Around the world, legal information managers, law librarians and other legal information specialists work in many settings: law schools, private law firms, courts, government, and public law libraries of various types. They are characterized by their expertise in working with legal information in its many forms, and by their work supporting legal professionals, scholars, or students training to become lawyers. In an ever-shrinking world and a time of unprecedented technological change, the work of legal information managers is challenging and exciting, calling on specialized knowledge and skills, regardless of where in the world they practice their profession. Their role within legal systems contributes substantially to the administration of justice and the rule of law. This International Handbook addresses the policy and strategic issues with which legal information managers and law librarians need to engage in the context of the diverse legal environments in which they work. It provides resources, analysis, and considered studies on an international basis for seasoned professionals, those about to enter the field, and anyone interested in the evolution of legal information in the twenty-first century.

The 2004 volume of the Comparative Law Yearbook of International Business contains a wide variety of topics of interest to international commercial lawyers and their clients. Various areas of company law are discussed, including mergers and acquisitions, piercing the corporate veil and the financing of share acquisitions. The Yearbook also contains several chapters on investments and securities, including the need for corporate governance in this area and the role of collective investment schemes in Bermuda. Some chapters deal with the introduction of now technology into the competition law issues encountered by the telecommunications industry. The introduction and effects of new legislation generally are also addressed, including the new Ukrainian Commercial Code and Brazilian Civil Code. In addition to discussions on intellectual property, arbitration and asset protection, the Yearbook contains a section on real property rights, including a very interesting comparison between the way in which China and Indonesia view property rights and the treatment received by such rights in Western society. Various areas of law also are looked at from a European point of view, such as the increase in American-style asbestos litigation in Europe, the hiring out of workers within Europe and the effect of the European Convention on Human Rights upon business. With the ever-increasing introduction of new technology, the expansion of global communications, new attitudes towards business and commerce and increased awareness of personal and property rights, there is a constant need for the law to develop in order to adequately deal with these issues. The yearbook branches out into some of the innovative and topical areas of contemporary law, and should be of great interest to anyone involved in modern-day business.

This book fills a gap in legal academic study and practice in International Commercial Arbitration (ICA) by offering an in-depth analysis on legal discourse and interpretation. Written by a specialist in international business law, arbitration and legal theory, it examines the discursive framework of arbitral proceedings, through an exploration of the unique status of arbitration as a legal and semiotic phenomenon. Historical and contemporary aspects of legal discourse and interpretation are considered, as well as developments in the field of discourse analysis in ICA. A section is devoted to institutional and structural determinants of legal discourse in ICA in which ad hoc and institutional forms are examined. The book also deals with functional aspects of legal interpretation in arbitral discourse, focusing on interpretative standards, methods and considerations in decision-making in ICA. The comparative examinations of existing legal framework and case law reflect the international nature of the subject and the book will be of value to both academic and professional readers.

International human rights law was originally focused on universal individual rights. This book examines the developments which have seen it change to a multi-cultural approach, one more sensitive to the cultures of the people directly affected by them. It argues that this can provide benefits, but that aspects of universalism must be retained.

This book provides readers with the knowledge necessary to fully understand how international law carved the history and life of Namibia. It observes that Namibia has benefited from and contributed to international law in a way that shaped that countrys political and socio-economic development and to an extent that few other countries experienced. For many a year since Namibia achieved Independence on 21 March 1990 and established the Faculty of Law at the University of Namibia in 1992, students and lecturers have relied on materials from South Africa, despite the fact that Namibian law has since then grown apart from its South African heritage. It is high time for lecturers and students in Namibia to teach and learn with a textbook that analyses international law from the distinct standpoint of Namibia and that views the nations legal interactions with other states through its own prism! And this textbook aims to do just that. Through its 19 chapters, this book informs readers about international law, its sources, international treaties, Namibian statehood, dispute resolution, the use of force, human rights, Namibias economic relations with the outside world (including the Southern African Customs Union), and the law of the sea. Namibian courts have in their own way followed the rules of international law scrupulously, but as this book shows international law nonetheless remains the source of Namibian law that lawyers apply the least. Accordingly, this book underlines the significance, the practical utility, and the relevance of international law in the unique Namibian context.