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Archive for July 2021 (22 posts)

Join Us on August 19 for a Foreign and Comparative Law Webinar on “Indigenous Land and Resource Rights in New Zealand and Sweden”

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This post was co-authored by Kelly Buchanan and Elin Hofverberg, foreign law specialists in the Global Legal Research Directorate of the Law Library of Congress.

August 9, 2021, marks International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples as designated by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on February 17, 1995. The rights of indigenous people have evolved not only in domestic legislation but also in international law. In 2007, the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. New Zealand was one of four countries that originally voted against the declaration, but subsequently announced its support for it in 2010, and is in the process of developing an implementation plan. Although Sweden voted in favor of the declaration, it has been criticized by the UN for its failures to uphold the declaration in relation to the indigenous Sami population. Sweden is taking steps to review legislation affecting the Sami and to examine past wrongs in a truth commission.

In addition to governments developing legislation and policies that impact indigenous populations, the domestic courts of both countries have been centrally involved in defining and protecting the rights of indigenous peoples. For example, in 2020, the Swedish Supreme Court, in a ground-breaking decision, held that a Sami group had the exclusive right to confer fishing and hunting rights within their reindeer herding area based on the time immemorial use (urminneshävd). In New Zealand, recent matters before the courts have included the recognition of customary rights in the coastal marine area.

To learn more about the land and resource rights of indigenous people in New Zealand and Sweden, please join us for the Law Library’s upcoming webinar, “Indigenous Land and Resource Rights in New Zealand and Sweden,” at 2 p.m. EDT on Thursday, August 19, 2021. This webinar is the latest installment in the Law Library’s series of webinars focused on foreign and comparative law.

In this entry of the series, foreign law specialists Kelly Buchanan and Elin Hofverberg will discuss indigenous land and resource rights in New Zealand and Sweden. In particular, the webinar will discuss the historical context, legal status of the relevant groups, and the recognition and protection of land and resource rights of the Māori and Sami peoples. Information will be provided on relevant legislation and case law, including the role of customary and historic use of land and resources.

Flyer announcing upcoming foreign law webinar on “Indigenous Land and Resource Rights in New Zealand and Sweden” created by Kelly Goles.

The webinar will be presented by foreign law specialists Kelly Buchanan and Elin Hofverberg. Kelly holds a Bachelor of Laws with Honours and a B.A. in social policy from Victoria University of Wellington. She is qualified to practice law in New Zealand. Elin holds a Master of Laws in international and comparative law from The George Washington University Law School and a Juris Doctor equivalent (Jur. kand.) from Uppsala University. She is a member of the New York State Bar and is also qualified to practice law in Sweden.

You can register for the webinar here.

We hope you can join us!

An Interview with Samantha Mendoza, Herencia Crowdsourcing Intern

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  Today’s interview is with Samantha Mendoza, an intern working on transcribing the Herencia: Centuries of Spanish Legal Documents crowdsourcing campaign at the Law Library of Congress.  Describe your background. I was born and raised in Auburn, Alabama. I come from a very diverse background as I am a first generation American on my dad’s side of […]

New Browse, Updated Bill Alerts, and More: Congress.gov New, Tip, and Top for July 2021

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Earlier this month, Margaret shared the exciting news that we added bills and resolutions from 1799-1873 to Congress.gov. There was also a press release to highlight this new feature of content from Century of Lawmaking. We previously added Key Word in Context (KWIC) to Legislative Text on the Quick Search Form. With today’s release we […]

UK – New Immigration and Asylum Bill Provides Fundamental Change

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The following is a guest post by Chris Brain, a foreign law intern working in the Global Legal Research Directorate of the Law Library of Congress under the supervision of Clare Feikert-Ahalt, senior foreign law specialist for the United Kingdom. On July 6, 2021, the Nationality and Borders Bill (the bill) was introduced in the UK Parliament with […]

An Interview with Gabby Farina, Herencia Crowdsourcing Intern

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Today’s interview is with Gabby Farina, an intern working on transcribing the Herencia: Centuries of Spanish Legal Documents crowdsourcing campaign at the Law Library of Congress.  Describe your background I grew up in southeastern Pennsylvania where I spent a lot of time in high school organizing voter registration drives, working the polls during elections, and fostering dogs. […]

Upcoming US Law Webinars – August 2021

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Next month, the Law Library of Congress will present a webinar on federal statutes. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about the legislative process and how to trace federal statutes from their publication in the U.S. Code to their origins as bills. Participants will also learn about the difference between public and private laws, […]

An Interview with Nina Perdomo, Herencia Crowdsourcing Intern

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Today’s interview is with Nina Perdomo, an intern working on transcribing the Herencia: Centuries of Spanish Legal Documents crowdsourcing campaign at the Law Library of Congress. Describe your background. My family consists of both Peruvian and Venezuelan backgrounds. I was born in Peru and immigrated with my family to Miami, Florida, as a young child. Having grown […]

An Interview with Jacklyn van der Colff, Herencia Crowdsourcing Intern

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Today’s interview is with Jacklyn van der Colff, an intern working on transcribing the Herencia: Centuries of Spanish Legal Documents crowdsourcing campaign at the Law Library of Congress. Describe your background. In 1990, my parents immigrated from South Africa to Los Angeles, California, where I was born and lived up until moving to New York City for […]

An Interview with Naomi Welikala, Herencia Crowdsourcing Intern

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Today’s interview is with Naomi Welikala, an intern working on transcribing the Herencia: Centuries of Spanish Legal Documents crowdsourcing campaign at the Law Library of Congress.  Describe your background. I was born and raised in Southern California, so the blend of cultures here has really impacted my life. Growing up with a Black mother and a Sri […]