canadian Library School during the next academic term/year; or
• who has a degree from or is currently enrolled in an accredited Canadian Library School and will be enrolled in an approved Canadian Law School during the next academic term/year; or
• who has a degree from or is currently enrolled in an approved Canadian Law School and will be enrolled in an accredited Canadian Library School during the next academic term/year; or
• who will be concurrently enrolled in an approved Canadian Law School and an accredited Canadian Library School during the next academic term/year. "

CALL Survey on New Federation of Library Associations

This is a follow-up to the Library Boy post of January 6, 2016 entitled Canadian Library Association Special Meeting in January to Vote on New Library Federation.

This Wednesday, January 27, 2016, the membership of the Canadian Library Association (CLA) will be voting on a proposal to dissolve the CLA and replace it with a federation consisting of library associations from across the country. The CLA proposal was released last December.

The Board of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL) has created an informal survey to initiate discussion with its members about its possible involvement with a new federation.

CALL has been invited as a Stakeholder Representative to CLA's Special Meeting on the 27th.

The CALL survey will close at 12 midnight ET on Friday, January 29, 2016. Results will be shared with CALL members after they are compiled.

Statistics Canada Report on Family Violence

Statistics Canada released a report this week called Family violence in Canada: A statistical profile, 2014:

"Family Violence in Canada: A Statistical Profile is an annual report produced by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics under the Federal Family Violence Initiative. Since 1998, this annual report has provided the most current data on the nature and extent of family violence in Canada, as well as trends over time, and has been used to monitor changes that inform policy makers and the public (...)"

"This year’s report also features an in-depth analysis of self-reported incidents of spousal violence, using data from the 2014 General Social Survey on victimization. This featured section examines the nature and prevalence of self-reported spousal violence in Canada. The analysis examines rates of spousal violence from 2004 to 2014, and because the information provided in this section is collected from individuals (self-reported), it includes incidents that were reported to police as well as those that were not. The featured section also provides analysis of the socio-demographic risk factors linked to spousal violence, the impacts and consequences for victims and the police reporting behaviour of victims."

Among the highlights:

• In 2014, 4% of Canadians in the provinces with a current or former spouse or common-law partner reported having been physically or sexually abused by their spouse during the preceding 5 years, according to the General Social Survey (GSS) on victimization. This represents a drop from a decade earlier, when 7% of respondents reported experiencing spousal violence.
• In 2014, equal proportions of men and women reported being victims of spousal violence during the preceding 5 years (4%, respectively). This translated into about 342,000 women and 418,000 men across the provinces. Similar declines in spousal violence were recorded for both sexes since 2004.
• According to the 2014 GSS, the most commonly-reported type of spousal violence experienced was being pushed, grabbed, shoved or slapped (35%). A quarter of victims (25%) reported having been sexually assaulted, beaten, choked, or threatened with a gun or a knife. A similar proportion (24%) reported having been kicked, bit, hit, or hit with something. As in previous years, women reported the most severe types of spousal violence more often than men.
• Among victims of spousal sexual assault, over half (59%) reported non-consensual sexual activity that came as a result of being manipulated, drugged, or otherwise coerced, sometimes in combination with sexual assault through physical force.
• Just under one-third (31%) of spousal violence victims in the provinces reported sustaining physical injuries as a result of the violence. Women were proportionally more likely than men to have reported physical injuries, with 4 out of 10 (40%) female victims reporting injuries compared to just under a quarter (24%) of male victims.
• Results from the 2014 GSS indicate that psychological effects consistent with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are fairly common among spousal violence victims, with about 16% of victims reporting three or more of the long term effects associated with PTSD. Female victims were more likely (22%) to report these effects than male victims (9^%).
• For the majority of spousal violence victims, the police were never made aware of the abuse (70%). Male victims were more likely to state that the spousal violence had not been brought to the attention of police (76%) than female victims (64%). When police had been made aware of spousal violence, most victims reported that they were satisfied with police response (65%).
• Findings from the 2014 GSS indicate there may be a relationship between abuse during childhood and spousal violence later in life. More individuals who reported experiencing spousal violence reported having been physically and/or sexually abused as children (48%), compared to those who did not report spousal violence (32%).
• A history of family violence in the childhood home was notable among those who reported being the victim of spousal violence as adults. Over one in five (21%) spousal violence victims reported having witnessed abuse committed by a parent, step-parent or guardian as a child. This proportion is significantly higher than the 11% of respondents in spousal relationships free of violence who had witnessed violence as children.
• Data from the 2014 GSS show that individuals self-identifying as Aboriginal were more than twice as likely as non-Aboriginal people to report experiencing spousal violence in the previous five years (9% versus 4%, respectively). In particular, Aboriginal females were more likely to be victimized by current or former partners, as compared to non-Aboriginal women. Rates of self-reported spousal victimization among the Aboriginal population have not changed in a significant way from 2009 (10%) to 2014 (9%).
• Aboriginal people more often reported having experienced abuse as children, a factor shown to be associated with spousal victimization later in life. People identifying as Aboriginal were also more likely than non-Aboriginals to report having witnessed violence committed by a parent, step-parent or guardian as a child.

Quebec Legal Info Service CAIJ Adds New Annotated Code of Civil Procedure

This is a follow-up to the January 12, 2016 Library Boy post entitled Quebec's New Code of Civil Procedure in Force Since January 1st.

CAIJ, the Centre d'accès à l'information juridique (the network of courthouse law libraries associated with the Québec Bar Association),  has recently added an annotated version of the province's new Code of Civil Procedure (in the left column of the page "Code de procédure civile (nouveau)").

It includes the text of the Code, a list of changes in legal terminology, a concordance between the new and old Codes, background commentaries for each section from the provincial Ministry of Justice, links to related regulations, links to related research questions answered by the CAIJ libraries, as well as links to debates in the Québec National Assembly and positions adopted by the Québec Bar Association.

CAIJ won the 2012 Hugh Lawford Award for Excellence in Legal Publishing for its JuriBistro UNIK global search engine. It simultaneously searches Québec Bar association continuing education materials, the CAIJ catalogue, the full text of Québec and federal caselaw and legislation, the full text of secondary literature from publisher Wilson & Lafleur, the contents of legal journal indexes and the TOPO knowledgebase of answers to research questions from member lawyers.

The Award is given out every year by the Canadian Association of Law Libraries.

HeinOnline Oral History of Law Librarianship

U.S. vendor HeinOnline has created a series of online interviews entitled An Oral History of Law Librarianship.

The interviews are part of the HeinOnline library Spinelli’s Law Library Reference Shelf and are viewable on the HeinOnline YouTube channel. There are close to 100 interviews available.

The videos contain interviews of active and retired law librarians and others related to the profession. This series showcases individuals in the profession as they discuss and reflect on their experiences.

The Hein blog regularly features interviews from the series. The most recent blog item about the series presents Mary Kathleen Price, Professor of Law Emerita and retired Associate Dean, Library and Technology from the University of Florida in Gainsville, FL.

Five Questions With Wendy Reynolds, Legislative Library of Ontario

For a little over a year, the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL) has run a series of member profiles called Five Questions With...

The most recent interview is with Wendy Reynolds, Manager, Accessibility, Information Services Branch, Legislative Assembly of Ontario in Toronto.

Many more profiles can be found on the CALL Blog.

Another interesting profile series consists of interviews by the Law Library of Congress in Washington with members of its staff.

Le Devoir Feature Article on Growing Problem of Vexatious Litigants

On the weekend, the Montreal daily Le Devoir published a feature article on the growing problem of vexatious litigants ("plaignants quérulents").

They are highly aggressive and/or abusive citizens who take their grievances to an extreme, inundating courts and tribunals with numerous detailed complaints and multiplying procedures, and often abusing staff with threatening language.

According to the article, it is a phenomenon that is worrying bar associations, public institutions, courts, ombudsman offices as well as the psychiatric profession.

The article refers to a practice guide written in 2012 by the Office of the Ombudsman of New South Wales in Australia on Managing unreasonable complainant conduct.The guide has been widely translated and used to train others around the world.

Roberta I. Shaffer Named Law Librarian of Congress

Earlier this month, Roberta I. Shaffer was named the newest Law Librarian of Congress: 

"She is a former Fulbright Senior Scholar. She has been an active member of the American Bar Association, the American Association of Law Libraries, ARMA International (Records Management) and the World Future Society. She was president of the International Council of Scientific and Technical Information, served as the Library’s official representative to the council, and chaired its Information Policy Committee. Shaffer held advisory positions with the DigIn Program at the University of Arizona and the library science program at San Jose State University. She serves in an advisory capacity for the Information School at the University of Texas (Austin), where she previously served as dean."

Shaffer had been the acting Law Librarian of Congress since October 2015.

The Law Library of Congress is the world’s largest law library, with a collection of over 2.65 million volumes spanning the ages and covering virtually every jurisdiction in the world.

Manitoba Law Reform Commission Report on Modernizing The Municipal Council Conflict of Interest Act

The Manitoba Law Reform Commission has released a report on Modernizing The Municipal Council Conflict of Interest Act: Accountability, Enforcement & Oversight : 

"This report will provide an overview of the municipal conflict of interest legislative regime in Manitoba and other jurisdictions and will canvass case law and judicial inquiry reports as they relate to sanctions and enforcement of municipal conflict of interest, before making recommendations for the improvement of remedial provisions and enforcement of the MCCIA [Municipal Council Conflict of Interest Act]. Other issues, such as the enforcement of municipal codes of conduct and the provincial Conflict of Interest Commissioner will also be discussed."

"The Commission recommends that the remedial provisions of the Act be amended so that judges are provided with a range of available sanctions to impose when they are satisfied that there has been a breach of the conflict of interest provisions of the MCCIA, rather than only having recourse to the current all or nothing approach, in which the only penalty available is disqualification from office and a declaration that a councillor’s seat is vacant:"

"In addition to recommending changes to the remedial provisions of the MCCIA, the Commission also recommends the establishment of a municipal Conflict of Interest Commissioner, who would carry out an advisory, investigatory, and enforcement function. The Commissioner would provide binding advice to members of council, so that a councillor, if he or she provided all material facts to the Commissioner and followed the Commissioner’s recommendations, would be rendered immune from subsequent proceedings under the Act. The Commissioner would also be empowered to receive complaints from members of the public and be authorized to conduct investigations."

January 2016 Issue of Governance and Recordkeeping Around the World

The Governance and Recordkeeping Around the World newsletter, published by Library and Archives Canada (LAC), highlights issues pertaining to government and recordkeeping practices in the public and private sectors around the world.

The January 2016 issue has just been published.
 
It includes:

• news items from Canada and around the world 
• announcements of upcoming Canadian and international events (meetings, conferences, seminars) 
• project and product news in areas such as digitization, archives, open source, e-government, access to information and Web 2.0 
• listings of papers and readings (white papers, presentations, reports)

Law Commission of Ontario Releases Interim Report on Legal Capacity, Decision-making and Guardianship

This is a follow-up to the Library Boy post of June 26, 2014 entitled Law Commission of Ontario Discussion Paper on Legal Capacity, Decision-making and Guardianship.

Earlier this week, the Commission released its Interim Report on Legal Capacity, Decision-making and Guardianship.

The Commission is looking for feedback from the public by March 4, 2016 as part of its consultation process.

The report is one of the elements of a major project to look at how decisions related to property, treatment and personal care are made in situations where individuals’ decision-making abilities are in impaired, but decisions must nonetheless be made.

Related posts on Library Boy include:

• British Columbia Law Institute Consultation Paper on Common-Law Tests of Capacity (February 26, 2013)
• Australian Law Reform Commission Paper on Equality, Capacity and Disability in Commonwealth Laws (November 17, 2013)
• Law Commission of Ontario Discussion Paper on Capacity of Adults with Mental Disabilities and the Registered Disability Savings Plan (December 8, 2013)
• Law Commission of Ontario Papers on Legal Capacity, Decision-Making and Guardianship (March 25, 2014) 
• Alberta Law Reform Institute Report on Beneficiary Designation by Substitute Decision Makers (April 22, 2014)

Law Commission of England Final Report on Unfitness to Plead

The Law Commission of England and Wales has published a report on unfitness to plead that looks at the legal tests and rules for determining whether an accused is physically and/or metnally fit to plead [links to consultation documents and to the final report at the bottom of the page]:

"Our starting point is that full and fair trial should be achieved wherever possible. We make recommendations to ensure that the normal trial process is adjusted wherever necessary to ensure that defendants can be tried in the normal way when that can fairly be achieved."

"In order to reduce unnecessary costs and delays, our recommendations also include the streamlining of the clinical assessment process for defendants with participation difficulties."

"We recommend a new legal test which will accurately identify those who are unable to participate effectively in their trial. Under our recommendations these defendants who lack capacity for trial will be dealt with in a reformed alternative hearing where all aspects of the allegation will be fairly scrutinised."

"Under our reforms the judge will have more robust and effective options for dealing with defendants who lack capacity for trial. The court will be able to provide for more constructive support of the individual within the community, as well as having greater powers to monitor the progress of the individual under supervision and to impose restrictions where that is necessary to ensure public safety."

"Significant concerns have been raised during the project about the current lack of an effective legal framework for addressing participation difficulties experienced by young defendants in the youth court. Our recommendations also introduce, for the first time, a statutory scheme for addressing unfitness to plead in the magistrates’ and youth courts, in line with that which we recommend for the Crown Court."

Reflections on Rebranding of the American Association of Law Libraries

This is a follow-up to the Library Boy post of  November 29, 2015 entitled American Association of Law Libraries to Rebrand as Association for Legal Information.

As I reported:

"The American Association of Law Libraries, the sister association of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL), has announced that its Executive Board is recommendating that the association change its name to the Association for Legal Information."

The blog On Firmer Ground yesterday published a piece called Contemplating a Name Change that looks at how law librarianship has changed and asks whether those changes warrant changing the name of the association:

"These AALL advocates have called for the association’s members to look forward, to adapt, and to be proactive in addressing the challenges facing the legal information profession. Law librarians answered that call by shapeshifting into knowledge managers, competitive intelligence professionals, information specialists, and research analysts, among other roles. However, many of us maintain that, despite new titles and new roles, we are still essentially librarians, putting valuable and timeless librarian skills to good use organizing, finding, and disseminating information, regardless of format."

"Have we finally reached the tipping point though? In the face of all the changes, does the librarian name still properly convey all that we contribute to our organizations, and all the roles that our positions encompass? Or are the cumulative changes to our profession so great that a new, broader name for our association is warranted? Well-informed, reasonable minds will differ on this point, and American Association of Law Libraries members will have a chance to vote on a proposed name change beginning tomorrow, January 12, 2016."

"As we mull over whether Association for Legal Information appropriately represents our soon-to-be 110-year-old association and its members, we thought it would be worth reviewing some of the myriad reflections on our ever-changing profession and professional environment."

On Firmer Ground is a blog by and for law firm librarians. It is a joint project of the Legal Division of the Special Libraries Association, the Private Law Libraries Special Interest Section of the American Association of Law Libraries, the Canadian Association of Law Libraries and the British and Irish Association of Law Librarians.

Quebec's New Code of Civil Procedure in Force Since January 1st

Quebec's new Code of Civil Procedure came into force at the beginning of the year.

The Quebec Ministry of Justice website has posted material explaining the main highlights of the changes:

"The new Code of Civil Procedure is intended to make the civil justice system more accessible, while protecting the rights of all parties to state their claims before a court.
To reduce delays in the justice system, the new Code gives priority to amicable dispute resolution processes such as mediation, arbitration and conciliation, which are less confrontational, more accessible and more likely to ensure a quick outcome."

"Parties that opt for a traditional trial in court must ensure that all their applications, pleadings and evidence are proportionate to the nature and complexity of the case, in order to prevent abuses of procedure."

"Judges will have greater powers to manage cases, in particular to ensure compliance with the principles of proportionality and cooperation at the heart of the new Code of Civil Procedure. For example, they will be able to reduce the number of examinations and expert opinions required; both these elements have often been identified as causing significant costs or delays for citizens."

Supreme Court of Canada Joins Twitter

The Supreme Court of Canada today launched its English and French Twitter accounts.

The launch coincides with an important milestone in the Court’s history: it is the 140th anniversary of the first hearings held by the Supreme Court of Canada.


Tweets will pertain to the Court's business.

Call for Nominations for Denis Marshall Memorial Award for Excellence in Law Librarianship

The Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL) is seeking nominations for the Denis Marshall Memorial Award for Excellence in Law Librarianship:

"This award is an honour bestowed upon a current member of CALL/ACBD who has provided outstanding service to the Association AND/OR enhanced the profession of law librarianship in the recent past. The specific contributions  must reflect the qualities embodied by Denis Marshall:

• a continued commitment to excellence in law librarianship;
• a strong service ethic;
•   a commitment to continuous learning;
• a significant contribution to the scholarship of the library profession;
• mentoring and encouraging those who seek a profession in law librarianship;
• the pursuit of innovation and/or innovative solutions;
• and/or a contribution to leadership in the law library profession."

The name of the nominated person must be accompanied by two signed letters from colleagues in support of the nominee, with names and signatures of three additional CALL members supporting the nomination.

This is a confidential process, so the nominee should not be made aware that he or she is being nominated.

The CALL Scholarships and Awards Committee will begin to consider applications after April 1.

Legal Sourcery Named Best Canadian Law Library Blog

Legal Sourcery, the blog produced by the Law Society of Saskatchewan Library, won the 2015 Clawbie (Canadian Law Blog Award) for best law library blog:

"Few categories prompt so many nominations from our readers as Best Law Library Blog, and no blog receives so many or such enthusiastic nominations as Legal Sourcery. The blog of the Law Society of Saskatchewan consistently generates engaging and informative posts about legal developments, regulatory changes, research trends, and just plain fun observations and contests. Ken Fox, Melanie Hodges Neufeld, Alan Kilpatrick, Kelly Laycock and Sarah Roussel-Lewis lead the way."

The complete list of winners and runners-up in the many Clawbie categories is online.

Canadian Library Association Special Meeting in January to Vote on New Library Federation

This is a follow-up to the Library Boy post of December 8, 2015 entitled Results from Survey on Future Canadian Library Federation.

For many months, the Canadian Library Association (CLA) has been meeting with representatives from other regional and sectoral library associations such as the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL) to discuss the CLA's dissolution and its replacement by a new national structure that would take the form of a federation of library associations.

The CLA Executive Council has called a Special General Meeting to vote on the dissolution of CLA for January 27th, 2016 at 11 a.m. in Toronto based on the recommendations found within the final proposal from the Future Federation Working Group .

The CLA website has links to the meeting's agenda, the proposal for the creation of a new federation of library associations, financial statements and the special resolution to dissolve the CLA.

Small associations like CALL would likely be invited to become a member of the new federation but it is still unclear how any new governance structure would accommodate smaller entities in terms of membership fees and voting weight.

January 2016 Issue of In Session: Canadian Association of Law Libraries' e-Newsletter

The January 2016 issue of In Session is available online.

It is the monthly e-newsletter of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL) and contains news from CALL committees and special interest groups, member updates and events.

Supreme Court of Canada: New Library Titles

The list of new library titles added to the Supreme Court of Canada collection for January 2016 is now available on the Court website.

It includes a book on what the scifi series Star Trek can teach people about the law.

It is possible to subscribe via e-mail to receive the list. 

Canadian Librarians Track Down Fugitive Federal Government Documents

So-called fugitive Canadian federal government documents are documents that are available in print or on a website but that are not collected by an official depository program such as the federal Depository Services Program that maintains the Government of Canada Publications catalogue.

A few years ago, staff at 11 Canadian libraries launched the Canadian Government Information Digital Preservation Network (CGI DPN), an initiative dedicated to preserving digital collections of government information.

In 2014, the Network created the  Fugitive Documents Working Group to develop strategies to collect fugitive documents.

The Working Group has created a spreadsheet to locate and report fugitive documents collaboratively by checking what is available on government department and agency websites but not available in the federal Depository Services electronic collection.

Recently, the Working Group announced on various listservs that Public Works Canada has agreed to collaborate with the project by picking up the items directly from the Spreadsheet for addition to the Depository Services catalogue.

The Working Group is still looking for volunteers to help with the project. Anyone interested in participating can contact:

• Susan Paterson - susan.paterson AT ubc.ca (University of British Columbia)
• Carla Graebner - cgraebne AT sfu.ca (Simon Fraser University)
• Sam-chin Li - samchin.li AT utoronto.ca (University of Toronto)

Canadian Association of Law Libraries Online Webinar on Family Law

The Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL) is organizing a webinar on family law on January 21, 2016 from 1 to 2:30PM Eastern:

"This session will provide a summary on family law issues including:

a) Parenting;
b) Support obligations, including child and spousal support;
c) Property division;
d) Rights of unmarried spouses; and,
e) Divorce"

The speaker will be Mimi Marrello, practitioner in the Family Law Service Group at Mann Lawyers and professor of the Introduction to Family Law course at the University of Ottawa.

CALL/ACBD Member: $40 + $5.20 HST    = $45.20
Non-member: $60 + $7.80 HST    = $67.80
Student Rate: $25 + $3.25 HST    = $28.25