Court sketch artists

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In England and Wales, court sketches can’t be done in court but are done by an artist from memory afterwards (see earlier post). Rolf Harris may not have known this.

Isobel Williams shows pictures she did in the Supreme court in her blog Drawing from an uncomfortable position (Supreme Court art: exam nerves and Supreme Court art: piano piano):

‘Am I very politely being told to sit down?’ enquires counsel. ‘I can’t resist the temptation to take you to the Slovenian nationalisation.’
‘Do try,’ murmurs the bench.
But we’re off to Ljubljana.

Meanwhile a sketch done in the Lee Rigby Murder Trial has acquired a new life recently under the heading Court sketch artist sacked after releasing first picture from Rolf Harris trial. I had forgotten Rolf Harris’s catchphrase ‘Can you see what it is yet?’, but others have not.

Partly via UK Supreme Court Blog.

People in East London: Dora Diamant et al.

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doradiamant

Dora Diamant (originally Polish, name Dymant) lived with Franz Kafka in the last six months of his life, when he was dying of tuberculosis. It is said of her that he died in her arms and she burnt (some of) his work. She met him in July 1923 and he died in June 1924. She later married Lutz Lask and had a daughter. After 1939 she was interned as an enemy alien and later ran a restaurant and theatre in Brick Lane. She died in East London at the age of 54. She is buried in the East Ham (Marlow Road) Jewish Cemetery, originally in an unmarked grave. Kathi Diamant, no relation, became interested in her and wrote a book summarizing her research, Kafka’s Last Love. The Mystery of Dora Diamant, 2003.

Other famous graves: Ted Kid Lewis:

kidlewis

and a Jack the Ripper suspect:

kozminski

More information from the cemetery staff, who sometimes sit on these chairs but don’t want their picture taken:

chairs

London law firm

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lordadvocatesllp

Lord Advocates LLP is an East London immigration law firm near Upton Park station. See video (I don’t know what language they’re speaking, but it is likely to be Urdu, Punjabi or Hindi).

Our expertise covers the whole area of Immigration including applications for British Nationality, British Citizenship, Economic Migration, Further Leave to Remain applications, Settlement, Points Based System applications, Asylum, Human Rights claims, Discretionary Leave applications, Certificates of Abode, Marriage applications, Settlement applications for family members. Registration with the Police, Reporting, Bio-metrics, Legacy and fresh Human Rights applications, passport applications, revocation of leave, applications under the Points Based System such as Students, applications connected to establishing and conducting business in the United Kingdom.

Europa Centre for Languages

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I was surprised to read about

The UK’s only indoor mock European town, complete with market square, café, shops and classroom. Managed by the Languages Adviser for Havering and with a team of highly experience tutors, native speakers and assistants, the Europa Centre offers the public and schools opportunities to develop prior learning or to begin language learning from scratch.

Pictures here. I doubt I could get in to see it, despite my prior learning.

Near Upminster Bridge station, no less.

The Romford Recorder visited the Centre in 2011. Quoting Dan Alliot, the head of the Europa Centre and Havering Languages Advisor:

“When they come inside it is like another world and a lot of them actually go away thinking that they have been to France for the day.”

When I go to Whitechapel I also feel like I’ve been abroad for the day.

If you don’t want a day trip to France and instead fancy a visit to Germany, or Spain, simple flip boards mean that the French town of Haricotville can easily become Rubendorf for Germany or villa Guisante if in Spain.

An Act or a law?

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Perennial query (from a mailing list): Why is it OK to translate Bundeswahlgesetz as Federal Electoral Law while Umweltinformationsgesetz is Environmental Information Act?

(Actually, you can get the Federal Elections Act online now at www.cgerli.org).

The superficial answer is that some people insist on translating Gesetz in the name of an Act as law.

Act is the better term in both British and US contexts. Like some British lawyers, I capitalize Act in this sense, even outside titles, but this isn’t universal.

One argument given is that the procedure for passing a common-law Act is different from that for passing a German Gesetz. I don’t think the argument holds water.

A possible reason is that foreign lawyers are more familiar with the word law. That applies in other jurisdictions too, not just German. The word Act possibly frightens them off. Loi in French sounds like law and I gather Scandinavian languages have the same situation (lag/lov).

But law is just not the normal term in English.

I would use laws as a superordinate term for primary legislation (Acts/statutes) and secondary/delegated legislation (statutory orders). But legislation might work instead.