FCIL Newsletter / October 1995
What's New on INT-LAW?
Janice Selberg
Wayne State University Law Library
The Fall brings more messages on a variety of international
law topics, from new Web sites to old Scottish trespass law.
New Trade Journal for International Attorneys: Call for
Papers
Eric V. Blanchard, Editor-in-Chief, 8 June 1995:
Currents: International Trade Law Journal, which is
published at South Texas College of Law, targets international
attorneys and business executives with international concerns. It
is a practical and scholarly reference source on legal issues
underlying the global expansion of trade.
We are always seeking quality articles for publication and
would appreciate any insightful paper you would care to submit.
Our article format is unique to the academic professional because
we use endnotes rather than footnotes. This allows our readers to
proceed uninterrupted in their perusal of an article and only
check sources where they find need or interest. The normal
double-spaced length of our articles is between thirty to forty
pages.
Our unique format allows coverage of a wide range of topics
within a single issue.... We respect submissions and limit our
editing to technical, not stylistic or substantive, matters. Our
editorial board is small but very competent.... If we can be of
any assistance, please feel free to contact us at 713-646-1768 or
by mail or e-mail.
United Nations Scholars' Workstation
Martha L. Brogan, Yale University Library, 15 June
1995: The United Nations Scholars' Workstation at Yale
University has been established as a web site at
http://www.library.yale.edu/un/unhome.htm
Developed by the Yale University Library, the Social Science
Statistical Laboratory, and United Nations Studies, the site is a
collection of digitized texts, finding aids, data sets, maps, and
pointers to print and electronic information. Subject coverage
includes disarmament, economic and social development,
environment, human rights, international relations, international
trade, peacekeeping, and population and demography. The site is
organized into three main sections:
- Academic information about "UN Studies at Yale University"
describes the curriculum and faculty as well as the Independent
Working Group on the Future of the United Nations and its report,
"The United Nations in its Second Half Century."
- "Research Tools to Locate UN Information" includes guides to
the use of Yale's UN depository collection, how to find UN
materials in Yale's online public catalog, how to search
Nexis/Lexis for UN information, access to key UN web sites,
descriptions of UN-related compact disks, a bibliography of
recently acquired UN documentation and secondary literature, and
information about numeric data sets pertinent to international
relations research.
- "Research Approaches to UN Information" offers access to
other sites on the Internet, reorganized so that it's possible to
search by the UN organizational structure, by research topic, by
geographic area, or for biographical information.
Statement of Principles on Nuclear Nonproliferation
Janice Selberg, Waynes State University Law Library, 23
Aug. 1995: I am looking for the text of the Statement of
Principles on Nuclear Nonproliferation, released in May, 1995. I
have checked ILM and LEXIS.
Wiltrud Harms, Boalt Hall Law Library, Berkeley, 24 Aug.
1995: The UN Press Release series posted on the UNDP gopher
server coded DC/ (labelled "Disarmament Commission," but actually
broader in its scope and also reporting on the Treaty on the
Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons), has information on your
wanted statement. According to UN Press Release DC/2510 of 11 May
1995, it is actually a "declaration on principles and objectives
for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament." From the April
and May postings, I printed out DC/2491 and DC/2510 for our
patrons here at Boalt because they provide helpful background and
the final outcome of the 1995 Review and Extension Conference of
the Parties to the Treaty.
I could not find a documentary reference to the text of the
declaration, but looking at other references we can expect to
find the declaration (or perhaps the text of the draft which was
adopted without a vote) in the document series NPT/CONF.1995/-.
There is a reference to a draft decision (not to be confused with
the declaration) on the principles ... as being contained in
document NPT/CONF.1995/L.5. Probably this document contains a
documentary reference to the declaration.
The UN does not offer the series NPT/- for sale but UN
depository libraries should receive it. Since you know that the
document was issued in May, I would assume that UN depositories
should have gotten it by now. I am not sure whether READEX
publishes this series on microfiche.
Ellen Schaffer, Georgetown Law Library, 24 Aug. 1995:
The Statement of Principles is coming out in the July issue of
ILM that is supposedly in the mail. We don't have it yet.
I have the NPT document you refer to (L.5) and it is the draft
text of the Principles and Objectives ... issued on May 9, 1995.
Peter Van Leeuwen, Readex, 28 Aug. 1995: Further to
Wiltrud's posted reply of 8/24/95 regarding the UN's NPT/- series
...
Yes, Readex does provide the NPT/- series in our UN microfiche
product offerings.
Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
Gabriele Gatti, University of Siena, 7 Sept. 1995: Can
anybody suggest an Internet site for news and documents from the
Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia? UN sites don't seem to
contain any useful information on this subject. (W. Harms has
recently informed us int-lawyers that the first Annual Report of
the Tribunal is contained in UN Doc. A/49/342, S/1994/1007, but I
couldn't find this doc in the net.)
John Carey, 7 Sept. 1995: I understand the Tribunal is
in the process of setting up an Internet site.
Japanese Commercial Code
Sushila Selness, 7 Sept. 1995: I need a copy of the
Japanese Commercial Code with 1993 amendments. Is this available
on the net? A paper copy will also suffice if available.
Lyonette Louis-Jacques, University of Chicago Law Library,
7 Sept. 1995: I don't know whether the Japanese Commercial
Code is on the Internet offhand, but you can check at
http://www.pls.com:8001/ or
gopher://lawnext.uchicago.edu/hh/.web/intl.html As for
hardcopy/print, codes of laws are sometimes separately published
and cataloged, so you can do a search by title in OCLC or RLIN,
by subject (Commercial Law -- Japan), and limit by language
(don't know if you're looking for English translation or Japanese
text). Both OCLC and RLIN have user-friendly interfaces (WorldCat
and Eureka, respectively). Individual online library catalogs can
also be searched, including the University of Washington below.
Otherwise, translations are included in the EHS Law
Bulletin Series and Doing Business in Japan (a red
looseleaf set). Reynolds and Flores' Foreign Law looseleaf
will provide cites to sources of the Commercial Code in Japanese
and in English translation. And guides to researching Japanese
law will also refer to sources of the Commercial Code.
Lastly, the University of Washington Gallagher Law Library has
an East Asian Law Department (formerly Comparative Law
Department) which focuses on reference and collection development
work on Japan, China, Hong Kong, Korea, Macau, and Taiwan. They
have one of the strongest collections of Japanese law in the
U.S., and are great contacts if you re having difficulty finding
current Japanese laws. I don't remember the telnet address for
their online catalog offhand, but if you need it, I can dig it up
from my files though there should be a link to it via
gopher://lawnext.uchicago.edu/hh/.web/misc.html
Jeanette Sidon, 15 Sept. 1995: If it is not available
anywhere else, try contacting Eibun-Horei-Sha (Codes Translation
Institute, Inc.) in Tokyo: 4-7 Hirakawacho 2, Chome Chiyoda, Ku,
Tokyo Japan; telephone 03-5276-5955; fax 03-5276-5572.
Russian Copyright
David Grainger, SCALE, Canberra, Australia, 8 Sept.
1995: I would appreciate any assistance that you may be able
to provide in urgently locating any Internet sites or Australian
library locations for Russian legislation on intellectual
property.
Elliot Chabot, U.S. House of Representatives, 8 Sept.
1995: There is some material on Russian copyright law at
http://www.spb.su:80/rulesreg/3/ind_intl.html
Lyonette Louis-Jacques, University of Chicago Law Library,
8 Sept. 1995: Some approaches to getting hardcopy/paper texts
of the legislation are: look in library catalogs under World
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), as they publish a set
of English translations of laws on intellectual property
worldwide; look for looseleaf sets on international intellectual
property or intellectual property in Eastern Europe or in Russia
specifically; look for general compilations of Russian laws
(there are sets with names such as Collected Legislation of
Russia, Russia and the Republics). Igor Kavass has written
several books and articles on Russian law resources -- look under
his name or under Thomas Reynolds in catalogs and periodical
indexes. Looseleaf sets on business or investment tend to include
intellectual property laws also. A good place to start to
identify the titles of relevant sources besides doing searches in
catalogs and indexes is Reynolds and Flores' Foreign Law:
Current Sources of Codes and Legislation in Jurisdictions of the
World (for each country it has a list by subject of laws in
English translation, and references to sources of the texts of
laws in the vernacular).
Alan Edwards, University of Otago, New Zealand, 11 Sept.
1995: Further to Lyo's note that the World Intellectual
Property Organization (WIPO) ... publish a set of English
translations of laws on intellectual property worldwide....
WIPO (as updates to the original set?) publishes national laws
and international legal instruments (in English) on 'Copyright
and Neighbouring Rights' and on 'Industrial Property' as
supplements to its journal Industrial Property and
Copyright (from 1995). (Until 1994 these supplements were
published with the WIPO journals Copyright and
Industrial Property, respectively.)
This material is designed to be separated from the journal and
filed as independent collections, so locating a library which
holds the journal(s) may be only the first step in finding the
material.
(The Cumulative Index in the Copyright translations of January
1995 notes Russian or Soviet copyright-related legislation in the
issues of Copyright: 1983, nos. 7-8; 1993, no. 5; 1994,
nos. 1 & 4. See also issue 4 of 1995 in Industrial Property
and Copyright).
(The Cumulative Index in the Industrial Property translations
of January 1995 notes Russian or Soviet copyright-related
legislation in the issues of Industrial Property: 1977,
no. 2; 1983, no 6; 1986, no 9; 1991, no 9; 1990, no. 5; 1993,
nos. 3 & 4; 1994, no 4. See also the May and June 1995 issues of
Industrial Property and Copyright).
Registration of Pesticides
Pat Gudas, BALTO, 12 Sept. 1995: I am looking for laws
or regs on the registration of pesticides/fungicides in South
Africa and New Zealand. Must the registrant be a person or
company incorporated in the country? All ideas appreciated!
Alan Edwards, University of Otago, New Zealand, 18 Sept.
1995: The relevant New Zealand act is the Pesticides Act
1979. It talks in terms of the 'proprietor' of a pesticide, i.e.,
the manufacturer (if the pesticide is made in NZ) or the importer
(if the pesticide is imported). There does not seem to be any
requirement for the registrant to be incorporated in NZ.
For a pesticide which is to be imported, the 'proprietor' can
seek registration if the pesticide is registered in, and is to be
imported from, a 'specified country.' (The Minister has power to
'specify a country' if it has a pesticide registration scheme in
accordance with, or not less onerous than, the scheme set out in
the FAO Guidelines for the Regulation and Control of Pesticides.)
Australian Law on the Terminally Ill
Suzanne Thorpe, University of Minnesota Law Library, 13
Sept. 1995: I would like to learn the status of a recent bill
passed on May 25th 1995 by the Legislative Assembly of the
Northern Territory of Australia.
I checked an Australian website which contained the text of
the original bill, the proof copy of the bill, transcripts of
debates, and some other information. This site has not been
updated since July. It stated that as of that date the bill had
not yet been enacted.
I would like to obtain a copy of the law as enacted (if this
has happened in the intervening months). Also, a faculty member
here believes that there may be some case law related to it. If
so, I would appreciate information about the case as well.
Kathy Kane, University of Tulsa, 15 Sept. 1995: One of
our students in a law and medicine seminar needs a copy of the
"Rights of the Terminally Ill" bill as passed by the Australian
Northern Territory Legislative Assembly on May 25, 1995. All she
has been able to find on the Internet so far has been the
proposed legislation, without changes. She would also like any
legislative history available on this same bill. Could any of you
Australian librarians help us find this for her?
Susan Downing, Australia, 15 Sept. 1995: The Rights of
the Terminally Ill Act 1995 was assented to on 16 June 1995 and
will come into operation after the Administrator places a notice
in the Gazette. As I understand it, no such notice has been
placed in the Gazette and therefore the Act has not yet entered
into force.
There have been reports in the press about flaws in the Act
which may explain the above delay. One flaw seems to be that the
qualifications required of the second medical practitioner (i.e.,
a diploma of psychological medicine) on one interpretation may
not exist and on a wider interpretation may only include a very
small number of practitioners in the Northern Territory.
I think that there is also a problem with the existing
criminal code in the Northern Territory. I believe that there may
still be a criminal offence of assisting a suicide, although I
have not checked.
Electronic Newsstand for International Publications
Lyonette Louis-Jacques, University of Chicago Law Library,
Sept. 1995: The Electronic Newsstand now has a web site at
http://www.enews.com/ There, you can find the tables of
contents of International Legal Materials (including
selected background information about a major treaty, case, or
other international document), American Journal of
International Law, International Organization, Foreign Affairs,
The Economist, International Security, Der Spiegel, Irish
Times, and other national and international news journals and
magazines. It also includes information on how to order print
copies of these resources, and has links to selected Internet
sites for nations and international organizations.
International Documents
Irene Berkey, Northwestern University Law Library, 14 Sept.
1995: I have been asked to locate electronic versions of the
full text of the following documents.
- Completing the Internal Market: White Paper from the
Commission to the European Council (1985) (COM/85/310/final)
- European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and
Fundamental Freedoms (1950) 213 UNTS 221; ETS 5
I have tried LEXIS and WESTLAW, echo.lu, and the
Fletcher Multilateral web site, but might have missed something.
(For the European Convention, Fletcher indicates that the
document is available from the Amnesty International gopher,
io.org, but I have been unable to connect.)
Sue Crocombe, Australian National Library, 15 Sept.
1995:
http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/freeport/social.services/amnesty/st
andards for the Human rights convention.
David Swarbrick, Solicitor, UK, 15 Sept. 1995: We have
this on the BBS. If you want to try a 50k e-mail message I can
post it. Just Mooting UK Law BBS +44 (0)1484 401139. Free.
Energy Charter Treaty
Tracy Angel, TransCanada Pipelines Ltd., 14 Sept. 1995:
I am urgently trying to find a copy of the Energy Charter Treaty
which was signed in Lisbon in December, 1994. This is a
wide-ranging multilateral agreement which aims at fostering
energy cooperation and energy trade between most OECD member
states, former Soviet republics, Central and East European
countries. I have tried various treaty and legal web sites but to
no avail.
Wiltrud Harms, Boalt Hall Law Library, Berkeley, 14 Sept.
1995: You can find the text of the Energy Charter Treaty plus
an introductory note, a content summary and the text of the Final
Act in International Legal Materials, vol. 34, no.2 (March
1995), on pages 360-454 (in Lexis/Nexis: library INTLAW, file
ILM).
Fleet Street Reports of Patent Cases
Huntington, 14 Sept. 1995: I've been asked to locate a
case -- Union Carbide Corp. v Naturin Ltd. [1987] F.S.R. 538 --
(Fleet Street Reports of Patent Cases). I was wondering if anyone
was aware of any sites where English Patent Cases are online.
S.H. Carter, 15 Sept. 1995: The Lexis ENGGEN library
CASES file includes cases reported in FSR.
UNDP Gopher?
Antje Mays, Citadel, 15 Sept. 1995: Does anyone
remember the address for the UNDP gopher? Is there a WWW site of
similar scope?
Sally Kelley, University of Arkansas, 15 Sept. 1995:
The UNDP WWW URL is http://www.undp.org
Debra Guzman, 15 Sept. 1995: The UNDP gopher is
gopher://gopher.undp.org
Scottish Trespass Law
Kip Augustine Adams, Brigham Young University Law Library,
15 Sept. 1995: I teach a first year torts course. When we
discussed trespass to land, a student newly arrived from Scotland
said that, traditionally, Scotland had no rule prohibiting what
we would call trespass to land. Does anyone know anything about
this rule, or where I might be able to gather more information?
Sanwar Ali, UK, 16 Sept. 1995: I expect that Scotland's
laws on trespass are similar to those south of the border. In
England trespass does not constitute an offence. However armed
trespass carries something like seven years.
David Swarbrick, Solicitor, UK, 17 Sept. 1995: I am
certainly not a Scots lawyer, but I seem to remember the Scots
law on trespass being different to our own.
Also, whilst trespass to land simpliciter may not be an
offence, it is getting more and more difficult to trespass
without committing one of the many related offences which now
exist.
Alan Edwards, University of Otago, New Zealand, 18 Sept.
1995: In 18 (para 180-190) of The Laws of Scotland: Stair
Memorial Encyclopaedia (Edinburgh, 1993) indicates that
trespass by persons, animals, and things does indeed exist in
Scottish law.
Para 182 says "trespass may also be a criminal offence, but
there is no general rule by which trespass is a crime, and its
criminality depends on a series of statutes dealing with
particular kinds of intrusion. The most important of these are
the Trespass (Scotland) Act 1865, which makes it an offence to
lodge or encamp on private land, and the Game (Scotland) Act 1832
and the Night Poaching Act 1828, which deal with trespass in
pursuit of game-poaching, in other words."
Bermuda Arbitration Law
18 Sept. 1995: Could anyone send me some information
about how to locate a 1993 Bermuda statute on Arbitration. I was
told that this is the most recent Bermuda statute. Any help would
be greatly appreciated.
Lou Ellen Runyan, Steptoe and Johnson, Washington, DC, 18
Sept. 1995: Just doing some International Arbitration work so
I had your answer handy. I have the Bermuda International
Conciliation and Arbitration Act of 1993 in two different sets:
The International Handbook on Commercial Arbitration by
Kluwer (Vol 1), and International Commercial Arbitration
by Oceana (Vol 2).
Summit of the Americas
Randall J. Snyder, U.S. Department of State, 18 Sept.
1995: Is anyone aware of an Internet source for documents
from the Summit of the Americas last year?
Linda Thompson, World Bank, 18 Sept. 1995: Summit of
the Americas agreements are available through its home page:
http://summit.fiu. edu/
Margaret Aycock, University of Houston Law Library, 18
Sept. 1995: Florida International University's Latin American
and Caribbean Center established a gopher for the Summit of the
Americas. The gopher presently contains the texts of documents
and resolutions of the summit as well as news accounts and other
related items. The Summit Gopher can be accessed at:
gopher://summit.fiu.edu/
European Communities Competition Law
Currents: International Trade Law Journal, 18 Sept.
1995: I have been asked to help locate a document entitled
Competition Policy in the New Trade Order: Strengthening
International Cooperation and Rules.
Apparently, this document is distributed by the Office of
Publication of the European Communities in Luxembourg, L-2985(?),
and designated COM (95) 359 final.
Ken Grabach, Miami University of Ohio, 18 Sept. 1995:
If the other respondents to this list knew where
Currents@starbase was physically located, or had a fax number for
you, you might get a printed copy of the document. The European
Documentation Centres (EDCs) and Depository Libraries (DEPs) of
the European Union, in Europe and North America have COM
documents, many receiving them in microfiche. I know this because
my library has just become an EDC. I have not yet received our
first COM document, yet, but I am sure other libraries have.
[Note: See first message Currents.]
World Bank Data
Reuben Cleetus, 18 Sept. 1995: I m sorry if this
message is not posted correctly, but could someone please help me
in locating any World Bank data.
I'm searching for a site or anything else on the Net where I
can access World Bank Data, plus any good reference books that
would help me do the same.
Linda Thompson, World Bank, 18 Sept. 1995: The World
Bank has a public server with information about projects,
publications, the Inspection Panel, etc. URL:
http://www.worldbank.org/
Olga Shargorodska, 19 Sept. 1995: The Consortium for
International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) and the
World Bank are pleased to announce experimental Internet access
to two major World Bank datasets:
- Social Indicators of Development, 1994
http://www.ciesin.org/IC/wbank/sid-home.html
- Trends in Developing Economies, 1994
http://www.ciesin.org/IC/wbank/tde-home.html
For further information contact: CIESIN User Services, 2250
Pierce Road, University Center, MI 48710; telephone 517-797-2727;
fax 517-797-2622; email: ciesin.info@ciesin.org
Free Burma Act
A. Henderson and J. Lange, International Commission of
Jurists, 18 Sept. 1995: Can anyone provide a copy, (snail
mail or otherwise) of the Free Burma Bill 1995 which is currently
being debated in the US Senate, sponsored by Senator Mitch
McConnell?
Elliot Chabot, U.S. House of Representatives, 19 Sept.
1995: S. 1092 (the Free Burma Act of 1995) can be found at
http:// www.pls.com:8001/his/12.htm
European Trademarks
Stephanie Dueck, 20 Sept. 1995: I am trying to locate
copies of the European Community's trademark rules, regulations,
procedures, and forms. Does anyone know if this information is
available on the Internet or through another electronic media?
Olga Shatgorodska, 21 Sept. 1995:
- European Patent Office -- http://www.epo.co.at/epo
- Intellectual Property Mall --
http://www.fplc.edu/IPMALL.html
- U.S. Patent Office -- http://www.uspto.gov
UN Negotiation Game
Pel Wrange, Stockholm University, 21 Sept. 1995:
Students at ELSA (European Law Students Association) here in
Stockholm are organizing a UN day in October. They would like to
include a negotiation game of some sort on the UN. Does anyone
know of a ready made game of this type, and where to get it? Any
hints are appreciated.
Don Buckingham, University of Saskatchewan Law, 21 Sept.
1995: While not specially a UN game, the Christian Aid
Society of the United Kingdom has put out a very interesting game
called "The Trading Game" which propels students to trade in
manufactured shapes. Each group of students represents a country
or group of states and is given a resource pack consisting of
different mixes of natural resources, capital and technology. The
game is supervised by the Secretary General of the United
Nations, although I have most recently substituted the Director
General of the WTO for the SG.
Peter Rohn, University of Washington, 21 Sept. 1995:
You asked about a ready-made UN-related negotiating game.
Although not "ready-made" in the sense of a packaged commodity on
the shelf, it has been made and used many times and can easily be
adapted to various local conditions: see 1984 Proceedings,
American Society of International Law, page 205. If potential
users/adapters need further details beyond the published info,
they should feel free to ask me directly.
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