Caribbean slavery reparation claims against some European countries

Epthinktank

Winning the Oscar ^®for best picture in March 2014, the acclaimed movie “12 Years a Slave” recently brought slavery back under the spotlight. Around the same time, but far less noticeably, a group of Caribbean countries brought forward a concrete action plan to seek compensation from some European countries which took part in the slave trade in centuries past. The plan is highly controversial .

Caribbean claims

The Caribbean region witnessed what is probably the longest period of slavery in the American continent. During their meeting in Saint Vincent, on 11 March 2014, CARICOM , the regional organisation of 15 Caribbean states , unanimously approved a ten-point plan laying out a series of claims against European countries involved in the slave trade 200 years ago: Great Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Denmark.

© porschelegend / Fotolia

The CARICOM demands include: a full and formal apology…

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David Erdos: Mind the Gap – The CJEU Google Spain Judgment Profoundly Challenges the Current Realities of Freedom of Expression and Information Online

UK Constitutional Law Association

CROSS-POSTED FROM OPENDEMOCRACY.NET.

The European UnionData Protection Directive of 1995 has always had lofty, and in many ways implausible, ambitions. As regards the private sector, it seeks to outlaw the input, storage or other processing on computer of any information relating to a living individual “data subject” (irrespective of whether the information is innocuous and/or widely available in the public domain) unless in each and every case that processing complies with a set of provisions put in place to ensure the protection of “the fundamental rights and freedoms of natural persons, and in particular their right to privacy” (Art. 1 (1)).

Subject to certain qualified and limited exemptions, that code requires that all data “controllers” – that is anyone who either “alone or jointly” determines the “purposes and means” of processing (Art. 2 (d)) – comply with a set of detailed rules designed inter alia to ensure fairness and…

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Citation Styles for Research Papers or Class Assignments

As the semester comes to an end and as you complete papers you may have probably been told submit your paper utilizing the “APA”, “MLA”, “AMA”, “Turabian” “OSCOLA/BLUEBOOK/AWLD” (Legal Writing), Chicago Manual of Style etc. However, please note that even if you were not explicitly told to utilize any of the aforementioned citation styles you are required to do so as the College prohibits plagiarizing, per its policy as indicated on the College’s website. You may have been asked to submit your research papers using Turnitin, an internet based anti-plagiarism tool.  Hence every paper that you submit for grading may potentially put you at risk for violation the College’s plagiarism policy. For the UWI/LLB COB students this plagiarism policy also exists in the Faculty of Law Undergraduate Handbook for New Students, 2012-2013 at page 44.

1. APA Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (Call # Ref BF76.7 .P83 2010) psychology, education, and other social sciences.
2.  MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers: (Call # LB2369 .G53 1999): literature, arts, and humanities.
3. AMA Manual of Style: medicine, health, and biological sciences.
4. Turabian: A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (Call # Ref LB2369 .T87 2007): designed for college students to use with all subjects.
5. Chicago: The Chicago Manual of Style (Call # Ref LB2369 .T87 2007) used with all subjects in the “real world” by books, magazines, newspapers, and other non-scholarly publications.

Using MS Office – Templates for Citation/Research Papers

t is important that you note that various citation styles have templates that are available in Microsoft Office Word 2010. When you open MS Word select “New” from the “File” tab, then do a search for an MLA or APA paper template.

You should also note that you can also use Microsoft office to assist you with citations when creating a bibliography or list of references or works cited.  Click the “Reference” tab.

Additional Online Style Guides:

Research and Documentation Online: Adapted from the book Research and Documentation in the Electronic Age by Diana Hacker (Boston, MA : Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2006), this site provides examples of citation style, parenthetical references, manuscript format, and completed papers for the MLA, APA, Chicago, and CSE (Council of Science Editors) styles.

Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL): Created by the English Department at Purdue University, this site covers all aspects of the academic, business, and creative writing processes (grammar, punctuation, style, rhetoric, outlines, etc.), along with the MLA and APA styles (the latter with sample papers) and annotated bibliographies.

Free Citation Management Tools:

1. Zotero – Free, easy-to-use tools to help you collect, organize, cite, and share your research sources.

• Zotero Quick Start Guide
• Zotero Tutorials

2. Mendeley – free reference manager and academic social network that can help you         organize your research, collaborate with others online, and discover the latest research.

• Mendeley Getting Started Guide

Legal Citation Manuals

OSCOLA

The Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities (Call # K114 .O83 2012) is designed to facilitate accurate citation of authorities, legislation, and other legal materials. It is widely used in law schools and by journal and book publishers in the UK and beyond.

• Introduction to OSCOLA
• OSCOLA Quick Reference Guide
• Creating a Bibliography in OSCOLA
• OSCOLA Referencing Generator
• Guide to Legal Citation

The Bluebook:  A Uniform Style of Citation (Call # REF K114 .B58 2010)

This is the most widely use citation style for legal writing in the US.

• Guide to the BlueBook
• BlueBook Layout
• Blue Book Citation Resources
• Bluebook Citation Generator (Please note this is an aid and should be double checked)

The AWLD Citation Manual

This a legal citation system for the United States compiled by the Association of Legal Writing Directors.

• AWLD Citation Generator (Please note this is an aid and should be double checked)
• AWLD Citation Rules

More information and Other Referencing Styles and Manuals 

Finding UK Case Law by Bodleian Law Library

Judgments (Supreme Court & Court of Appeals Decisions) in The Commonwealth of The Bahamas and “The Bahamas Law Reports” in Print

Cases from 1982- Present

It is worthy to note that locating most cases from January 1982 to present, in The Commonwealth of the Bahamas is somewhat easy as Lexis has “The Bahamas Law Reports” a source that contains the full text decisions of the Bahamas Court of Appeal and the Bahamas Supreme Court. which has not been published since Full text decisions of Bahamian cases that have been referred to the Privy Council will also appear within the source as well as Bahamian Industrial Tribunal Decisions. The source is updated monthly, and catchwords are judgments being added to all recent judgments.

 

 

Print Copy – Bahamas Law Reports 

It is also important to distinguish that what Lexis refers to as the Bahamas Law Reports should not be confused with “The Bahamas Law Reports” (BLR) a print publication that is included in the Lexis database but contains selected Bahamian judgments with editorial commentary. This small 13 volume set is carried by the College of the Bahamas’ Law Library of The Harry C. Moore Library & Information Centre  and commences with a volume 1965-1970 but ends in 1989-1990. It is further important to note that there is a gap from 1981-1986. 

Cases from 1962-Present

For all other cases the courts themselves or the College of the Bahamas’ Law Library of The Harry C. Moore Library & Information Centre has select cases in print from 1962 to present. It is also important to note that these cases are often referred to as “Unreported Judgments” when they are actually being reported.

Using CariLaw at The College of The Bahamas/UWI LLB Porgramme

The case based search engine, CariLaw has proven to be a helpful source to finding cases.  CariLaw is not only helpful with finding relevant cases, it is also a good trainer in helping to build the foundation to become a skilled legal researcher. Additionally, CariLaw has been an essential element in helping me find relevant cases for my law assignments. Once Mr. Adams instructed me on how to properly use CariLaw, finding the information became unproblematic. Furthermore, the key to using CariLaw is to type in the keywords that are relevant to the assignment given. Once the key words match up to the fact pattern, it makes finding relevant cases easier. Once there is an understanding of how to use the case based search engine, it become useful when using similar researcher sites. Thanks to Mr. Adams I now have a better understanding on how to use CariLaw.

Written by Shanae Petty, Class of 2014,  1st year LLB Student at COB!

An Intro to Writing & Publication for Legal Scholarly Authors

Tips for non-FCIL Law Librarians Who Sometimes Have to do U.S. Treaty Research

Great resources regarding treaties…

RIPS Law Librarian Blog

Hypothetical

Your client is a black market firearms dealer.

The U.S. government is hot on her trail and is about to catch her. To avoid extradition, she is looking for a country to escape to with her millions of illegally acquired dollars. She wants to flee to one of the following countries:

• Singapore
• Bhutan
• Israel
• Trinidad and Tobago (T & T)

Research Guides

I recommend starting with an online  treaty research guide:

• American Society ofInternational Law electronic resource guide (ASIL ERG)
  • Treaties by Jill McC. Watson
  • This research guide contains a section called Finding US Treaties: Old and New.
• UPDATE: An Introduction to Sources for Treaty Research – By Mark Engsberg and Mary Beth Chappell
  •  Locating Treaty Texts, –  good overview of how to find US treaties

Books

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention a few major print publications that may help.

• International and Foreign Legal Research:…

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No, you can’t use your student Lexis account for work! (Well, except for when you can.)

Please read this article closely as it is related to the use of database for other purposes unrelated to school.

RIPS Law Librarian Blog

Did everyone read the email a couple of weeks ago?  The one from Lexis on March 7^th?  Did your students read it?

We have a problem every year explaining what students can use their Lexis and Westlaw accounts for in regards to school, work for credit, and just plain work – and now Lexis Advance has added a new wrinkle!

Here is the pertinent part of the email (in case you didn’t save it) –

“We have an exciting new Summer Access program this year for law students that will permit them to use Lexis Advance® not only for academic work, but any research conducted on behalf of their employer whether working in a paid or unpaid position at a law firm, court, government agency, or public interest organization.  They will have unlimited access using their Lexis Advance ID. …  We appreciate your assistance in ensuring that all…

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Insight on Westlaw

Insight on Westlaw.