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Archive for the Research Guide Category (73 posts)

A Guide to Chinese Legal Research: Official Online Publication of Chinese Law

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A few years ago, I posted a series of Chinese legal research guides on this blog: Who Makes What?, Administrative Regulations and Departmental Rules, and Official Publication of Chinese Law. The first two posts discussed the various types of documents that have the force of law under the Chinese Law on Legislation: laws made by the National People’s Congress (NPC) and its standing committee; administrative regulations made by the State Council; and departmental rules made by the ministries and commissions under the State Council. The third post introduced the official publications of the laws, regulations, and rules, and provided links to the official Chinese gazettes and statutory compilations collected by the Library of Congress.

A notable change since then is that two websites have been added to the Law on Legislation amended in 2015 to officially publish Chinese law: the NPC website for laws and the Chinese Government Legal Information Network for regulations and rules.

1. NPC Website

Screenshot of the NPC official website.

Once passed, laws adopted by the NPC and its standing committee are to be published on its official website, in addition to the gazette and nationally culated newspapers, provided by article 58 of the Law on Legislation.

Local regulations made by local people’s congresses must also be published on the NPC website, as well in the local people’s congresses’ gazettes and on their official websites, and in newspapers circulated within the regions (Law on Legislation, art. 79).

2. Chinese Government Legal Information Network

The Law on Legislation designates this website to publish the following regulations and rules:

  • Administrative regulations made by the State Council (id. art. 71);
  • Departmental rules made by the ministries and commissions under the State Council (id. art. 86); and
  • Administrative rules made by the local governments (id.).

Screenshot of the Chinese Government Legal Information Network.

The Chinese Government Legal Information Network has another notable feature: it publishes drafts of administrative regulations and departmental rules before they are formally promulgated in order to solicit public comments. The Law on Legislation requires draft regulations to be published, except for those which the State Council decides not to publish (art. 67). Draft rules are also required to be published by the State Council Regulations on the Procedures for the Formulation of Rules, which recently entered into force on May 1, 2018 (art. 15).

Screenshot of the draft publication page on the Chinese Government Legal Information Network.

Researching New Zealand’s Laws Related to “Doing Business”

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On October 31, 2017, the World Bank released the fifteenth edition of its Doing Business report, subtitled “Reforming to Create Jobs.” As with the fourteenth edition, New Zealand was given the highest “ease of doing business” ranking among 190 countries. The report explains that “[t]he overall measure of the ease of doing business gives an […]

A Guide to Researching EU Law

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The following is a guest post by Micaela DelMonte, a lawyer from the European Parliamentary Research Service who volunteered at the Law Library of Congress during May 2017. News about Brexit and the so-called Article 50 procedure have dominated the news about the European Union (EU) lately. If you are interested in researching these or […]

The Framing of the United States Constitution: A Beginner’s Guide

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This post is coauthored by Barbara Bavis, instructional librarian, and Robert Brammer, senior legal information specialist. We often receive questions from patrons who are interested in researching the original intent of the framers of the United States Constitution. Since the framers were not necessarily all of one mind and, on occasion, there was no debate on certain provisions, […]

The Administration of a Probate Estate: A Beginner’s Guide

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This post is coauthored by Barbara Bavis, instructional librarian, and Robert Brammer, senior legal information specialist We frequently receive reference requests for resources related to the administration of an estate. In this Beginner’s Guide, we will direct you to general and state-specific resources that concern probate administration. If you are interested in resources for drafting a will, please […]

Locating a State Constitution: A Beginner’s Guide

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This post is coauthored by Barbara Bavis, instructional librarian, and Robert Brammer, senior legal information specialist One of our most frequent requests from patrons is for assistance with their constitutional research, particularly with regard to state constitutions.  While the best resource for information is likely the state library and/or state archives of the state that created the constitution […]

Locating Real Estate Forms: A Beginner’s Guide

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This post is coauthored by Barbara Bavis, instructional librarian, and Robert Brammer, senior legal reference specialist. We frequently receive requests for assistance with real estate law, particularly in finding real estate forms.  The legal requirements for such forms and agreements can be extensive, and as such, researchers can turn to treatises, legal encyclopedias, and legal form books […]

Drafting a Will: A Beginner’s Guide

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This post is coauthored by Barbara Bavis, instructional librarian, and Robert Brammer, senior legal reference specialist Contemplating end-of-life issues is not anyone’s favorite topic, but it is important to do so in order to ensure your final wishes are carried out. As such, it is not surprising that our patrons show an interest in these matters, which […]