E LAW - MURDOCH UNIVERSITY ELECTRONIC JOURNAL OF LAW ISSN 1321-8447 Volume 8 Number 4 (December 2001) Copyright E Law and author File: netw84.txt ftp://law.murdoch.edu.au/pub/elaw-issues/v8n4/netw84.txt http://www.murdoch.edu.au/elaw/issues/v8n4/netw84.html ________________________________________________________________________ NetWatch:December 2001 Anne Greenshields Librarian - Law, Murdoch University Library ------------------------------------------------------------------------ * Australian legal sites and developments with a special note regarding currency of WA and Commonwealth legislation on various Internet sites. * Primary Legal Materials - Case Law, Statutes and Extrinsic Material * Asian Sites * International Law * Children and the Law * Journals, Essays & Newspapers * Civil Rights & Free Speech * Labor & Industrial Relations * Commercial Law * Legal Practice * Constitutional Law * Reference materials and Search Engines * Criminal Law * Tax * Directories and Guides * Technology and the Law * Dispute Resolution * Women and the Law * Human Rights * Intellectual Property * Miscellaneous ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Australian sites and developments Commonwealth and WA legislation - Warning re currency. While most legal researchers are aware of the various provisions in relation to use of electronic legislation in court, many are unaware of the potential variation in the currency of different versions available on line. Always remember to check the notes or compilation information associated to the individual act to determine its currency. The following statement is based on use of the sites discussed below during 2001. While the situation may change the means of varifying currency outlined remains valid. Commonwealth legislation: Scaleplus & AustLII URL: http://scaleplus.law.gov.au/ URL: http://www.austlii.edu.au Over the last few months there has been instances where there has been significant variation in compilation dates of Commonwealth legislation on the 2 main sites - Scaleplus and AustLII. - - - On Scaleplus check the Compilation information under the short title of the index to the act act for currency information. - - - On AustLII check the [Notes] link on the top of the index to the act. If an act is to be frequently consulted we recommend making a bookmark or favorite directly to the act (Netscape users should use their right mouse button to open the Act into a new frame, Internet Explorer browsers should use the No Frames version to browse to the Act). We currently recommend researchers use Scaleplus as their first point of call for legislative research and that they should consider working through the "notify me when" function to receive an automatic alert of legislative changes to Acts of interest. Western Australian legislation: State Law Publisher & AustLII URL: http://www.slp.wa.gov.au/statutes/swans.nsf URL: http://www.austlii.edu.au The State Law Publisher site is the source for WA legislation loaded on AustLII. There have been significant gaps between updates loaded on to AustLII i.e.. One update on 30 April 1998 the next on 20 December 2001. For currency information - - - On State Law Publisher check the Notes field at the end of the act for currency details. - - - On AustLII check the [Notes] link on the top of the index to the act. State Law Publishers provide free access to, and downloading for, individual sections. Downloads of complete acts is available through their commercial operations. Abbreviations of Legal Publications compiled by the staff of the Law Library, Monash University for their staff and students: a useful resource for others working in the legal area. (Australia) URL: http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/law/abbrevlist/ Australian Digital Alliance - ADA Monthly Intellectual Property Wrap-up "A monthly summary of recent legislation, cases, reports and other events relating to intellectual property and the public interest, published by the Australian Digital Alliance." URL: http://www.digital.org.au/ URL: http://www.digital.org.au/issue/ipwdec01.htm Compensation Magistrate's Court (WA) decisions 1994+ from WorkCover WA URL: http://www.workcover.wa.gov.au/schemeinfo/magdec/intro.cfm URL: http://www.workcover.wa.gov.au Guide to Internet Resources on Terrorism Law from the Commonwealth Parliamentary Library. A new topic added to their Criminal Law Guides. URL: http://www.aph.gov.au/library/intguide/law/crimlaw.htm#Terrorism URL: http://www.aph.gov.au/library/intguide/law/crimlaw.htm HIH Royal Commission - background papers, transcripts, practice notes and a hearing calendar. URL: http://www.hihroyalcom.gov.au Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Homicides in Australia a comparative analysis published in Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice No.210, Australian Institute of Criminology URL: http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi210.html URL: http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/ URL: http://www.aic.gov.au/ Infoessentials a portal/directory to Australian legal, financial and medical resources, includes some fee based sites. URL: http://www.infoessentials.com Legal Aid WA - fact sheets, publications for residents of Western Australia URL: http://www.legalaid.wa.gov.au/ New South Wales Law Reform Commission Reports and Issues Papers. Latest released include Surveillance - Report 98, Complaints Against Lawyers: an interim report (No. 99) and Sentencing: Corporate Offenders (Issues Paper 20) URL: http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lrc.nsf/pages/pubs Oz Net Law - A community based legal practice providing free information about Internet and e commerce related law in Australia. The facts sheets are straight forward and easy to read. List and links of Australian legislation relevant to the topic. URL: http://www.oznetlaw.net/ Queensland University of Technology Law and Justice Journal. Vol 1. 2001 + URL: http://www.qut.edu.au/law/ljournal Youth Challenge, Teaching Human Rights and Responsibilities. An online education program developed by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission URL: http://www.humanrights.gov.au/youthchallenge/index.html Primary Legal Materials American Law Sources On-line (ALSO!) an easy to use directory of links to online sources of law for the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The links are mostly to free sites and also has links to available commentary and practice aids. The "practice" area includes links to a significant range of online general reference material as well as free monographs etc. URL: http://www.lawsource.com/also/ Compensation Magistrate's Court (WA) decisions 1994+ from WorkCover WA URL: http://www.workcover.wa.gov.au/schemeinfo/magdec/intro.cfm URL: http://www.workcover.wa.gov.au Hong Kong Legal Information Institute A joint project of the University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law and AustLII. Judgments from Court of Final Appeal (1998+); Court of Appeal of Hong Kong (1993+); Court of First Instance of Hong Kong (1982+); District, Family, and Land Courts (1994+) Legislation includes both ordinances and historical laws. Other resources include practice directions, law reform materials and treaties. URL: http://www.hklii.org/ International Court of Justice - decisions and pleadings, and other publications. URL: http://www.icj-cij.org/ Multilaterals Project -from the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University (USA) . Multilateral conventions and treaties access by subject, as well as through chronological and search options. URL: http://fletcher.tufts.edu/multilaterals.html Pacific Islands Legal Information Institute (PacLII) under development from the University of the South Pacific. Cases, Legislation and links to Government sources. URL: http://www.vanuatu.usp.ac.fj/paclawmat/Paclawmat_MAIN.html United States Code - 2000 edition is under development. Easy to use browse and search screens. URL: http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/cong013.html Asian Sites Hong Kong Legal Information Institute A joint project of the University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law and AustLII. Judgments from Court of Final Appeal (1998+); Court of Appeal of Hong Kong (1993+); Court of First Instance of Hong Kong (1982+); District, Family, and Land Courts (1994+) Legislation includes both ordinances and historical laws. Other resources include practice directions, law reform materials and treaties. URL: http://www.hklii.org/ Children and the law Youth Challenge, Teaching Human Rights and Responsibilities. An online education program developed by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Australia. URL: http://www.humanrights.gov.au/youthchallenge/index.html Civil Rights & Free Speech Anti-Defamation League: Fighting Anti-Semitism, Bigotry and Extremism Since 1913. Essays, articles and discussion. Material arranged by topic i.e.. Hate crimes, extremism, international affairs, Internet. URL: http://www.adl.org/ The Bill of Rights Institute (USA) an educational resource for US high school students. Useful for non-US residents interested in the US Constitution and Bill of Rights. URL: http://www.billofrightsinstitute.org/index.php The International Policy Institute for Counter Terrorism based in Israel this site extends beyond conflicts in the Middle East. Two databases with wider interests are the Terrorist Organization Profiles and Terror Attacks: Both contain an impressive collection of information, bulletins and press releases. URL: http://www.ict.org.il/ NAACP.ORG - National Association for the Advancement of Colored People - US civil rights organization. Links to magazine, history time line and news URL: http://www.naacp.org/ Commercial Law Business Filings Databases - Links to US databases for public business records and filing details for each state, from Law Library Resource Exchange (LLRX) URL: http://www.llrx.com/columns/roundup19.htm URL: http://www.llrx.com/ Country Commercial Guides - Commercial guides to the economic, political and legal environment of countries which trade with the US. Material on this site is focused for US trade interests as seen by the United States Commercial Service URL: http://www.usatrade.gov/website/ccg.nsf eLexPortal.com - regulatory issues and business processes in e-commerce in the EU. Designed for non-lawyers, free in 2002, membership charges will be applied in 2003. URL: http://www.elexportal.com/ HIH Royal Commission - background papers, transcripts, practice notes and a hearing calendar.(Australia) URL: http://www.hihroyalcom.gov.au Sentencing: Corporate Offenders (Issues Paper 20) from the New South Wales Law Reform Commission URL: http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lrc.nsf/pages/pubs U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) URL: http://www.sec.gov/ Constitutional Law The Bill of Rights Institute (USA) an educational resource for US high school students. Useful for non-US residents interested in the US Constitution and Bill of Rights. URL: http://www.billofrightsinstitute.org/index.php Constitution Project (USA) A bipartisan, nonprofit organization dealing with US controversial constitutional issues. Articles, newsletters and discussion is available. URL: http://www.constitutionproject.org/ Criminal Law Crime and Justice Data Online from the US Department of Justice - a comprehensive site of data and analysis in relation to criminal issues in the USA. http://149.101.22.40/dataonline/ Crimes of Persuasion: Schemes, Scams, Frauds - discussion and illustrations of contemporary cons. Pyramid schemes, telemarketing, mail scams etc. URL: http://www.crimes-of-persuasion.com/ Drug Trafficking in the United States from the US Drug Enforcement Administration. URL: http://www.dea.gov/pubs/intel/01020/ Guide to Internet Resources on Terrorism Law from the Commonwealth of Australia Parliamentary Library. A new topic added to their Criminal Law Guides. URL: http://www.aph.gov.au/library/intguide/law/crimlaw.htm#Terrorism URL: http://www.aph.gov.au/library/intguide/law/crimlaw.htm Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Homicides in Australia a comparative analysis published in Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice No. 210, Australian Institute of Criminology URL: http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi210.html URL: http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/ URL: http://www.aic.gov.au/ Restorative Justice Online "Restorative justice can be defined as a response to crime that focuses on restoring the losses suffered by victims, holding offenders accountable for the harm they have caused, and building peace within communities". Discussion, documents, reports. URL: http://www.restorativejustice.org/ Sentencing: Corporate Offenders (Issues Paper 20) from the New South Wales Law Reform Commission URL: http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lrc.nsf/pages/pubs The Sentencing Project is a "nonprofit organization which promotes decreased reliance on incarceration and increased use of more effective and humane alternatives." The project is a "source of criminal justice policy analysis, data and program information". Briefing sheets and reports are in pdf format. URL: http://www.sentencingproject.org/ Surveillance - Report 98, Complaints Against Lawyers: an interim report (No. 99) from the New South Wales Law Reform Commission URL: http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lrc.nsf/pages/pubs Vera - Institute of Justice criminal and juvenile justice resources and discussion. Focus is New York, but the projects, reports and publications are relevant to any researcher in the area. URL: http://www.vera.org/default_flash.asp Violence Against Women Initiative - report from the Home Office (UK), part of their Crime Reduction Programme. URL: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/domesticviolence/projsum.htm#brafdford URL: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/crimprev/cpindex.htm Directories and Guides American Law Sources On-line (ALSO!) an easy to use directory of links to online sources of law for the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The links are mostly to free sites and also has links to available commentary and practice aids. The "practice" area includes links to a significant range of online general reference material as well as free monographs etc. Easy to navigate and find relevant material. URL: http://www.lawsource.com/also/ Canadalegal.com - directory and search engine of Canadian legal material. URL: http://www.canadalegal.com/default.asp Infoessentials a portal/directory to Australian legal, financial and medical resources, includes some fee based sites. URL: http://www.infoessentials.com Law Dictionaries online - a UK directory of dictionaries for commercial, ADR, family, human rights and international law. Links to other reference works may be useful. UK Law news is featured. URL: http://lawdictionaries.com/ New Zealand Law Librarians Membership Directory URL: http://www.nzllg.org.nz/about.cfm?folderid=10 US Government Information on the Web a Subject Index - links to a substantial range of US Government documents arranged by subject. Browse through an alphabetic list to your subject area. Many documents in pdf. URL: http://library.stmarytx.edu/acadlib/doc/us/subjects/submain.htm World Directory of Parliamentary Libraries from the Deutscher Bundestag -available in English and German. URL: http://www.bundestag.de/datbk/library/ Dispute Resolution Restorative Justice Online "Restorative justice can be defined as a response to crime that focuses on restoring the losses suffered by victims, holding offenders accountable for the harm they have caused, and building peace within communities". Discussion, documents, reports. URL: http://www.restorativejustice.org/ Human Rights BehindTheLabel.org [QuickTime] - an activist site examining exploitation of workers and trafficking of people for and by the international garment industry. News, analysis, video clips and links available. URL: http://www.behindthelabel.org European Council on Refugees and Exiles URL: http://www.ecre.org/ Global Lawyers and Physicians "a nonprofit non-governmental organization that focuses on health and human rights issues." URL: http://www.glphr.org/ Human Rights Watch World Report 2002 [pdf] URL: http://www.hrw.org/wr2k2/ Youth Challenge, Teaching Human Rights and Responsibilities. An online education program developed by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Australia. URL: http://www.humanrights.gov.au/youthchallenge/index.html Intellectual Property Australian Digital Alliance - ADA Monthly Intellectual Property Wrap-up "A monthly summary of recent legislation, cases, reports and other events relating to intellectual property and the public interest, published by the Australian Digital Alliance." URL: http://www.digital.org.au/ URL: http://www.digital.org.au/issue/ipwdec01.htm Intellectual Property Notes: An IP newsletter including case law and UDRP decision summaries, legal news, articles, legal resources and more. Free for two months - then you pay for the newsletter. Some material remains free. URL: http://www.jurisnotes.com/ Oz Net Law - A community based legal practice providing free information about internet and e commerce related law in Australia. The facts sheets are straight forward and easy to read. List and links of Australian legislation relevant to the topic. URL: http://www.oznetlaw.net/ International Law Guide to Internet Resources on Terrorism Law from the Commonwealth of Australia Parliamentary Library. A new topic added to their Criminal Law Guides. URL: http://www.aph.gov.au/library/intguide/law/crimlaw.htm#Terrorism URL: http://www.aph.gov.au/library/intguide/law/crimlaw.htm International Court of Justice - decisions and pleadings, and other publications. URL: http://www.icj-cij.org/ Multilaterals Project -from the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University (USA) . Multilateral conventions and treaties access by subject, as well as through chronological and search options. URL: http://fletcher.tufts.edu/multilaterals.html Terrorism Project from The Center for Defense Information - on this site which "provide insights, in-depth analysis and facts on the military, security and foreign policy challenges as the United States, and the world, faces terrorism" by providing access to legislation, articles and links. URL: http://www.cdi.org/terrorism/ Terrorism Research Center - international and US discussion, profiles of terrorist groups, articles and links. URL: http://www.terrorism.com/ Journals, Essays & Newspaper Australian Digital Alliance - ADA Monthly Intellectual Property Wrap-Up "A monthly summary of recent legislation, cases, reports and other events relating to intellectual property and the public interest, published by the Australian Digital Alliance." URL: http://www.digital.org.au/ URL: http://www.digital.org.au/issue/ipwdec01.htm inBRIEF monthly magazine for legal practitioners working in the UK, or for those wanting to work in the UK. The site includes articles and job opportunities. URL: http://www.inbrief.co.uk/ Intellectual Property Notes: An IP newsletter including case law and UDRP decision summaries, legal news, articles, legal resources and more. Free for two months - then you pay for the newsletter. Some material remains free. URL: http://www.jurisnotes.com/ LLRX.com a "journal dedicated to Internet legal research and technology-related issues, has made its extensive archive of legal research and Internet law related content even more accessible to visitors". Useful as a reference guide to unfamiliar jurisdictions and areas of law. Access to the archives is available through an index and search engine. URL: http://www.llrx.com/library/index.htm. URL: http://www.llrx.com/search.html Law, Social Justice and Global Development URL: http://elj.warwick.ac.uk/global/ Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice from the Australian Institute of Criminology URL: http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/ URL: http://www.aic.gov.au/ Queensland University of Technology Law and Justice Journal. Vol 1. 2001 + URL: http://www.qut.edu.au/law/ljournal Labor & Industrial Relations Law Labor Research Portal (US) from Berkeley's Institute of Industrial Relations Library URL: http://www.iir.berkeley.edu/library/laborportal.html URL: http://iir.berkeley.edu Compensation Magistrate's Court (WA) decisions 1994+ from WorkCover WA URL: http://www.workcover.wa.gov.au/schemeinfo/magdec/intro.cfm URL: http://www.workcover.wa.gov.au Legal Practice Complaints Against Lawyers: an interim report (No. 99) from the New South Wales Law Reform Commission URL: http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lrc.nsf/pages/pubs Reference materials and Search Engines Abbreviations of Legal Publications compiled by the staff of the Law Library, Monash University for their staff and students: a useful resource for others working in the legal area. (Australia) URL: http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/law/abbrevlist/ Attorneys Pocket Legal Dictionary- US dictionary of legal terms, particularly in the areas of banking, tax and insurance. Both the search and browse functions are straightforward to use. URL: http://www.landlords-tenants.com/dict/index.htm Law Dictionaries online - a UK directory of dictionaries for commercial, ADR, family, human rights and international law. Links to other reference works may be useful. UK Law news is featured. URL: http://lawdictionaries.com/ LLRX.com a "journal dedicated to Internet legal research and technology-related issues, has made its extensive archive of legal research and Internet law related content even more accessible to visitors". Useful as a reference guide to unfamiliar jurisdictions and areas of law. Access to the archives is available through an index and search engine. URL: http://www.llrx.com/library/index.htm. URL: http://www.llrx.com/search.html Tax Tax.org - information for US tax professionals and those with an interest in economic or public policy. Free services include world wide tax policy briefings on a number of issues from e-commerce to the environment, treaties and global trading, and more. URL: http://www.tax.org/ Technology and the Law eLexPortal.com - regulatory issues and business processes in e-commerce in the EU. Designed for non-lawyers, free in 2002, membership charges will be applied in 2003. URL: http://www.elexportal.com/ HighTechAttorney - site for lawyers specializing in technology issues. URL: http://www.hightechattorney.com/ Oz Net Law - A community based legal practice providing free information about Internet and e commerce related law in Australia. The facts sheets are straight forward and easy to read. List and links of Australian legislation relevant to the topic. URL: http://www.oznetlaw.net/ Women and the Law Queensland University of Technology Law and Justice Journal. Vol 1. 2001 + Issue 1 features documents from the "Feminist Legal Academic Workshop 2001" URL: http://www.qut.edu.au/law/ljournal Violence Against Women Initiative - report from the Home Office (UK), part of their Crime Reduction Programme. URL: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/domesticviolence/projsum.htm#brafdford URL: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/crimprev/cpindex.htm Women's Rights: 1848 to the Present. (USA) URL: http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/womrts/ ----------------------------------------------------------------- Misc. The Domestic Cat and the Law: A Guide to Available Resources - a fun, useful, site for all cat lovers! URL: http://www.llrx.com/features/catlaw.htm Gareth Long's Encyclopedia of Monsters, Mythical Creatures and Fabulous Beasts URL: http://webhome.idirect.com/~donlong/monsters/monsters.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------