Bill Index Database - Providing Links to Hansard Debate for Individual Bills

Today I learnt that there is a Bill index database that provides links to the Hansard debate for each stage of a Bill as it passes through Parliament. It can be accessed here:

http://bills.ais.co.uk/AC.asp

The legislation.gov.uk website says the Bill index database provides “links to the full text of a Bill, the Hansard debate, and any proposed amendments.” *

* http://www.legislation.gov.uk/new

Personally I can’t see where it links to the full text of the Bill (perhaps I’m missing something). I also can’t quite figure out whether it only includes Bills currently before Parliament or also older ones (again, perhaps I’m missing something). If I don’t need to see the Hansard, I think I’ll probably stick to tracking Bills before Parliament using the Parliament website:

http://services.parliament.uk/bills/

BAILII's Guide to Neutral Citations

Today I learnt that BAILII has an excellent guide to neutral citations on its website. This is where I will be directing trainees in the future:

http://www.bailii.org/bailii/citation.html

TSO's Daily List - More Useful Than legislation.gov.uk?

Today I learnt that TSO provides a Daily List on its website which records all publications published by TSO each day. It is really handy because Draft Statutory Instruments are not published in order on the legislation.gov.uk website. Boo. How else are we supposed to tell what's been published each day? Thank you to my colleague Nicky for the tip:

http://www.tsoshop.co.uk/bookstore.asp?FO=38797

You can also take out a subscription to the hardcopy of the Daily List, if that's your thing:

http://www.tsoshop.co.uk/parliament/bookstore.asp?DI=546133

How the Chancery Division Got its Name

Today I learnt about the origins of the Court of Chancery (now the Chancery Division of the High Court). Back in Plantagenet days, if people felt they could not receive justice through the common law courts, they would appeal to the King to hear their complaints and provide a remedy. In the fifteenth century, this task was delegated to the Chancellor and because he heard so many petitions a court was established that dealt exclusively with matters of equity, the Court of Chancery.

I read this in Geoffrey Rivlin's fascinating book Understanding the Law (Oxford University Press):

http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780199547203.do

AIM Listed Companies’ Country Of Operation and Country Of Incorporation

Today I learnt that the London Stock Exchange publishes on its website a spreadsheet of all companies listed on AIM (the Alternative Investment Market) which you can filter by country of operation and country of incorporation. It came in very handy with an enquiry I was answering today.

http://www.londonstockexchange.com/statistics/companies-and-issuers/companies-and-issuers.htm

Free Access to Law Movement Members and Website

Today I learnt that the Free Access to Law Movement (FALM) has a website that lists all members and acts as a handy gateway to the contributor websites:

http://www.falm.info/

Free Access to Law Movement

Today I learnt that something exists called the Free Access to Law Movement. The movement is an affiliation of 33 legal information institutes (LIIs) around the world, including LII (Cornell), BAIILII, AustLII, CanLII, etc. It was established at the 2002 'Law via Internet' Conference in Montreal, where the Declaration on Free Access to Law was adopted. Members believe that public legal information is "digital common property and should be accessible to all on a non-profit basis and free of charge".* With this in mind they agree to "promote and support"* free access to public legal information, mainly via the Internet, and to co-operate with each another to achieve their aims.

Two notable collaborative projects are:
WorldLII - a free search facility covering 1166 law databases from 123 juridictions
LawCite - a free global case citator

I use the BAILII and WorldLII databases on a daily basis, but I had never given much thought to the origins of these services until I read Graham Greenleaf's chapter in the IALL International Handbook of Legal Information Management entitled "Free Access to Legal Information, LIIs and the Free Access to Law Movement" (Ashgate, Farnham, 2011).

http://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9780754674771

* Declaration on Free Access to Law: http://www.worldlii.org/worldlii/declaration/

Live Streaming of Supreme Court Proceedings

Today I learnt that the proceedings of the (UK) Supreme Court are streamed live online by Sky News. When there is more than one case being heard, the case of greater public interest will be broadcast. The Supreme Court is the only court in the UK to allow proceedings to be filmed. If you prefer to watch in person then you can do, because the court is open to the general public, who can sit in the public gallery. The court is in recess at the moment though, so don't expect any action until October.

http://www.supremecourt.gov.uk/

http://www.skynews.com/supremecourt

Electronic Submission of CILIP Chartership Revalidation Portfolio

Today I learnt that you can submit your CILIP Chartership Revalidation Portfolio electronically. This will come in useful in a couple of weeks as that is exactly what I plan to do. How things have changed since I did it first time round...

http://www.cilip.org.uk/jobs-careers/qualifications/cilip-qualifications/revalidation/Pages/esubmission-reval.aspx

Cuts in Public Library Services May be Unlawful

Today I learnt that cuts in public library services may be unlawful. Voices for the Library has published in full on its website a letter to The Times from Francis Bennion, the barrister who drafted the Bill that became the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964.

Bennion maintains that the reduction in public library services may be unlawful if library authorities are not fulfilling their obligation under the Act to “provide a comprehensive and efficient library service for all persons . . . whose residence or place of work is within the library area of the authority or who are undergoing full-time education within that area”.

This is fascinating. Check it out on the Voices for the Library website:

http://www.voicesforthelibrary.org.uk/wordpress/?p=2017

New Zealand Law Society Law Library Research Service

Today I learnt that the New Zealand Law Society Law Library offers a research service, even if you aren't a member. In my case they were able to use their resources to check if a New Zealand case was still good law. They were fast and efficient and even asked if I had been affected by the London riots. You can't ask for more than that. The service cost NZ$40 and I was very impressed.

http://www.lawsociety.org.nz/home/for_lawyers/law_library/services

Named and Shamed in the House of Commons

Today I learnt that the phrase "named and shamed" comes from the House of Commons. I knew that MPs referred to each other as "my honourable friend" etc, but I didn't know that MPs' names are only mentioned if they have done something wrong, and are therefore named and shamed. This interesting fact came from my tour guide at the Houses of Parliament. I've tried and failed to verify it, but I choose to believe it is true because I like it.

http://www.parliament.uk/visiting/visiting-and-tours/

Treaty Definitions - The Difference Between Signature, Ratification and Accession

Today I learnt how it is possible for a State to "sign up" to a treaty without actually signing it. The answer: Accession! Apologies if this is common knowledge, but today I've learnt that Signature usually means that a State agrees to the text of a treaty, Ratification means a State consents to be bound by a treaty following Signature, and Accession means a State agrees to be bound by a treaty without going through the process of Signature and Ratification (e.g. if a State was not involved in the original treaty negotiations). This is something I have often wondered about and was forced to find out today when answering an enquiry from a lawyer. Of course I have oversimplified the definitions for the sake of this blog. In the future I will refer to the helpful glossary on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website (link below) and when a lawyer next asks if a State has "signed up" to a particular treaty, I will be better equipped to answer.

http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/publications-and-documents/treaties/practice-procedures/glossary-treaty-terms

Why Post Magazine is called Post Magazine

I've learnt something already today and it's only lunch time! This morning I learnt why Post Magazine is called Post Magazine when it covers the insurance industry and has nothing to do with post whatsoever. I ponder this question every Thursday when I'm putting together the insurance industry newsletter. Today, inspired by my new blog, I decided to find out. According to the Post website:

Post Magazine first appeared on Saturday 25 July 1840, just seven months after the introduction of the Penny Post and was the first publication anywhere in the world to be sent by post - hence its name.

This the best thing I've learnt so far.

http://www.postonline.co.uk/static/posthistory

More and More Researchers are Visiting Libraries

Today I learnt that, contrary to popular belief, researchers still use libraries. New figures released by Research Libraries UK (RLUK) show that there was a 10% increase in visits to its 23 UK university member libraries from the previous year. There were 35 million visits, which is the highest number since records began. The figures represent 2009/10 which is the latest year for which full data are available. RLUK is a consortium of 30 research organizations in the UK and Ireland, which includes the three UK national libraries. Thank you CILIP Weekly Information World for bringing this to my attention.

http://www.rluk.ac.uk/content/uk-research-libraries-busier-ever

http://www.cilip.org.uk/

Thomson Reuters Started Life as a Fleet of Carrier Pigeons

Well I never. Today I learnt that the Reuters part of Thomson Reuters dates back to 1851 when Paul Julius Reuter emigrated from Germany to London to develop his news information service that relied on telegraph cables and a fleet of 200 carrier pigeons. I didn't say that all blog posts would be useful, did I?

http://thomsonreuters.com/about/company_history/#1890_1790

IALS Legal Rearch Guides by Jurisdiction

What did I learn today?

The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies provides legal research guides on its website that suggest which resources should be used when researching foreign jurisdictions. They cover hardcopy and electronic resources available in IALS library but can also be used as a general reference tool. I found them very helpful for some research I was doing this afternoon. Thank you IALS!

http://ials.sas.ac.uk/library/guides/research_guides.htm