LawPundit

Golf Tips and Information for the Golfing Attorneys

2009-11-07T08:54:00.000+01:00

See

Golf - Golfing Tips And Information at Golfing : Lifestyle Resources by Resources for Attorneys.

Coaching Mentor a Secret to Success : Alexis Martin Neely's Law Business Revolution Blog : Legal Coaching & Consulting For Lawyers & Attorneys

2009-11-07T08:44:00.001+01:00

Having a coaching mentor is perhaps one of the most important elements to being successful, and this may also apply to lawyers. Take a look at

Law Business Revolution Blog : Alexis Martin Neely's Law Business Revolution Blog : Legal Coaching & Consulting For Lawyers & Attorneys

This is NOT an ad. The coaching principle simply looks sensible to us.

Unauthorized Beatles Music Online Leads to Legal Action by EMI

2009-11-06T00:35:00.001+01:00

The Reuters headline reads:

EMI sues U.S. website over Beatles music online.

An outfit called BlueBeat.com has been offering what are apparently unauthorized downloads of not only Beatles songs but also other unauthorized content from other major music labels. This looks like a classic case of copyright infringement.

In the meantime, a temporary injunction has been granted.
See Billboard.biz

Lots of discussion at the ars technica open forum

Four Good Reasons To Take Up Golf As A Sport - Article

2009-11-05T16:45:00.000+01:00

George Gabriel at Resources for Attorneys has an article that concentrates on Four Good Reasons To Take Up Golf As A Sport.

New LawPundit Header accommodates Online Legal Questions to Lawyers (USA) & Solicitors (UK) : Fees Charged for Answers : Affiliate Fee Participation

2009-11-05T01:13:00.004+01:00

The new LawPundit header (at the top of the blog page) now accommodates the justanswer.com widgets for online questions to lawyers (USA) and solicitors (UK). A fee is charged for accepted answers. Affiliates such as ourselves are paid a certain percentage of those fees as a form of "finder's fee".

The process is simple. The user first asks a question of online legal experts. The user then puts a price on the answer to the question. If an online legal expert accepts that price, an answer is forthcoming. If the person who lodged the question accepts the answer given, a fee is due.

We have tried various affiliate programs and are skeptical about them, based upon our experience, but we are trying this one as an experiment, since it seems to make a lot of common sense to have such an online service available to laymen.

We shall see if our readers and users have any use for it.

Ipenforcement's Blog

2009-11-05T01:07:00.000+01:00

Ipenforcement's Blog is "a blog about the issues of counterfeiting and piracy" - by Nils Montan.

European Union "Constitutional" Lisbon Treaty now ratified by All 27 EU Member States as Czech Republic signs the Lisbon Treaty on November 3, 2009

2009-11-04T13:49:00.010+01:00

An economically AND politically and militarily united European Union will in the course of time become the world's leading power - a development resisted in many quarters.

Yesterday was therefore a great step forward in the right direction with the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon as the virtual Constitution of the EU.

Matthias C. Kettemann, an Austrian LL.M. student at Harvard, writes in the Harvard Law Record in We, the People of Europe: How the Lisbon Treaty makes the EU more democratic:

"Today, after the Czech Republic's highest court failed to find any grounds on which it was unconstitutional, Czech President Václav Klaus finally signed the Lisbon Treaty . The treaty's reforms will now enter into force on December 1, 2010. The debate on its contents, however, is far from over."(read the rest here)

From a nation-state point of view, as the German Federal Constitutional Court emphasized in a decision on Germany's then impending ratification of the Lisbon Treaty this past summer, the problem is that the EU is not a federation of states, but rather is primarily a union of 27 sovereign states, a situation which makes unity in economic, political or military affairs extremely difficult.

One could compare this to the hypothetical of 50 sovereign U.S. States each having a governor and a legislature that were more powerful than the President of the United States or its Congress, and each State having its own armed forces, foreign diplomats, etc. It would be chaos, and such a union would be a very weak one, hardly able to withstand modern demands and dangers from without and clearly unable to fulfill the American dream or destiny within.

Seen realistically, it is in fact quite remarkable that the EU functions as well as it does, and the main reason that it DOES function, is that the leading political, economic and intellectual echelons of European countries understand how very important it is to their all ultimate self-interest now and down the road, that the European Union become more solidified as a viable single entity.

How did things get that way in Europe? Essentially, today's remarkably peaceful and economically effective modern Europe - in the past always involved in countless strength-sapping wars - is the direct consequence of World War II and the recognition that things could not continue as they had in the previous eras, where Europe's political life had been largely dominated by the cravings of tyrants, by unfettered lust for "tribal" national power and for unearned stolen prosperity by conquest, domination and theft of others. Something had to give, and it did, as the early very small and loose economic unions, kept together by treaties, evolved into the European Common Market and ultimately into the European Union.

Since its inception, the legal foundations of the European Union and its economic forbears were established by treaties. It is perhaps thus fitting that the "new" de facto "Constitution" of the European Union is also a treaty and not a purely constitutional document as such.

The new Treaty - the Treaty of Lisbon (also called the Lisbon Treaty or the Reform Treaty) - was signed in Lisbon by all of the EU Member States on December 17, 2007 and with yesterday's November 3, 2009 ratification by the Czech Republic, the Lisbon Treaty has now been ratified by all 27 EU States. See the progressive moving map below.

Treaty of Lisbon ratification process,
December 20, 2007 to November 3, 2009.

The order of ratification is shown by this progressive map,
starting with Hungary and ending with the Czech Republic.
Source: Wikipedia, by the user Urpunkt

Clean Water and Mountaintop Mining No Longer Mix : Becker's Iowa Environmental Law Update

2009-11-04T00:48:00.000+01:00

Clean Water and Mountaintop Mining No Longer Mix : Becker's Iowa Environmental Law Update

Angela Merkel : Europe's Quiet Leader : Germany Rises to Power in Quiet Footsteps

2009-11-03T14:54:00.000+01:00

Anne Applebaum - Merkel's quiet ascension in Germany could envelope Europe - washingtonpost.com

Hat tip to CaryGee.

National Health Insurance : The Reality of Need

2009-11-01T20:48:00.004+01:00

An old friend of mine who suffered a massive stroke this past March writes as follows at his blog:

"I know what it’s like to need an insurance card to get help. Boy, that changes everything. When you’re experiencing a painful, maybe life threatening event, all you want is help. You don’t think about politics or what the media has to say. All you want is help, fast.
And that requires buckets full of cash. Or an insurance card.

Let’s make it so no one will ever be denied care again. If not for your own sake, then for your human brothers and sisters. You can effect change just by adjusting your attitude."

Read the rest here.

Every industrialized country in the world has some form of national health insurance, except for the United States, where the status of health - as also the health care of citizens - is on average lower than in comparably industrialized nations. Obviously, any national health insurance program has to be controlled and monitored carefully to avoid abuse, but that is a completely different issue than the question of necessity, about which there can not be much serious doubt.

Google Wave Blog at Waverful : The Wonderful (Waverful) World of Google Wave

2009-10-31T19:32:00.000+01:00

We think that Google Wave will be such a blockbuster application down the road that we have created a special blog, WAVERFUL, for the Wonderful World of Google Wave.

The main problem right now, based upon what we have seen elsewhere - we do not have our own personal copy of Google Wave yet (you can send us an invite, thank you), is the problem of permissions.

Obviously, for "serious" Google Wave uses, each Google Wave originator, or someone else authorized by that originator, will have to be in charge of granting permissions to access a Google Wave designed for a given public. You can not just send things out into the public domain - there are simply too many self-serving and nutty things that people are otherwise tempted to do - and, judging by experience - do do, if there is not some kind of authorizing moderator inbetween.

Modern institutions all work with hierarchies, indeed, multiple hierarchies - just look at your own work place - and there is a reason for this, because experience shows that it just does not work any other way, given the vagaries of human nature.
Google Wave will be no different.

Google Wave in Law: What Does Google Wave Mean For Lawyers?

2009-10-31T18:56:00.000+01:00

Jay Fleischman on What Does Google Wave Mean For Lawyers?

The Scales of Justice, Blogging and Cable News Networks : The Origins of Lady Liberty

2009-10-31T18:34:00.000+01:00

The newest cable news stats show (hat tip to MEDIAite):

Polar Opposites: Fox News Seeing Best Ratings, CNN and MSNBC Worst.

This is not surprising to us, at least in the case of Fox News and CNN.

Fox News has long been known to be on the conservative side of things and now reflects the right-wing backlash against U.S. President Barack Obama while CNN has progressively drifted far too far to left, or as one viewer at Michelle Malkin writes: "No wonder CNN only has three viewers. They don’t "report" for all Americans, only left-wing Americans, forgetting that half this country is on the right, almost a 50/50 split." Picking up the slack at CNN is at least HLN, Headline News, formerly CNN2, whose ratings are strongly increasing.

Where, dear friends, do we find "fair and balanced" reporting?

Blogs - equally biased, of course - developed as balancing agents to the partisanship of the major cable news networks. But to be fair, it is not all bad, of course, and almost all original reporting is still done by the major news networks and newspapers, so we bloggers can probably more truthfully say that we are the powers at the fulcrum of the balance, i.e. at the pivotal point of the scales of justice, as it were.

At the Bay Weekly, J. Alex Knoll in Sky Watch, wrote about The Heavenly Scales: From a weigher of souls to the stalwart of liberty:

"Libra ... the celestial scales [where the] second-magnitude, bluish-white star Zubenelgenubi [is located at] the fulcrum of the scales.... ... nearly 4,000 years ago, the sun passed through Libra during autumnal equinox, when day and night are equal, and so, the Babylonians worshiped this constellation as the Ereshkigal, the goddess of the dead who weighed the souls of men. The Egyptian god Anubis, too, held the scales weighing life and death. The ancient Greeks, however, considered Libra but a part of Scorpius, its stars representing a lamp or lantern and later the lighthouse of Alexandria, held between the scorpion’s outstretched claws. But the Romans wrested the scales from the scorpion, giving them to Astraea, the goddess of justice. She wore a crown of grain, another symbol tied to the scales of early commerce, and she represents purity and innocence. Astraea was the last of the gods to leave earth during the Golden Age. She became Virgo, to the west of Libra, leaving her scales behind as a final gift to mankind. Today, we Americans know her as Lady Liberty."

HootSuite for Twitter : Review by 3 Geeks and a Law Blog

2009-10-30T18:20:00.001+01:00

HootSuite is a useful online application for Twitter, especially for multiple accounts.

3 Geeks and a Law Blog reviewed Hootsuite some time ago. It is definitely worth a read.

Google Wave and the practice of IP law | The Invent Blog®

2009-10-30T14:47:00.000+01:00

Google Wave and the practice of IP law | The Invent Blog®

Naming Your Business: Choosing A Name Capable of Trademark Protection | Citizen Media Law Project

2009-10-29T04:13:00.002+01:00

Naming Your Business: Choosing A Name Capable of Trademark Protection is a non-commercially attribution-distributable article from the Citizen Media Law Project, Harvard - Berkman, which I think is worth sharing:

"Choosing a distinctive name is important from a business perspective, but it is also important if you want trademark law to protect your business name. A business name is potentially a trademark protected by the law, but this protection depends on the type of name you choose.

As a general matter, the more unique or distinctive the name is, the greater trademark protection it receives. Fanciful marks (made-up words like "Kodak"), arbitrary marks (existing words used in a way unrelated to their normal meaning, like "Apple" for computers), and suggestive marks (those that hint at a quality or aspect of the product or service, like "Netscape") receive the highest level of protection. You can register these kinds of trademarks immediately, without any evidence of "secondary meaning" -- i.e., proof that, through your use of the name in commerce, the public has come to identify it specifically with your good or service. Similarly, in the event of a lawsuit, you would not need to produce evidence of secondary meaning in order to make out your case.

In contrast, a merely descriptive name can only receive full trademark protection after it acquires secondary meaning. Some examples include names that describe the product or service directly, such as Speedy Rental Car, or one that merely uses a person's name, such as Smith Computers or Jane's Collectibles. Terms that describe the geographic location of a good or service, like the New York Times, also are considered descriptive, and they can be protected as trademarks only upon proof that through use they have acquired secondary meaning. If you choose a merely descriptive name for your citizen media site or blog, you would not be able to register it at first, and you would not be able to successfully sue someone for using a confusingly similar trademark. You might be able to register it and/or bring a successful lawsuit at a later date, however, assuming that Internet users at some point come to identify your business name specifically with your work (i.e., it acquires secondary meaning).

Lastly, a generic name can never receive trademark protection. A generic name is identical to the product or service to which it attaches. For instance, calling a business that hosted email accounts "email" would be a generic name. Keep in mind that a term can be a generic name for one product or service, but a valid trademark for another. For instance, "Apple" is a generic name for selling apples, but a valid trademark for computers, and "Bicycle" is a generic name for selling bicycles, but a valid trademark for playing cards. Some geographical terms like "swiss cheese" and "French fries" are also generic because they are synonymous with the item itself. However, this does not mean that all geographical names are generic.

Choosing a business name presents a special problem for a community journalism site or blogger with a regional focus, where using a geographical or other descriptive term makes intuitive sense. After some thought, you may decide that the appropriate descriptive name is more important to you than strong trademark protection. Or, you may come up with a creative way of using a geographical term in a distinctive way (e.g., h2otown). Be aware also that your descriptive name may obtain secondary meaning should your site prove an influential and often-visited source of information -- think, for instance about the New York Times. So, keep in mind that you may start out with a business name that enjoys little protection under trademark law, but the amount of protection may grow over time."

‹ Trademark Law and Naming Your Business up Naming Your Business: Searching for Trademarks of Others ›

via citmedialaw.org

Posted via web from Andis Kaulins

Trademarks and the Name of a Business : The Citizen Media Law Project at Harvard Instructs on How to Choose a Trademark-Protectable Name

2009-10-29T03:49:00.001+01:00

The Citizen Media Law Project, a non-profit at Harvard which provides legal assistance and resources for online and citizen media, at their website, hosted by the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, has a very nice summary of trademark law as relates to the naming of a business.

See:

Naming Your Business: Choosing A Name Capable of Trademark Protection | Citizen Media Law Project

Make Hop not War : Sony Ericsson Hoppers in Barcelona

2009-10-28T23:56:00.000+01:00

Have you seen this?
This is not an ad on my part.
It is my selection for video of the decade.
HAPPY! I fell off my hopper smiling.

Sony Ericsson Hoppers in Barcelona

TwitterBar is a Useful Tool for Posting Twitter Tweets from the ADDRESS BAR of the Browser

2009-10-24T00:11:00.000+02:00

TwitterBar is a Useful Tool for Posting Twitter Tweets from the ADDRESS BAR of the Browser. This makes it very fast and easy to use. The TwitterBar Widget currently mentions LawPundit as a blog that has posted about Twitter Bar (scroll the widget).

TwitterBar

Embed this widget See full results for TwitterBar

Twitter Addresses of Legal Blogs (Blawgs) as Referenced on the LawPundit Law Blogroll

2009-10-22T23:26:00.000+02:00

Having initially compiled these legal Twitter tweet feeds for our own use, we are happy to provide our readers with the Twitter links (that we could find) for blawgs and legally-related blogs on our LawPundit law blogroll. We follow numerous of these Twitter tweet feeds ourselves at @Law_Pundit (note the underline necessitated by our inability thus far to obtain the @LawPundit address at Twitter which is currently squatted by an imposter). Our current Twitter address is: @Law_Pundit (full address at http://www.twitter.com/Law_Pundit).

The Twitter blawg addresses we have located for law bloggers on our LawPundit law blogroll:

The Blog of the White House - @Whitehouse
ABAJournal - @ABA Journal
ABAJournal.com Web producer - @BlogWhisperer
ABA President's Blog - @tommywellsaba
Above the Law - @atlblog
AbsTracked - @abstracked
ACLU Blog of Rights - @aclu
A Connecticut Law Blog - @ryanmckeen
ACSBlog - @acslaw
Advocate's Studio - @advocatesstudio
Al Nye the Lawyer Guy - @AlanNye
Althouse - @annalthouse
Anticipate This! - @jacobward
Anything Under the Sun Made by Man - @russ_krajec
Bag and Baggage - @dhowell
Balkinization - @jackbalkin
Bank Law Blog (.uk) - @banklawblogger
Bibliotheksrecht (.de) - @BibliothekRecht
Binary Law (.uk) - @nickholmes
BlawgIT - @BrettTrout
Blawgletter - @blawgletter
Blawg Review - @blawgreview
Blog@IP::JUR - @axelhorns
Build a Solo Practice - @SCartierLiebel
Business Golf Blog - @suzannewoo
Canadian Trademark Blog - @CanadianTMBlog
Cearta (.ie) - @cearta
Charon QC (.uk) - @charonqc
China Law Blog - @danharris
Class 46 (EU trade mark news) - @class46
Conglomerate - @GlomPosts
Copyright Trademark & Entertainment Blog - @tamerabennett
Counterfeit Chic (Copying) - @CounterfeitChic
Current Awareness (.uk) - @inner_temple
Daily Kos - @markos
Deal Attorney (M&A) - @acerminaro
Deal Book - @nytimesdealbook
Deliberations - @annereed
Dennis Kennedy Blog - @dkennedyblog
Discourse.net - @mfroomkin
Doc Searls Weblog - @dsearls
Dorf on Law - @dorfonlaw
Drug and Device Law Blog - @ddlw
E-Commerce Law - @JonathanFrieden
Election Law - @rickhasen
Embassy Law Blog - @embassylaw
Ernie the Attorney - @ernieattorney
Faculty Blog Chicago - @UChicagoLaw
Feminist Law Professors - @FeministLawPrfs
For the Defense (DRI) - @forthedefense
Freedom to Differ (.au) - @peterblackQT
German Trademark Law in a Nutshell - @germantrademark
Groklaw - @Groklaw
Guiding Rights Blog - @mvbpartridge
Handakte (.de) - @handakte
Head of Legal (.uk) - @carlgardner
Health Blawg - @healthblawg
Hollywood Entertainment & Media Law - @THREsq
Houston's Clear Thinkers -@bigtkirk
Immateriblog (.de) - @spielkamp
Infamy or Praise - @colinsamuels
Informationoverlord (.uk) - @iOverlord
InstaPundit - @instapundit
International Economic Law & Policy - @worldtradelaw
International Trade Law News - @tradelawnews
Internet Cases - @internetcases
IP Dragon 知識產權龍 - @ipdragon
iPhone J.D. - @jeffrichardson
IPKat - @IPkat
IP Think Tank - @IPThinkTank
IPwars (.au) - @wrothnie
IT Law in Ireland - @TJMcIntyre
Lawdable - @BarryWilms, @dmac1957
Law Firm Web Strategy - @stevematthews
LawLibTech - @cchick
Law Practice Tips Blog - @jimcalloway
LawPundit - @Law_Pundit (@Law_Pundit)
Legal Blog Watch - @LegalBlogWatch
Legal History Blog - @legalhistory
Legal Jobs & Recruitment (.uk) - @TenPercentLegal
Legal Pad (a Cal Law Blog) -@LegalPadblog
Legal Talk Network - @legaltalk
Legal Theory Blog - @lsolum
Legal Tweets - @nikiblack
Legal Underground - @eschaeff
Lessig Blog - @LESSIG
Lex Ferenda (.ie) - @macsithigh
LibraryLawBlog - @librarylaw
Lightbulb (Dilanchian IP Blog) (.au) - @noricd
MassLawBlog - @gesmer
Opinio Juris - @opiniojuris
Overseas Property Investment Blog - @nubricks
Paper Chase - @JuristNews
Patent Baristas - @patentbaristas
Patent Docs - @PatentDocs
Patentability Blog - @BrianNFletcher
Patently-O - @PatentlyO
Patterico's Pontifications - @Patterico
Peter Zura's 271 Patent Blog - @PZura
Phosita - @Phosita
PLI Patent Blog - @PractLawInst
Precedent (Law & Style) - @shortcellar
Privacy & Security Law - @DWTLaw
SCOTUSblog - @scotusblog
Securing Innovation - @ipdotcom
Singularity Law - @JoshKagan
Slaw (.ca) - @slaw_dot_ca
Southern Appeal - @SouthernAppeal
Strategic Legal Technology - @ronfriedmann
Sui Generis - @nikiblack
TalkLeft - @talkleft
taxgirl - - @taxgirl
Techdirt - @techdirt
TechnoLlama (.uk) - @technollama
Technology & Marketing - @ericgoldman
The Common Scold - @CommonScold
The Invent Blog - @nipper
The Lawyer Coach Blog - @TheLawyerCoach
the [non]billable hour - @matthomann
Trademark Blog - @mschwimmer
TTABlog (Trademarks) - @TTABlog
Useful Arts - @usefularts
WisBlawg - @shucha
Wise Law Blawg (.ca) - @wiselaw
WSJ.com Law Blog - @WSJLawBlog
Zeugma - @paulmaharg

Video of the Ceremony Opening the New Supreme Court of the United Kingdom

2009-10-22T22:46:00.003+02:00

We posted previously about the historic opening of the new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, the ceremony of which was attended by Queen Elizabeth II, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, UK Supreme Court President Lord Nicholas Phillips, three U.S. Supreme Court Justices (Chief Justice Roberts and Associate Justices Scalia and Breyer) and Supreme Court Justices from around the world. Below is a C-SPAN video from YouTube showing this significant event:

European Union : EU Jurisdiction : Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters : Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001

2009-10-22T13:44:00.002+02:00

The European Union COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 is one of the most important documents of the EU, covering jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters.

The EU Law Blog in the posting Cases of the Court of Justice on Regulation 44/2001: Council Document informs us that:

"The Council has prepared a handy compilation of the case-law of the Court of Justice interpreting Regulation 44/2001 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters."

Read the whole thing here.

Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (U.K.) Newly Designed was Rolled Out in Presence of the Queen and Supreme Court Justices from Around the World

2009-10-19T23:53:00.004+02:00

As reported by Nathan Koppel at the WSJ Law Blog in The New U.K. High Court: A Chip Off The New Block, the United Kingdom this month ceremoniously replaced the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords with a new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.

The October 1, 2009 Press Notice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom provided as follows:

[Please note that the links in the text below have been added for more detailed information by LawPundit and are NOT a part of the original press release.]

"Reference number: 01/09
Date: 1 October 2009
Press Notice
Supreme Court of the United Kingdom comes into existence

The new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom came into existence today (1 October 2009) and is now the highest court in the United Kingdom.

Replacing the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords, the Court's creation is a landmark moment in constitutional and legal development.

The new home of the Supreme Court is the former Middlesex Guildhall, on Parliament Square. It has been painstakingly renovated over the past two years with new life breathed into the building. Many original features have been restored and brought back to full splendour.

Established through the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, the Supreme Court will hear civil appeal cases from England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, as well as criminal appeal cases from England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It takes over the devolution jurisdiction of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC). The JCPC continues to be the final court of appeal for certain Commonwealth countries and other jurisdictions, such as Crown Dependencies.

The Supreme Court is set to transform the public's awareness of justice at the highest level. One of the Court’s fundamental aims is to be as transparent as possible in its judgments and proceedings.

For the first time at any court in the United Kingdom, proceedings will be routinely filmed and made available to broadcasters. The building is open to the public during working hours and press summaries of judgments will be provided to the media.

The Court will educate as well as adjudicate, with a specially created exhibition on the Court's work and the UK's judicial systems.

Following the swearing in this morning, the Justices will process in their robes to Westminster Abbey to attend the annual service that marks the start of the new legal year in England and Wales.

Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, President of the Supreme Court, said: "For the first time, we have a clear separation of powers between the legislature, the judiciary and the executive in the United Kingdom. This is important. It emphasises the independence of the judiciary, clearly separating those who make the law from those who administer it.

As Justices of the Supreme Court we will be more visible to the public than we ever were when sitting as members of the House of Lords. This is desirable as the Court will only decide points of law of public importance. Justice at the highest level should be transparent and the new Court will have a crucial role in letting the public see how justice is done."

Jenny Rowe, Chief Executive of the Supreme Court, said: "The establishment of the Supreme Court is an important historic moment.

"The improvements and modernisation that this brings creates exciting new opportunities to show the wider public how justice is done at the highest level, to increase awareness of the UK's legal systems and the impact the law has on people's lives."

Ends

Notes to editors
The start of the legal year in England and Wales is traditionally marked by a procession of judges arriving at Westminster Abbey from the Royal Courts of Justice in The Strand for the service, followed by the Lord Chancellor's 'breakfast' in the Great Hall in the Houses of Parliament.

The swearing in of Justices will start at approximately 10am on Thursday 1 October at The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. The Service in Westminster Abbey commences at 11.30am. Sworn in Justices will process to the Abbey at approximately 10.50am.
Contacts:
Sian Lewis
Tel: 020 7960 1886
sian.lewis@supremecourt.gsi.gov.uk

Robert Boyland
Tel: 020 7960 1887
robert.boyland@supremecourt.gsi.gov.uk

The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
Parliament Square London SW1P 3BD T: 020 7960 1886/1887 F: 020 7960 1901 www.supremecourt.gov.uk"

[Please note that the links in the text above were added for more detailed information by LawPundit and are NOT a part of the original press release.]

The October 2, 2009 Press Notice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom provided as follows:

"Reference number: 02/09
Date: 16 October 2009
Press Notice
HM The Queen officially opens The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom

Her Majesty The Queen today officially opened The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom at an event attended by senior judges from around the world, politicians and others from the UK.

Located on Parliament Square, the building which is now home to the new Supreme Court has been painstakingly restored through a Ministry of Justice managed project – with many of the previously obscured original features of the Middlesex Guildhall brought back to light.

The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh were taken on a tour of the building by The Rt Hon Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, the Court's President, The Right Hon Lord Hope of Craighead, Deputy President and Jenny Rowe, its Chief Executive.

Lord Phillips said: "It was a very great honour that Her Majesty performed the official opening and that it was attended by so many distinguished guests. The creation of a Supreme Court for the United Kingdom is undoubtedly a major constitutional landmark. It unequivocally separates the senior judiciary from the legislature and the executive, but also brings other benefits.

"The Court's new facilities are far improved for Justices, lawyers, other court users and the public. Justice at the highest level should be transparent and we now have facilities which are truly accessible and create opportunities for people to gain a better understanding of our work and the UK legal systems in general."

Greeted with a fanfare by The State Trumpeters of The Band of The Blues and Royals, The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh met staff, contractors and artists who had contributed to the project. In the Court’s new exhibition area they saw schoolchildren from William Edward's School and Sports College, Grays, Essex, using interactive displays that explain the UK's legal systems and the role of the Court's Justices. A legal debate or 'moot' was also staged in Court One by students from Strode's College, Egham, Surrey.

Lord Phillips, The Prime Minister The Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP and Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State, The Rt Hon Jack Straw MP addressed guests who included many senior members of overseas judiciary. Judges from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Europe, India and Canada were among those who attended. There were also dignitaries from the Commonwealth and The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom Crown Dependencies, from the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and Gibraltar, as well as Caribbean islands.

Sir Andrew Motion, former poet laureate, read his poem 'Lines for the Supreme Court', commissioned by the Justices of the Supreme Court to mark its establishment. The poem has been engraved onto stone benches outside the front entrance of The Supreme Court building. Prayers were led by His Grace, The Archbishop of Canterbury after Her Majesty unveiled a commemorative bronze sculpture.

Jenny Rowe, Chief Executive of The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, said: "I am extremely honoured that Her Majesty was able to undertake the official opening of the Court.

"The Court will educate as well as adjudicate and one of our fundamental aims is to be as transparent as possible in its judgments and proceedings. These are routinely filmed and will be made available to broadcasters, which is a first for the UK. In the coming months we will be developing our education and outreach work – so there are exciting times ahead."

Ends

Notes to editors

Established through the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, the Supreme Court will hear civil appeal cases from England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, as well as criminal appeal cases from England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It takes over the devolution jurisdiction of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC). The JCPC continues to be the final court of appeal for certain Commonwealth countries and other jurisdictions, such as Crown Dependencies.

The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom has replaced the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords.

The JCPC now sits in the same building as the Supreme Court, having moved from its previous accommodation at 9 Downing Street.

Judges who attended the Official Opening included:

Honorable John G. Roberts, Jr, Chief Justice of the United States
Honorable Antonin Scalia, Associate Justice of The Supreme Court of the United States
Honorable Stephen Breyer, Associate Justice of The Supreme Court of the United States
The Rt Hon Dame Sian Elias, Chief Justice of The Supreme Court of New Zealand
The Rt Hon Beverley McLachlin, Chief Justice of The Supreme Court of Canada
The Honourable Justice Susan Kiefel, High Court of Australia
Honourable Mr Justice K G Balakrishnan, Chief Justice of The Supreme Court of India
Chief Justice Pius Langa, Constitutional Court, South Africa
The Hon Chief Justice Andrew Li, High Court, Hong Kong
Dorit Beinisch, President of The Supreme Court of Israel
The Rt Hon Dame Joan Sawyer, President of The Court of Appeal of the Bahamas
Hon Chief Justice Richard W Ground OBE, The Court of Appeal of Bermuda
Hon Chief Justice Anthony Smellie QC, The Court of Appeal of the Cayman Islands
Hon Chief Justice Lord Christopher Gardner QC, Falkland Islands and British Indian Ocean Territory
Hon Chief Justice (Acting) Anthony Dudley, The Supreme Court of Gibraltar
Hon Justice Frederick Bruce-Lyle, Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court
Hon Justice Michael Kerruish QC, High Court of Justice of the Isle of Man
Hon Judge Charles Blackie, Pitcairn Islands
Hon Chief Justice Ivor Archie, Trinidad and Tobago
Hon Justice Richard Williams, Turks and Caicos Islands
Madame Pauliine Koskelo, President of The Supreme Court of Finland
Monsieur Vincent Lamandat, Chief Justice of The Supreme Court of France
Prof. Dr Klaus Tolksdorf, President of The Supreme Court of Germany
The Hon Mr Justice John Morgan, Chief Justice of The Supreme Court of Ireland
Monsieur Vincenzo Carbone, First President of The Supreme Court of Italy
Prof. Dr hab Lech Gardocki, First President of The Supreme Court of Poland
Monsieur Franc Testen, President of The Supreme Court of Slovenia
Vassilios Skouris, President of The European Court of Justice
Sir Nicolas Bratza, Vice President of The European Court of Human Rights
Chief Justice Johan Munck, Supreme Court of Sweden
Contacts:

Sian Lewis
Tel: 020 7960 1886
sian.lewis@supremecourt.gsi.gov.uk

Robert Boyland
Tel: 020 7960 1887
robert.boyland@supremecourt.gsi.gov.uk

The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
Parliament Square London SW1P 3BD T: 020 7960 1886/1887 F: 020 7960 1901
www.supremecourt.gov.uk"

Twittered at Law_Pundit at the link @Law_Pundit

LawPundit reported on this development already last March in Whatever Happened to the House of Lords? A Supreme Court of the United Kingdom will take up work Starting in October 2009.

The European Union (EU) Launches Online Digital Library of Archives of Official EU Documents Issued in the Past 50 Years

2009-10-19T14:23:00.004+02:00

The European Union (EU) yesterday, October 18, 2009, at the Frankfurt Book Fair launched its online digital Library of archives of official documents issued in the past 50 years.

Valentina Pop at EUObserver writes:

"The digital library frees the memory of the European Union tied to paper since its beginning," EU commissioner for multilingualism Leonard Orban said.

"The millions of pages now accessible to everyone in the 23 official languages demonstrate the continued commitment of the European Union to preserve and encourage the history of the Union in its linguistic diversity," he added. Apart from the bloc's 23 official languages, some publications are also available in Chinese, Russian and around 20 other languages."

TwitterBar : A Twitter Add-On Extension for Mozilla Firefox allows the Simple and Fast Posting of Tweets from the Address Bar : By ScribeFire Maker

2009-10-16T20:30:00.001+02:00

We are just starting out with Twitter and ran across a Mozilla Firefox Add-On Extension called TwitterBar by Christopher Finke which fits our own needs fantastically: It is simple and fast for posting tweets, especially about a given website page that one is just viewing on the screen.

See the reviews here.