D'Angelo Law Library Blog

Libya, the UN, and the ICC

The following sources are useful for an international legal perspective on the situation in Libya:

Peace Palace Library

• Update:  Libya and the International Criminal Court (ICC) (March 14, 2011)

The Telegraph

• Libya: African mercenaries 'immune from prosecution for war crimes' (February 28, 2011)

Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC)

• United Nations Security Council Refers Libya to the ICC:  ICC Prosecutor to Decide whether to Investigate Alleged Crimes Against Humanity (February 27, 2011) 

Opinio Juris

• Update:  Could the Prosecutor Decide Not to Investigate the Libyan Situation? (February 28, 2011)
• Can the Security Council Define the Limits of a “Situation”? (February 27, 2011)
• Security Council Refers the Situation in Libya to the ICC (February 27, 2011)
• Libya: Did Citizen Evacuations Stand in the Way of Better Policy? (February 26, 2011)
• The “Libya and Humanitarian Intervention” Meme (February 24, 2011)

IntLawGrrls

• ICC referral: sweet, or bittersweet? (February 27, 2011)
• Libya: Global Condemnations of Human Rights Violations (February 26, 2011)(links to selected international statements and developments)
• Human Rights Council call: Suspend Libya (February 25, 2011)

International Law News 2.0: Blogs

Do "child pirates" have rights?  Would Oregon legislation banning plastic bags raise WTO issues?  Should a lawful permanent resident on the FBI "No Fly List" have the human right to return home to the U.S. from a turbulent Egypt?  You have many Web 2.0 options for monitoring international legal developments for possible substantial paper or comment topic ideas.  You can set up Google Reader feeds for top international law blogs such as Opinio Juris, IntLawGrrls, the International Law Prof Blog, and the International Economic Law and Policy Blog.  The International Law Reporter edited by Jacob Katz Cogan is particularly useful for keeping track of new books, law journal articles, and conferences in the field.  Justia Blawgsearch list about 70 international law blogs and about 20 international trade ones. 

Number crunching...

 

The President's Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2012 is now available from the United States Government Printing Office's Federal Digital System. Did you know that the Budget is not just one volume but several-- including an Appendix, Analytical Perspectives, and Historical Tables?

Check out some of the more interesting interactive graphics anyalyzing the budget: the NYT takes a bird's eye view of spending while the National Journal  compares the current budget with previous administrations. 

For discussion of the budget process generally, see this CRS report or for a more detailed explanation of the process, Allen Schick's The Federal Budget; politics, policy, process might do the trick. 

Happy Reading!

 

 

Hidden Chicago

The Law Library recently acquired DVDs of the Geoffrey Baer tours around Chicago which originally aired on WTTW11.  The "Hidden Chicago" video tour in particular highlights the University's "Nuclear Energy" sculpture and Rockefeller Chapel.  "Ghost signs."  And a cowpath in the Loop! 

Check them out on DVD or at WTTW's website. 

Library Workshops on Endnote

The University of Chicago Library will be holding three workshops on the citation management software EndNote on Monday, February 14.  The training sessions will be held in the Kathleen Zar Room at The John Crerar Library as follows:

Building an EndNote Library, Monday, February 14 9:30-11:30, register at: https://training.uchicago.edu/course_detail.cfm?course_id=1127

Cite While You Write, Monday, February 14, 1:00-2:30, register at: https://training.uchicago.edu/course_detail.cfm?course_id=1128

EndNote Advanced Q&A,Monday, February 14, 3:00-4:00, register at: https://training.uchicago.edu/course_detail.cfm?course_id=1129

 

 

Proofreading

Everyone I know hates proofreading.  However, unless you have an indulgent significant other or a literate (and bribable) child, it's something that has to be done.  I saw an interesting post today on the Legal Skills Prof Blog -

How do you like to proofread? Hardcopy or e-copy?

The post referenced the Business Writing Blog for the proposition that proofreading is more effective in hardcopy.  The tiny errors that creep in when you edit a document online are difficult to see, especially in your own writing, and tend to be more evident if you are proofing a printed-out document.  The comments to the blog mostly backed up the writer - one person even said he preferred to read his documents out loud, as hearing the text pointed out grammatical errors (like subject-verb agreement in complex sentences) that he hadn't seen in the print. 

I also proof long documents in hard copy, having been embarrassed a few too many times by silly errors in email, but I wonder if this is a generational thing.  What do you think?

The International Encyclopaedia of Laws (IEL)

If you're looking for book-length, English-language, expert commentary on a particular country's law, check the International Encyclopaedia of Laws (Kluwer Law International).  The IEL series goes beyond an encyclopedia to provide detailed coverage of major areas of foreign law.  The Law Library owns most of the sets in the series.  The IEL is continually updated, and each IEL set includes different countries.  For example, IEL sets cover Chinese intellectual property and labor law, but not energy, property, and trust law.  The list of "Published Monographs" indicates which countries are in each IEL set.  For Greece, look under "Hellas".  The IEL series includes 25 legal topics so far.  The International Encyclopaedia of Laws is a great starting point for comparative law research. Check it out!:

• Civil Procedure
• Commercial and Economic Law
• Competition Law
• Constitutional Law
• Contracts
• Corporations and Partnerships
• Criminal Law
• Cyber Law
• Energy Law
• Environmental Law
• Family and Succession Law
• Insurance Law
• Intellectual Property
• Intergovernmental Organisations
• Labour Law and Industrial Relations
• Media Law
• Medical Law
• Migration Law
• Private International Law
• Property and Trust Law
• Religion
• Social Security Law
• Sports Law
• Tort Law
• Transport Law

 

7th Circuit Bar Association's E-Mentoring Project

The 7th Circuit Bar Association has produced a series of short, informative videos answering various questions about the practice of law and the legal profession.  The list of participants in these videos include judges on the 7th circuit, U.S. district judges from the Northern District of Illinois and other districts in the 7th circuit, and partners at Chicago area law firms. 

US Code Expands Beyond 50 Titles

The United States Code has been comprised of 50 titles since 1926, but no more. A new title 51, National and Commercial Space Programs was added following the enactment of Public Law 111-314 on December 18, 2010. The U.S. House of Representatives Office of Law Revision Counsel has projects to expand the U.S. Code to add titles 52-55 and to reorganize some existing titles. 

D'Angelo Law Library hours on February 1 and 2

The D'Angelo Law Library will close at 3:15 pm on Tuesday, February 1st and will be closed on Wednesday, February 2nd in accordance with the closure of the Law School building on those days. Information on library hours for the remainder of the week will be available on the hours information line at 773-702-1292.