Witty opinion (or judgment, as we would say in England), from a U.S. district court in Texas. From the National Review Online. But it was recommended by a new weblog with a touch of irony, sophoristically speaking, (or actually The Sophorist) ‘observations from an ozarks attorney on life, law, and liberty’.

Here is a quote:

bq. The Court cannot even begin to comprehend why this case was selected for reference. It is almost as if Plaintiff’s counsel chose the opinion by throwing long range darts at the Federal Reporter (remarkably enough hitting a nonexistent volume!). And though the Court often gives great heed to dicta from courts as far flung as those of Manitoba, it finds this case unpersuasive.

This is just an addendum to the Austrian Law Resources.

There are three main sites I would normally search if I couldn’t find anything else on a foreign jurisdiction. I am actually looking for materials that would help me translate, but I suppose those materials are similar to those a lawyer looks for.

I didn’t scour them for Austrian law because I had not been very successful anywhere with Austrian law in the past (except at the Bundeskanzleramt site, already quoted).

One is Hieros Gamos. There you can select ‘Law for 230 countries’ and see how you get on.

Another is Findlaw. Here, you choose ‘Foreign and International’ (it’s very useful for U.S. states too), and then ‘Individual countries’. Here is the page of links for Austria.

The third site is www.llrx.com. It has some excellent summaries of (not only) foreign law in English. Although it is not updated very frequently since Sabrina Pacifici began her weblog, beSpacific, its contents are still online. However, I found nothing useful for Austrian law. For Germany, inter alia they have Martina Kammer’s German Business and Commercial Laws: Guide to Translations into English and Select Auxiliary Sources, dated 2000. And here’s an entry for Switzerland (contains a few Germanisms), but that may be a subject for another day.

However, it’s always worth doing a Google (or possibly Alltheweb or other) search. Some universities will have good materials in German or English.

Another more recent site is WorldLII, following the successfull AustLII (Australasian Legal Information Institute) and BaiLII (British and Irish Information Institute) – any of these sites give links to the others and more. Unfortunately, WorldLII’s Europe page has got no further than BaiLII.

This is just an addendum to the Austrian Law Resources.

There are three main sites I would normally search if I couldn’t find anything else on a foreign jurisdiction. I am actually looking for materials that would help me translate, but I suppose those materials are similar to those a lawyer looks for.

I didn’t scour them for Austrian law because I had not been very successful anywhere with Austrian law in the past (except at the Bundeskanzleramt site, already quoted).

One is Hieros Gamos. There you can select ‘Law for 230 countries’ and see how you get on.

Another is Findlaw. Here, you choose ‘Foreign and International’ (it’s very useful for U.S. states too), and then ‘Individual countries’. Here is the page of links for Austria.

The third site is www.llrx.com. It has some excellent summaries of (not only) foreign law in English. Although it is not updated very frequently since Sabrina Pacifici began her weblog, beSpacific, its contents are still online. However, I found nothing useful for Austrian law. For Germany, inter alia they have Martina Kammer’s German Business and Commercial Laws: Guide to Translations into English and Select Auxiliary Sources, dated 2000. And here’s an entry for Switzerland (contains a few Germanisms), but that may be a subject for another day.

However, it’s always worth doing a Google (or possibly Alltheweb or other) search. Some universities will have good materials in German or English.

Another more recent site is WorldLII, following the successfull AustLII (Australasian Legal Information Institute) and BaiLII (British and Irish Information Institute) – any of these sites give links to the others and more. Unfortunately, WorldLII’s Europe page has got no further than BaiLII.

There is an Austrian interpreters’ association, Österreichischer Verband der Allgemein Beeideten und Gerichtlich Zertifizierten Dolmetscher, that issues a lot of printed materials on law. Here is a list.
They have Einführung in die Grundbegriffe des englischen Rechtssystems (an introduction to basic terminology of the English legal system), and similar documents for the USA, France, Spain, Italy, Japan and Turkey.

I am told the Spanish one is out of date. The English document just briefly describes the courts, with a note on the system of precedents.
Unforunately, the materials can’t be inspected before purchase.

What is quite interesting is Handbuch für Gerichtsdolmetscher: Einführung in die Terminologie des Prozeßrechts, Zivilrechts und Strafrechts in Österreich. The materials on the Austrian system in general are of interest. They are all sent as unbound packs of printed pages.

Here is a link to the Österreichischer Übersetzer- und Dolmetscherverband, Universitas. Continue reading →

There is an Austrian interpreters’ association, Österreichischer Verband der Allgemein Beeideten und Gerichtlich Zertifizierten Dolmetscher, that issues a lot of printed materials on law. Here is a list.
They have Einführung in die Grundbegriffe des englischen Rechtssystems (an introduction to basic terminology of the English legal system), and similar documents for the USA, France, Spain, Italy, Japan and Turkey.

I am told the Spanish one is out of date. The English document just briefly describes the courts, with a note on the system of precedents.
Unforunately, the materials can’t be inspected before purchase.

What is quite interesting is Handbuch für Gerichtsdolmetscher: Einführung in die Terminologie des Prozeßrechts, Zivilrechts und Strafrechts in Österreich. The materials on the Austrian system in general are of interest. They are all sent as unbound packs of printed pages.

Here is a link to the Österreichischer Übersetzer- und Dolmetscherverband, Universitas. Continue reading →

This is not an attempt to muscle in on Adrian’s territory (he’s in Vienna), just something that came up today. What resources are there for researching Austrian law?

I can recommend a few books, but not much online.

Quoting the ISBNs I have, but the books may be either out of print or in new editions:

The Duden paperback Wie sagt man in Österreich? 1980, 3 411 01794 5 (much less used, my copy, than Wie sagt man in der Schweiz?)

Staatsbürgerkunde und Recht. Arbeitsbuch für höhere und mittlere berufsbildende Schulen, Oberleitner and Hellner, 1994, 3 214 90536 8 – not a dictionary, but it has diagrams and a good index, and is logically set out, and has a few standard documents. I have found terms in it.

The rest are more likely in print:
Russwurm and Schoeller, Österreichisches Rechtswörterbuch, 2nd ed. 3 85131 067 5

Abkürzungs- und Zitierregeln der österreichisches Rechtssprache und europarechtlicher Rechtsquellen, 5th ed. 2001, 3 214 06205 0

Hausmaninger, The Austrian Legal System, 1998, 3 214 00239 2 (Manz – there is a Kluwer ISBN too) Continue reading →