NetWatch: March 1997

Author:	Anne Greenshields Librarian - Law, Murdoch University
Subjects:	Internet computer network (Other articles) Legal research (Other articles)
Issue:	Volume 4, Number 1 (March 1997)
Category:	NetWatch

This issue of NetWatch is the usual collection of Internet sites which we consider interesting to legal researchers as well as links to sites we have identified as being useful for the Murdoch legal researchers' current batch of "hot topics". Current hot topics are requests for maiden speeches and parliamentary debates, the Wik Decision and responses to it, and discussion of the US tobacco companies disclosures and settlements.

• Australian legal sites and developments
• Primary Legal Materials Case Law, Statutes and Extrinsic Material

• About the Legal Internet

• Alternative Dispute Resolution
• Business and Commercial Law
• Crime
• Environmental Law
• Family Law
• Indigenous Studies
• International Law
• Intellectual Property
• Legal Education
• Legal Journals
• Legal Practice and Professional Associations* including dictionaries and forms
• Library and Publishing information
• Misc including Directories and News Papers
• Technology and the Law
• Torts

Australian sites and developments

• Federal Court of Australia includes information about the court as well as links to relevant statutes, rules and regulations.
  URL: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/other/fca/

• High Court of Australia includes information about the court, links to cases and recent speeches by High Court judges.
  URL: http://www.hcourt.gov.au/

• ScalePlus - access to legislation and caselaw from the Commonwealth and some states and territories. An alternative to the more well known AustLII databases. C urrency may vary between these sites.
  URL: http://law.agps.gov.au/Welcome.html
  URL: http://www.austlii.edu.au

Wik documents

• The High Court Decision: Wik Peoples - v - Queensland
  URL: http://www.austlii.edu.au/do/sinodisp.pl/au/cases/cth/high_ct/unrep299.html
  
• The Attorney-General's Legal Practice Legal Implications of the Wik decision,Current Advice, 23 January 1997.
  URL: http://www.nla.gov.au/pmc/native/wik.html
  
• "Wik - What Do We Do Now?" a speech by Justice R.S. French, President, National Native Title Tribunal, 22 January 1997.
  URL: http://www.austlii.edu.au/do/sinodisp.pl/au/other/car/nntt/wiksp221.html?query=wik
  
• Coexistence - Negotiation and Certainty. Indigenous Position in Response to the Wik Decision and the Government's Proposed Amendments to the Native Title Act, 1993.
  URL: http://smople.thehub.com.au/~faira/niwg/

Primary Legal Materials Case Law, Statutes and Extrinsic Material

• Avalon Project-Yale University Law School's Avalon Project seeks to "mount digital documents relevant to the fields of Law, History, Economics, Politics, Diplomacy and Government." An impressi ve collection of primary documents dating from the Athenian Constitution through the centurys including WWII documents and more....
  URL: http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/avalon.htm

• Federal Court of Australia includes information about the court as well as links to relevant statutes, rules and regulations.
  URL: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/other/fca/

• High Court of Australia includes information about the court, links to cases and recent speeches by High Court judges.
  URL: http://www.hcourt.gov.au/

• A Guide to Japanese Law a selection of Japanese statutes and regulations translated into English, includes selected conventions signed by Japan as well as articles about Japanese law.
  URL: http://home.highway.or.jp/JAPANLAW/

• The Legal Information Institute of New Zealand (LIINZ) now includes a selection of New Zealand Unconsolidated Statutes, as well as searchable access to the full text of the National Business Review's 'The Capita l Letter' - New Zealand's leading weekly source of news on the law and the Administration.
  URL: http://www.liinz.org.nz/

• ScalePlus - access to legislation and caselaw from the Commonwealth and some states and territories. An alternative to the more well known AustLII databases. C urrency may vary between these sites.
  URL: http://law.agps.gov.au/Welcome.html
  URL: http://www.austlii.edu.au

Australian Parliamentary sites

• Parliament of Australia Senate and House of Representatives Hansards and some Senate Committee transcripts, in PDF version 3 from 12/3/97 requiring Acrobat Reader v.3 to read
  URL: http://hansard.aph.gov.au/

  House of Representatives Table Office BillsNet including Bills and Explanatory Memoranda (in PDF format)
  URL: http://hansard.aph.gov.au/repsto/main.htm

  Bills introduced since 30 April 1996. Digests, Second Reading Speeches and Bills when available. (Digests contain brief plain language explanations of bill presented to parliament.)
  URL: http://www.aph.gov.au/pubs/bills.html

  Department of the Parliamentary Library Background Papers (1996/7+), Index (1994+)
  URL: http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/bp/

  Maiden speeches (NB. Only a selection available as yet.)
  URL: http://www.aph.gov.au/mps/mpindex.html

• ACT Attorney General's Homepage: includes explanatory memoranda, presentation speeches for bills. (1991+)
  URL: http://www.dpa.act.gov.au/ag/ag6.html

• Northern Territory Legislative Assembly: Hansard (4/12/90+ ) and Legislation
  URL: http://www.nt.gov.au/lant/hansard/

• Queensland Hansard (1990+) and Votes and Proceedings (1997+)
  URL: http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au:81/index.htm

• Tasmanian Parliament Databases: Hansard, Notice Papers & Votes and Proceedings (1992+)
  URL: http://www.parliament.tas.gov.au:8000/index.htm

• Parliament of Victoria - Hansard (1991+)
  URL: http://www.vicnet.net.au/cgi-bin/texhtml?form=VicHansard

• Parliament of Victoria - Bills (Autumn 1997)
  URL: http://www.dms.dpc.vic.gov.au/pdocs/bills/index.html

• Links to Web Sites on National Parliaments - Worldwide
  URL: http://www.soc.umn.edu/~sssmith/Parliaments.html

About the Legal Internet

• Legal Research Using the Internet.
  For new comers to the Internet - a linked "talk" putting internet resources into their place and illustrating how the internet could be used to find law resources. Warning this is a very big file but well worth reviewing.
  URL: http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/~llou/mpoctalk.html

• Law on the Internet Book list put out by the American Bar Association. Includes books and newsletters available online as well as from bookshops.
  URL: http://www.abanet.org/lpm/magazine/booklist.html

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Alternative Dispute Resolution

• La concillation, la mediation et l'arbitrage in collaboration with the "Chambre Arbitrale de Paris" and the extensive index which has been developed in collaboration with University of Nancy and Metz (in French).

  URL: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/S_Braudo/
  URL: http://interlex.droit-eco.u-nancy.fr:80/braudo/arbmed/base/Index.html

Business and Commercial Law

• Bank for International Settlements includes many publications avialable for download in PDF, links to Central Banks and press releases.
  URL: http://www.bis.org/index.htm
• The Bankruptcy Lawfinder (USA) a bankruptcy law meta list, designed to allow bankruptcy practitioners locate bankruptcy related resources on the Internet.
  URL: http://www.agin.com/lawfind/

• Central and East European Legal, Political, Business and Economics WWW Resources compiled by the Gonzaga University School of Law Library: An excellent starting point for English speaking rese archers.
  URL: http://law.gonzaga.edu/library/ceeurope.htm

• Electronic Legal Source Free legal information and forms for the public and members of the legal community, particularly in the area of business and commercial law
  URL: http://www.e-legal.com

• International review of criminal policy - United Nations Manual on the prevention and control of computer-related crime.
  URL: http://www.ifs.univie.ac.at/~pr2gq1/rev4344.html

• PC Software ForensicsComputer Forensics, computer crime and related US laws.
  URL: http://knock-knock.com/jr.htm

• Intellectual Property & Biodiversity News produced by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. It is a monthly digest of news, events, and articles in the field of Biodiversity and Inte llectual Property.
  URL: http://www.envirolink.org/seel/IATP/biodiv/

• Global Environment Outlook-1 Report 1997 The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report which gives "a snap-shot of an ongoing worldwide environmental assessment process." Extensive regional a nalysis gives depth and power to the report.
  URL: http://www.unep.org/unep/eia/geo1/

Family Law

• Family Law Centre(Canada) Family law articles, analysis, information, links. Recent cases, pending bills, and other important family law and divorce law developments examined. Emphasis on law of Canada and Ontario.
  URL: http://www.interlog.com/~famlaw/

• The Waitangi Tribunal Reports Database
  URL: http://www.knowledge-basket.co.nz/waitangi/welcome.html

Wik Documents

• The High Court Decision: Wik Peoples - v - Queensland
  URL: http://www.austlii.edu.au/do/sinodisp.pl/au/cases/cth/high_ct/unrep299.html
  
• The Attorney-General's Legal Practice Legal Implications of the Wik decision,Current Advice, 23 January 1997.
  URL: http://www.nla.gov.au/pmc/native/wik.html
  
• "Wik - What Do We Do Now?" a speech by Justice R.S. French, President, National Native Title Tribunal, 22 January 1997.
  URL: http://www.austlii.edu.au/do/sinodisp.pl/au/other/car/nntt/wiksp221.html?query=wik
  
• Coexistence - Negotiation and Certainty. Indigenous Position in Response to the Wik Decision and the Government's Proposed Amendments to the Native Title Act, 1993.
  URL: http://smople.thehub.com.au/~faira/niwg/

Intellectual Property

• European Copyright User Platform (ECUP): Copyright Focal Point on the Web the 'one-stop shop' for information on European copyright developments.
  URL: http://www.kaapeli.fi/~eblida/ecup/

• Intellectual Property & Biodiversity News produced by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. It is a monthly digest of news, events, and articles in the field of Biodiversity and Inte llectual Property.
  URL: http://www.envirolink.org/seel/IATP/biodiv/

• The Intellectual Property Reference Library - arranged into "rooms" relevant to the area. The reference collection is worth browsing. (USA)
  URL: http://www.servtech.com/public/mbobb/

• The Patent Jury Forum. A site designed as a resource for patent litigation practitioners, in the hope of improving patent infringement jury trials.
  URL: http://www.jurytrials.com

International Law

• War, Peace, and Security Guide Provided by the Information Resource Centre of the Canadian Forces College, (Department of National Defence), this meta-site links to information on military and naval forces worldwide
  URL: http://www.cfcsc.dnd.ca:80/links/index.html

Legal Education

• Legal Theory a mixed bag of abstracts, indexes, prefaces and full text articles from a variety of legal theory journals and monographs.
  URL: http://www.legaltheory.demon.co.uk
• JURIST: Law Professors on the Web. A site designed to consolidate, highlight and facilitate the many online projects and services being developed by individual law professors in this age of cy berspace.
  URL: http://www.law.pitt.edu/hibbitts/jurist.htm

• Mercer Law Review Full text Vol. 46, 1995 +
  URL: http://168.17.208.15/lawrev/review.htm

• Auckland District Law Society
  URL: www.adls.org.nz

• The Compleat Lawyer, the quarterly magazine of the ABA General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Section.
  URL: http://www.abanet.org/genpractice/Compleat/

• Electronic Legal Source (USA) Free legal information and forms for the public and members of the legal community, particularly in the area of business and commercial law. Includes a concise legal dictionary, forms, practice exams and self help information - US based but much could be adapted to other jurisdictions.
  URL: http://www.e-legal.com

• French Private Law Dictionnary (Civil Law,Commercial Law ,Labour Law, Law of Procedure and Judiciary Organisation) (In French)
  URL: http://interlex.droit-eco.u-nancy.fr:80/braudo/dictionnaire/cadre.html
• The Law Engine! A major reference page with links to legal search engines and reference tools, including dictionaries, case law .... well worth a look. Updated regularly. (USA)

• Legal Pad Clip art from Judith M. Bird - graphics to add visual depth to your work.
  URL: http://legal-pad.com/legalimages/legalart.html

• The World Wide Legal Information Association (WWLIA) Legal Dictionary in plain English, also an extensive range of links.
  URL: http://www.islandnet.com/~wwlia/diction.htm

• The Katharine Sharp Review a full text peer-reviewed e-journal devoted to student scholarship and research within library and information science. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. (USA)
  URL: http://edfu.lis.uiuc.edu/review/

Misc

• Avalon Project-Yale University Law School's Avalon Project seeks to "mount digital documents relevant to the fields of Law, History, Economics, Politics, Diplomacy and Government." An impressi ve collection of documents dating from the Athenian Constitution through the centurys including WWII documents and more....
  URL: http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/avalon.htm

• BUBL A hugh directory of internet resources. The BUBL Link is an excellent starting point for internet research in any subject area. (UK focus.)
  URL: http://bubl.ac.uk/

• Internet Newspapers - a very easy to use international directory of newspapers.
  URL: http://www.voyager.co.nz/~vag118/news.html

• Non-U.S. Law & Government Links a well organised directory to international resources from Regent University School of Law (USA)
  URL: http://www.regent.edu/lawlib/bookmark/bk-int-l.html

• Russell McVeagh McKenzie Bartleet & Co. An extensive range of links to New Zealand Resources and information.
  URL: http://www.rmmb.co.nz/

• The World Factbook 1996--CIA and their listing of Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members of Foreign Governments URL: http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/nsolo/wfb-all.htm URL: http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/chiefs/chiefs-toc-view.html

• PC Software ForensicsComputer Forensics, computer crime and related US laws.
  URL: http://knock-knock.com/jr.htm

Torts

• Liggett settlement documents: Copies are available online from theState Tobacco Information Center Settlement Page.
  URL: http://stic.neu.edu/settlement/
• Tobacco Firms Working on Settlement Plan URL: http://www.yahoo.com/headlines/970416/news/stories/tobacco_5.html
  
• Tobacco Firms Discuss Settlement (Washington Post) URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WAPO/19970416/V000643-041697-idx.html
  
• Tobacco Companies Negotiating Settlement (FOX News)
  URL: http://www.foxnews.com/front/041697/tobacco.sml
  
• Philip Morris and RJR Nabisco are in smoking litigation settlement talks (CNNfn)
  URL: http://www.cnnfn.com/hotstories/companies/9704/16/tobacco/index.htm
  
• Big tobacco reportedly talks settlement (MSNBC)
  URL: http://www.msnbc.com/news/69222.asp