"China Guiding Cases Project" by Stanford Law launched

On Monday, January 9, 2012, Stanford Law School launched its latest initiative in the area of international law, the website of the China Guiding Cases Project (CGCP).

The website will post “guiding cases”, a recent development in Chinese law, as released by China’s Supreme People’s Court. The CGCP team translates these released opinions into English and posts them on the above mentioned website.

As of today the following cases are posted:

Shanghai Centaline Property Consultants Limited v. TAO Dehua, An Intermediation Contract Dispute | 指导性案例1: 上海中原物业顾问有限公司诉陶德华居间合同纠纷案

WU Mei v. Meishan Xicheng Paper Co., Ltd. of Sichuan Province, A Sale and Purchase Contract Dispute | 指导性案例2: 吴梅诉四川省眉山西城纸业有限公司买卖合同纠纷案

PAN Yumei and CHEN Ning, A Bribe-Accepting Case | 指导性案例3: 潘玉梅、陈宁受贿案

WANG Zhicai, An Intentional Homicide Case | 指导性案例4: 王志才故意杀人案

Legal experts from around the world are invited to submit commentaries discussing the legal and other implications of these cases. Commentaries are posted in Chinese and in English, and are available in translation. Readers of the website may post their thoughts about the cases and commentaries in Chinese and English. “Question and Answer” sessions on the site permit readers and commentators to have more in-depth dialogues, again in Chinese and English. The website also includes a search function enabling practitioners and researchers to look for specific “guiding cases.”

For those interested in an overview on the Chinese Legal System take a look at the free offering on Law Info China.

Risen from the dead

One of the less known but nevertheless important bills has passed the Texas Legislature on the last day of the special session. House Bill 79, which seeks comprehensive judicial reforms, is based on the findings of the State Bar Court Administration Task Force and stresses a more simplistic, flexible and productive court system.

The history of this bill is quite interesting. Having made its (unsuccessful) debut in 2007 and then again in 2009 as Senate Bills, the bill was once again introduced in 2011 as Senate Bill 1717. It failed on the last day of the regular legislative session but lawmakers were able to convince Governor Rick Perry to put the bill on the agenda for the special session. This time it went through and was sent to the Governor for final approval.

Link of the Month: Homeland Security Digital Library (HSDL)

It's not often that one has to research homeland security issues, but if that is the case, the homeland security digital library is the place to go. Having just recently opened to the public, it contains the nation’s premier collection of documents related to homeland security policy, strategy, and organizational management collected from a wide variety of sources. The library is divided into eight key sections, ranging from national strategy documents to theses and research reports from the Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security, including an exhaustive collection of executive orders and key legislation.
Open access to over 47,000 documents is available for anyone interested and access to more than twice the amount of information will be made available upon request and approval.

Link of the Month: National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)

Established by Congress in 1935 as an independent federal agency, the NLRB's primary function is to administer the National Labor Relations Act, the primary law that governs relations between unions, employees and employers in the private sector.
This website offers a wide variety of rules and regulations, guides, and manuals in English as well as in Spanish. In addition its research section allows access to legal-related documents, specifically NLRB Board decisions and memos, the weekly summary of NLRB cases, and Appellate Court briefs and motions filed by the NLRB General Counsel.

Link of the month: National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)

The NCHS is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and considered the Nation's principal health statistics agency. The Center is a public resource for health information with the main purpose to compile statistical information to guide actions and public health policies.
The website allows access to the NCHS factsheets through the so-called “FastStats” site, covering the wide range of information and data made available by the NCHS; “data briefs”, statistical publications that provide information about current public health topics, and the Center’s extensive library of online and print publications.
In addition two links are worth mentioning – one that leads to the data systems and surveys where it is possible to retrieve data that is being collected on an ongoing basis, and another one named “librarians”. The “resources for librarians” is a sub site that conveniently lists numerous resources that are of interest for information professionals, namely tutorials, which guide you through preparing an analytic dataset, and explaining the nuances of the survey design, medical coding classifications, listservs and the Research Data Center.

NCHS Research Data Center (RDC)

This website was developed by the NCHS with the goal to allow researchers access to data that does not appear in the public use files of data collected by the Center. Restricted variables are those that could compromise the confidentiality of survey respondents like geography, genetic data, and detailed race/ethnicity, and access to this data requires the researcher to submit a proposal to the RDC and comply with the process.

Link of the month: Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)

The OCC was established in 1863 as a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury and is headed by the Comptroller, who is appointed by the President.
The main purpose of the OCC is to provide regulations and supervision of the charters to all national banks. Therefore the website allows the researcher not only to access pending and recently enacted legislation, but to explore law and licensing documents providing guidance, establishing precedents and court documents of interest. In addition one may check if any national bank or foreign branch has ever been under scrutiny by the OCC.

Link of the month - Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS)

With the latest salmonella scare out in the media I had to look for reliable information to appease the hypochondriac inside me; and I found it in the Food and Safety Inspection Service, the public health agency in the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

This website is a one-stop-shop for anything food safety related and it is responsible for ensuring the safety of the nation's commercial supply of meat, poultry, and egg products. The site not only contains all regulations, directives and notices in this area, but as well recalls, fact sheets covering everything from safe food handling to advice for at-risk population groups, and the possibility to sign up for an emails alert for future recalls.