Statistics Canada Article on Mandatory Minimum Penalties

Statistics Canada's publication Juristat has published an article entitled Mandatory minimum penalties: An analysis of criminal justice system outcomes for selected offences:

"Historically, Canadian law has laid out mandatory minimum penalties (MMPs) for the most serious offences under the Canadian Criminal Code, such as murder and high treason. For some offences, sometimes under the presence of certain aggravating circumstances such as re-offending or using a firearm, judges in adult courts are required by law to impose a specific type of penalty or length of sentence. In addition to minimum custody sentences (imprisonment), mandatory minimums may apply to fines, and also include the mandatory federal victim surcharge imposed on offenders and used to fund services for victims. Judges do not have the discretion to give a penalty that is less than the MMP, regardless of the circumstances of the case. Over the course of the 20th century in Canada, there was an increase in the use of mandatory minimum penalties for offences such as impaired driving (starting in 1921) and firearms offences (mostly in 1995). Since 2005, the number of offences with MMPs in the Criminal Code and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act increased considerably, as new legislation introduced new or increased mandatory minimums (...)"

"The analysis presented in this Juristat article examines the characteristics and outcomes of cases in adult criminal courts for some of the offences that were subject to changes in MMP legislation enacted from 2005 to 2012. Specifically, the analysis looks at sentencing for offences occurring before and after the introduction or amendment of mandatory minimum penalties, using data from the Integrated Criminal Court Survey (ICCS). In particular, the report focusses on cases where the most serious offence involved selected sexual violations against children, child pornography, or selected firearms-related offences. Some information on police-reported incidents from the Uniform Crime Survey (UCR) is also provided."

"It is important to note that this analysis of court outcomes is limited to information provided by the courts. Information about prosecutor decisions prior to proceeding to court, such as plea bargaining and Crown election, that may have an impact on sentencing, is not available."

Canadian Web Archiving Coalition Inaugural Meeting

The Canadian Association of Research Libraries is organizing the inaugural meeting of the Canadian Web Archiving Coalition in Gatineau, Québec on September 20:

"The Canadian Web Archiving Coalition (CWAC) is an inclusive community of practice within Canadian libraries, archives, and other memory institutions engaged or otherwise interested in web archiving. The Coalition’s mission is to identify gaps and opportunities that could be addressed by nationally coordinated strategies, actions, and services, including collaborative collection development, training, infrastructure development, and support for practitioners and researchers."

For more background on the Coalition.

Thomson Reuters White Paper on Law Firm Librarians

Thomson Reuters has published a White Paper called Taking a closer look at the changing role of today’s law librarian.

It is based on a survey of 123 respondents from large and medium firms and finds that the law librarian profession has gone through substantial change in the past few years:

"more than half of respondents said their role had undergone substantial change within the past three years, with 15 percent reporting 'extreme change.' How much has changed? Forty-eight percent of respondents reported spending more than three-quarters of their time on activities that were not part of their job descriptions three years ago. That’s a staggering degree of change."

International Literature Review on Licenses

The International Federation of Library Associations: (IFLA) recently published a Literature Review on the Use Of Licenses in Library Context that looks at the impact of digital licenses on access to library materials.

From the Executive Summary:

"A growing share of library collections is digital. With books – a good – replaced by access to databases – a service – traditional acquisition is increasingly replaced by licencing agreements."

"This has brought many advantages – costs related to physical storage and upkeep are falling, and libraries have access to a wider range of content than ever before. However, the move from purchased ‘hard’ copies to licensed ‘soft’ ones has also brought challenges."

"In order to understand these, and the evidence behind them, IFLA commissioned a literature review in late 2016. This looked through the available academic and grey literature, from theoretical analyses to practical survey work on libraries’ experience of licensing, and its limits as a tool."

Canadian Association of Law Libraries Webinar on Copyright

The Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL) is hosting a webinar on September 13, 2017 called The Conversation Continues: Copyright in Context for CALL Members . It starts at 1PM Eastern time:

"Following the plenary at this year's Annual Conference, this webinar panel will discuss the much anticipated review of the Copyright Act and other copyright issues that concern law librarians in Canada."

The speakers are:

• Amanda Wakaruk, Copyright Librarian at the University of Alberta
• Kim Nayyer, Associate University Librarian, Law and Adjunct Associate Professor, Faculty of Law at University of Victoria. She is also co-chair of the CALL Copyright Committee
• Lesley Ellen Harris, author of the book, Canadian Copyright Law, 4th ed.

Library Association Submissions to 2018 Federal Budget Consultations

The federal government is holding consultations in advance of the 2018 budget and many library associations have made presentations to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance.

The Canadian Federation of Library Associations made four recommendations “to improve Canadians’ ability to access and use important cultural products and historical records and up-to-date knowledge from the world’s leading researchers.”

The Assocation wants the government to:

1. Invest $50 million over 5 years in a targeted Library Upgrade Investment Fund, which will allow libraries of all formats in all communities to improve their facilities and services, and be welcoming places where all Canadians can find the resources they need to contribute to our society and to the economy.
2. Fund the Library Materials Service to ensure Canada Post can maintain existing services without further increases and that restrictions on library’s ability to create automatic accounts in the Electronic Shipping Tool be eliminated.
3. Invest $30M over the next five years (2018-2022) to support a coordinated national initiative to digitize content and to build the digital infrastructure required to make Canada’s rich documentary heritage available to all Canadians.
4. Invest $250,000 in 2018 to support the creation and establishment of a National Indigenous (First Nations, Metis and Inuit) Association of Archives, Libraries and Cultural Memory.

The Canadian Association of Research Libraries is calling on Ottawa to boost support for reseafch and digitization projects.

Its main recommendations are:

1. In accordance with recommendations from the Leadership Council on Digital
Research Infrastructure, invest for the next five years (2018-2022) in building national
research data management (RDM) infrastructure. This advances innovation in Canada
and strengthens Canada’s contribution to the global advancement of science and
knowledge. The required annual investment for RDM is $5M growing to $10M per
year over the five years. 

2. Invest $30M over the next five years (2018-2022) to support a coordinated national
initiative to digitize Canada’s rich documentary heritage, and to build the digital
infrastructure required to make this material available to all Canadians.

3. Invest $2M annually for the next five years (2018-2022) to support and extend the
Federal Science Library as part of Canada’s open science commitment. This will
enable federal researchers to gain access to the latest global information resources
and research developments and will showcase Canadian science to the world. It will
also help to build the framework for a national collaborative data sharing network
that will benefit all of Canada. 

September/October 2017 Issue of AALL Spectrum

The September/October 2017 issue of AALL Spectrum is now available online.

It is the monthly publication of the American Association of Law Libraries.

Among the feature articles are:

• Transforming Customer Service in the Post-Digital Law Library
• Read/Write: Artificial Intelligence Libraries
• New Attitude: Adapting to the Changing Legal Landscape
• Legal Workplaces of the Future

How Libraries Are Helping to Spot Fake News

There are two very important stories today in my news feed about how to spot fake news.

One is on the site LLRX.com (reprinted from the July/August 2017 issue of AALL Spectrum): Spotting Fake – Best Practices for Authenticating Trustworthy News Sources. It has links to library guides and other resources:

"In a keynote speech by Librarian of Congress, Carla D. Hayden, she said, 'In this time of wondering who can we trust, we are the most trusted source you can get …That very trustworthiness is our strength. That’s what we should revel in and be confident in'."

"This may be why librarians are enthusiastically creating fake news detection resources and why those resources are multiplying on websites. According to an article in American Libraries magazine (published by the American Library Association) 'Librarians can play a vital role in helping everyone, of any age, become critical and reflective news consumers. One positive outcome of the current furor about fake news may be that information literacy—for media and other types of content—will finally be recognized as a central skill of the digital age'."

"Fact-checking skills alone may not be enough to stop the spread, but librarians do have a lot to offer. Our weapon of choice for teaching others how to spot fake news is library research guides. These guides are multiplying across the country (...) Each guide provides solid advice on detecting fake news."

And IFLA, the International Federation of Library Associations, has published a report on Real Solutions to Fake News: How Libraries Help.

Favourite TV and Movie Judges

The ABA Journal asked a group of real judges and a law professor to choose their favourite fictitious judges from TV or cinema and to explain their choices:

"In the movies and on television, judges have played key roles in dramas, comedies and legal thrillers. Everyone seems to have a favorite—from the eccentric Judge Harry T. Stone (Harry Anderson) in TV’s Night Court to the serious and strict Judge John Taylor (Paul Fix) presiding over the trial in To Kill A Mockingbird. And just as lawyers are sometimes portrayed with dramatic license, cliché and exaggeration, so too are judges. Yet at the same time, we’ve seen judges who reflect the realities of what it’s like to wear the robe and weight important decisions every day. So we thought: who better to tell us about their favorite television and movie judges than real jurists?"

Of course, there are no Canadian judges since the ABA is American (so no mention of actress Julie Khaner as Justice Alana Newman Robinovitch in the CBC series Street Legal). But one of my personal favourites is there: Judge Chamberlain Haller from My Cousin Vinny.

2017 Annotated Quebec Civil Code Available for Free on CAIJ Quebec Legal Info Portal

The 20th edition (2017) of the Code civil du Québec annoté by Jean-Louis Baudouin & Yvon Renaud is now available on the website of the CAIJ.

CAIJ is the Centre d'accès à l'information juridique, the network of courthouse law libraries associated with the Québec Bar Association.

The annotated Civil Code includes:

• links to caselaw and commentary on each section 
• links to section-by-section explanations produced in 1993 by the Quebec Ministry of Justice as the new Code was making its way through the National Assembly
• links to parliamentary debates
• concordances for the Civil Code of Lower Canada (1866) and the Quebec Civil Code (1980)
• links to research questions about the Code answered by CAIJ library professionals

This material will be added to a collection that already includes full-text commentary and textbooks including:

• the Développements récents (annual reviews of areas of law)
• the Collection de droit (Bar School materials)
• proceedings of the annual Quebec Bar Association congresses
• a growing number of other treatises from publisher Wilson & Lafleur
• legal analysis and commentary from dozens of major law firms
• numerous annotated acts, both federal and Quebec
• case law
• and a list of thousands of legal questions with their corresponding answers classified by legal topic.

All for free!

Association of Research Libraries Condemns Inflammatory Speech and Violence after Charlottesville Tragedy

This is a follow-up to yesterday's post entitled Library Association Statements About Racist Violence in Charlottesville.

The Association of Research Libraries has also come out with a statement concerning the Neo-Nazi and white supremacist marches last week in Charlottesville, Virginia:

"Following the white supremacist and neo-Nazi rallies in Charlottesville, Virginia, this weekend, and the tragic death of anti-hate demonstrator Heather Heyer, killed by a car driven into the crowd, the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) reaffirms its longstanding commitment to diversity, inclusion, equity, and social justice. The Association condemns xenophobic speech and actions and mourns Heyer’s grievous death. Hate speech and hate crimes such as these not only harm individuals, they terrorize entire communities and divide nations."

"Research libraries and archives are bastions of free expression and inquiry. However, hate speech and other inflammatory rhetoric that incites violence or any actions that threaten our community members cannot be tolerated."

"Racism, anti-Semitism, and bias in any form—whether based on ethnicity, nationality, culture, religion, gender, sexual orientation, ability, or other qualities—are antithetical to the mission of libraries to advance society by facilitating discovery, education, and innovation. The Association of Research Libraries and its members will do everything in their power to safeguard the dignity and safety of library patrons, in part by making it clear in words and deeds that we stand for diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice (...)"

The ARL is a nonprofit organization of 123 research libraries in the US and Canada.

Library Association Statements About Racist Violence in Charlottesville

In the wake of the racist marches by Neo-Nazis and white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia last weekend, American library associations have issued important anti-racist statements.

American Library Association: 

"The ALA expresses our deepest condolences to the families and friends of those lost and injured during this weekend’s protests in Charlottesville, Virginia. We will not forget their efforts to enlighten and safeguard their communities from bigotry while opposing racist, anti-immigrant, anti-GLBTQ, and anti-Semitic violence. We stand in solidarity with the people of Virginia as well as anyone who protests hate and fights for equity, diversity and inclusion."

"The vile and racist actions and messages of the white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups in Charlottesville are in stark opposition to the ALA’s core values. No matter the venue or the circumstance, we condemn any form of intimidation or discrimination based on culture, ethnicity, gender, nationality, race, religion, or sexual orientation. Our differences should be celebrated, and mutual respect and understanding should serve as the norms within our society."

"The ALA supports voices of hope as such actions mirror the library community’s efforts to abolish bigotry and cultural invisibility. As we recently stated, ‘we must continue to support the creation of a more equitable, diverse and inclusive society,’ and we will do this through the work of our members and through resources such as Libraries Respond."

"The American Library Association is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 57,000 members in academic, public, school, government, and special libraries. The mission of the American Library Association is to provide leadership for the development, promotion and improvement of library and information services and the profession of librarianship in order to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all."

 American Association of Law Libraries:

"The events of this weekend in Charlottesville called to mind our keynote speaker Bryan Stevenson's remarks at the 2017 AALL Annual Meeting in Austin, which called on all of us to change the narrative. As librarians and legal information professionals, we are in a unique position to help change the destructive narrative of bigotry and racial superiority that is currently taking shape in America. As an association, we stand by our core values and affirm our commitment to diversity and inclusion."

"We must keep doing what we have always done--provide information and knowledge in support of our constitutional democracy. No matter the setting in which we work, our efforts support the U.S. justice system and our democracy each and every day. There is no room for racial, or any other form of, discrimination. I take pride in knowing I am a part of a profession that brings knowledge to action. I hope all of you do as well."

"Sincerely, Greg Lambert
President"

Supreme Court of Canada: New Library Titles

The list of new library titles added to the Supreme Court of Canada collection from August 1^st to 15^th, 2017 is now available on the Court website. 

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

Supreme Court of Canada: New Library Titles

The list of new library titles added to the Supreme Court of Canada collection from July 16-31, 2017 is now available on the Court website.

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

British Columbia Law Institute Blog Series on Wills

The British Columbia Law Institute (BCLI) has started a blog series on wills.

The texts will be written by Allison Curley.

The first post was published yesterday and is entitled Making Wills Half a World Over: Part One of the Wills Series.

The series will compare proposals for reform of the law of wills made last month by the Law Commission of England and Wales with the work done on the same topic by the BCLI over the past decade.

August 2017 Issue of In Session - E-Newsletter of Canadian Association of Law Libraries

The August 2017 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.