Slaw Scavenger Hunt – Neck and Neck to the Finish

Extraordinary development in the Slaw Scavenger Hunt. Our prominent lawyer from Toronto has had an extraordinary day, and is now 22 points ahead of the Oxford expert – it’s 180 to 158. Pulling away. But there are still 70 points to play for

Over the weekend, the duelling duo have guessed the Haflida Skra or Gràgàs in Reykjavik, the Field Code from New York, UN resolution 1962 of December 13, 1963, on the Declaration of legal principles governing activities of states in the exploration and use of outer space, De Indis et de ivre Belli Relectiones, by Francisco de Vitoria (1532), Pothier’s Digest of the Pandects, Coke’s Institutes, Stair’s Institutes and the Tang Code.

The remaining seven items in the global Scavenger Hunt should fall fast.

In terms of the contest list of 50 dates, set by the two Simons, the table below lists the dates remaining to be identified. That list of dates (which trumps both the UNESCO and Simon and Simon lists) is a real revelation. When the contest ends we’ll be able to provide the Library of Congress and UNESCO with a thoughtful guide to the world’s collective legal heritage. We still need your thoughts too.. Our contestants have successfully identified the dates listed here, as well as giving us some food for thought with their own nominations for what should be in the legal heritage of mankind.

I’ve amplified the big fat hairy hints we gave on Friday. The works are not so obscure that we couldn’t find lots of references to them. By the way, you can get there by skillful use of the Google search tools, and the resources of Canlii and its kin across the world. No need to spend money on the commercial databases on this project.

Two of the outstanding items are books.
They include

• The oldest volume in a major law library’s collection, featured prominently on its website. Slaw has mentioned this library nineteen times.
• A work cited by Bertha Wilson in 1984, by the Supreme Court of India in 1994 and the Australian High Court in 1999. Maine said that every important legal reform since the stemmed from its influence

One item is a Code

• An ancient code cited by the International Court of Justice in 1996 and in one of the major constitutional judgments of one jurisdiction where a judge thundered about the fundamental importance of law: “The preservation of the human race itself hinges on law”. We corrected a typo in the quote – just in case you’re tempted to Google the quote.


An other item

• A document which consisted of a code of procedure, a collection of ancient customs, and a body of ordinances for the regulation of war, which became a sort of common law and which was translated into many languages (the Bodleian has it in seven languages). La Forest J referred to it in the most important recent SCC judgment in this area of the law.

For those who want to use their research skills to compete, here is the revised table – can you guess any of the dates?

DATES
160 BCE 1300 1474 1789

Send your entries (on one item or any number) by email to contest@slaw.ca and we’ll track the progress as contestants mop up the remaining items.

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