List of Top Ten Canadian Law Podcasts

Emma Durand-Wood from Stem Legal, a legal industry strategy firm, has published a blog post describing her list for ten of the best Canadian law podcasts:

"Whether Serial was your introduction to the wonderful world of podcasts, or you’ve been listening to them for years, podcasts have officially gone mainstream — some are even calling 2016 “the year of the podcast”. Amidst the hundreds and thousands of podcasts out there on iTunes and otherwise, it can be hard to find the good stuff (the fact that even an amateur can make one: boon and bane)."

"So here are 10 of the best Canadian law-related podcasts for your listening pleasure."

July 2016 Issue of Connected Bulletin on Courts and Social Media

The July 2016 issue of Connected is available online. The bulletin covers news about the impact of new social media on courts.

The bulletin is published by the Virginia-based National Center for State Courts (NCSC) and the Conference of Court Public Information Officers.

In this month's issue:

• Should Pokémon Go stop in the courtroom?
• Facebook Live vs. Privacy Law
• New Mexico Supreme Court issues warning to judges about using social media
• Massachusetts teen to face manslaughter over texts urging boyfriend to commit suicide
• Court: Text messages can form a binding contract
• Jailer's social media posts under investigation

Analysis of Beverley McLachlin's Output as Chief Justice of Canada

The Court.ca blog run by students at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto has just published part 2 of The Supreme Court by Numbers, an analysis of the output of Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin since she was appointed to her position in January 2000.

Part 1 was published in April and consisted in a word-count analysis of the output of all the Supreme Court of Canada justices based on the 2015 decisions of the Court (in English).

Part 2 concludes by saying:

"McLachlin’s output is worthy of a Chief Justice who has spent many years on the Court. She continues to produce a remarkable number of opinions annually, while attending to her other duties as Chief, she is squarely in the majority camp for most decisions, and is also able to join with all of her colleagues, albeit some more frequently than others. In order to see how her legacy compares with her peers, our next project will be to compare and contrast Chief Justice MacLachlin’s output with her two Charter­-era predecessors: Chief Justice Brian Dickson and Antonio Lamer."

Canadian Association of Law Libraries Webinar on The Lean Law Library

The Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL) is organizing a webinar on The Lean Law Library: How to Apply Process Improvement Concepts to your Organization on August 24, 2016 from 1 to 2:30PM Eastern:

"Law libraries are under pressure to be better, faster, and cheaper. How can we achieve BFC while maintaining high quality services to our appreciative clients? This session will reveal how using the lens of Lean Six Sigma to review law library operations can build BFC opportunities that will also delight law library customers and stakeholders."

"Lean Six Sigma is trending to become the ‘new’ solution to pressures on the legal market place. Law librarians who can use Lean Six Sigma concepts will be able to cross pollinate library with management, increasing the relevance of the library as integral to the organization as a whole, not simply as a room or a team who are important to legal researchers."

The speaker will be Shaunna Mireau, Director of Knowledge Management and Process Improvement at the Field Law firm in Alberta.

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

CanLII Takes Over Best Guide to Canadian Legal Research

The Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII), the free law society-supported Internet site for finding Canadian jurisprudence and legislation, is taking over the Best Guide to Canadian Legal Research, a well-known website launched by Catherine Best in 1998:

"Catherine Best retired In 2015 and she generously donated the site to CanLII to use as our legal research guide going forward. Best says:"

'The world of legal research is dramatically different than it was in 1998. However, the site’s emphasis on research process and effective electronic research continues to fill a need. It will be fascinating to see what changes the next 15 years will bring.'

"The site has been renamed The Canadian Legal Research and Writing Guide (...) It will be maintained and expanded by a national editorial board of legal researchers."

The Board is composed of:

• Melanie Bueckert, Legal Research Counsel with the Manitoba Court of Appeal in Winnipeg
• Maryvon Côté, Acting Head at the Nahum Gelber Law Library at McGill University in Montreal
• Yasmin Khan, Head Librarian at the City of Toronto Law Library
• Mandy Ostick, Manager, Library Services at Bull Housser in Vancouver
• Jennifer Taylor, Research Lawyer at Stewart McKelvey in Halifax

Statistics Canada Article on Police-Reported Crime

Yesterday, the Statistics Canada publication Juristat published an article entitled Police-reported crime statistics, 2015:

"Police-reported crime in Canada, as measured by both the Crime Severity Index (CSI) and the crime rate, increased in 2015. This marked the first rise in police-reported crime in 12 years. The CSI grew 5% from 2014 to 2015, but was 31% lower than it was a decade earlier in 2005."

"The rise in the CSI, which measures the volume and severity of police-reported crime, was primarily a result of more incidents of fraud, breaking and entering, robbery, and homicide. A notable increase in crime reported in Alberta and smaller increases in British Columbia, Ontario and Saskatchewan also contributed to the upward movement of the national CSI."

"The traditional police-reported crime rate, which measures the volume of police-reported crime relative to the population size, also increased in 2015, rising 3% from the previous year. While the crime rate grew in 2015, it has generally been on a downward trend since the early 1990s, with the only other increase reported in 2003."

Supreme Court of Canada: New Library Titles

The list of new library titles added to the Supreme Court of Canada collection for the period July 1-15, 2016 is now available on the Court website.

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

Law Library of Congress Report on Miranda Warning Equivalents Around the World

The Law Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. has published a report a little while ago about Miranda Warning Equivalents in more than 100 countries around the world.

In the United States, so-called Miranda rights are named after the US Supreme Court decision of Miranda v. Arizona, 384 US 436 (1966) that determined that a person detained by law enforcement and interrogated must be made aware of the right to remain silent, the right to consult with an attorney and have the attorney present during questioning, and the right to have an attorney appointed if they can't afford one. Without a Miranda warning or a valid waiver, statements might be inadmissible at trial.

According to the introduction of the Law Library of Congress report:

"The warnings specified in the surveyed jurisdictions vary, but typically include the right to remain silent and the right to legal counsel.  A number of countries also specify that a person who is arrested or detained has the right to be informed of the reasons for the arrest or detention or of the charges being brought.  In some countries, the additional right to have these things explained in a language the detainee understands is explicitly stated.  Commonwealth countries have traditionally followed the English Judges’ Rules developed in the early twentieth century, and some continue to do so, while many Member States of the European Union (EU) have adopted an EU directive on the issue."

"Points of variance among the countries concern the timing of the warning and whether the detainee is told that the fact of remaining silent will or will not be used in legal proceedings."   

"Countries surveyed that have no Miranda-type warning were not included. "

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

Update from the Canadian Federation of Library Associations

The membership of the Canadian Library Association (CLA) voted on January 27, 2016 to dissolve the organization and launch a new Canadian Federation of Library Associations (CFLA).

Recently, Donna Bourne-Tyson, the CFLA Interim Chair, published an update on the new federation's activities.

It includes information about:

• Initiatives related to Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action
• Copyright
• Federal Budget Consultations
• the CFLA's National Forum 2017
• Social Media
• Transition from CLA

Earlier Library Boy posts on the topic include:

• Proposal to Create Federation of Library Associations to Replace Canadian Library Association (October 15, 2015)
• Results from Survey on Future Canadian Library Federation (December 8, 2015)
• Canadian Library Association Special Meeting in January to Vote on New Library Federation (January 6, 2016)
• Canadian Library Association Votes to Dissolve and Make Way for New Library Federation (January 28, 2016)
• Canadian Library Association CLA Digest for February 2016 - What Happens After CLA Dissolves (February 22, 2016)
• Update on Creation of New Canadian Federation of Library Associations (March 30, 2016)
• Update on the Dissolution of the Canadian Library Association (May 1, 2016)
• Further Details About the Dissolution of the Canadian Library Association (June 26, 2016)

ABA 2016 Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction Awarded to Pleasantville by Attica Locke

The 2016 Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction goes to Pleasantville, a novel by Attica Locke:

"The prize ... is given annually to a book-length work of fiction that best illuminates the role of lawyers in society and their power to effect change."

It is sponsored by ABA Journal and the University of Alabama School of Law. The first winner was John Grisham in 2011 for his novel The Confession.

The award is named after author Harper Lee, whose novel To Kill A Mockingbird, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961.

Statistics Canada Report on Human Trafficking

The Statistics Canada publication Juristat has published a report on Trafficking in persons in Canada, 2014:

"As defined by the Criminal Code of Canada, trafficking in persons occurs when someone recruits, transports, transfers, receives, holds, conceals or harbours a person, or exercises control, direction or influence over the movements of a person for the purpose of exploiting them or facilitating their exploitation ... Human trafficking victims often suffer from emotional trauma, as well as economic, physical and sexual abuse ..."

"This Juristat article uses data from the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey to examine the scope of police-reported human trafficking in Canada, including the frequency of trafficking incidents. It also describes the characteristics of victims and of those accused of trafficking in persons. In addition, the article presents information on criminal court cases related to trafficking in persons. Throughout this article, the term ‘human trafficking’ will be used interchangeably with ‘trafficking in persons’. "

Primary Research Group Report on Benchmarks for Academic Library Use of Bibliometrics & Altmetrics

New York-based Primary Research Group has published a report on International Benchmarks for Academic Library Use of Bibliometrics & Altmetrics, 2016-17:

"This study presents data from 20 predominantly research universities in the USA, continental Europe, the UK, Canada and Australia/New Zealand.  Among the survey participants are: Carnegie Mellon, Cambridge University, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya the University at Albany, the University of Melbourne, Florida State University, the University of Alberta and Victoria University of Wellington."

"The report gives detailed data on the use of various bibliometric and altmetric tools such as Google Scholar, Web of Science, Scimago, Plum Analytics, and many, many others.  The 114-page report presents detailed information on staffing, budgets, marketing, sources of demand,  technology and other factors in bibliometric and altmetric service development."

Print and PDF versions are available for $109(US). Site licenses are also available.

Earlier Library Boy posts about Primary Research Group include:

• Primary Research Group Report on Library Database Licensing Practices (January 15, 2011)
• Law Library Benchmarks 2012-13 (April 23, 2012)
• Law Library Benchmarks 2014  (April 10, 2014)
• Survey of Law Library Database Licensing Practices (February 14, 2016)
• Survey of US Law School Faculty: Evaluation of the Law Library (April 21, 2016) 
• Primary Research Group Report on Bundled Journals Package Contract Negotiations Benchmarks (June 19, 2016)

Survey on Scanning Practices for Inter-Library Loan

The Reference and Users Services Association, a division of the American Library Association, is surveying Inter-Library Loan and Document Delivery practitioners in libraries to find out what equipment and scanning practices are currently in use today.

The organizers will report back to the ILL community and use the survey results  to build discussion about best practices for scanning.

The survey will close on July 29, 2016.

Canadian Government Plans for New National Headquarters for Federal Courts

The Lawyers Weekly has published an article in its most recent issue about the federal government's intention to revive plans for building new national headquarters for Canada's four federal courts in Ottawa's downtown core:

"Estimated to cost about $151 million in 2006 when it was shelved by the Harper government, the design has nine stories, two-below-grade parking levels with 350 spaces, 10 courtrooms and 87 chambers on the upper floors for the judges of the Federal Court, Federal Court of Appeal, Tax Court and Court Martial Appeal Court. There is also room for registry staff and administrative services (476 people in all) in the 48,000-square-metre building that would sit west of the Supreme Court of Canada (where the Conservatives planned to build the controversial National Memorial to Victims of Communism) and across from the Justice Building, the historic headquarters of the federal Department of Justice which now houses MPs offices. The communism victims’ memorial has been moved to another location but may ultimately be shelved."

The article outlines the history of the project going back more than two decades as well as the rationale for centralizing federal court operations which are currently scattered throughout Ottawa in leased commercial space.

Canadian Forum on Civil Justice June 2016 Access to Justice Newsletter

The non-profit Canadian Forum on Access to Justice (CFCJ) publishes a monthly newsletter about Access to Justice.

The latest issue of the newsletter includes:

• news about a study on the role of paralegals in the Ontario residential tenancy dispute resolution system
• a piece on the changing culture of legal aid in Nova Scotia
• an overview of recent presentations by CFCJ staff and researchers at a number of national and international conferences.

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

The July 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.

CanLII Turns 15

CanLII, the Canadian Legal Information Institute, turned 15 over the weekend. The service was launched by the Federation of Law Societies as means of making legal information freely available via the Internet. It has grown into an indispensable legal research tool:

"CanLII started 15 years ago as a small website with current case law and legislation, and today it is one of the biggest players in the Canadian legal information landscape and an indispensable resource to lawyers and notaries. Not a day goes by without a legal professional telling us that he or she relies almost entirely (or entirely) on CanLII for his or her primary law needs. Other regular feedback ranges from telling us that CanLII is a “practice enabler” for small firm or solo practitioners to enthusiastic declarations of love."