Stephan Handschug, Einführung in das kanadische Recht (ISBN 3 406 50826 X), has just appeared in C.H.Beck Verlag. I haven’t read it but have skimmed it. This is what I have noticed so far:

Chapters on fundamentals, the constitution, the courts, the Quebec legal system, legal training, lawyers / judges, and new developments.

This material covers 108 pages. There are also over 30 pages of constitutional documents, a chronological table, and other tables (distribution of seats in parliament, and prime ministers). There seems a slight bias towards political issues. No substantive law. One might contrast this with Mathias Reimann’s Einführung in das US-amerikanische Privatrecht (ISBN 3 406 41670 5), which is much fuller and is 340 pages in length – but thin paper, whereas this Canadian law book is printed on thickish paper.

I had the impression some of the brief materials on common law, equity and the system of precedent were both too brief to be useful and also covered familiar ground, but then, perhaps someone would read this book with no knowledge of the common law and would need an introduction. And there is reference to the royal prerogative and parliamentary sovereignty, which might not be familiar to those who have concentrated on US law.

At a glance, or two glances, I did not see anything on the distinction between federal law and the law of the provinces. Presumably the situation is like that in the United States, where each state has its own criminal and civil law, unlike that in Germany – after all, Quebec has its own law. This may well be in the long and obviously important chapter on the (1982) constitution – I remember Canada being late to get a constitution, so obviously one must buckle down and read this. I was excited to read about the Nunavut territory, which has existed only since April 1st 1999, has an area of 1,994,000 km² and only 26,750 inhabitants.

Note an Overview of Sources of Canadian Law on the Web, and other materials, at LLRX.com.

In England and Wales (and I suppose the rest of the UK), the legal year starts on October 1st. Here are the term dates for 2003-2004:

Michaelmas 1 October 2003 – 19 December 2003
Hilary 12 January 2004 – 7 April 2004
Easter 20 April 2004 – 28 May 2004
Trinity 8 June 2004 – 30 July 2004

Between the terms there are court vacations (yes, the same term the Americans use for ‘holiday’).

The start of the legal year is marked by the Lord Chancellor’s breakfast. The judges used to walk 2 miles from Temple Bar to Westminster Abbey, but now they go by car. There is a 45-minute religious service at 11.30. The following ‘breakfast’ is so called because they used to fast beforehand. The judges have always dressed up in full rig. Many of them have ceremonial dress as well as everyday dress; for instance, full-bottomed wigs (Allongeperücken) are only worn on occasions like this). I have always wanted to stand at the pavement with my camera on this occasion. A BBC news report gives some impression of the usual get-up and the plain morning dress chosen by Lord Falconer this year, with photos of Lord Falconer and Lord Irvine on this occasion.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

bq. The lord chancellor is one of Britain’s most elaborately costumed officials, but Falconer’s predecessor, Lord Irvine of Lairg, also sometimes dispensed with some of the job’s more antiquated trappings.
He appealed successfully to be allowed to wear ordinary trousers, rather than tights and breeches, in Parliament. And he ended the tradition of walking backward before the monarch at the state opening of Parliament.

(Via UK Criminal Justice Weblog)

Inter alia is good today. It announces Say What?!, a ‘weblog of classic humour from U.S. district judge Jerry Buchmeyer’.

bq. Since 1980, U.S. District Judge Jerry Buchmeyer has entertained lawyers far and wide with his “et cetera” column in the Texas Bar Journal. For this page, we’ve reached into the vault to bring you classic material spanning two decades of courtroom humor — most of which comes straight from actual depostions and trials. We’ll post a new laugh each day, and new articles each month.

Here’s a sample:

bq. April 1990 – Recalling & Recollecting
This excerpt comes from Judge Frank Andrews of Dallas (116th District Court) and from a trial in his court:

bq. Q. (By Mr. Flint) Mr. Tipton, is there any disagreement to your knowledge between the parties as to what portion of Mrs. Williams’ body or what part of her body or cell structure or whatever is injured?
A. I don’t recall.
Q. Would that be helpful to your recollection if you did recall?
Mr. Kizzia: Excuse me, I object to the question as ambiguous. It doesn’t make sense. It’s unintelligible, really.
The Court: (wisley) Sustained

Inter alia has found another German law blog: Jurabilis, by Alexander Hartmann. Inter alia says he is a ‘Berlin law graduate’, but the information seems hard to find. The blog is nearly all in German, but at least one entry is in English.

Denise Howell’s Blog of the Day (via evhead.com) is Public Defender Dude. The first post , on August 6th, describes what public defenders do and sums up:

bq. The best thing about our job is that we get to tilt against windmills. We fight the power. Everyone is against us: DAs, Cops, and DAs with robes (ie – many of the Judges). Even bailiffs, court clerks, court reporters and other court staff don’t like us frequently, but few show greater disdain for us than many of our clients. They save some of their best invective for us: public offenders, public pretenders, dump trucks, wanna be DAs, etc…. The fact is, most people don’t appreciate something that is given to them for free. Legal services are no exception. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve represented someone on a serious case and they bring in some worthless lawyer to take over the case just because that lawyer is a “paid” lawyer (as if we do this for free). In the end, most of my clients end up regretting their decision.

LLRX.com is updated only occasionally now, most recently on 29th September 2003. There is an update to the English-language introduction to the Swiss legal system, which means the original file with changes highlighted. Excellent material (the English is not by a native speaker).