Law does not have its intended effect if people do not know the law. Law should be known by the people who derive rights and obligations from it. Chaotic law, though known by the people, does not have its intended effect either. To be respected, law should at least be logical and consistent, and not prompt chicaneries. Law is what courts say the law is. Courts have to decide case by case. Their judgments express what the law is in the case submitted. The people involved and other interested people will know what the court has decided.

The professional achievements of Adolf Sprudzs have centered on international and comparative law and it is fitting, therefore, to offer some reflections on problems of classification with particular reference to those branches or aspects of the law. They will be concerned with recent solutions to some problems with special emphasis on the classification schemes of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, the Squire Law Library in Cambridge, the European University Institute in Florence and the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law in Lausanne.

This annotated pathfinder is designed to serve as a guide for those who wish to learn about the legal and social situation of Muslim women in the region of the Middle East, but who do not have a great amount of advanced knowledge concerning the topic. It is meant to serve as an organized starting point from which to begin further research, and to provide a context for the current status of Muslim women's rights in the Middle East. A wide variety of types of materials are included, from books to reports to treaties.

The significance of cultural property as “a basic element of civilization and national culture” and its interchange among countries for scientific, cultural and educational purposes has been acknowledged in a number of legal instruments prepared under the aegis of UNESCO, an intergovernmental organization dedicated to the preservation of the world's cultural heritage. As the Preamble of the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property asserts: “… [the interchange] increases the knowledge of the civilization of man, enriches the cultural life of all peoples and inspires mutual respect and appreciation among nations.” Moreover, the 1995 adopted UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects further attests to the: “…fundamental importance of the protection of cultural heritage and of cultural exchanges for promoting understanding between peoples, and the dissemination of culture for the well-being of humanity and the progress of civilization.”

There is an independent Scottish legal system today because, until the Union of the English and Scottish Crowns in 1603 and the Union of the Parliaments of the two countries in 1707, Scotland was an independent sovereign state. When King James VI of Scotland became James I of England and Great Britain in 1603, there was considerable interest in the possibility of establishing a single legal system for the newly united kingdoms, while during the Cromwellian interlude of the 1650s the possibility moved some way towards actuality. But the 1707 Act of Union showed a recognition that the establishment of a single legal system and body of law for the whole of the United Kingdom was not really a practical proposition, in articles which remain the formal basis for the continuing existence and independence of the Scottish law and legal system. Article XVIII provided for the continuation of Scots law after the Union, excepting only the ‘Laws concerning Regulation of Trade, Customs and … Excises', which were to ‘be the same in Scotland, from and after the Union, as in England.’ Change to Scots law was allowed under the Article, but in matters of ‘private right’ such change had to be for the ‘evident utility’ of the Scottish people. Only in matters of ‘public right’ might the aim be simply to make the law the same throughout the United Kingdom. Article XIX laid down that the principal Scottish courts, the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary, should ‘remain in all time coming’ as they were then constituted, and further provided that Scottish cases were not to be dealt with by the English courts ‘in Westminster-hall’ (which likewise continued to exist post-Union).

The comparative analysis of diverse constitutional orders enables a more sophisticated evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages of different models and solutions. Quite often it also serves practical objectives, providing the impulse for improving our own legal system by carefully adopting institutions and procedures that have proven themselves elsewhere. In the case of the Swiss Constitution, the influence of thoughts and concepts developed during the French Revolution and by the Founding Fathers of the U.S. Constitution is quite obvious. More recently, international influences are most apparent in the field of fundamental rights and freedoms.

The internet has emerged as a reservoir of information and has pushed the world to evolve into a global village. Increased communication across political, social and economic barriers has created a virtual society of its own. This networked society poses considerable challenges for Internet Governance. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is the institution responsible for the internet management. ICANN has been at the center of the debates over global governance of the internet. Key concerns raised in these debates involve the legitimacy of institutions as well as the participation of developed and developing nations in Internet governance.

In this world of misinformation and predatory ideologies, a basic economic connection may be the difference between the success and failure of American foreign policy in the Middle East. In times of conflict, establishing the commonality of shared financial values can be the best way to build trust. It is remarkable then that the world's largest and most advanced economy has failed to develop the simple financial mechanisms—using Islamic finance and Sharī'ah boards—to connect with Muslims across the globe. Even if the United States’ central focus remains combating terrorism, it is clear that the more financial information the United States can gather, the better equipped it will be to fight the war on terror. Along with the enhanced information capital made possible through Islamic finance and Sharī'ah boards are significant reputational advantages that the United States would not otherwise have. For instance, an Islamic-American humanitarian institution could be certified by multiple clerics in Iraq, thus offering new momentum to the organization's humanitarian mission by preventing numerous belligerent attacks that terrorists might subject upon a purely American institution that lacks the legitimacy conferred through such Islamic ties.

Currently, The United States' continuing domestic failure to develop a compatible framework for Islamic finance verges on negligence. This failure is strongly contrary to broader American commercial interests. Consider that economists estimate the outflow of Sharī'ah capital from Gulf countries to be approximately $1 trillion, growing at 20% per annum. Additionally, Gulf countries are currently set to spend upwards of $10 trillion on new infrastructure over the next decade using Sharī'ah compliant financing vehicles. The world currently has roughly two billion Muslims, many of which will one day demand, or at least prefer, Sharī'ah compliant financial products. If the United States does not develop the administrative and legal framework to serve this market, other foreign financial institutions surely will. In fact, economists currently value the Islamic finance industry in the United Kingdom at $12 billion. In stark contrast, in the United States this same market comprises a mere $150 million in assets. This article will examine the necessary mechanics of establishing an Islamic-American corporation in Delaware for the purposes of conducting transactions with the Middle East, and analyze in detail the essential Islamic financial governance structure-the Shari'ah board.

Money laundering is a serious crime that is often associated with organized crime, terrorism, and other illegal activities, often by transferring them through a series of financial transactions and institutions. In this study, the researchers focused on detecting a specific type of money laundering called “smurfing”, which involves breaking up large amounts of money into smaller transactions. The growing market for banking services and the intense competition among banks has led to a shift towards electronic banking. This shift is driven by changes in the way that customers use banking services and the advancements in technology. Electronic banking offers several benefits, such as faster transaction processing and the ability to avoid waiting in line at physical branches. However, it also carries risks, including the potential for electronic payment systems to be used for money laundering. With the development of technology, money laundering can now be done through online betting and casino platforms, as well as through the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies. This article aims to explore the ways in which electronic payment systems, online gambling, and cryptocurrencies can be used to launder illegally acquired money.

Albert Einstein, in an Address in Chicago observed: [t]he existence and validity of human rights are not written in the stars. The ideals concerning the conduct of men towards each other and the desirable structure of the community have been conceived and taught by enlightened individuals in the course of history. Those ideals and convictions which resulted from historical experience, from the craving for beauty and harmony, have been readily accepted in theory by man – and at all times, have been trampled upon by the same people under the pressure of their animal instincts. A large part of history is therefore replete with the struggle for those human rights, an eternal struggle in which a final victory can never be won. But to tire in that struggle would mean the ruin of society.

English law reports between 1550 and 1650 seem far more accessible today than the “year books” that preceded them. This is not because they were produced differently, for a different readership or by a different kind of reporter, but because the legal system itself had changed. We also encounter in the Tudor period the first reports written by eminent lawyers, two of whom (Plowden and Coke) saw a selection of them through the press in their lifetimes. Recent editorial work on the better reports has revealed something of the way they were compiled, and also of what was omitted when contemporary notes were turned into printed volumes.

Coke's reports are the most famous, traditionally cited simply as The Reports. Work has just begun on an edition of the underlying notebooks (first discovered just forty years ago), which will probably require at least six volumes. Coke's reporting style was controversial, and his alleged subjectivity was seized upon by Francis Bacon as one of the grounds for bringing him down in 1616. However, Bacon's scheme of 1617 to engage professional reporters, paid by the crown, seems to have collapsed after a few years. Law reporting was thus to remain a matter of private initiative until the end of the eighteenth century, and many of the best reports – even those written by judges – have still not been published. Anyone seeking to trace the evolution of a legal doctrine or practice before about 1700 must regard manuscript reports as an essential recourse.

Why do we still have books? To answer this question with views based not on the market trend, nor on the popular feeling that print is outdated and irrelevant, but on the American Bar Association's stated mission of Law Libraries to provide resources that enable legal education,1 this article reviews the potential benefits and determents of different types of legal sources using both print and online formats and discusses whether external pressures should outweigh these factors dependent on the audience.

Book Publishing in the English speaking Caribbean is a relatively recent phenomenon. Prior to the 1960s there were sporadic attempts by individuals and even large firms like the Gleaner Company's Pioneer Press in Jamaica, but some semblance of sustained publishing activity did not come to the region until the post-independence period. In that first immediate post-independence period, the initiative to set up publishing operations came from British educational publishers who established either wholly-owned subsidiaries or went into partnerships with local business interests like the Collins/Sangster imprint in Jamaica. For the most part, these were token operations. They were also essentially the companies’ marketing and sales outlets as all publishing decisions, as well as editorial, design and production work, remained in the UK. Consequently there was no skills transfer or structured training in any aspect of book publishing.

In the twenty years that the scholarship program has been in operation it has undergone many changes but has experienced a steady and meaningful development. It came into existence in 1953 when funds contributed by law book publishers made it possible for three young members to attend the first institute and annual meeting. In spite of the changes which have been made since then, the program has never lost sight of its initial purpose: “to give financial assistance to people who possess potential ability in law librarianship and who show promise of future usefulness and permanence in the profession.”

In this presentation I shall be making reference particularly to the islands of the Eastern Caribbean, which are the jurisdictions I visit on a regular basis. I shall exclude Belize, which in the bookselling world we consider to be the province of Central American dealers, and also Guyana, for which no-one, I am afraid, seems to want to take responsibility. It's a difficult place to reach, and there's little to buy when you finally get there.

Since the beginning of the Reconciliation and Social Justice Project in 1996, AustLII has sought to contribute to the process of reconciliation through the provision of relevant legal and cultural information relating to indigenous people. Two important components of the project have been collecting material as well as making it as accessible as possible to as many people as possible. Another significant part of the Reconciliation and Social Justice Project has been connecting remote Aboriginal communities to the Internet and providing training to them in its use. The history and achievements of the project are set out here and some consideration is given to future directions for the various aspects of the project.

The law of patent, trademark law, copyright law and the law relating to industrial designs are the statutory enactments forming part of intellectual property law which have a bearing on the transfer of technology. There is one more branch of intellectual property law which also has a bearing on the transfer of technology and that is the law relating to confidential information or law relating to confidentiality. This law is not a written law; it is judge made law, in the sense that it is developed through cases.

Academic legal literature in the USA is punctuated at regular intervals by discussions of the quality of legal research and writing tuition in the law schools. None of these discussions makes question of the place of such courses within the curriculum. The debate centers upon what should be taught, when, and by whom, and how effective such teaching may be. My first contact with such courses came during a period of work in the USA and when, on my return to the UK, I was required to set up a course in legal information studies, I turned to the UK literature for material on teaching legal research. The result of my search was a complete blank. Indeed, it is difficult to find discussion of any kind on such topics as curriculum planning and the interrelation of legal subjects in teaching programs. The structure of legal education in the UK has been the subject of government reports, but in the main these deal with mechanical and financial aspects—what the apprentice lawyer should learn—and how his professional ability may be enhanced by his education is barely touched upon. There is certainly nothing in the UK literature since the turn of the century on the methods of teaching legal research, nor any debate upon the desirability of teaching such a subject. Basic textbooks on legal bibliography exist, most of which offer guidance, at various levels of sophistication, as to how the novice may handle the literature of law, but it is apparent on examination that none of these are teaching texts, evolved and tested during the repetition of a course of instruction, as are many US texts. We possess nothing in print that might be compared with Price and Bitner's Effective Legal Research (to name just one such book), with its guidance on search strategies and evaluation of sources and facts. I decided to do some basic research and ask all the UK institutions teaching law courses leading to eventual professional qualification what, if anything, they offered by way of instruction in legal research techniques.

Catalogues are the essential element of every library. The following description of the main features of the documentation system maintained by the Library of the German Bundestag and of the most important principles of its catalogues will, more than anything else, show that they differ considerably from the forms of library documentation generally known in Germany. Though it would be particularly interesting to do so here, limitations of space unfortunately prevent a theoretical discussion of cataloguing principles in any detail. However, at this point it is important to stress that in view of the manifold requirements to be met by a modern library documentation and information system, the catalogues and documentation system of the Bundestag Library have proved themselves quite valuable.

“The world is a global village.” With the advent of the Internet and increased commercial global transactions, these words ring truer today than when they were first exclaimed by Marshall McLuhan in the late 1960's. Foreign business deals are now a commonplace activity. International commercial law, which used to be a specialty, has quickly become an integral element of the practice of a transactional lawyer.