Most Recent Issue of the Canadian Law Library Review

The most recent issue of the Canadian Law Library Review (CLLR) is available online.

The CLLR is the official journal of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL). It is an open access publication.

Check out the features article:

• Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Property: AI-Driven Drug Discovery and the Challenges It Poses  to the Canadian Patent System (starts on p. 9): "Artificial Intelligence is emerging as a general-purpose technology with widespread applications. In particular, AI driven drug discovery is becoming increasingly prevalent as high costs and attrition rates associated with developing new drugs pose significant challenges to the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. Brand-name pharma companies have adopted machine learning platforms for target identification and lead molecule development to aid in novel drug design. The rapid development of these AI-based solutions, however, raises fundamental intellectual property questions and may require a re-evaluation of Canada’s current patent system. This paper outlines the challenges associated with inventorship and patentability in AI-driven drug discovery and, in doing so, investigates whether Canadian patent law should be reformed to accommodate this rapidly emerging technology"

Law Society of Ontario Tip on Coming into Force of Federal Regulations

Know How, the blog of the Law Society of Ontario's Great Library, regularly posts very useful research tips.

It recently published one entitled Coming into force of Federal Regulations and Statutory Instruments:

"When conducting legislative research, many researchers will know that locating a piece of legislation is only half the battle. The next hurdle lies in decoding commencement information or coming into force date(s)."

"As outlined in previous posts, deciphering this information can be tricky and confusion often arises from the wording used. In this post we hope to shed light on three frequently used coming into force (CIF) phrases of Federal SORs and SIs."

"Three phrases (or terms) are often used in SOR/SI’s to describe coming into force date(s): when an Order is made, when an Order is registered and when an Order is published." 

"What is the difference and how do you determine which date is which?"

International Federation of Library Associations Working Document on Artificial Intelligence

The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) has released a working document entitled Developing a library strategic response to Artificial Intelligence:

"The purpose of this working document is to set out considerations relevant for libraries developing a strategic response to Artificial Intelligence."

"The text is organised around developing a set of questions that prompt reflection and action (section 4). It is hoped that the document can support local decision making about AI (...)"

"Initial ideas for the report were derived from an event run at the University of Sheffield in April 2023 (...). An early version of this document as a working paper for comment was published on 4th June 2023. We would like to thank everyone who added thoughts and comments to this draft. We have also drawn in some data from a survey (N=111) linked to the Sheffield event and recirculated in July; respondents were a mix of HE and FE librarians and health librarians. As the audience was primarily in the UK this data should be understood as simply a snapshot of opinion in one context."

The document is divided into sections on:

• Defining AI
• Impact of AI on libraries
• Strategic context and a library SWOT
• Strategic responses to AI: Pros and cons
• Three important strategies

Library and Information Sector Submissions to Federal Government Pre-Budget Consultations

The website Librarianship.ca has posted summaries of the pre-budget submissions made by various library, archivistic and cultural associations:

"In June 2023, the the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance invited Canadians to provide a written brief with their priorities and proposals as part of its Pre-Budget Consultations in Advance of the 2024 Federal Budget."

"The Standing Committee published the briefs submitted by associations and organizations representing Canada’s GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives, and museums) sector as well as other sectors in September 2023."

Among the organizations listed are:

• the Canadian Association of Research Libraries
• the Canadian Federation of Library Associations
• the Canadian Museums Association
• the Canadian Urban Libraries Council
• Access Copyright 

Supreme Court of Canada Calendar of December 2023 Hearings

The Supreme Court of Canada has published its calendar of upcoming appeals that will be heard in December.

To find out more about any particular case, click on a case number in parentheses to find docket information, case summaries as well as factums from the parties and any interveners.

Article on Use of ChatGPT in Reference Interviews at McGill

The Nov. 2023 issue of College & Research Libraries features an article entitled How Well Does ChatGPT Handle Reference Inquiries? An Analysis Based on Question Types and Question Complexities:

"To explore whether artificial intelligence can be used to enhance library services, this study used ChatGPT to answer reference questions. An assessment rubric was used to evaluate how well ChatGPT handled different question types and difficulty levels. Overall ChatGPT’s performance was fair, but it did poorly in information accuracy. It scored the highest when handling facilities and equipment-related questions but the lowest when dealing with e-resources access problems. ChatGPT was weak in answering advanced research questions, complex inquiries, and known item searches relating to a specific local environment, but it could be adopted to enhance library communication with users."

The article summarizes a study conducted at the Music Library at McGill University in Montreal. 

Statistics Canada Info on Trends in Police-reported Family Violence

Statistics Canada has published new data on Trends in police-reported family violence and intimate partner violence in Canada, 2022:

"According to police services in Canada, after several years of increase, rates of reported family violence and intimate partner violence were unchanged in 2022. Rates decreased to a small degree for women and girls (-1% for family violence and -1% for intimate partner violence), while they increased slightly for men and boys (+1% for family violence and +2% for intimate partner violence). Regardless, rates for both types of violence were higher for women and girls than for men and boys."

"Today, the Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics at Statistics Canada is releasing a series of downloadable data tables detailing the number and characteristics of victims of police-reported family violence and intimate partner violence (see Note to readers). This release presents high-level trends in police-reported family violence and intimate partner violence. It should be noted that the findings in this release reflect only incidents of family violence and intimate partner violence that came to the attention of the police, and past research has highlighted that these types of violence are often not reported to authorities. As such, the data presented here likely underestimate the full scope of these types of violence."

"In this release, family violence is violence committed by spouses, parents, children, siblings and extended family members and intimate partner violence is violence committed by current and former legally married spouses, common-law partners, dating partners and other intimate partners. Victims of family violence and victims of intimate partner violence are not mutually exclusive groups, as victims of a current or former spouse are included in each group."

New International Labour Organization Research Repository

The International Labour Organization, an agency of the United Nations, has launched a new research repository that is intended as a one-stop-shop for the organization's many research publications:

The online collection has some 20,000 publications, including flagship reports, major publications, research studies, journal articles from the International Labour Review and International Journal of Labour Research, working papers, training materials, guides, manuals and briefs.

Government of Canada Annual Departmental Results Reports for 2022-2023

Every year, the Treasury Board tables performance reports in the House of Commons on behalf of dozens of federal government agencies and departments.

The 2022-2023 reports were presented earlier this month. These reports are part of the federal government's Estimates and Supply process. They provide details on an organization’s mandate, commitments and results achieved.

The list includes reports from many justice-related bodies such as:

• Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada
• Canadian Human Rights Commission
• Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP
• Correctional Investigator Canada
• Courts Administration Service
• Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada
• Justice Canada
• Military Police Complaints Commission of Canada
• Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada
• Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying Canada
• Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages
• Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada
• Office of the Intelligence Commissioner
• Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
• Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner of Canada
• Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada
• Public Prosecution Service of Canada
• Public Safety Canada
• RCMP External Review Committee
• Veterans Review and Appeal Board

Results are also presented on the government website GC InfoBase with tables and interactive data visualizations.

Law Library of Congress Comparative Report on School Bus Safety

The Law Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. recently published a report on school bus safety requirements:

"This report surveys technical requirements on school buses in the following select jurisdictions: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, England, Iceland, Mexico, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates. In addition to this summary, the report includes individual country surveys. A table of primary sources cited in the surveys is also provided."

"As depicted on the map at page 3, of the surveyed jurisdictions, Canada, Mexico, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates have buses that are specifically manufactured for school transportation, whereas the remaining jurisdictions use ordinary buses, vans, cars, or other vehicles to transport students to and from school."

"As shown on the map at page 4, China, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates have special legislation for school buses, while the remaining jurisdictions surveyed govern school buses or buses in general in their respective general vehicle legislation or regulations. Australia, Canada, and Mexico largely leave the regulation of school bus safety to the individual states of their respective jurisdictions, so safety requirements can differ within these countries."

The Law Library of Congress is the world’s largest law library, with a collection of over 2 and a half million volumes from all ages of history and virtually every jurisdiction in the world.

Over the years, it has published dozens of comparative law reports which are a treasure trove for legal research on a huge variety of issues.

Release of the Saskatchewan Indigenous Subject Headings

 Saskatchewan Libraries have released the Saskatchewan Indigenous Subject Headings:

"The goal of the Saskatchewan Indigenous Subject Headings (SK ISH) project has been to work with Indigenous Peoples and groups in Saskatchewan to determine what terms are preferred. These terms have been translated into subject headings for use by libraries across Saskatchewan (...)

• Starting in early 2020, a working group of Saskatchewan library staff, under the leadership of the Multitype Library Board, began to examine how subject headings related to Indigenous Peoples in Saskatchewan could be updated to be more inclusive and respectful. 
• This working group believed that engagement with Indigenous people was vital to inform, support and facilitate the development of appropriate subject headings, within a Saskatchewan context. 
• Saskatchewan Indigenous library staff formed an outreach group to guide the planning of engagement sessions. 
• Facilitators were contracted to lead engagement sessions in a safe and respectful manner. Elders, kêhtê-ayak, Old Ones, and many other members of Saskatchewan Indigenous communities shared their thoughts and experiences in two rounds of engagement sessions. 
• A technical group of library sector partners translated what was heard during engagement into subject headings. These subject headings were vetted during the second round of engagements"

The website has links to a spreadsheet of subject headings, a guide with tips for getting started in implementation and additional information that explains more of the project’s background.

November 2023 Issue of In Session E-Bulletin of Canadian Association of Law Libraries

The November 2023 issue of In Session has been published. 

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. 

University of Toronto Podcast Course on the Charter of Rights

I recently came across Charter: A Course podcast, a series of classes about Canadian constitutional law and litigation.

"In each episode, we highlight the accomplishments of U of T Law’s faculty and alumni involved in leading constitutional cases and issues. Each episode also includes a 'Practice Corner,' where we talk about the ins and outs of what it means to be a constitutional litigator."

"Whether you are a law student, a lawyer, or just an interested person, we hope that you learn about an aspect of constitutional law and litigation that interests you in our podcast."

The series was created by the David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights at the University of Toronto and is now in its 3rd season.

Presentations from Recent Course of the International Association of Law Libraries

The International Association of Law Libraries recently held its 41st Annual Course in Geneva, Switzerland.

Many of the presentations are now inline.

Some highlights:

• The New Roles of the World Trade Organization after the Pandemic Crisis
• The Swiss Legal Order and International Law: Does Direct Democracy Make a Difference?
• The Work of the WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore
• The War in Ukraine: Challenges and Opportunities for International Humanitarian Law
• Intellectual Property and Access to Medicines: Perspective from Médecins Sans Frontières
• Current Issues in Disarmament and Arms Control
• From Words to Deeds, Understanding Armed Non-State Actors Practice and Interpretation of International Humanitarian and Human Rights Norms

Law Library of Congress Comparative Report on Lobbying and Foreign Agent Registration Laws

The Law Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. recently published a report on Lobbying and Foreign Agent Registration Laws:

The report focuses on legislative developments in a number of jurisdictions with regards to the regulation of lobbying and the registration of foreign agents. 

Furthermore, the report includes information on the extent to which China is referred to in the discussions on the need to pass such laws (or to amend them, if they already exist). The report discusses which jurisdictions have mandatory or voluntary registers for lobbying activities, legislative proposals for regulating lobbying, and which countries lack such laws. 

The Law Library of Congress is the world’s largest law library, with a collection of over 2 and a half million volumes from all ages of history and virtually every jurisdiction in the world.

Over the years, it has published dozens of comparative law reports which are a treasure trove for legal research on a huge variety of issues.

Mary Moreau Sworn In as Newest Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada

 From the Supreme Court of Canada press release:

"Earlier today, the Honourable Mary T. Moreau was officially sworn in and can now begin to perform her duties as a Supreme Court judge, including sitting for hearings. The private ceremony was presided by Chief Justice Wagner at the Court."

"In the coming months, the Court will hold a formal welcome ceremony with Justice Moreau’s family, friends and distinguished guests from the legal community. Members of the public will be invited to join the Court in welcoming its newest member by watching the live ceremony online."

 

Most Recent Annual Report of the International Criminal Court

Earlier this week, the International Criminal Court (ICC) presented its most recent annual report to the UN General Assembly in New York.

ICC president Judge Piotr Hofmański explained that the Court is currently dealing with 6 active situations before and he highlighted some of the key developments of the past year.

In the annual report itself, one can find fuller explanations of the cases being handled.

They include investigations and trials relating to crimes in Uganda, Mali, Darfur, the Central African Republic, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Georgia, Kenya, Libya and the Philippines, among others.

The ICC is an international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands.

It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. 

November/December 2023 Issue of AALL Spectrum

The November/December 2023 issue of AALL Spectrum is now available online.

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

This issue has a series of feature articles on innovation, including articles on:

• a "Leveraging Technology to Promote Access to Justice" class at Villanova University (in Pennsylvania)
• a bootcamp about artificial intelligence at Vanderbilt University (Nashville, Tennessee)