Thursday, November 29, 2012

English Law Commission Consultation on Media and Contempt of Court

The English Law Commission has launched a consultation on the balance between the right to publish and the right of a defendant to a fair trial:
"A number of high-profile cases involving contempt of court have recently highlighted the need for a review of this area of the law. These include:
  • a juror who was found to have researched the defendant on the internet;
  • the first internet contempt by publication, which concerned the posting of an incriminating photograph of a defendant on a website;
  • contempt proceedings for the vilification of Chris Jefferies during the investigation into the murder of Joanna Yeates; and
  • proceedings for contempt by publication following the collapse of the prosecution of Levi Bellfield."
" 'Contempt of court' covers a wide variety of conduct which undermines or has the potential to undermine the course of justice, and the procedures which are designed to deal with them. This consultation paper focuses on four specific areas of contempt:

1. contempt by publication;
2. the new media;
3. contempts committed by jurors; and
4. contempt in the face of the court."

"The new media pose a number of challenges to the existing laws on contempt of court, which pre-date the internet age. In addition, there are concerns that some aspects of the law or procedure relating to contempt of court may be unclear or incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights."
The Commission has provided quite a number of consultation documents, including one on contempt of court in other jurisdictions including Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Ireland.

Labels: , , ,

Bookmark and Share Subscribe
posted by Michel-Adrien at 8:36 pm 0 comments

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Canadian Association of Research Libraries Report on Digital Locks

In February 2012, the Canadian Association of Research Libraries assembled a working group to explore the impact of digital locks on the work of Canadian library staff.

The report about digital locks in a changing copyright environment was made available recently on the association website:
"The Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL), the Canadian Library Association (CLA) and a number of groups expressed concerns when Bill C-11, the Copyright Modernization Act was introduced to parliament in September 2011. These concerns focused on the impact that the bill’s restrictive language about the circumvention of digital locks would have on library operations."

"CARL, like many other groups, recommended that restrictions on digital lock circumvention be limited to infringing uses only, so as to avoid preventing otherwise legal uses, such as fair dealing. CLA raised similar concerns, stating that:"
"Legislation which does not include the right to bypass digital locks for non-infringing purposes is fundamentally flawed.  If digital locks trump access for legitimate purposes, Canada’s libraries will have difficulty in fulfilling their mandates and Canadians will lose access to some information that is currently available."
"In the fall of 2012, University of Ottawa law professor and information policy commentator Michael Geist ran a series of blog posts entitled the Daily Digital Locks Dissenter.  For 51 days, Dr. Geist posted statements from a wide variety of organizations and groups across Canada against the digital locks provisions contained in Bill C-11. "

"Digital locks clearly concerned many groups across the country, but questions remained about the real impact these locks will have on the day-to-day work of libraries. This question needed an answer as C-11 moved closer to becoming law, with its restrictive digital locks rules intact. " (...)

"This report of the group’s findings and recommendations can serve as a starting point for libraries as they begin to think about digital locks in a changing copyright environment."

Labels: ,

Bookmark and Share Subscribe
posted by Michel-Adrien at 6:38 pm 0 comments

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

European Court of Human Rights Guides on Case-Law

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) based in Strasbourg has launched a new series of studies on its case-law relating to particular articles of the European Convention Of Human Rights.

The first guide in the series deals with art. 5 on the right to liberty and security.

The ECHR hears complaints from individuals living in any of the member states of the Council of Europe about violations of the Convention. The Council of Europe is one of the continent's oldest political organizations, founded in 1949. It has 47 member countries.

Labels: , , ,

Bookmark and Share Subscribe
posted by Michel-Adrien at 5:54 pm 0 comments

November 2012 Issue of Governance and Recordkeeping Around the World

The Governance and Recordkeeping Around the World newsletter, published by Library and Archives Canada (LAC), highlights issues pertaining to government and recordkeeping practices in the public and private sector.

The November 2012 issue has just been published on the LAC website.

It includes:
  • news items from Canada and around the world
  • announcements of upcoming Canadian and international events (meetings, workshops, seminars)
  • project and product news in areas such as digitization, archives, open source, e-government, access to information and Web 2.0 initiatives
  • selected papers and readings (white papers, presentations, reports)

Labels: , , , , , , ,

Bookmark and Share Subscribe
posted by Michel-Adrien at 5:44 pm 0 comments

Monday, November 26, 2012

New Zealand Law Commission Paper on Joint and Several Liability

The Law Commission of New Zealand recently released an Issues Paper on Joint and Several Liability:
"Joint and several liability is most often compared or contrasted with an alternative rule usually called 'proportionate liability'. The difference in the two liability rules can be stated quite simply:

• under joint and several liability each defendant held liable for the same damage is liable for the whole of that damage, regardless of how many other defendants are also liable for the damage (but may seek contributions from the other defendants); whereas
• under proportionate liability each liable defendant is liable only for the proportion of the loss or damage that a court determines is just, taking into account each defendant’s relative level of fault or comparative responsibility (...)"

"The two regimes do envisage different approaches as to who should bear the cost of determining who caused the loss, and also who bears the risk of a defendant not paying. On the first point, joint and several liability requires liable defendants to apply in Court for contribution from other defendants if they wish to achieve fair apportionment between defendants. In contrast proportionate liability requires the plaintiff to claim and prove a percentage or share of their loss from each defendant, who may of course contest both their liability and the appropriate share. In addition, in joint and several liability the defendants bear the risk of the insolvency or absence of any defendants. In proportionate liability the share allocated to an insolvent or absent defendant cannot be recovered by the plaintiff unless there is a further rule to re-allocate uncollectable shares. In joint and several liability this loss can simply be recovered from other solvent defendants (...)"

"As noted above, the issue primarily turns on who is the most appropriate party to bear the risk of non-recovery. Should it be the plaintiff, in which case a proportionate model of liability will be a fairer or efficient method of allocating risk? Should it be the liable defendants, in which case joint and several liability will be an efficient way of allocating risk? These questions will form the heart of this paper"
The Law Commission previously reviewed this area of law in the 1990s. The current paper summarizes the previous reports, as well as comparing the New Zealand approach to that in Australia, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.


Labels: , , ,

Bookmark and Share Subscribe
posted by Michel-Adrien at 8:12 pm 0 comments

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Library of Parliament Paper on Omnibus Bills

So-called omnibus bills have been in the news this year. The 2012 federal budget that amended dozens of pieces of legislation was referred to by many commentators as an omnibus bill.

What is this legislative creature?

The Library of Parliament recently published a paper entitled Omnibus Bills: Frequently Asked Questions that tries to get to the bottom of the issue:
"Omnibus bills have been used for decades by governments of various political stripes as a vehicle to propose certain kinds of legislation to Parliament. While their use is well entrenched in Canadian parliamentary practice, it is nonetheless often seen as an exception to the usual legislative process. Whenever omnibus bills are introduced, similar questions arise about their nature, admissibility, appropriateness, and other matters. Yet few, if any, studies have attempted to answer those recurring questions."

"The purpose of this paper is to provide answers to some of the most frequently raised questions about omnibus bills."
The paper:
  • defines what is an omnibus bill
  • examines its historical origins
  • asks whether it is procedurally admissible
  • provides a few examples of "famous" omnibus bills
  • goes over the arguments pro and con their use

Labels: , ,

Bookmark and Share Subscribe
posted by Michel-Adrien at 5:59 pm 0 comments

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Grants Available to Attend 2013 Joint Study Institute in Australia

The Joint Study Institute (JSI) provides law librarians from countries with similar legal systems an opportunity to discuss common, current and relevant legal issues.

The next Joint Study Institute will be hosted by the Australian Law Librarians’ Association and will be held February 13-16, 2013 in Melbourne, Australia.

Members of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL) who have been in good standing for a minimum of twelve months are invited to apply for funding from the CALL Education Reserve Fund to support their attendance at the Institute.

The CALL website has more information about the fund.

Members who wish to apply should do so on or before November 29, 2012.

Labels: , ,

Bookmark and Share Subscribe
posted by Michel-Adrien at 6:42 pm 0 comments

New Zealand Law Commission Paper on Civil Pecuniary Penalties

The Law Commission of New Zealand has released an Issues Paper on the use of financial penalties by enforcement agencies to punish corporations and individuals for breaches of the law:
"Chapters 1 and 2 of the Issues Paper set out the existing landscape.  The Commission notes that a first principles review of civil pecuniary penalties is needed because of: (a) their comparative novelty; (b) the inconsistencies in the design of the existing regimes; (c) concerns that they illegitimately blur the traditional distinction between the civil and criminal law; and (d) experience in other jurisdictions, particularly Australia, where courts have imposed additional 'quasi-criminal' protections on their imposition."

"Chapter 3 of the Issues Paper is concerned with the nature and validity of civil pecuniary penalties.  The Commission assesses where civil pecuniary penalties sit against the traditional criminal-civil divide.  It concludes that they are a 'hybrid' action and takes the position that while such hybrids have a valuable role to play, there must be robust policy justifications for their use.  Chapter 4 critiques those policy justifications."

"The third part of the Issues Paper is concerned with matters of legislative drafting and design (...)

"Chapter 6 deals with the 'critical' design questions of: the rules of evidence and procedure that should apply; the standard and burden of proof; the privilege against self-exposure to a non-criminal penalty; double jeopardy; and intent and defences."

"Chapter 7 deals with other issues of design including: who should be able to seek and impose penalties; how penalty maximums are set in legislation; what guidance should be given to the Court; appeal rights; and limitation periods."
The document examines the situation in a number of other jurisdictions, including Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States and Germany.

Labels: , , , , ,

Bookmark and Share Subscribe
posted by Michel-Adrien at 6:36 pm 0 comments

Monday, November 19, 2012

Canadian Legal Publisher Price Trends

The Vendor Liaison Committee of the Canadian Association of Law Librarians (CALL) has compiled some preliminary information about price trends for Canadian law publications in the upcoming year.

Carswell (Westlaw):
  • Online – 3 – 5%, subject to change based on firm dynamics and size of firm
  • Print – 3 – 5%, which vary by title
LexisNexis:

4% increase for 2013 for both print and electronic.

Irwin Law:
  • Print books – not planning to increase the prices for titles in 2013. New publication prices are set based on costs during publication.
  • eBooks – Do not have a set scale for increasing this price. Price evaluated based on the number of titles that are added over the year.
SOQUIJ (AZIMUT):
  • Globally : subscription costs to L'Express will go up by 3%
  • Juris.doc costs up 2%.
  • Docket service ("plumitifs") up 2%.
  • Annotated Civil Code of Quebec and Quebec Code of Civil Procedure will be offered at the same prices as in 2012. Law reports such as RJQ and RJDT are transitioning to e-book format and will be offered at the same price as in 2012
Yvon Blais:

Anticipated raises for print and online products will be between 1 and 3% in 2013.


Compare with last year's price trends.

More information on library-vendor relations can be found on the Committee's section of the CALL website.

Labels: ,

Bookmark and Share Subscribe
posted by Michel-Adrien at 7:49 pm 1 comments

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Interview With Law Library of Congress Legal Reference Librarian

In Custodia Legis, the blog of the Law Library of Congress in Washington, has been running an interview series featuring members of the library staff. The series started in late October 2010.

There are more than 90 posts in the series.

This week's interview is with Robert Brammer, Legal Reference Librarian:
"What is the most interesting fact that you have learned about the Law Library of Congress? "
"We have an incredible collection of approximately 60,000 rare books and bound manuscripts. 25,000 of those items are housed in a climate controlled vault. To be considered rare, an item must have been published prior to 1801. The items in our collection include a petition for a writ signed by Abraham Lincoln during the period he practiced law, William Blackstone’s 'Commentaries on the Laws of England' published in Philadelphia during the late 18th century, and a Dutch translation of the U.S. Constitution that was intended to promote ratification."
The Law Library of Congress was established in Washington in 1832 by the United States Congress and is the world's largest law library.

Labels: , ,

Bookmark and Share Subscribe
posted by Michel-Adrien at 12:32 pm 0 comments

Supreme Court of Canada: New Library Titles

The list of new library titles added to the Supreme Court of Canada collection for the period of November 1st to 15th, 2012 is now available on the Court website.

The web page explains: "The Supreme Court of Canada Library does not lend materials from this list, which is provided for information only."

But, once the material goes into the general collection, after about a month, the works do become available for inter-library loan to authorized libraries.

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

Labels: , ,

Bookmark and Share Subscribe
posted by Michel-Adrien at 12:25 pm 0 comments

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Report on Supreme Court of Canada on Quebec Bar Association TV Series

In yesterday's episode of "Le Droit de savoir", a TV program on law and society on Quebec's Canal Savoir channel, journalist Jean-Philippe Cipriani paid a visit to the Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa. The report is now on the program website.

While there, Cipriani interviewed the Court's Registrar, Roger Bilodeau, as well as the Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin, P.C.,Chief Justice of Canada, about how the Court operates.

The program, now in its 3rd season, is a co-production of the Quebec Bar Association and the province's public broadcaster Télé-Québec.

Full episodes from seasons 1 and 2 are archived on the show's website. Episodes of the current season are made available on the website once they have been broadcast on the Canal Savoir.

Labels: , , ,

Bookmark and Share Subscribe
posted by Michel-Adrien at 6:47 pm 0 comments

Updated Canadian E-Discovery Case Law Digests

The Ontario Bar Association website has updated its Canadian E-Discovery Case Law (Common Law) Digests collection:
"This digest is maintained by the members of the Sedona Canada Working Group (WG7); it was originally created by the members of the eDiscovery sub-committee of the Task Force on the Discovery Process in Ontario and is a supplement to the eDiscovery Guidelines."

"Since CANLII now offers deep linking to decisions' paragraphs, the newer entries have direct links in the summary to the appropriate sections of the decision."
There are digests for topics such as:
  • Scope of production and discovery
  • Requests for further production
  • Failure to disclose or produce for inspection
  • Pleading practices
  • Preservation of evidence
  • Spoliation
  • Discovery Plan
  • Proportionality and Marginal Utility
  • Document Retention Policies
  • Acceptable Use Policies
  • Form of production
  • Metadata, deleted and hidden information
  • Costs of e-discovery
  • Duplicate Documents
  • Social Media and Internet Information
  • Examination of an IT Representative
  • Forensic Collection and Preservation
  • Privacy Issues
  • Third Party Information and Norwich orders
  • Anton Piller Orders
  • Temporary Internet Files
  • Conduct, civility and collegiality


Labels: , ,

Bookmark and Share Subscribe
posted by Michel-Adrien at 6:25 pm 0 comments

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Report Proposes Changes to Federal Court Rules

A committee representing the judiciary, court personnel and lawyers in private and government practice is proposing changes to the rules of the Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal [press release] to make things easier for self-represented litigants:
"The  study  proposes  new  tools  to  address  abusive,  inappropriate,  disproportionate  and wasteful litigation conduct. It also identifies a number of steps – many novel – to improve access to the Federal Courts, particularly by self-represented parties. "

"The  study  is  the  product  of  a  comprehensive  policy  review  of  the  practices  and procedures  of  the  Federal  Courts.  A  national  subcommittee  chaired  by  Justice  David Stratas  and  comprised  of  thirteen  judges,  prothonotaries,  lawyers  and  court  personnel conducted the policy review. " (...)

"Overall,  the  subcommittee  found  that, by and  large,  the practices and procedures of  the Federal  Courts  work  well.  However,  it  urged  that  certain  reforms  be  made  to  meet contemporary needs and circumstances."

"Under  the  proposals,  the  vast  majority  of  litigants  –  those  who  conduct  their  cases reasonably – will see  little change. But  those  few who engage  in abusive,  inappropriate and disproportionate litigation conduct may find themselves on the receiving end of stiff new measures. The study decries the costs they impose on other litigants and the Federal Courts system. "

"Noting the rising tide of litigation conducted by self-represented parties, the study urges a top-to-bottom examination of the rules to make them more understandable and accessible and offers tangible ideas for the aggressive use of web technologies to make self-help by lay-litigants  a  reality.  It  also  recommends  judicial  education  on  the  creative  but acceptable ways in which the rules can be used to further access to justice."
The full text of the report is available on the website of the Courts Administration Service. 

More background from the Ottawa Citizen ("Federal Courts eyeing plain-language Internet help for self-represented litigants", November 12, 2012)

Labels: , ,

Bookmark and Share Subscribe
posted by Michel-Adrien at 8:05 pm 0 comments

Monday, November 12, 2012

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 a number of its excellent research guides.

Here are some of them:
  • A Guide on the Harmonization of International Commercial Law (by Duncan E. Alford is Associate Dean, Director of the Law Library and Professor of Law at the University Of South Carolina School Of Law): "Since World War II, international trade has grown exponentially and with it the importance of international law. With the increased business between companies in different nations, the need for increased harmonization of commercial laws has become apparent. Knowledge of international commercial law has become important for the transactional lawyer, even those outside major metropolitan areas. Several years ago, LexisNexis and the International Bar Association jointly sponsored a survey of attorneys in eight countries, including the United States. The results of the survey reveal that while the practice of law is still largely domestic, the convergence of laws in certain areas, particularly trade and investment, is occurring. The vast majority of the attorneys surveyed then believed that the international standardization of trade and investment law would be beneficial. This guide collects sources for these harmonized commercial laws and leads the legal researcher to Internet sources on this complicated area of international law. The guide begins with a discussion of the intergovernmental organizations (in some cases supranational) whose purpose is to harmonize commercial laws. The guide then identifies the important treaties that have harmonized commercial law, particularly the law of the sale of goods, and finally identifies research institutes that support the harmonization of commercial law. I have purposefully excluded conventions dealing with the transport of goods, the taking of evidence, insolvency, arbitration and procedural matters from this article." 
  • Basic Primary and Secondary Information Online Sources for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the United States Central American Free Trade Agreement-Dominican Republic (CAFTA-DR) Research (by Francisco A. Avalos, retired Foreign and International Law Librarian at James E. Rogers College of Law and Maureen Garmon, Faculty Services Librarian at the Law Library, Rogers College of Law at the University of Arizona): "The objective of this article is to serve as a one-stop research guide to the North American Free Trade Agreement and the United States Central American Free Trade Agreement-Dominican Republic. The major documents and institutions directly related to NAFTA and CAFTA-DR are identified and a citation to the particular 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 taken into account for inclusion into this article. Also, free websites were favored over pay websites. Websites with little information on the website itself and consisting mainly of links to other websites for the actual desired information were avoided. The vast majority of the citations found in this article are annotated as to content and research value of the website. The citations that are not annotated are the ones where the title of the website made the content obvious. " 
  • Researching the United Nations: Finding the Organization's Internal Resource Trails (by Linda Tashbook, Foreign International Comparative Law Librarian at the University Of Pittsburgh School Of Law's Barco Law Library): "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."

Labels: , , ,

Bookmark and Share Subscribe
posted by Michel-Adrien at 3:25 pm 0 comments

Thursday, November 08, 2012

November/December 2012 Issue of LawNow

The most recent issue of LawNow is available online.

The magazine is published by the Centre for Public Legal Education Alberta.

The current issue is devoted to the two topics of elections law and privacy law.

LawNow provides credible legal information and interpretation to help Canadian citizens understand law and better protect their interests.

Labels: , ,

Bookmark and Share Subscribe
posted by Michel-Adrien at 8:18 pm 0 comments

Wednesday, November 07, 2012

Canadian Library Association Webinar on Proving Value

The Canadian Library Association (CLA) is hosting a webinar on November 19th, 2012 at 2PM Eastern on Becoming Indispensable: The Value Proposition:
"Information professionals’ intercollegial story telling often involves variations of 'SharePoint is perceived to be the solution to every information related challenge' or 'everyone is expected to be a highly skilled researcher as a result of having any graduate degree'.  It is increasingly challenging to demonstrate to employers and clients that we truly are worth our pay … but some techniques are worth considering.  Ulla speaks to strategies info pros can use to create awareness - where it counts - about the value they add to the organizations where they work. "
The speaker is Ulla de Stricker. The cost is $25 to CLA members, and $35 to members of other associations (AIIM, ARMA, CALL, CHLA, provincial library associations, SLA, etc.).

Earlier Library Boy posts on how to prove the value of your library services include:

  • Blog Series on How to Increase Your Value in Your Workplace (March 4, 2010): "The SLA Blog has started a series called 'Alignment Steps' that contains advice on how librarians and information professionals can prove and increase their value in their workplace." 
  • Law Librarians Can Prove Their Value Through Training (March 10, 2010): "(...) the January/February 2010 Law Librarians newsletter put out by legal publisher Westlaw has published an article entitled 'Law Firm Economics and the Librarian—Bring Value Through Training'. The lessons can apply beyond the context of private law firm libraries (...)" 
  • Proving the Value of the Special Library (April 8, 2010): "On his Stephen's Lighthouse blog, Stephen Abram has written a post about the 'Value of Special Libraries' (...) The post describes various studies that demonstrate the impact of information specialists and special libraries that include entities such as government, courthouse, law firm, medical, scientific libraries." 
  • Best Practices to Demonstrate the Value of Your Law Library (April 10, 2010): "Deborah Copeman from the library of the Nova Scotia Barristers' Society and I have put together a document on best practices to demonstrate the value of the law library. It is based on contributions from members of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL) who responded to a survey we sent out earlier this year ( ...)" 
  • Research Library Special Issue on Proving Value in Libraries (September 25, 2010): "Research Library Issues, a publication of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), recently published a Special Issue on Value in Libraries: Assessing Organizational Performance (...) ARL has built a program of assessment over the past 20 years and continuously looks for ways to strengthen this capacity for member libraries. This issue of RLI highlights ways in which assessment tools have helped libraries improve their services and programs. These improvements are the result of library leadership and their staff using data to make decisions that would have the most impact. This issue also captures some of the newer initiatives focused on demonstrating the value of library services."
  • Resources to Prove the Value of Your Library Services (October 14, 2010): "The UK organization Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) has put together resources that demonstrate the value and impact of special library and information services such as law, health and government libraries."

Labels: , ,

Bookmark and Share Subscribe
posted by Michel-Adrien at 9:39 pm 0 comments

Monday, November 05, 2012

Quebec Bar Association Teams Up With Montreal Radio Station for Weekly Debate Show

The Quebec Bar Association has teamed up with Montreal radio station CIBL 101,5 and the Juripop legal clinic to organize a weekly radio debate program called Droit de Cité.

Every week, 2 teams of university debaters face off on a controversial public topic. Members of the public get to vote online to determine which team wins. All shows are archived on the Droit de Cité website.

The show started in the second half of October and will last 31 weeks.

Topics so far have included:
  • Should Quebec set up its own firearms registry?
  • Should the City of Montreal install residential water metres?
  • Should Quebec political parties get all of their financing from the government?
This week's topic will have to do with government subsidies to private schools.

The Quebec Bar Association has shown itself to be quite innovative in its outreach to the general public. It is already the co-producer of the television series Le Droit de savoir ("The Right to Know") on the Canal savoir cable channel in Quebec.





Labels: , ,

Bookmark and Share Subscribe
posted by Michel-Adrien at 8:07 pm 0 comments

Saturday, November 03, 2012

Library of Parliament Paper on Criminal Charges and Parliamentarians

The Library of Parliament recently released a paper in its "In Brief" series on Criminal Charges and Parliamentarians. The series consits of short briefings prepared by the Parliamentary Information and Research Service on current issues.
"In Canada, all citizens are subject to the ordinary laws of general application, both criminal and civil. There is no exemption for parliamentarians, nor is there any immunity or special rights that accrue to parliamentarians, outside of the limited application of parliamentary privilege."

"Whenever a member of the Senate or the House of Commons is charged or convicted of a criminal offence, questions invariably arise as to the effect of such charges and convictions on the person’s right to continue as a member of the Senate or the House."

"The laying of a criminal charge against a member of the Senate or the House of Commons has no effect in terms of his or her eligibility to remain in office. Even if convicted, a parliamentarian will automatically lose his or her seat only if sentenced to a term of imprisonment of two years or more, pursuant to section 750 of the Criminal Code (until 3 September 1996, a parliamentarian had to be sentenced to a term of imprisonment exceeding five years before automatically losing his or her seat). In other cases, however, relying on parliamentary privilege, the Senate or the House could take action to expel the member."

Labels: , ,

Bookmark and Share Subscribe
posted by Michel-Adrien at 4:48 pm 0 comments

Library of Parliament Paper on Canadian Regulatory Review of Pipelines

The Library of Parliament recently released a research publication entitled Pipelines: Government Decision-Making:
"Recent proposals by Canadian companies to build the Keystone XL Pipeline from Alberta to Texas, and the Northern Gateway Pipeline from Alberta to the British Columbia coast, have received a great deal of public attention. While certain individuals and groups have mounted a vigorous opposition to one or both pipeline projects, the Canadian government has publicly stated its support for both."

"Ultimately, the decision whether to allow one or both of these projects to be carried out should strike an appropriate balance between economic, environmental and social interests raised in the course of the proposals’ regulatory review.  In the spring of 2012, the government introduced changes to the Canadian regulatory review process in order to streamline and expedite the regulatory review of future pipeline proposals as well as those currently underway. This paper summarizes the new Canadian regulatory review process for pipelines, as well as the existing process in the United States, and discusses how these processes apply specifically to the Keystone XL Pipeline and the Northern Gateway Pipeline proposals."

Labels: ,

Bookmark and Share Subscribe
posted by Michel-Adrien at 4:31 pm 0 comments

Thursday, November 01, 2012

Nominations for Library Movers and Shakers of 2013

Library Journal is calling on people to nominate Library Movers and Shakers: "50 or more up-and-coming individuals from around the world who are innovative, creative, and making a difference".

Deadline for nominations is November 7, 2012. The 2013 Movers and Shakers will be highlighted in the March 15 issue of the publication.

Library Journal provides a map of all the Movers and Shakers from 2002 to 2012.

Over the years, a number of Canadian librarians have been selected:

Alberta

British Columbia
Nova Scotia
Ontario
Quebec
Saskatchewan

Labels: , ,

Bookmark and Share Subscribe
posted by Michel-Adrien at 5:23 pm 0 comments

October 2012 Issue of Connected Bulletin on Courts and Social Media

The October 2012 issue of Connected is available online. The bulletin covers news about the impact of new social media on the courts.

It is published by the Virginia-based National Center for State Courts and the Conference of Court Public Information Officers.

Labels: , ,

Bookmark and Share Subscribe
posted by Michel-Adrien at 5:13 pm 0 comments