Flexing the Right Muscle = Gymnastique C

1
Making the Connection in the Caribbean to the
Rest of the World
2
Making the Connection in the Caribbeanto the
Rest of the World

• Lyonette Louis-Jacques
• University of Chicago Law Library
• llou_at_midway.uchicago.edu
• ACURIL, San Juan, Puerto Rico,
• June 4, 2003

3
How to Make the Connection
Websites Databases Reference Tools People
Sources
4
Criteria for Deciding What to Connect to (or
Whom!)

• Trustworthy?
• Well-organized?
• Useful content? Has or knows stuff you need?
• Convenient?
• Known/familiar?
• Updated regularly?
• Annotated? Evaluated?
• Aesthetically pleasing?

5
Websites Start with Your Own or Make Your Own

• You know where things are in it
• You know whats in it (whos on your team)
• You know what its strengths are or what the game
  plan is
• You can trust it

6
Lyos Personal Page for International Legal
Research
7
Bill Schwesigs DAngelo Law Library
International Page
8
University of the West Indies Law Library
9
UWIs CariLaw (Caribbean Law Project)
10
UWIs QUICKLAW Subscription
11
UWIs Legal Resources Links Page
12
Connect to the Best Information Go Straight to
the Source
13
Remember that Agencies Are on Your Team
(Domestic, Foreign, and International)

• UK U.S.
• United Nations
• Other Inter-Governmental Organizations (IGOs)
• Regional Organizations
• Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)
• Foreign Governments

14
Connect to Your Local Team (Local Government
Agencies)
15
And Dont Forget Your Foreign Team!
16
Precisa (Mexican government on the Net)
17
Legifrance (French laws)
18
HMSO (UK Legislation Page)
19
THOMAS (Access to U.S. bills and laws)
20
LCs Global Legal Information Network (GLIN)
http//www.loc.gov/law/glin/
21
U.S. Dept of State Country Reports, Trade,
Commerce, and International Law
22
Canadas DFAIT/AECI
23
Connect to IGO Websites Theyve Got Everything
Theyre the Best!
24
United Nations Treaty Collection
25
Really Current Status of Multilateral Treaties!
26
United Nations Documentation Centre
27
OAS Legal Information Search Page
28
OAS Foreign Trade Information System (SICE)
29
World Banks Law and Justice Page
30
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
31
EUR-Lex European Union Law Webpage
32
The Universe of Legal Information Is in the
Caribbean Right At Your Fingertips!
(Miss Universe participants at Trinidad and
Tobago)
33
If Youre Not Sure Where to Begin

• Check to see whats in your own library first
• Think globally, act locallyfirst

34
Presenting

• Major Websites for Foreign and International
  Legal Research

35
Cornells Legal Information Institute
International Law in a Nutshell

• Law about(by topic/subject)
• Foreign Relations Law of the U.S.
• International Law
• International Trade
• Law by source or jurisdiction
• Recommended readings!

36
Cornells Legal Information Institute (LII)
37
LLRX.com (UK law guides and more)
38
LLRX.coms Foreign Law Research Guides
39
LawLinks Legal Information on the Internet
40
BAILII (British and Irish Legal Information
Institute)
41
Inner Temple Librarys AccessToLaw Page
42
eagle-i (e-access to global legal information)
43
Treaties

• U.S.
• Marci Hoffmans Guide

• Other
• Stefanie Weigmans Guide

44
ASILs E-Resource Guide for International Legal
Researchers (and Joe Public)

• Direct links to treaty texts
• Human Rights
• International Economic Law
• Treaties
• International Commercial Arbitration, and more!

45
ASIL Guide to IL Research on the Net
46
NYU Focus on Foreign Law Databases, and More!

• Annotated links to databases of primary law
• Evaluated, selected by Foreign Law Librarian
• Updated frequently
• On target contents
• Codes, legislation, treaties, constitutions

47
New York Universitys FCIL Research Page
48
Harvards Research Guides
49
National Laws By Subject (Harvard)
50
Australian Treaties Library (Multilaterals from
1856)
51
The Avalon Projects Major Collections
52
Online Databases

• LexisNexis Especially for Martindale-Hubbell
  International Law Digest, Matthew-Bender
  treatises, foreign law
• CariLaw
• QUICKLAW

• WESTLAW Especially for international tribunal
  decisions, UK law journals, Sweet Maxwell
  publications, intl law journals

53
Online Public Access Catalogs (OPACs)

• Union catalogs
• Find foreign law
• Find treaties
• Verify information
• Tables of contents
• Browse call s
• Links to e-articles

54
Standard Tools (Books)

• Reynolds Flores
• PIL Nutshell
• CIA World Factbook
• Treaty indexes (TIF)
• Martindale-Hubbells Law Digest

• The Bluebook
• Encyclopedia of Public International Law
• International Legal Materials (ILM)

55
Reynolds Flores
56
Standard Tools (Contd)

• Restatement of the Law, The Foreign Relations of
  the United States
• Parry and Grant Encyclopaedic Dictionary of
  International Law
• International Law Selected Documents
• Yearbook of the United Nations
• Matthew-Bender and Sweet Maxwell
• Legal research guides

57
How to Stay Connected

• Read the basic international legal research
  guides
• Read international news sources (see Harvards
  page and the ASIL ERG (so youre prepared for
  requests for hot documents in the news)
• Monitor listservs such as INT-LAW and EURO-LEX
  (where you can also ask for help)
• Attend conferences (see the IJLI International
  Calendar for dates) and get to know the foreign
  and international law specialists. Network!
• Bookmark try new links right away!

58
People Sources (Specialists in FCIL Research)
Foreign Law Librarians
Lawyers
Documentalists/ IGO Librarians
Professors
59
Libraries with Strong FCIL Collections in the
Caribbean and Beyond

• University of the West Indies (UWI) Faculty of
  Law Library (Barbados)
• University of Puerto Rico Law Library
• U.S. libraries (Chicago, Columbia, Harvard,
  Berkeley, Tarlton (University of Texas at
  Austin), Los Angeles County Law Library, etc.)
• UK libraries (IALS, e.g.)

60
International Labor Organization Caribbean
Information Services
61
Caribbean Association of Law Libraries (CARALL)
62
The Archives of the INT-LAW E-Mail List
63
How to Subscribe to INT-LAW
Send an e-mail message to majordomo_at_listhost.cie
sin.org With only the following text in the
body subscribe int-law
64
LIS-LAW (UK Law Librarians List)
65
How to subscribe to LIS-LAW
Subscribe to LIS-LAW via http//www.jiscmail.ac.u
k/lists/lis-law.html
Or send e-mail to jiscmail_at_jiscmail.ac.uk with
only the following text in the body subscribe
lis-law Your Name
66
International Calendar for Legal Information
Events
67
SEAALL (Southeastern Chapter, American
Association of Law Libraries)
68
Checklist of Connections to Make

• Check websites
• Check databases
• Check standard tools..
• Research guides
• OPACs
• Indexes
• Check people sources
• IGOs, NGOs, embassies
• Listservs

69
Work It!
70
Question 1 Does the North American Commission
for Environmental Cooperation have a Web page?

• Yes, at http//www.cec.org/ (there is a link to
  it from the NAFTA Secretariat page)
• Also NYU has a link from its International
  Environment Law page ditto with the ASIL ERG for
  International Environmental Law

71
Question 2 What does RIDC stand for?

• Revue internationale de droit comparé! (using
  Sarah Carters wonderful LawLinks page of
  abbreviations)
• Alternative sources include searching in a full
  text journal articles database, searching in an
  online catalogue, or an Internet search engine
  such as Google

72
Question 3 Where can I find the text of the
1958 New York Convention?

• Its old, but its on the Net! The ASIL ERG has a
  link to it. The Convention on the Recognition and
  Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards is also at
  the AustLII Treaties Library (ATS 1975 No. 25)
• It also available via other official and
  unofficial sources such as UNCITRALand
  InternationalADR

73
Question 4 Where can I find English and
Spanish translations of French legal codes?

• From the French governments Legifrance web at
  http//www.legifrance.gouv.fr/html/codes_traduits/
  liste.htm
• See also Reynolds Flores Foreign Law.

74
Question 5 Where can you find an English
translation of the French Vienot Report on
Corporate Governance?

• My current favorite Internet search engine,
  Google, is great for this type of question a
  document with a popular name on a hot topic.
• The European Corporate Governance Network has a
  link to Vienot I and Vienot II in English from
  the Mouvement des Entreprises de France (MEDEF)

75
Google Search Results for Vienot Report
English
76
See What a Little Eksperyans Can Do?
77
How to Stay ConnectedContinued

• Attend workshops, seminars, and training courses
  (both substantive and bibliographic)
• Attend specialized database sessions
• Maintain a personal or institutional web page
• READ, READ, READ research guides and substantive
  international law articles
• Do you feel the burn?

78
You know youre ready to move up to the next
level when...

• You take less time to find the right anwers
• Someone asks a question on a listserv and you
  know you can answer that
• You no longer feel the burn

79
Touchdown! Youre Connected to the World!
80
FIN
81
Were done! See yall on the Net!