The Yellow Shoe Civil Law Blog

17 January, 2015

Catala Working Group Translations

In addition to Prof. Levasseur's and Prof. Gruning's English translation of the proposal for the reform of the French Law of Obligations and the Law of Prescription sponsored by the Association Henri Capitant, which I reported in this blog on 24 March, the Catala Group has also published another translation by Prof. John Cartwright and Prof. Simon Whittaker, both from the Faculty of Law at the University of Oxford, which is available here. Interested readers should look at both versions to compare their takes on the subject.

Access to the UN Treaty Series Collection

The UN Treaty Series Collection (UNTC) online is now be accessible without subscription. The UNTC homepage now gives a
>Treaty Series on-line is FREE as of 1 October 2007.
>
>Please try to access Treaty Series on-line as follows:
>
>As of 15 November 2007, precisely as stated on the home page of the
>UNTC at http://untreaty.un.org, the world-wide access to All databases
>has been offered via a single generic username/password combination:
>
>Username: treaties
>
> Password: 12345
>

The LexisNexis Foreign Law Toolbox

Your Toolbox
7/11/2008 1:32:05 PM EST
Civil Law & Mixed Jurisdictions: The LexisNexis Foreign Law Toolbox
We're not just US anymore!
Posted by Thomas J.R. Stadnik, Esq.
LexisNexis Legal Editor/Site Coordinator LexisNexis International & Foreign Law Center
For students of the law of all ages and lawyers faced with transactions involving foreign law in Civil Law or Mixed Jurisdictions perhaps for the first time, we at LexisNexis can provide you with fundamental tools and sources to enable you to grasp the concepts of non-common law based legal systems.

Welcome to the I&FLC Civil Law & Mixed Jurisdictions Toolbox!
Whether you’re an actual law student or a legal practitioner encountering or learning about this practice area for the first time, LexisNexis offers several works that can help the beginner in this field.
Why Learn about Civil Law and Mixed Jurisdictions?
This can be succinctly stated by considering the following two paragraphs from the "Fondation pour le Droit Continental" website:
"60% of world market subject to civil law

"Systems of civil (or Romano-Germanic) law, together with mixed systems drawing on civil law, account for approximately 60% of the world’s GDP. The figure for common law is 35%. The percentage of the world’s population governed by continental legal systems is exactly the same.

"The many advantages of civil law

"No system of law is intrinsically better than any other, but civil law has a number of strong points. It is accessible, having been largely consolidated into codes. It is based on preventing litigation and promoting certainty in transactions. It rests on rules known in advance, rather than rules identified by a judge, after the fact. Civil law is also characterized by its concern for balance between contracting parties, its flexibility, and its openness to all sources of law (European sources in particular). Lastly it is a relatively inexpensive system of law, in terms of both legal advice and litigation. Accordingly it enables parties to reduce the legal costs related to their transactions."
Foreign and Comparative Law Practice Notes: As an American lawyer, you are not permitted to practice “foreign” law (unless you are duly admitted to the practice of law in the jurisdiction in question, of course), but you may be faced with your client’s request of you for an opinion, formal or otherwise, about the laws and regulations of another jurisdiction that may impact their transaction in another country. You will need to select foreign local counsel and will likely want their legal opinion on various topics that you will refer to in your opinion (with the appropriate disclaimers that you are not admitted to practivce in the foreign jurisdiction, you are relying on local foreign counsel's opinion (a copy of which you should attach as an exhibit), etc. In order to go about selecting foreign local counsel and to have a meaningful discussion with that foreign counsel, it behooves you to have some understanding of how that jurisdiction’s laws work. You will find a useful summary of such laws in the Martindale-Hubbell International Law Digest, but to gain a basic understanding and an analysis of how those laws work, we direct you to the following:
The Civil Law Tradition: Europe, Latin America, and East Asia, Cases and Materials, 1994
Author: John Henry Merryman, Sweitzer Professor of Law Emeritus, Stanford Law School; David S. Clark, Maynard and Bertha Wilson Professor of Law, Willamette University College of Law; John Owen Haley, Wiley B. Rutledge Professor of Law & Director of the Whitney Harris Institute for Global Legal Studies, Washington University at St. Louis School of Law

You may also find it useful to examine some of the following works for more particular analysis of the Civil law or mixed jurisdiction legal systems:

Louisiana

Louisiana Pocket Civil Code

Louisiana Law of Obligations in General: A Précis, Second Edition
Author: Alain Levasseur

Louisiana Law of Sale and Lease: A Précis
Author: Alain Levasseur and David Gruning

25 January, 2010

Update to University of Wyoming Novels of Justinian Site

The University of Wyoming Law Library has posted re-scanned versions of Justice Blume’s English translation of Justinian’s Novels in their Annotated Justinian Code web site.

This new edition is much more legible than the first, which was scanned at very low resolution. The new edition has been edited so that all the chapters in each novel are now in their proper order.

In addition, the following material has been added to the website: 1) one table showing Code provisions affected by the novels; 2) another table, by novel, showing the Code provision it affects; 3) a Novel’s timeline; and 4) an article (which is to be published in this summer’s Law Library Journal) entitled “The Creation and Transmission of Justinian’s Novels.”

This is a great effort making the Novels and Justice Blume's materials available online.

09 July, 2009

The English Fox in the Louisiana Civil Law Chausse- Trappe

The Louisiana Law Review has published The English Fox in the Louisiana Civil Law Chausse- Trappe: Civil Law Concepts in the English Language; Comparativists Beware!, 69 La Law Rev 715 (Summer 2009), an article, presented in the La. Law Rev. in English, based on an article by Professor Alain Levasseur, published in French in the January 2009 issue of the Revue Internationale de Droit Comparé (R.I.D.C.). The title of the Article in the R.I.D.C. is Les maux des mots en droit comparé. Professor Levasseur felt that this Article would be of interest to Louisiana lawyers and legal scholars and he asked Vicenç Feliú, because of Vicenç' background in Linguistics and the common law, to work with him in translating and redacting the original French article for publication in English.

The Future of the Yellow Shoe Civil Law Blog

Last month I accepted a new job as the Director of the Law Library and assistant professor of law at the University of the District of Columbia, David A. Clarke School of Law. As can be expected, my duties there have very little to do with the civil law. However, I intend to keep this blog active as an archive of civil law resources and I intend to add to it as I will continue to maintain my personal interest in the civil law. Thank you all for following this modest effort and I hope that you continue to support it as I will. Best wishes to all!

Vicenç Feliú, JD, LLM, MLIS
Director of the Law Library
& Assistant Professor of Law
University of the District of Columbia
David A. Clarke School of Law
Charles M. & Hilda H. M. Mason Law Library
4200 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008
(Phone) 202 274-7354
(Fax) 202 274-7311
vfeliu@udc.edu

19 May, 2009

50 Best Blogs for Law Librarians

Online University Lowdown has published a list of 50 Best Blogs for Law Librarians and The Yellow Shoe Civil Law Blog is on the list!

27 April, 2009

Finding German Law in English

The Centre for German Legal Information (CGerLI) is a website offering a comprehensive and freely accessible database of electronic materials on German law. It brings together English translations of court decisions, legislation, articles and other law-related documents scattered over the internet and adds them to their own collection of German legal information.

As the database is being continuously expanded, they welcome contributions and suggestions. Please send your comments or new materials via email to new(at)cgerli.org.

This website was made possible with the support and cooperation of the German Federal Foreign Office.

24 March, 2009

Videos of Civil Law Workshop Series

The Paul M. Hebert Law Center Civil Law Workshop Series successfully held its two first sessions during the Spring of 2009. The general topic of the Series is Civil Law and Common Law: Cross-Influences, Contamination and Permeability. These first two sessions, Towards a Revival of the Case Method in Civil Law Education and The Vienna Sales Convention (CISG) between Civil and Common Law - Best of all Worlds?, are now available on video on the web. Click on the name of the session you wish to see and you will be directed to it.

18 March, 2009

Third Session of the CCLS Civil Law Workshop

The Center of Civil Law Studies at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center presents the third session of the 2009 Civil Law Workshop series: “Civil law and Common Law: Cross-Influences, Contamination, and Permeability.” Professor Sheldon Leader, University of Essex and Distinguished Global Visitor to the LSU Law Center will speak on "Legal Theory and the Variety of Legal Cultures: The Example of Dworkin" This Session will take place on Tuesday, April 7th, 2009 between 4:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. in the LSU Law Center's Tucker Room. Don't miss it.

25 February, 2009

Second Session of the CCLS Civil Law Workshop

The Center of Civil Law Studies at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center presents the second session of the 2009 Civil Law Workshop series: “Civil law and Common Law: Cross-Influences, Contamination, and Permeability.” Professor Ulrich Magnus, University of Hamburg and Distinguished Global Visitor to the LSU Law Center will speak on "The Vienna Sales Convention (CISG) between Civil and Common Law–Best of all Worlds?" This Session will take place on Wednesday, March 4th, 2009 between 4:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. in the LSU Law Center's Tucker Room. Don't miss it.

27 January, 2009

Opening Session for Civil Law Workshops 2009 Edition,

The LSU Center of Civil Law Studies, Civil Law Workshop series will be putting on a continuing workshop series titled: “Civil law and Common Law: Cross-Influences, Contamination, and Permeability.” The inaugural session of this series, "Towards a Revival of the Case Method in Civil Law Education" by Professor Fernando Toller, Distinguished Global Visitor, LSU Law Center, Austral University, Buenos Aires, Argentina will take place on Thursday, 12 February, 2009, from 16:30 until 18:00 in the Tucker Room of the LSU Law Center.

26 January, 2009

Updated Annotated Justinian Code Website

Tim Kearley, Director of the Law Library at the University of Wyoming College of Law has posted a second edition of their Annotated Justinian Code website. The website looks the same as before, but the contents of nearly every element have been revised.

The introduction to the second edition explains the changes. Suffice it here to say that the most important changes are additions and corrections to the transcription of the Code translation itself. In particular, Tim has added the rest of the marginal notes Justice Blume had made in his manuscript but that were omitted from the first edition due to time pressures. Many of these were question marks or brief comments indicating an uncertainty about his translation. Whenever these occurred, S. P. Scott's translation of the passage have been added for purposes of comparison.

There is also a link to the first edition of the Annotated Justinian Code in order that it not go "out of print," as it were; thus, it remains available for reference and comparison.

15 October, 2008

200 Years of Codification in Louisiana

The LSU International Law Society and the Center of Civil Law Studies are presenting a program to commemorate the bicentennial of the Digest of 1808. The program will take place on Thursday, October 23rd, 2008 from 12:40 p.m. to 1:40 p.m in Room 110 of the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at LSU. The speakers for the program will be Prof. Olivier Moréteau, Agustín Parise, and Vicenç Feliú. Prof. Moréteau will speak on Disseminating the Louisiana Experience: The Digest Online, Agustín Parise will speak on Exploring the World Wide Impact of the Louisiana Civil Codes, and Vicenç Feliú will speak on Discovering the Roots of the Digest of 1808.

14 October, 2008

CLE - The Digest of 1808

The Law Library of Louisiana and the New Orleans Association of Law Libraries are sponsoring a CLE program to be held in the 4th Floor Conference Room of the Louisiana Supreme Court, 400 Royal Street, New Orleans, on Wednesday, 15 October, 2008, from 5:30 p.. until 6:30 p.m. The program will be a one hour CLE credit at no cost to LSBA members. It will be a presentation by Professor Alain Levasseur, Paul M. Hebert Law Center, LSU, and Vicenç Feliú, Associate Librarian for Foreign, Comparative, and Internatinal Law, Paul M. Hebert Law Center, LSU, discussing their new book; Moreau Lislet: The Man Behind the Digest of 1808. There will be a book signing and a wine and cheese reception directly after the presentation. RSVP to Georgia Chadwick, Director Law Library of Louisiana, at gchadwick@lasc.org or (504) 310-2402.

Georgia Chadwick, Director Law Library of Louisiana, Professor Alain Levasseur, LSU Law, Chief Justice Elect Kitty Kimball, Louisiana Supreme Court, and Vicenç Feliú, LSU Law, at the book signing held after the CLE.

18 June, 2008

Digest of 1808 Online

On the occasion of the Bicentennial of the Louisiana Digest of 1808, The Louisiana State University, Paul M. Hebert Law Center’s Center for Civil Law Studies has published an electronic version of the Digest of the Civil Laws now in Force in the Territory of Orleans (enacted on March 31, 1808) on its Civil Law Online website at http://www.law.lsu.edu/civillawonline.

The Digest, described as the first Louisiana civil code, is now completely available online. The original French and the English translation can be viewed separately or together on the same screen. The typing of both versions was extracted from the first edition of 1808, printed by Bradford & Anderson, in the city of New Orleans. With the exception of obvious typos, the Digest Online strictly follows the original wording and orthography.

In addition, the manuscript notes of 1814, attributed to Louis Moreau-Lislet who, with James Brown, drafted the Digest, are available on this website. These notes are extracted from the De la Vergne Volume, a copy of the Digest bound in 1808 with interleaves between the English text on the left and the French text on the right. The manuscript notes on the interleaves give reference mainly to Roman and Spanish laws, but also mention French sources, such as Domat and Pothier (see the Foreword). This volume belonged to the de la Vergne family for generations, and is presently in possession of Mr. Louis V. de la Vergne. It was published by the LSU and Tulane law schools in 1968, and by Claitor's in 1971 and 2008. The right to reproduce the notes was generously provided to the Center of Civil Law Studies at LSU by Mr. Louis V. de la Vergne. The notes also appear for the first time in typed version, making them easily readable.

A search function will be added in the near future. It will allow thematic research, by word or combination of words, inside the French or the English version.

The Digest is freely available to scholars, students, practitioners, and laymen alike. The photographic reproduction of the manuscript notes may only be used for research or educational purposes. Please email ccls@law.lsu.edu for any question relating to the use of these documents.

30 January, 2008

Bicentennial of the Louisiana Digest of 1808

(From the Center of Civil Law Studies, Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Newsletter, January 2008, No. 5)

In 2008, the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center commemorates the Bicentennial of the Louisiana Civil Code, marking the confirmed survival of the civil law in Louisiana after the 1803 Purchase. This was the first civil code, anywhere in the world, to be drafted in the wake of the Napoleonic codification. It still has a significant influence not only in the United States but also in Quebec, Latin America, and Spain.

The Civil Code of 1808 will be published online in May 2008, both in the original French and English translation, with the notes made by the drafters at the time. An added search function will make it an easily researchable source. The Code will be accessible to scholars, students, practitioners, and laymen alike, all over the world, whether their interest is law or culture in all its possible dimensions.

The unveiling of this historic project will occur during the Journées Capitant on Law and Culture, to take place in Baton Rouge and New Orleans from May 18^th through May 23^rd. This conference will be held in French by the Association Capitant des amis de la culture juridique française, and will attract more than one hundred participants from French speaking countries all around the world. Support has been obtained both for the publication of the Louisiana Civil Code online and the organization of the events from the Organisation internationale de la francophonie, and the World Organization of French Speaking Countries. The Consulate of France in New Orleans and the Ministry of Cooperation in Paris are also monitoring the event.

29 January, 2008

UN Treaty Series Access

The UN Treaty Series Collection (UNTC) online is now be accessible without subscription. The UNTC homepage now offers access to all the databases via a single generic username/password.

Username: treaties
Password: 12345

This collection includes the following categories of treaty-related data:

* Status of Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General

* Depositary Notifications (CNs) by the Secretary-General

* Certified True Copies (CTCs) of Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General

* The United Nations Treaty Series

* The League of Nations Treaty Series

* Texts of Recently Deposited Multilateral Treaties

* Photographs of Treaty Signature Ceremonies

* Titles of the Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General in the UN

official languages

* Summary of Practice of the Secretary-General as Depositary of Multilateral Treaties

* Treaty Handbook

* Handbook of Final Clauses

* Monthly Statements of Treaties and International Agreements

* United Nations Treaty Series Cumulative Index

* Notes verbales from The Legal Counsel relating to the depositary practice and the registration of treaties pursuant to Article 102 of the Charter

23 January, 2008

New URL for Legifrance Civil Code Site

Legifrance has a new URL for the official English translation of the French Code Civil. The Spanish translation of the Code Civil is also available from this site.

08 January, 2008

The Roman Law Library

This amazing website, sponsored by the Université Pierre-Mendès-France in Grenoble, contains a vast collection of Roman Law, ranging from the Senatus Consulta to the Leges Romanae Barbarorum, in the original Latin. In addition, it contains translations of these resources in English, French, and Spanish. This is a complete collection of the source materials of the Civil Law.

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