Law Library of Congress Report on Selected Issues in Biotechnology Regulation

The Law Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. recently published a comparative report on Selected Issues in Biotechnology Regulation that looks at the main statutes and policies in multiple countries relating to the development of biotechnology products, in particular genetically-modified organisms:

"The jurisdictions reviewed are Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, England, the European Union (EU), Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, and Taiwan, all of which have a variety of official sources (including laws, regulations, and policies) governing biotechnology matters."

"A number of these sources provide definitions of relevant terms in this field, including “genetic engineering” and “genetically modified organisms,” which are included in the study. Due to the technical complexity of these topics, a basic understanding of these definitions is a helpful introduction to each surveyed jurisdiction’s framework on biotechnologies. Multilateral and bilateral agreements addressing international cooperation on the development of these technologies are also covered in this survey."

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.

Updated GlobaLex Research Guides

The GlobaLex collection at the New York University Law School has updated a number of its research guides on international and comparative law:

• Comparative Civil Procedure: Finding Primary and Secondary Sources: "The comparison of legal systems has for a long time been an essential branch of legal research and jurisprudence. It has become even more important and relevant in our era of globalization, an era in which there is no field of law that can base its knowledge exclusively on national ideas and rules of procedure. Peter Gottwald sees the comparison of legal systems leading 'not only to a better knowledge of foreign law but also corresponding to the internationalization of law and jurisprudence, and the globalization of politics, of trade, commerce and private lifestyle.' (...) The first part of this article lists: general works of comparative civil procedure; basic books about the civil and common-law systems; and encyclopedias and treatises covering several jurisdictions. The remainder of the article is arranged by country. Depending upon the country, the sources listed may be in English or in the vernacular (or both in some cases). Under 'Primary Sources' are listed codes of civil procedure and civil procedure statutes and, for civil law jurisdictions, basic treatises, and commentaries. Under 'Secondary Sources' are listed monographs, treatises, and commentaries (for common law jurisdictions), which may also contain the text of civil procedure code sections and statutes. The section on 'Secondary Sources' also contains collected jurisprudence, as well as a few journals."
• The Council of Europe: "The Council of Europe is the continent’s leading human rights organization. It brings together 46 European states, including all the members of the European Union, representing 700 million citizens. Its mission is to promote democracy and protect human rights and the rule of law in Europe."
• Researching Global Health Law: "This 2023 update will again include a wide array of resources, ranging from primary international law instruments to databases that contain domestic health-related legislation. Also included are suggestions for researching the relationships between global health law and international human rights, trade, and intellectual property. In terms of format, the guide emphasizes electronic sources, but some print monographs are also mentioned. All of the listed resources are available in English, although several are multilingual. The aggregate purpose of the guide is to provide a comprehensive roadmap for researching the highly complex and dynamic field of global health law, which now includes the COVID-19 pandemic within its topical scope."
• Researching Nanotechnology and Selected Legal and Regulatory Issues: "The word ‘nano’ is derived from the Greek word ‘nanos’, meaning ‘dwarf’ or ‘very small man’. In the study of nanoscience and technology, this word is used to indicate a scale of measurement. Nanotechnology, according to the European Commission, is a branch of science and engineering that is devoted to designing, producing, and using structures, devices, and systems by manipulating atoms and molecules at the nanoscale, i.e., having one or more dimensions of the order of 100 nanometres (100 millionths of a millimeter) or less. In layman’s term, it is the study of nanoscale chemicals (...) At the beginning of this century, most of the developed countries started initiatives to exploit nanotechnologies treating these as ‘the wave of the future’. The policymakers and stakeholders involved in dealing with nanoparticles and nanomaterials have frequently endorsed nanotechnologies as important catalysts that promise to play a crucial role in harnessing the potentials of the so-called fourth industrial revolution. The legal and regulatory discussion on nanotechnology mostly rotates around the study of chemical substances, the environment, occupational health and safety, product liability, and consumer protection etc."

REALM Project Test 4 Results for COVID Virus Survival on Library Materials

Research conducted as part of the REopening Archives, Libraries, and Museums (REALM) Project has been testing how long the virus SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 remains detectable on various library surfaces and materials.

In a fourth series of tests, the Project looked at different book covers as well as DVD cases and polyethylene foam for shipping:

"In the most recent test, scientists tested four materials similar to those in the first test group—the cover of hardcover books (buckram cloth), the cover of softback books, a DVD case, and mylar protective book cover jackets—only this time, the materials were stacked to simulate common storage configurations in libraries and archives. While the virus was not detectable on the materials laid flat after three days in the first test, the virus was still detectable on similar materials after six days when the materials were stacked."

REALM is a collaboration between OCLC, an international library services cooperative, the US government agency Institute of Museum and Library Services, and Battelle, an R&D organization.

REALM Project Test 3 Results for COVID Virus Survival on Library Materials

This is a follow-up to the July 21, 2020 post entitled REALM Project Test 2 Results for COVID Virus Survival on 5 Library Materials.

Research conducted as part of the REopening Archives, Libraries, and Museums (REALM) Project has been testing how long the virus SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 remains detectable on various library surfaces and materials.

In a third series of tests, the Project looked at various storage containers and packaging:

"Results show that after five days of quarantine in an unstacked configuration, the SARS-CoV-2 virus was not detected on the storage bag (flexible plastic) or the DVD. The storage container (rigid plastic), plexiglass, and the USB cassette all showed detectable virus at five days. Day five was the final timepoint tested."

"Compared to the results of Test 1 and 2, this data suggests that a slightly longer quarantine time for these types of plastic-based materials may be required to render SARS-CoV-2 undetectable through natural attenuation alone. Alternatively, based on the materials’ nonporous nature, suitable liquid disinfection methods may promote a more rapid decontamination than the quarantine method."

 REALM is a collaboration between OCLC, an international library services cooperative, the US government agency Institute of Museum and Library Services, and Battelle, an R&D organization.

REALM Project Test 2 Results for COVID Virus Survival on 5 Library Materials

This is a follow-up to the June 24, 2020 post entitled REALM Project: COVID Virus Undetectable on Five Highly Circulated Library Materials After Three Days.

Research conducted as part of the  REopening Archives, Libraries, and Museums (REALM) Project has been testing how long the virus SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 remains detectable on various library surfaces and materials.

In a second phase of testing, the Project looked at:

• Braille paper pages
• Glossy paper pages from a coffee table book
• Magazine pages
• Children's board book
• Archival folders

According to the research:

"The evaluation demonstrates that standard office temperature (68°F to 75°F) and relative humidity conditions (30 to 50 percent) provide an environment that allows for the natural attenuation of SARS-CoV-2 present on these materials after two days of quarantine for archival folders and four days of quarantine for the book pages. Compared to the results of Test 1, the results of Test 2 indicate that a slightly longer quarantine time for some types of cellulose-based paper materials sitting in a stacked configuration may be required to render SARS-CoV-2 undetectable."

REALM is a collaboration between OCLC, an international library services cooperative, the US government agency Institute of Museum and Library Services, and Battelle, an R&D organization.

REALM Project: COVID Virus Undetectable on Five Highly Circulated Library Materials After Three Days

Research conducted as part of the  REopening Archives, Libraries, and Museums (REALM) Project shows that the virus SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 is not detectable on five common library materials after three days:

"Over the past few weeks, scientists at Battelle tested the virus on a variety of surfaces, in environments with standard temperature and relative humidity conditions typically found in air-conditioned office space. Materials tested in phase one included the cover of hardcover books (buckram cloth), the cover of softback books, plain paper pages inside a closed book, mylar protective book cover jackets, and plastic DVD cases. Battelle tests found the virus undetectable after one day on the covers of hardback and softback books as well as the DVD case. The virus was undetectable on the paper inside of a book and mylar book jackets after three days."

REALM is a collaboration between OCLC, an international library services cooperative, the US government agency Institute of Museum and Library Services, and Battelle, an R&D organization.

Articles on COVID

Recent articles and podcasts:

• A Tour Through Pandemic Law for COVID-19, Omar Ha-Redeye, Slaw.ca (March 15, 2020): "Canada has come a long way since the SARS pandemic in 2003. With the outbreak of COVID-19, here is a non-exhaustive overview of some of the ways that pandemics have come up in our legal system."
• The LawBytes Podcast, Episode 43: Heather Joseph on the Coronavirus and the Urgent Need for Open Access to Research Publications: "Given the head-spinning changes taking place in our society, there is a widely recognized need for immediate open access to the latest research and medical developments. Yet despite the fact that the public often funds research in the area, the conventional publishing model often places that information behind paywalls or subscription fees."
• COVID-19: Special Offers, News, and Updates From Library Vendors, Publishers, Online Services, and Others (infoDocket, March 17, 2020)
• LitCovid: A New Hub for 2019 Novel Coronavirus Scientific Literature From the the National Library of Medicine (infoDocket, March 14, 2020)

Library-Related Highlights from the 2019 Federal Budget

The website Librarianship.ca has published the highlights from yesterday's federal budget that may be "of interest to the Canadian library and information management community".

They include items relating to access to information, accessibility for Canadians with disabilities, the development of better data for decision-making, digital services and digital skills, higher education, infrastructure spending, high-speed Internet access, measures to support journalism, help for Northern communities, progress on reconciliation with Indigenous Canadians, scientific research, seniors, and training.

New Zealand Law Commission Consultation on Use of DNA in Criminal Investigations

The Law Commission of New Zealand is conducting a comprehensive review of the Criminal Investigations (Bodily Samples) Act 1995. The Act provides the New Zealand Police with powers to collect, retain, and use DNA in criminal investigations.

The purpose of this review is to determine whether the current legislation is fit for purpose and whether it is keeping pace with developments in forensic science, international best practice and public attitudes, in relation to the collection, retention and use of DNA in criminal investigations. The review will also examine whether the Act gives appropriate recognition to both law enforcement values and human rights, including the right to privacy.

The Commission released an Issues Paper on December 18, 2018 that will serve as the basis for a consultation ending March 31, 2019. Pages 80 to 82 of the paper contain a cross-jurisdictional comparison of DNA practices in Scotland, the UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia and the United States.

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. 

Updated Research Guides From GlobaLex

GlobaLex, the electronic collection created by the Hauser Global Law School Program at the New York University School of Law, recently updated some of its research guides:

• Nanotechnology and International Law Research Guide: "Nanotechnology is hailed as the next wonder after internet and is referred to as the third industrial revolution. The word ‘nano’ is derived from the Greek word ‘nanos’, meaning ‘dwarf’, ‘very small man’. However, in the study of nanoscience and technology, this word is used to mean a scale of measurement like mile, meter, inch etc. Because of number of reasons, it has turned to be the wave of the future and world community is in a race to take lead in this area. The regulatory discussion on nanotechnology mostly rotates around the study of chemical legislation, environmental law, occupational health and safety, product liability, and consumer protection law etc."
• Guide to Irish Law

Library of Parliament Publication on Assisted Human Reproduction in Canada

The Library of Parliament has published a revised version of its research publication on Legal Status at the Federal Level of Assisted Human Reproduction in Canada:

"The world’s first 'test-tube baby,' the result of fertilizing a human ovum in vitro and transferring the resulting embryo to a woman’s uterus, was born in England in 1978. This achievement followed decades of clinical and laboratory research. It also catalyzed interest in a new area of medical ethics as multiple technological advances, along with their implications for genetics, posed new ethical questions and responsibilities."

"This paper provides an overview of the many steps that the Canadian federal government has taken to establish a legislative and regulatory framework for reproductive technologies and related research. This background includes a description of the Royal Commission on New Reproductive Technologies, early attempts at legislation and a discussion of the Assisted Human Reproduction Act, in force since 2004, including its list of prohibited activities. The constitutional challenge to the legislation that was brought by the Attorney General of Quebec and ultimately heard by the Supreme Court of Canada is reviewed. Finally, the federal government’s response to the Supreme Court decision in the form of amendments to the Act is summarized. This paper does not examine how activities related to assisted human reproduction may be regulated by the provinces."

Law Library of Congress Report on Restrictions on Genetically Modified Organisms

The Law Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. has published a new comparative report on Restrictions on Genetically Modified Organisms.

The report analyzes legislation on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and genetically modified (GM) plants and foods in Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, England and Wales, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Russian Federation, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, and the United States.

There is also a bibliography.

Earlier comparative law reports from the Law Library of Congress have covered topics such as:

• Adjudication of Sexual Offenses in Military Justice Systems
• Bioethics
• Biometric Data Retention for Passport Applicants and Holders
• Campaign Finance
• Children's Rights
• Constitutional Provisions on Women's Equality
• Education of Non-Native Language Speaking Children
• Foreign Aid Regulation
• Guest Worker Programs
• Habeas Corpus Rights
• Online Privacy Law
• Repatriation of Historic Human Remains (return of indigenous remains and cultural items)
• Sex Selection & Abortion

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.

Law Library of Congress Report on Bioethics Legislation in Selected Countries

The Law Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. occasionally publishes reports that compare the laws on a given theme in a number of countries.

Earlier this month, the Library published Bioethics Legislation in Selected Countries:

"This report examines the field of bioethics from an international and regional legal perspective. It focuses on major international law documents such as the United Nations Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights and UNESCO declarations on human cloning and the human genome. Coverage of regional legal instruments includes the Council of Europe Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine (the Oviedo Convention) and its Protocols on cloning, transplantation, and research with human beings. Work on surrogacy issues by the Hague Conference on Private International Law is also discussed, as are some African regional legal instruments on biosafety."

The individual countries covered are the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, China, Israel, India, Kenya, New Zealand, Brazil and Russia.

Earlier comparative law reports from the Law Library of Congress include:

• Campaign Finance
• Children's Rights
• Constitutional Provisions on Women's Equality
• Education of Non-Native Language Speaking Children
• Foreign Aid Regulation
• Habeas Corpus Rights
• Online Privacy Law
• Repatriation of Historic Human Remains (return of indigenous remains and cultural items)
• Sex Selection & Abortion

Role of Librarians in Researching Tasers

LLRX.com recently published an article entitled The Growing Legal Implications of Tasers: A primer on the development, uses, and consequences of Tasers .

The controversial police weapon, also known as ECDs (electronic control devices), incapacitate suspects by hitting them with a high voltage charge. There have a number of deaths associated with their increasingly widespread use by police forces across North America, including here in Canada.

The last 2 paragraphs address the role of law librarians in researching Taser-related issues:

"Librarians can also take an interdisciplinary approach and search the scientific literature for articles and reports on the health effects of electrical shock, the workings of ECDs, the implications of using ECDs in psychiatric and hospital settings, and medical opinions on 'excited delirium' as a cause of death."

"As Tasers and other ECDs become more and more extensively used by law enforcement agencies as a less-lethal alternative to firearms, and as challenges to their use and abuse continue to be mounted, the law in this rapidly emerging area of law will continue to grow. Law librarians are uniquely positioned to assist patrons in keeping ahead of the developments."

Other Library Boy posts on the Taser weapon include:

• Canada Orders Review of Use of Tasers After Video of Polish Immigrant's Death Released (November 15, 2007): "Yesterday's Globe and Mail recounts 'Tasered man's last moments' and provides links to the 10-minute amateur video of Dziekanski being shot with the Taser, convulsing and screaming in pain, being subdued by police and then going silent and no longer moving."
• RCMP Told To Curb Taser Use (December 15, 2007): "Earlier this week, Paul Kennedy, head of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP, released an interim report outlining recommendations for the government on the Mounties' use of the Taser stun guns. The Commission is an independent civilian agency. Kennedy's report does not call for a moratorium on the weapon. However, it concludes that the federal police force needs to limit its use, increase training for officers and conduct more research on its effects."
• Canadian Parliamentary Committee Report on Taser Stun Guns (July 29, 2008): "To prevent confidence in the RCMP from eroding further, the Committee [House of Commons Standing Public Safety and National Security] considers that the RCMP must react immediately by revising its policy on CEWs to stipulate that use of such weapons can be justified only in situations where a subject is displaying assaultive behaviour or represents a threat of death or grievous bodily harm. This immediate restriction is necessary given the persisting uncertainty about the effects of CEW technology on the health and safety of persons subjected to it, and the scarcity of independent, peer-reviewed research in this regard. The Committee also urges the RCMP to implement preventive methods designed to diminish the use of Taser guns during police interventions, in particular by enhancing accountability at the RCMP and improving officer training on intervention involving persons suffering from various problems, including bipolar disorder, autism and autism spectrum disorders, schizophrenia and drug addiction."
• RCMP Report on Taser Usage (September 12, 2008): "The Toronto Star has obtained a study on the use of Taser stun guns that was commissioned by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Commissioner.The June 2008 study on "conducted energy weapons" (CEWs) was published by the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP, an independent civilian agency. The newspaper requested a copy under the Access to Information Act... The report finds that the RCMP relied too much on the advice of the weapon's American manufacturer and did not consult enough with medical professionals."
• RCMP Complaints Commissioner Report on Tasering Death of Polish Immigrant (December 9, 2009): "Paul Kennedy, chairman of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP, yesterday released his long awaited report into the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver International Airport on October 14, 2007 (...) The report makes numerous recommendations. Among others, Kennedy calls on the Mounties to review their taser quality-assessment program and improve training in awareness of the potentially dangerous nature of tasers. As well, the RCMP should do more to teach officers techniques to communicate with people who cannot meaningfully communicate with them. Dziekanski could not speak English."
  

The Atlantic Article on Advances in Neuroscience and Criminal Law

The July/August 2011 issue of The Atlantic features an article entitled The Brain on Trial that explains how recent advances in neuroscience are calling into question the voluntary nature of many criminal acts:

"Does the discovery of Charles Whitman’s [a mass shooter at the University of Texas in Austin in 1966] brain tumor modify your feelings about the senseless murders he committed? Does it affect the sentence you would find appropriate for him, had he survived that day? Does the tumor change the degree to which you consider the killings 'his fault'? Couldn’t you just as easily be unlucky enough to develop a tumor and lose control of your behavior?"

"On the other hand, wouldn’t it be dangerous to conclude that people with a tumor are free of guilt, and that they should be let off the hook for their crimes"

"As our understanding of the human brain improves, juries are increasingly challenged with these sorts of questions. When a criminal stands in front of the judge’s bench today, the legal system wants to know whether he is blameworthy. Was it his fault, or his biology’s fault?"

"I submit that this is the wrong question to be asking. The choices we make are inseparably yoked to our neural circuitry, and therefore we have no meaningful way to tease the two apart. The more we learn, the more the seemingly simple concept of blameworthiness becomes complicated, and the more the foundations of our legal system are strained."

Earlier Library Boy posts on the topic include:

• Using Brain Scans To Prove Your Client Is Innocent (January 15, 2008)
• Impact of Forensic Neuroscience on Criminal Justice (December 31, 2008)
  

Library of Congress Guide on Forensic Sciences

The Science Reference Services at the Library of Congress in Washington publish a series of Science Tracer Bullets, or research guides on science and technology subject.

One of the most recent additions to the series deals with forensic sciences.

Much of the material is American in origin but it provides good starting points for finding out more about forensics.

It is broken down into sections on:

• Introductions to the Topic
• Subject Headings
• Basic Texts
• Specialized Titles
• Related Titles
• Handbooks, Encyclopedias
• Conference Proceedings
• Government Publications
• Technical Reports
• Dissertations
• Bibliographies
• Abstracting and Indexing Services
• Journals
• Representative Journal Articles
• Selected Materials
• Additional Sources of Information
• Selected Internet Resources
  

Law Library Journal Article on Medico-Legal Research

The most recent issue of Law Library Journal features an article on Medico-Legal Research Using Evidence-Based Medicine by Caroline Young, librarian at Rutgers Law School, Newark, New Jersey:

"Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is the use of the current best evidence when making decisions about the care of individual patients. The best evidence comes from a thorough search of the medical literature for articles and other publications that cover medical research and that apply to a patient’s medical problem. In the medical community, EBM is considered the best way to practice medicine. In legal cases where medical evidence is utilized, finding the best medical evidence usually leads to the strongest arguments."

"There are many scenarios that could lead a legal researcher to do medical research. Examples include supporting plaintiffs’ attorneys or medical malpractice defense attorneys in a medical negligence case, supporting faculty doing cutting-edge research on health law issues, or supporting a legal clinic that fights for children with special needs. From a legal researcher’s perspective, medical literature is often needed for medical proof. Because the medical profession uses EBM to weigh the value of medical literature, legal professionals must apply the principles of EBM in order to apply the standards of proof to medical literature. The goal of EBM, to make decisions based on the best available medical evidence, parallels the goal of the legal system to make judicial decisions based upon the best evidence (...)'

"This article provides an introduction to locating and evaluating medical information in the context of EBM. Topics covered include defining EBM and its importance to medico-legal researchers, using bibliographic databases for medical information research, using the EBM method for doing medical research and evaluating information retrieved, and, finally, surveying reliable electronic and hard copy medical resources that lend themselves to the EBM research methodology."

Senate Statutory Review of the DNA Identification Act

The Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs recently published its report entitled Public Protection, Privacy and the Search for Balance: A Statutory Review of the DNA Identification Act.

The Act, which came into effect in 2000, created a national DNA databank containing DNA samples from individuals convicted of certain designated offences.

The Committee recommends allowing the automatic taking of DNA samples from adults convicted of an expanded number of designated crimes. But it recommends against amending the Criminal Code to allow the collection of DNA from individuals at the time they are placed into lawful custody and charged with indictable offences.

The Law Times has more in an article entitled Bid to expand DNA sampling sparks criticism (July 12, 2010).

Related Library Boy posts include:

• New Library of Parliament Publications (February 5, 2007): "The Library of Parliament recently produced 2 new legislative summaries pertaining to bills in front of the Canadian House of Commons: 'Bill C-18: An Act to amend certain Acts in relation to DNA identification': The bill amends the Criminal Code, the DNA Identification Act, and the National Defence Act to facilitate the implementation of Bill C-13, which was given Royal Assent on 19 May 2005 but has, save for a few sections, not been declared in force. One of the notable features of Bill C-13 is that it expanded the list of offences for which a DNA data bank order can be made."
• Library of Parliament Publication on Forensic DNA Analysis (March 31, 2009): "This paper examines three areas in which new DNA investigation methods are already changing the application of forensic DNA analysis internationally, or are likely to do so in the near future: 1. New analysis methods for comparing degraded DNA samples; 2. DNA database searches that identify suspects by their genetic similarities to relatives; and 3. Analysis methods which could generate a physical description of a suspect based on DNA evidence."
• Parliamentary Committee Report on DNA Identification Act (July 22, 2009): "The most recent issue of the Weekly Checklist of Government Publications includes the June 2009 report of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security entitled Statutory Review of the DNA Identification Act: (...) 'This report sets out the Committee’s findings in terms of the strengths and weaknesses of the Act and the administrative framework surrounding the NDDB [National DNA Data Bank]. It also highlights the exceptional work done by the scientists at the NDDB and in the forensic laboratories. It underscores the urgency of investing additional funds in the forensic laboratories and the NDDB without delay to ensure the proper functioning of the justice in this regard. It proposes recommendations designed to maximize the benefits that forensic science derives from DNA analysis. The report also expresses the Committee’s faith in DNA science, and its considered opinion that the NDDB is an extremely useful and important tool for the criminal justice system'. "

LLRX.com Article on Forensic Evidence and the CSI Effect

The website LLRX.com has published an article by Ken Strutin on Forensic Evidence and the CSI Effect:

"There is a question about whether impressions created by the media in its treatment and portrayal of forensic proof as either irrefutable or absolutely necessary for conviction is truly impacting the outcome of criminal cases."

"A growing body of research is examining this "CSI effect" from the defense and prosecution perspectives (...) For example, juries might be overly impressed with and uncritical of fingerprint or DNA test results or contrarily have unrealistic expectations about the need for such evidence or its accuracy and reliability"

By an interesting coincidence, one of the articles to which Strutin refers was written by Michigan state judge Donald E. Shelton, one of the 3 speakers at a panel I helped organize at the recent annual conference of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (the panel was about the impact that the use of social networking media by jurors, lawyers, and reporters has on courtroom process).

And the debate over the existence of a "CSI Effect" is one of the topics the Association's group of courthouse and law society libraries wants to consider for a workshop at the 2011 annual conference in Calgary.