75th Anniversary of the Adoption of the Geneva Conventions

The blog of the International Association of Law Libraries had a post last week about the 75th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions, an essential component of international humanitarian law:

"Reading the news however, we are constantly reminded of the harm violations inflict upon civilians, prisoners of war, medical personnel and others affected by armed conflict. War is inherently destructive and will always cause suffering, of course, but we mustn’t lose sight of the difference compliance with the rules of the Geneva Conventions — and international humanitarian law (IHL) in general — can make for people who are caught up in war. This is why I wanted to take the opportunity to highlight an interesting resource my colleagues at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have created: the IHL in action database."

That IHL in Action database offers real-life case studies that document compliance with IHL in modern warfare.

Recent Government of Canada Publications from the Weekly Acquisitions List

The Government of Canada's Weekly Acquisitions List can be a great way to discover new research reports published by various public bodies and agencies of the federal government. 

It is a record of all publications catalogued in the previous week.

The most recent list had a few documents that attracted my attention:

• Consultation on copyright in the age of generative artificial intelligence (Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada) 
• Ten Years since Spirit Matters: A Roadmap for the Reform of Indigenous Corrections in Canada (Office of the Correctional Investigator)
• MAID and Mental Disorders: The Road Ahead (Report of the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying, House of Commons)
• Canada’s Sanctions Regime: Transparency, Accountability and Effectiveness (Report of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development, House of Commons)

30 Documents for 75th Anniversary of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights

Today marks the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

It was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948 and remains of the world's most important documents defining rights.

The UN Dag Hammarskjöld Library in New York has selected 30 key documents related to the 30 articles of the UDHR.

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

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. 

House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights Report on Reforming Canada's Extradition Act

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights has released a report on Reforming Canada's Extradition System:

"According to customary international law, states are responsible for prosecuting and penalizing criminal offences committed within their jurisdiction. However, they cannot enforce their laws outside of their jurisdiction. Thus, extradition is the process by which 'an accused or convicted person located in one country is surrendered to another country for the purpose of prosecution or for the imposition or enforcement of a sentence.' The Extradition Act (the Act) provides a framework for this procedure in Canada."

"The Supreme Court of Canada has stated that the extradition process serves two objectives: 'the prompt compliance with Canada’s international obligations to its extradition partners, and the protection of the rights of the person sought.' According to experts who support reforming the Act, this balance needs to be re-established. The shortcomings of the Act were highlighted by the Diab case, which was shocking for Canadians. Hassan Diab was extradited to France and detained for three years in a maximum-security prison before being released, without ever standing trial. Some legal experts see this case as proof that the Act must be reformed, because according to the independent review of his extradition prepared by lawyer Murray Segal for the Department of Justice, the Crown did comply with the Act, despite the consequences Mr. Diab faced."

"According to some members of the Canadian legal community, the biggest problem is the legal foundation for extradition and its subsequent interpretation by Canadian courts, particularly in regard to international human rights law and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (...)"

"On 22 September 2022, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights (the Committee) agreed to undertake a comprehensive study on reforming the 1999 Extradition Act and to invite witnesses to provide recommendations to the Committee on how to modernize the current system so that the civil liberties of all Canadians and permanent residents of Canada are upheld in extradition proceedings."

New and Updated Research Guides from GlobaLex

GlobaLex, a very good electronic collection created by the Hauser Global Law School Program at the New York University School of Law, has published or updated a number of research guides recently:

• Foreign Law – Subject Law Collections on the Web
• Introduction to the Norms and Institutions of the African Union
• The Amparo Context in Latin American Jurisdiction: An Approach to an Empowering Action
• Researching International Food Law

Stanford Launches Archive of the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, 1945-46

The Stanford Libraries have made available the Taube Archive of the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, 1945-1946.

The Nuremberg trials are to this day the most prominent international criminal trials.

They were convened after the collapse of the Third Reich to try Nazi leaders in 1945 and 1946 for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The Taube Archive home page describes the contents:

"The Taube Archive of the International Military Tribunal (IMT) at Nuremberg, 1945-46 archival collection provides access to a digital version of Nuremberg IMT courtroom proceedings and documentation, including evidentiary films, full audio recordings of the proceedings, and approximately 250,000 pages of digitized paper documents. These documents include transcripts of the hearings in English, French, German and Russian; written pleadings; evidence exhibits filed by the prosecution and the defense; documents of the Committee for the Investigation and Prosecution of Major War Criminals; the judgment. All 9,920 collection items are searchable and viewable in digital form."

Direct descendants of the Nuremberg court include the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and the the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

New and Updated Research Guides from GlobaLex

GlobaLex, a very good electronic collection created by the Hauser Global Law School Program at the New York University School of Law, has  published or updated a number of research guides recently:

• UPDATE: "Space Asset" Under the Space Protocol to the Cape Town Convention and the Related Issues Under International Space Law: "The ongoing privatization and commercialization of today's space industry creates more financial risks for private sector financiers, and the movable nature of space activities may cause legal uncertainties of the security interests. Given such situation, the 2001 UNIDROIT Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment (the "Cape Town Convention") and the 2012 Protocol to the Cape Town Convention on Matters Specific to Space Assets (the "Space Protocol") marked a significant development in harmonizing and unifying the rules of asset-backed finance for mobile space equipment. As a key term in the Space Protocol, the concept of "Space Asset" was for the first time introduced in the Cape Town Convention and defined under the Space Protocol, which may impact contemporary international space law that formed mainly from the UN space law treaties (the "five United Nations treaties on outer space") and principles (the "five United Nations declarations and legal principles"). This article will first explain and analyze the definition of "Space Asset", then further discuss issues related to this new concept, including the delimitation of outer space, the relationship between an Aircraft Object and a Space Asset, as well as the differences and similarities between Space Assets under the Space Protocol and a Space Object under the UN space law treaties."
• Researching International Labour Law (authors are Canadian librarians from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario): "International labour law refers to the body of rules and principles concerning the relationship between employers, workers, and governments. This research guide provides a brief overview of introductory resources in international labour law and the major sources of law in this area. The primary responsibility for developing and implementing a system of international labour standards lies with the International Labour Organization (ILO), a specialized United Nations (UN) agency. As such, the ILO is a major focus of this guide. However, it should be noted that international labour law also includes regional sources of law as well as several UN treaties that establish state obligations in this area. These will be described in brief."

Project to Watch: Total Digital Access to the League of Nations Archives

The United Nations Archive in Geneva has been working on a project to digitize the entirety of the archives of the League of Nations, the predecessor of the United Nations.

When made fully accessible to the public very soon, the project will include some 14.2 million pages covering all the activities of the League between 1920 and 1946, and some 27,000 maps and 9,000 photographs.

There is a video explanation of the project on YouTube.

New and Updated Research Guides from GlobaLex

GlobaLex, a very good electronic collection created by the Hauser Global Law School Program at the New York University School of Law, has  published or updated a number of research guides recently:

• The Execution of the International Public Contract during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Comparative Perspective: "Many questions arose about the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on contracts and legal agreements. Additionally, the legislator is responsible, on the one hand, to insert explicit provisions that can deal with those cases in the national legislation, and on the other hand, there is also a responsibility on the contractual parties to include in contracts some articles which could deal with disaster and Force Majeure cases, and other articles to define the rights and obligations of each party in these cases. In all cases, the political considerations and the circumstances surrounding each contract must be considered separately. Therefore, it becomes necessary to clarify the effect of the pandemic on the execution of the international administrative contract. Is it a Force Majeure? What are the rights of each party during the period of the pandemic?"
• UPDATE: Researching the United Nations: Finding the Organization's Internal Resource Trails: "The United Nations is such a massive organization that its wide array of processes and products require enough reference sources to warrant a map and compass for navigation. As a map, here are suggested search techniques for several standard types of queries and, as a compass, here are the U.N.'s many diverse search tools organized into resource types."
• UPDATE: An Introduction to International Fisheries Law Research: "International fisheries law, a subfield of the law of the sea, is an emerging area of public international law that seeks to regulate fisheries management in areas within and beyond national jurisdictions. This body of law touches upon some other areas of international law, for example, international environmental law, international marine environmental law, natural resources law, sustainable development law, international trade law, etc. International fisheries law is also interdisciplinary as it often draws on other disciplines, such as, fisheries and marine science, oceanography, marine resource management, fisheries economics, fisheries statistics etc. Although international fisheries law is primarily based on international and regional treaties and customs, other elements, such as, decisions of international courts and tribunals on fisheries matters, practices of States and regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs), and scholarly writings and publications by leading experts have also contributed to shaping up this evolving area of international law."
• UPDATE: Researching the Inter-American System of Human Rights: "The purpose of this research guide is twofold. The first purpose is to serve as a document that will give the reader a basic understanding of the Inter-American System of Human Rights by presenting a brief history of the Inter-American System of Human Rights, the institutional organs through which the System functions and the enabling instruments of the System. The second purpose is to serve as a point of departure for in-depth research. My comments will be limited to the mission, the internal structure, the administrative organization, and the research materials available at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights website."

Canadian Association of Law Libraries Upcoming Webinar on Global Legal Research

The Canadian Association of Law Libraries is organizing a webinar on December 8 from 1 to 2PM called Global Legal Research: Lyo’s Guide to the Best Resources for Helping Users Who Are Embarking on Foreign, Comparative, and International Law Research Quests:

"Researching foreign, comparative, and international law (FCIL) topics can be daunting, but wonderfully rewarding if you can help a user find the information they need. In this webinar, you will find out what the most frequently asked FCIL research questions are and how to prepare to answer them. Lyo will introduce you to the best online and print tools to start with, tell you who the best people resources are, and give you tips on what to do when you’re stumped or don’t know when to stop looking for answers. Whether the user’s FCIL research quest is successful or not is up to you. Are you ready?"

The speaker is Lyonette Louis-Jacques, Foreign and International Law Librarian & Lecturer in Law, D’Angelo Law Library, the University of Chicago Law School.

International Law Research Guides from the Peace Palace Library in The Hague

I often write about the law guides published by GlobaLex, a very good electronic collection created by the Hauser Global Law School Program at the New York University School of Law.

I came across another interesting source: the Peace Palace Library in The Hague. The Library serves the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the International Court of Justice and The Hague Academy of International Law.

It has published excellent research guides on public and private international law, international organizations, trade, peace and security issues, and much more.

Law Library of Congress Webinar on The Most Improbable War: Legal Transformations in Ukraine and Russia Before and During the Invasion

The Law Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. is hosting a webinar next Thursday, June 16 at 2PM Eastern time on The Most Improbable War: Legal Transformations in Ukraine and Russia Before and During the Invasion:

"This entry in the series, which is cosponsored by the Law Library of Congress and the Foreign, Comparative, and International Law Special Interest Section (FCIL-SIS) of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL), will provide an overview of the historic roots of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, including: reviewing information about the background of the Crimean and East Ukrainian territorial problem, which escalated into current war; providing an overview of treaties and agreements between Ukraine and Russia; reviewing laws regulating the use of arms in both countries; and examining legal regimes created in Ukraine and Russia before and during the invasion. Further, an analysis and comparison of legislation recently passed in Ukraine and Russia, coupled with Ukrainian legal scholars’ discussion of a so-called “juridical front,” provides an interesting picture of the situation on the ground and suggests how it may develop in the future. Resources available to research the laws of Ukraine will also be introduced during the presentation."

Updates on the Russian Invasion of Ukraine

There are a number of parliamentary research services and international organizations that have high quality research reports and updates about the Russian aggression against Ukraine.

Here are a few sources to check out:

• The infoDOCKET website has a list of Situation Reports, Briefings, and Other Updates From Various International Organizations About Conflict in Ukraine (for example Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, UN High Commission for Refugees, etc.)
• United Kingdom House of Commons Library Ukraine Crisis Research Briefing
• Russia, the West, and the Ukraine Crisis: A Bibliographic Survey (Peace Palace Library, United Nations International Court of Justice, The Hague)
• European Parliamentary Research Service - documents on Russia's war on Ukraine
• US Congressional Research Service - recent documents on invasion of Ukraine
• the blog OpinioJuris (International Commission of Jurists) has been publishing a wide range of opinions about the legal dimensions of the Russian war against Ukraine

Space Telescopes and the Law of Outer Space

In Custodia Legis, the blog of the Law Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., recently published a post on Space Telescopes and the Law of Outer Space.

It examines what kind of oversight and guidance on international law there is related to outer space. 

It refers to major United Nations treaties on the topic and to many documents in the library's collections.

New and Updated Globalex Research Guides on Foreign and International Law Topics

GlobaLex, a very good electronic collection created by the Hauser Global Law School Program at the New York University School of Law, has published and updated a number of research guides recently:

• Judicial Power and High Courts in Latin America: "The Latin American legal systems are within the tradition of civil law with elements of Roman law. They have been articulated with liberal rationalist reforms of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in Europe, mediated by the Spanish and Portuguese colonial administration, as well as some reproduction of the North American constitutionalist model. The way these systems were adopted showed some hybridity between public law (based on the separation of American and French powers) and civil law (adapted from the Napoleonic Code). Historically, the concentration of power and procedures typical of colonial characteristics resulted in a greater presence of the centralist aspects of the French system than the control and balance mechanisms of the North American system. From this system, the presidential form of government was taken, as well as the federal model, which was widely adopted in the nineteenth century, and which is still maintained today by the most extensive and populated countries (such as Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil, and Argentina).During the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s, the judiciary in Latin America began to undergo a profound rethinking to accommodate demands for the effective application of the law and the need to carry out judicial reforms aimed at ensuring greater efficiency and autonomy with respect to executive powers. For this reason, after democratic transitions, the Latin American judicial powers were considered more relevant to understand the political functioning of the region."
• Discovering the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA): "The objective of this article is to serve as a one stop research guide to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and to point out some of the changes instituted by the passage of USMCA and the annulment of NAFTA. The major documents and institutions related to the USMCA Agreement are identified, and a citation to the item is given. The websites cited were chosen for the authority and reputation of the sponsor of the website and the completeness of information provided. The updating policy and the ease of navigation of the websites were also considered for inclusion into this article. Also, free websites were favored over websites that required payment. Websites with little information on the website itself and consisting mainly of links to other websites for the actual desired information were avoided. Most of the citations found in this article are annotated as to content and research value of the website. "
• UPDATE: International Commercial Contracts: "Transactions conducted under international commercial contracts, especially those related to the sale of goods, are considered to form the backbone of international trade. The goal of this research guide is to provide an overview of the major primary sources of law for international commercial contracts, in particular those related to sales, and the related research resources. The focus is global, and the guide does not cover regionally focused instruments or economic integration organizations, such as the European Union. "
• UPDATE: Researching International Marine Environmental Law: "Today, although nations with expansive marine coasts and harbors can be considered fortunate in that they have easy access to global trade, they have also become the recipients of marine pollution caused by oceanic traffic. Naturally, there is a call for an increase in the regulation of growing environmental harm caused by international vessel traffic. For decades, such calls are handled by the International Maritime Organization (IMO, or the Organization). It is a special agency of the United Nations responsible for regulating maritime affairs and oceanic shipping. However, before proceeding to learn more about the responsibilities and functioning of the Organization, due recognition must be given to several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and inter-governmental organization (IGOs), which operate at regional or local levels and complement or supplement the efforts of the IMO. Many of these organizations, as well as the IMO, have developed impressive websites. An exhaustive treatment of the non-IMO resources would fill up volumes and take considerable time and money, so, for the time being, this article will briefly discuss prominent websites and emphasize sources that reflect and assist the efforts of the IMO to develop international instruments to regulate the marine environment. For the most part, the information at these sites is made available at no charge. However, sources that charge for information access, as well as the sources that provide restricted access, are included when appropriate."

Free Access to Oxford University Press International Law Materials Until End of October

Oxford University Press is offering free access to chapters and articles from its collection on the theme “Changes in International Lawmaking” until October 31, 2021:

"Explore our collection of free chapters and articles on the theme “Changes in International Lawmaking”, created to accompany the European Society of International Law conference held 9-11 September 2021."

"Read about how the sources, actors, and mechanisms involved in international lawmaking have developed over time, covering areas such as human rights, criminal law, environmental law, space law, investment law and more."

There is content from Max Planck Encyclopedias of International Law, textbooks and Oxford journals.

 

Updated Globalex Research Guides on Foreign and International Law Topics

GlobaLex, a very good electronic collection created by the Hauser Global Law School Program at the New York University School of Law, has updated a number of its research guides:

• Understanding European Union Legal Materials: "The EU has a population of approximately 508 million people comprising 27 European nations, and the EU gross domestic product has a value of nearly U.S. $19.5 trillion. The EU is a major trading bloc and increasingly takes a more prominent role in international trade and international affairs generally. Even the law library that does not consider international law a strength of its collection will occasionally have to meet the needs of patrons seeking to locate information on EU law. The European Union is a supranational organization whose 27 members include most countries of Europe. Each member nation is referred to as a Member State. The current 27 Member States are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, and Sweden."
• International Criminal Courts for the Former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone – Online and Print Resources: "Despite vows of “never again” in the aftermath of the Holocaust, late twentieth century history was marked by a series of brutal conflicts that resulted in war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and other serious crimes. Several international tribunals were established with the goal of prosecuting individuals who committed these crimes. This guide focuses on online and print sources relating to the following three international criminal courts: the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), and the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL). The guide begins with a chart comparing key features of these three courts. The guide then examines each court individually, as well as the Mechanism for the International Criminal Tribunals, providing an overview of the court, the court’s basic documents, case law sources, and a listing of additional print and online sources for that individual court. A list of online and print resources that deal with multiple international criminal tribunals follows. Next, there is an overview of selected topics. Finally, the last section covers educational resources, other research guides, and bibliographies."

Recent Legislative Summaries from Library of Parliament

The Library of Parliament has recently published a number of new and revised summaries of legislation.

These include:

• Legislative Summary of Bill C-7: An Act to amend the Criminal Code (medical assistance in dying)
• Legislative Summary of Bill C-12: An Act respecting transparency and accountability in Canada’s efforts to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050
• Legislative Summary of Bill C-15: An Act respecting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

All legislative summaries can be found on the Library of Parliament website.

It is possible to follow the progress of  bills through the Canadian Parliament on the LEGISinfo website. There you can find the different versions of a bill, debates, committee hearings, and coming into force information.