At the stroke of midnight, while most of us were either whooping it up or bedding down, our doughty law was labouring on our behalf to bring new laws, regs, and sections thereof into force and effect. Herewith a very small sampling of law that specifically incorporates today’s date:

• Canada: The amount paid to a pensioner under the Guaranteed Income Supplement each month is increased by between $14.50 and $18. [Old Age Security Act]
• Newfoundland & Labrador: The minimum wage rose a quarter to $7.00. [Labour Standards Regulations]
• Nova Scotia: There are new regluations concerning seat

From today’s Guardian Unlimited:

What are the big questions that will shape the coming year? We asked figures from science, politics, business and the arts for the issue that will dominate their field in 2007

Interviews by Alexandra Topping and Michael Savage

Anthony JuliusWikipedia: “Dr. Anthony Julius (born 1956) is a prominent British lawyer and academic, best known for his actions on behalf of Diana, Princess of Wales and Deborah Lipstadt. He is currently a senior consultant for London law firm, Mishcon de Reya.”, lawyer and academic

Is the UK still governed by the rule of

Simon Fodden tagged me in the “5 things you didn’t know about me” game… on Slaw!! I thought this was illegal: Slaw is my safe harbour!! I feel like I am 5 years old and love it!! Thank you so much Simon, this is my best Christmas gift!

1) I once was a hippie: spending my summers in BC, between Hornby Island and the Okanagan Valley, breathing the West green air while feeling the breeze in my long hair and beard (that I still have, in a shorter version though…);

2) I almost became an artist: I wanted to study . . . [more]

There’s a small piece in the Globe and Mail today on the fact that the United States and India, which founded a Trade Policy Forum nearly two years ago, have agreed that they will constitute a working group of legal experts from each country to “facilitate trade in legal services.” Daily India has this quote from U.S. Trade Representative Karan Bhatia:

“Legal services are integral to today’s complex, global economy. Indian Commerce Secretary Gopal Pillai and I agreed that establishing a Legal Services Working Group is a priority in our bilateral dialogue,’ said Bhatia.’We are pleased that we have been

Take a look at NewsTrust (http://beta.newstrust.net), the month old news “filter” that reproduces and ranks those stories that get the votes of members. NewsTrust is non-profit and runs no ads, depending, as far as I can see, on the founder’s funds and the kindness of strangers. You must join to rank and review news stories, but beyond that requirement it’s strictly vox pop when it comes to what’s good, trustworthy, accurate etc. in the news. Which is not to say that’s a bad thing: some intelligence in the gang approach.

There’s a piece about it in the San . . . [more]

While Slaw readers are a diverse bunch, with eclectic interests, I’m not sure how many stumbled on Post-och Inrikes Tidningar’s recent notice to readers, captioned Important MessageOr on Reuters’ Indian feed.:

Viktigt meddelande

Bäste läsare och annonsör. Sveriges Riksdag har beslutat att Post- och Inrikes Tidningar från den 1 januari 2007 skall upphöra som papperstidning och endast finnas tillgänglig som gratistidning i elektronisk form på Internet via Bolagsverket.

Originally founded in 1645 by Queen Christina and Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna as an outlook for the government to voice its official view, it is the oldest current newspaper in the . . . [more]

Steve Matthews tagged me in the “5 things you didn’t know about me” game, so I feel obliged…

1. I once performed with my folk trio on Ted Mack’s Amateur Hour on ABC-TV (an early early version of American Idol?) and lost to a man who tap-danced with a table in his teeth.
2. As a child I lived for a while in South Dakota — and am likely the only person you’ve ever “met” who has done that. (No, Fargo is in the other Dakota.)
3. I am an enthusiastic rough carpenter and love hammering a nail almost more than I like

The year end awards continue to roll in. This time, Connie Crosby’s personal blog has taken the ‘Legal Support Blog’ award from the Blawg Review.

Congrats to Connie! As one of the first Canadian law blogs (& perhaps the first?), this is a well deserved recognition. . . . [more]

Lifting a Prohibition on Making the Law Searchable

Slaw readers may have missed the recent controversy in the legislative debates of Guam. A fight over access to legal information – and whether a publicly funded service constituted unfair competition. The full story is in today’s Pacific Daily News and a month ago in the Marianas Variety

Guam’s court system wants to improve public access to local laws, government rules, executive orders, court decisions and attorney general opinions. All this for a cost of about $1,000. That’s all it will take to make the court’s Compiler of Laws Web site searchable. . . . [more]

Trust the scientists to crunch all the equations.

Santa’s going to fly really quickly, at the same speed as a satellite – around 28 000 km per hour. He will only deliver presents when he flies from the North Pole to the South Pole. On the way back, he will radio his elves, or use old-fashioned magic, to remind them which presents to load when he gets back home.

He’ll be very easy to spot because his sleigh is at least 250 metres long. That’s longer than two football fields, and it’s full of millions of presents. The reindeer

Thanks for pointing this out, Dominic. Nice Christmas present for us all.

. . . [more]

Congrats to all, Slaw won for REAL! Indeed, Slaw is mentionned in DennisKennedy’s blog post The 2006 Blawggies: Dennis Kennedy’s Best Law-related Blogging Awards as “Best Legal Blog Category – Law Librarian Blogs and Canadian Law-related Blogs (Tie)”.

Moreover, in that same category, our fellows Vancouver Law Library Blog and Connie Crosby are winners with Rob Hyndman. I totally agree with DK: you’re terrific voices out there!

Here is what DK has to say:

I remain a huge fan of law librarian bloggers and enjoyed getting the chance to meet some of them during their convention in St. Louis