I. The Institution of Justice Ombudsman has its origian in Sweden. The term “ombudsman” in Swedish means a representative or an agent. In practice the Justice Ombudsman has come to be described as the protector of people's rights and the watchman over central and local administrations and courts. He is the commissioner of justice, elected by the Parliament to ensure that the laws of the country are properly observed by the State and local authorities.

Since the Soviet Union's emergence as a willing participant in foreign capital investment ventures, the amount of legal literature on the subject has proliferated at an amazing rate. The research runs the gamut from newsletters and bulletins to highly complex compendia of texts and documents packaged in complete looseleaf binders for supplements so that the reader can keep abreast of fast-breaking developments. Lawyers and law students of all masts vie for space in publication columns to try their hand at this high-profile and highly current topic. Even Soviet jurists and economists try to cash in on this publication bonanza by coming out with pronouncements on joint-venture opportunities which are translated into English with the hope of widespread Western consumption.

Art. 1 In Romania, foreign capital may be invested in industry, agriculture, constructions, tourism, scientific and technological research, foreign trade, banking services, insurance and other areas of interest to the national economy.

This is a research guide and bibliography concerning American and Canadian sources of and about the United States—Canada Free Trade Agreement. The Agreement is also called the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, Canada-American Free Trade Agreement, or the FTA. Formal negotiations concerning the Agreement began on March 18, 1985 at the “Shamrock Summit” (also called the “Quebec Summit”) with the signing of the Declaration on Trade in Goods and Services by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. The history of the FTA negotiations is set forth in the Winham book listed below, in the Department of State Bulletin, in newspapers, and in documents created during U.S. Congressional consideration of implementing legislation such as Senate Report No. 100–509. See also Battram, Canada-United States Trade Negotiations: Continental Accord or a Continent Apart?, 22 International Lawyer 345 (1988). The Agreement was signed by President Reagan and Prime Minister Mulroney on January 2, 1988 and, after implementing legislation was enacted in the United States and Canada, the Agreement entered into force on January 1, 1989. Its main purpose is the elimination of all tariffs on trade between the U.S. and Canada by January 1, 1998.

International finance is a fast growing and constantly changing area of economic activity. Along with permanent improvements in traditional financial instruments, totally new markets and products such as Eurocurrency markets of Eurobonds have been developed during recent decades. Legal aspects of international finance touch upon so many different problems that only a few of them can be covered in this guide and only in an introductory manner. The guide is not intended as a complete bilbiography but as a selection of some important or representative, general materials in English. The emphasis is on recent publications, which can easily lead to older and more extensive studies.

Those seeking information on the United Nations’ work in systematizing the rules of public international law may find it useful to examine the latest edition of The Work of the International Law Commission (4th ed., United Nations, 1988). According to this publication, (the primary source for this column), interest in the development and codification of the rules on international law may be traced back to the late 18th century and the English philosopher Jeremy Bentham, author of Principles of International Law. From this time forward there were numerous attempts at the codification of international law, but intergovernmental regulation of general legal questions originated with the Congress of Vienna (1814–1815). Thereafter, international legal rules on various subjects were developed by different diplomatic conferences. These included such subjects as the laws of war on land and sea, pacific settlement of international disputes and the regulation of postal services and telecommunications. The Hague Peace Conferences of 1899 and 1907 stimulated the movement for codification. Efforts to promote the codification and development of international law were further advanced with the 1924 (September 22) resolution of the fifth session of the League of Nations Assembly which envisaged the establishment of a standing Committee of Experts for the Progressive Codification of International Law. After having consulted member governments and the Council, the League Assembly decided in 1927 to convene a Codification Conference which took place at The Hague in the Spring of 1930. Unfortunately, the international instruments resulting from the work of the conference were only in the one field of nationality. One further step, however, was the adoption by the League Assembly on September 25, 1931 of a major resolution on codification of international law emphasizing the need to strengthen the influence of governments at each stage in the codification process.