GlobaLex is an online publication of the Hauser Global Law School Program at the New York University School of Law providing research tools for comparative law, international law, and the laws of various jurisdictions around the world. It was launched in 2005 by editor-in-chief Mirela Roznovschi, then NYU Law School's Foreign and International Law Reference Librarian, with the support of professor Joseph H. H. Weiler and dean Richard Revesz. [1] Roznovschi conceived of the project while in Armenia as a guest instructor in legal research, and in 2003 after her return to NYU, she discussed the idea with Weiler, who came up with the name. [2]
The New York University School of Law is the law school of New York University. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City. The school offers J.D., LL.M., and J.S.D. degrees in law, and is located in Greenwich Village, in Lower Manhattan.
Comparative law is the study of differences and similarities between the law of different countries. More specifically, it involves the study of the different legal "systems" in existence in the world, including the common law, the civil law, socialist law, Canon law, Jewish Law, Islamic law, Hindu law, and Chinese law. It includes the description and analysis of foreign legal systems, even where no explicit comparison is undertaken. The importance of comparative law has increased enormously in the present age of internationalism, economic globalization, and democratization.
International law is the set of rules generally regarded and accepted in relations between nations. It serves as a framework for the practice of stable and organized international relations. International law differs from state-based legal systems in that it is primarily applicable to countries rather than to individual citizens. National law may become international law when treaties permit national jurisdiction to supranational tribunals such as the European Court of Human Rights or the International Criminal Court. Treaties such as the Geneva Conventions may require national law to conform to respective parts.
GlobaLex publishes articles both on topical areas, such as treaty research (particularly travaux préparatoires ), regional trade agreements in Africa, or the TRIPS Agreement, as well as guides to the laws of specific jurisdictions. [3] By 2007, GlobaLex had coverage of more than 80 jurisdictions. [4] By 2012, that had expanded to a total of 195 research guides, including 144 guides for specific jurisdictions, 15 comparative law guides, and 32 international law guides. [2] As editor-in-chief, Roznovschi was responsible for finding authors who are experts in their topic areas to write guides to specific jurisdictions or topic areas, and to supervise the process of writing the article. Some authors write a guide in a foreign language and have it translated into English, with the whole process often taking as long as a year. GlobaLex pays a small honorarium to authors to offset basic expenses. [5] In 2017, Lucie Olejnikova replaced Roznovschi as editor-in-chief following the retirement of the latter. [6]
The travaux préparatoires are the official record of a negotiation. Sometimes published, the "travaux" are often useful in clarifying the intentions of a treaty or other instrument, as is reflected in Article 32 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT).
The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) is an international legal agreement between all the member nations of the World Trade Organization (WTO). It sets down minimum standards for the regulation by national governments of many forms of intellectual property (IP) as applied to nationals of other WTO member nations. TRIPS was negotiated at the end of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) between 1989 and 1990 and is administered by the WTO.
Because of GlobaLex's breadth, law librarians frequently recommend it as a valuable resource for legal research. [7] Some commenters in 2007 noted that the depth of coverage varied greatly by jurisdiction and that greater standardization would be helpful. [8] A 2016 review evaluated GlobaLex favorably under information search process criteria, though criticized it for its lack of current awareness tools. [9] Roznovschi was the recipient of the American Association of Law Libraries' Reynolds & Flores Award in 2015 for her work on GlobaLex. [10]
The information search process (ISP) is a six-stage process of information seeking behavior in library and information science. The ISP was first suggested by Carol Kuhlthau in 1991.
The American Association of Law Libraries "is a nonprofit educational organization with over 5,000 members nationwide. AALL's mission is to promote and enhance the value of law libraries to the legal and public communities, to foster the profession of law librarianship, and to provide leadership in the field of legal information and information policy."
