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JOHN TRONE[*]
The laws of Asian nations are obviously much less common in Australian libraries than are Anglo-American laws. To some extent limited print holdings of Asian laws can be supplemented by electronic sources. However, as in all legal research, it is prudent not to see electronic sources (especially the Internet) as a panacea.
Some indication about the role of law in Asia is in order, but it should be noted that it is more difficult to generalise about Asian legal systems than it is about European legal systems or indeed about Western legal systems generally. However, the contrast is commonly drawn between Western and Asian notions of law by characterising particular Asian legal systems as the “rule of man” and Western legal systems in general as the “rule of law”.[1] It is also commonly asserted that Asian societies eschew formal law in place of less formal mechanisms of dispute settlement.[2]
Certainly many of the nations within the region have traditionally viewed the idea of law with some mistrust. In such countries, greater store was placed in moral duties consequent upon personal relationships than in formal written laws.[3] Law was seen as an indication of social dislocation rather than as an instrument of social protection.[4]
It should thus be apparent that studying the laws and legal systems of Asia must involve an awareness of “insights from philosophy, history, sociology, anthropology and linguistics”[5] as much as an awareness of the words of the laws. The need for such a cross-disciplinary awareness is greatest where one does not come to the task with the cultural and political familiarity that one brings to the study of one’s own legal system.
Hence “the work that is often labelled ‘Asian law’ stands far removed from the positivist emphasis and bibliographical focus of much classical comparative law”.[6] This is not to suggest that “black letter” law is not an important part of this enterprise, only that there is a need for a broader approach than was taken by “classical comparative law”.
This paper avoids use of the term “Asian law” as a reference to a discrete field of study, given the controversy that term provokes.[7] The term “Asian laws”[8] (plural) is used herein solely as a shorthand reference to “black letter” laws ie statutes, regulations, decrees, and case law where relevant. This paper discusses major electronic sources of such laws. It does not attempt to catalogue the vast body of electronic sources of social science and media commentary upon the laws and legal systems of Asia.
As in the West, such commentaries may cast much-need light upon the operation of Asian legal systems in practice. However, so plentiful are such sources that they are quite easy to locate, while electronic sources of “black letter” law remain comparatively obscure. Hence this paper identifies where electronic sources of “black letter” law may be found.
This is not to suggest that electronic sources of social science and media commentaries are less than essential to the study of Asian laws and legal systems, only that they are relatively common and readily accessible.
The structure of this paper is as follows. Part 2 makes some general observations about electronic sources. Part 3 discusses sources relating to particular countries. Part 4 examines sources relating to particular subject areas.
In each part of the paper, coverage is based on what is readily available in electronic form, principally on the Internet, Lexis and Westlaw. Legal CD Roms are published in many Asian countries, but other than those published by Butterworths, most are not easily obtainable in Australia and are usually not discussed herein.
At the outset it should be stressed how much “black letter” law is not available in electronic form. Many countries and many areas of the law are not discussed herein, since these countries and subject areas are not well represented in existing electronic sources. The style, content and availability of regional databases reflect both varying levels of development and varying attitudes towards law.
It should be noted that for Web sites in Asian languages, you will need to configure your Web browser to enable you to view Asian language characters.[9]
So far as finding relevant sites on the Internet is concerned, the most effective way is often to follow links from useful sites that you have already found. Assistance may also be derived from more general lists of links.[10] So far as search engines are concerned, where searching for a particular phrase or combination of words, Hotbot[11] and Altavista[12] often achieve good results.
It should be emphasised that caution is required when using material from the Internet as the accuracy and currency of such material may be questionable.
So far as general bibliographical materials are concerned, while Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals is a database on Westlaw[13], it is only available to law school subscribers that subscribe separately to Wilsondisc. There are relatively few general secondary sources available in electronic format. However, a number of American journals focussing on Asian laws[14] are available on Lexis and/or Westlaw. These include the Columbia Journal of Asian Law[15], the Pacific Rim Law and Policy Journal[16] and the UCLA Pacific Basin Law Journal.[17]
The Malayan Law Journal often contains reports of cases from Brunei. Cases reported in the Journal since 1932 are available on Lexis.[18]
Lexis[19] contains Chinalaw, a database of English translations[20] of important Chinese laws and regulations enacted since 1949.
Many Internet sites offer English translations of Chinese laws. A large number of laws in English translation are available without charge on a site called “China Expo”.[21] The site proclaims that these laws were “compiled by [the] Bureau of Legislative Affairs of the State Council of the Peoples Republic of China”. The laws are divided into categories such as foreign investment and trade, accounting and taxation, banking and finance, agriculture and forestry, customs, industry and commerce, communications and transport, science and technology, culture and sports, public health and medicine, and trademarks.
The “Chinalaw Web” also has a very extensive collection of English translations of Chinese laws.[22] The Internet page of China Today[23] has English translations of laws concerning business, foreign investment and foreign trade. Another periodical which sometimes contains English translations of laws is China Daily, which is available on Westlaw.[24]
Law-On-Line from the Faculty of Law, University of Hong Kong[25] offers English translations of Chinese laws with a foreign aspect.[26] The laws are searchable in full text or by title, date or enacting body. This material is available by subscription only.
Secondary sources in electronic formal are somewhat scarcer. Law-On-Line[27] offers free access to an index in Chinese of three Chinese legal journals.[28] The Journal of Chinese Law (now the Columbia Journal of Asian Law) is available in full text on Westlaw.[29]
The Internet Chinese Legal Research Center[30] includes useful information on searching for and updating Chinese laws. The Internet site of Case Western Reserve University Law School Library offers a bibliographical guide to print materials on Chinese law.[31] Another site contains a list of Chinese laws.[32]
Among the Chinese language sources on the Internet is the Chinalaw Information Service, Peking University[33], which offers a “Databank of Science & Intellectual Property Law in China”. Law-On-Line[34] provides a Chinese language source for central and regional laws and selected judicial decisions.[35] Several other sites contain Chinese texts of statutes.[36]
The law of Hong Kong is well represented in electronic format. Lexis contains Hong Kong Cases since 1947[37] and the Hong Kong Public Law Reports.[38] Butterworths also publishes Hong Kong case law on CD Rom. Decisions of the Court of Final Appeal are available on the Internet.[39]
The searchable full texts of all Hong Kong laws (in both Chinese and English) are available on the Internet on a HKSAR[40] Government site.[41] Provisional Legislative Council Bills are also available on the Internet, along with materials from the former Legislative Council.[42] Lexis contains annotated Ordinances of Hong Kong[43], which are accessible by a table of contents[44] as well as by text searching. Law-On-Line also covers Hong Kong law.[45]
The Indian Parliamentary site on the Internet[46] is one of the most impressive Internet sites constructed by any Asian government. Parliamentary Debates (from 1991 onwards) and Bills passed (also since 1991) may be searched in full text. The debates of the Constituent Assembly, the body that drafted India’s Constitution, are also searchable.
The full texts of current Indian statutes are freely available on the Internet.[47] The Indian Securities and Exchange board Internet site also contains the texts of a large number of statutes and regulations relevant to its work.[48]
Indian Supreme Court decisions handed down since 1950 are available for subscription on the Internet.[49] A site offering free access to Supreme Court judgments since November 1996 seems to have disappeared.[50]
An Internet site dealing with Indonesian tax law is available to subscribers.[51] A number of other Internet sites contain a miscellany of laws.[52] Indonesian environmental, health and safety regulations are available on Westlaw[53], while environmental statutes are also available on Lexis.[54]
There appears to be no comprehensive and reliable freely available Internet source of Japanese laws.[55] Most Internet sites contain only the text of a few laws[56], and only a small number of sites offer more than a handful.[57] James Evans’ book of legal sources on the Internet states that English translations of “most” of some 600 Japanese laws are available on CompuServe.[58]
In general, a series of translations published in print form[59] remains a better source of English translations of Japanese laws than is the Internet. Several bibliographical guides to Japanese law which have been placed on the Internet may assist in locating print sources.[60]
The most visually pleasing Web site relating to Japanese law is that of the Supreme Court[61], which offers a “virtual tour” of the Court. It also contains English translations of two important constitutional judgments.
So far as secondary sources are concerned, the contents pages only of all volumes of the Kobe University Law Review are available on the Internet.[62] An English language newsletter on patent information[63] and a number of articles on the Japanese legal profession and international commercial litigation in Japan[64] are also available on the Internet.
Several laws in Portuguese and Chinese texts appear on the Macau Official Printing Press Web site.[65]
Malaysian cases reported in the Malayan Law Journal since 1932 are available on Lexis.[66] Butterworths also publishes a CD Rom of cases reported in the Journal. The searchable full text of cases and articles in the Malaysian Current Law Journal and cases from the Industrial Law Reports are available for subscription on the Internet.[67] Summaries of recent Malaysian judgments are now included in the Supreme Court International Bulletin, available on free E-Mail subscription.[68]
The searchable full text of Malaysian federal legislation is available for subscription on the Internet.[69] A listing of the short titles and dates of Acts may be browsed for free.[70] A few federal statutes on very specific subjects appear elsewhere on the Internet.[71] There appears to be only one freely available electronic version of the Malaysian Constitution[72], but this Internet version does not incorporate a number of recent amendments.
A short bibliography of printed materials related to Malaysian law is available on the Internet.[73] The Internet site of the Malaysian Law Students Association at Monash University[74] offers a number of interesting links to other sites.
An Internet site contains unofficial English translations of a number of Mongolian laws.[75]
English translations of a few laws concerning foreign investment appear on government Internet site.[76] A South Korean site[77] contains the contents pages of all volumes of the South Korean journal Law and Public Administration in North Korea.
Supreme Court decisions decided since 1901 are available on LEXIS.[78] Each case is assigned a LEXIS citation. Parallel citations are given to the former printed series, the Philippines Reports (1901-1966), but not the more recent (and current) Supreme Court Reports Annotated. Many of the cases include extensive headnotes from the reports. A number of recent court circulars are available from the Supreme Court site on the Internet.[79]
The 1987 Constitution can be found on the Internet.[80] Legislation enacted since 1946 is available on LEXIS.[81] Unfortunately, statutes are not assigned a LEXIS citation, nor any form of printed citation, so it is difficult to know how they may be referenced. This database is a very large one, and a citation makes retrieval much easier. However, references to printed sources for a number of statutes are available on the Internet from the Global Legal Information Network.[82]
Bureau of Internal Revenue tax materials since 1980 are also available on LEXIS.[83]
The full texts of Singapore cases decided since March 1965, together with headnotes, are available on LEXIS.[84] Parallel citations to the printed Singapore Law Reports are given. That report series is now also available on CD Rom from Butterworths.[85]
A constantly updated electronic version of Supreme Court Practice Directions (complete with hypertext links) appears on the Internet.[86]
Statutes and subordinate legislation are available on LEXIS.[87] The legislation is accessible by a table of contents[88] as well as by text searching. This file is updated quarterly. A database of legislation[89] and the full text of Singaporean Hansard from June 1977[90] are also available on the Internet to subscribers. A number of statutes (revised to October 1995)[91] are also freely available on the Internet.[92]
The table of contents of every issue of the Singapore Academy of Law Journal, a journal not readily available in Australia, appears on the Internet.[93] So too are abstracts of articles from the Singapore Law Review[94], the Singapore Journal of Legal Studies[95] and the Singapore Journal of International and Comparative Law.[96] A brief bibliography of printed materials related to the law of Singapore is also available on the Internet.[97]
A number of Internet sites provide English translations of statutes. Examples include the Court Organization Act[98], intellectual property laws[99] and the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act.[100]
The Internet site of the Korea University Legal Research Institute[101] has a database of Supreme Court rulings, in Korean.[102] It also contains the contents pages of all volumes of the Korea University Law Review.
A law firm[103] has compiled a number of short descriptive articles about corporations law, foreign investment, taxation, and competition laws. It also provides translations of several legal instruments relating to banking and finance.
The Internet site of the Columbia Law School Center for Korean Legal Studies has a bibliography of English language books and articles related to Korean law.[104]
The most comprehensive electronic source of Taiwanese law appears to be Law-On-Line, offered by the Faculty of Law, University of Hong Kong[105], though other Chinese language sites exist.[106] A number of Internet sites offer Chinese texts of individual laws related to particular subject areas.[107] A few sites offer English translations of individual laws.[108]
The Vietnam Official Gazette is available on Westlaw.[109] It provides information concerning Vietnamese law and decrees.
Extensive collections of English translations of Vietnamese laws are available on the Internet.[110] A very interesting Internet site containing numerous laws in translation seems to have disappeared.[111]
A number of banking laws are available on the Center for the Study of Central Banks Collection on the Internet.[112]
Detailed information regarding the competition laws of APEC member economies are available on the APEC Competition Policy and Law Database on the Internet.[113]
A large number of Asian Constitutions appear in English translation on an Internet site named “International Constitutional Law”.[114]
United Nations[115] and U.S. Department of Justice[116] materials concerning criminal justice in numerous Asian countries are available on the Internet.
The Internet site of the Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Law at the National University of Singapore[117] contains English translations of the environmental legislation of a number of ASEAN countries.
A very frequently updated source of recent United Nations materials on human rights is the website of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.[118] It contains an exceptionally large collection of periodic reports by individual countries to the various treaty-based committees and the concluding observations upon those reports made by the committees.
This site contains materials from the following treaty-based committees: the Human Rights Committees (HRC)[119], the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)[120], the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)[121], the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC)[122], the Committee Against Torture (CAT)[123], and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR).[124]
The University of Minnesota Human Rights Library[125] includes many additional (earlier) concluding observations made upon national reports by these treaty bodies.[126] It also contains the only reported decision[127] by the United Nations Human Rights Committee involving an Asian nation.[128] (The Committee’s individual complaints procedure[129] has been accepted by relatively few Asian countries).[130]
Also on the Internet is the States of Emergency Database of the Queen’s University of Belfast Centre for International and Comparative Human Rights Law.[131] This database is an exceptionally detailed and comprehensive English language source for Chinese, Indonesian, Indian, Malaysian and Sri Lankan statutes, proclamations and case law concerning emergency situations.
The Internet site of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees[132] contains summaries of judicial decisions concerning refugees from a number of Asian countries, including Japan and India. A CD Rom entitled “Refworld” is also available. It includes a large number of national statutes concerning asylum and citizenship.[133]
The Internet site of the Indonesian National Commission on Human Rights[134] contains a large body of material in both Indonesian and English, including its annual reports. Finally, an “Asian bibliography” of law and development issues, accessible by individual country, is provided by the Asian Development Bank.[135]
Westlaw contains the full text of all International Court of Justice decisions since 1947.[136] However, only very few Asian countries have been party to cases before the Court.[137]
So far as adherence by Asian nations to multilateral treaties is concerned, the United Nations Treaty Database[138] on the Internet contains exceptionally up to date information about the status of signatures, ratificiations and accession to important multilateral treaties.[139]
The 1450 plus volumes of the United Nations Treaty Series are also available in electronic form on this site.[140] The volumes appear as scanned images so they are not searchable in full text, but summary records of each treaty are searchable by country, date, subject, title keyword and treaty registration number. Unfortunately, publication of treaties in the series tends to be delayed many years, and the online version is no more current than the printed version.
ASEAN Web on the Internet[141] contains the texts of all ASEAN agreements and declarations since 1967. The agreements are grouped under broad subject headings: political and security, economic, functional and external relations. This is an exceptionally useful resource, because of the chronological breadth of its coverage and because it is frequently updated.
Many Asian countries are party to at least some ILO Conventions. The International Labour Organisation has placed on the Internet the full texts of all ILO Conventions and Recommendations, together with the ILO Constitution.[142] It is possible to obtain up to date information about which Conventions have been ratified by particular countries. The ILO also publishes a CD Rom called Ilolex, which contains reports of the Committee on Freedom of Association.
So far as bilateral treaties are concerned, the United Nations Treaty Series[143] is often the only source of an authoritative English text for a vast number of such treaties.
However, bilateral tax treaties will often be best sought after in the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation file on Lexis, which contains the full text of a very large number of bilateral tax treaties and is updated quarterly.[144] Bilateral agreements dealing with extradition, judicial assistance, control of narcotic drugs and transfer of prisoners are listed on the Internet.[145]
There are a number of electronic sources for the treaty obligations of particular nations. The Internet site of the Indonesian Department of Foreign Affairs[146] contains the text of a large number of bilateral treaties entered into by Indonesia. An Internet database index of the treaties of Singapore is available to subscribers.[147] The full texts of Australian bilateral treaties with Asian nations signed since 1939 are available on AustLII.[148] Lexis[149] and Westlaw[150] contain excellent full text coverage of United States bilateral treaties.[151]
This section deals with national legislation. International treaties concerning labour are dealt with below under “Treaties”.
An index to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Natlex database has been placed on the Internet.[152] It contains bibliographical references to primary sources of legislation concerning labour law in every national jurisdiction. This bibliographical information is ordered by country, subject and date. The ILO also produces a CD Rom version of its Natlex database, which includes considerably more information than is offered on the Internet.
While a good deal of material related to Asian laws and legal systems is currently available in electronic form, this survey leaves one conscious that there remain many gaps indeed. Most Australian libraries have fairly superficial and outdated print collections of Asian laws. Electronic sources currently offer valuable supplementation of print holdings in a number of areas, but it bears repeating that they are not panacea.
[*] BA LLB (Hons) (Qld).
[1] See Alice Ehr-Soon Tay, “People’s Republic of China: from Confucianism to the socialist market economy: the rule of man vs the rule of law” in Poh-Ling Tan, ed, Asian Legal Systems (Sydney: Butterworths, 1997), 14; Tay-sheng Wang, “Taiwan” in id, 151; Dae-Kyu Yoon, “Korea”, in id, 166.
[2] Cp Poh-Ling Tan, “Introduction” in id, 3-4; and Walter Woon, “Singapore” in id, 351-352. See also Wang, ibid, 157.
[3] Tay, supra n 2, 15; Wang, supra n 2, 151.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Veronica Taylor, “Beyond Legal Orientalism” in Veronica Taylor, ed, Asian Laws through Australian eyes (Sydney: LBC Information Services, 1997), 55.
[6] Ibid.
[7] See especially id, 48, 54-60. Cp Malcolm Smith, “Australian perspectives on Asian law: directions for the next decade” in Taylor, supra n 6, 3-16.
[8] Cp the title of the book edited by Taylor, supra n 6.
[9] See eg http://www.njstar.com.au; http://www.dynalab.com; http://www.ifcss.org/software[Independent Federation of Chinese Scholars & Students].
[10] eg http://www.law.osaka-u.ac-jp/legal-info/worldlist/worldlst.htm; http://law.leh.kagoshima-u.ac.jp/worldlist/worldlst.html; http://www.worldlist.ilrg.com [World Law List, alternate sites]; http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/~llou/foreignlaw.html [Lyonette Louis-Jacques]; http://www.law.emory.edu/LAW/refdesk/country/foreign [Emory Law Library, Electronic Reference Desk]; http://law.house.gov [US House of Representatives Internet Law Library]; http://lcweb2.loc.gov/glin/x-nation.html [Guide to Law Online, Library of Congress]; http://www.austlii.edu/links/World [AustLII]; http://coombs.anu.edu [Coombs Web]; http://www.soc.umn.edu/~sssmith/Parliaments.html [Websites on National Parliaments]; http://www.library.nwu.edu/govpub/idtf/foreign.html [Foreign Governments list]; http://www.lexadin.nl/wlg [World Law Guide]; http://w3.juriste.gouv.qc.ca/juriste/default-eng.html [Juridex].
[11] http://www.hotbot.com
[12] http://www.altavista.digital.com
[13] IFLP file.
[14] International Legal Materials (Lexis, ALLREV library, ILM file; Lexis, INTLAW Library, ILM file; Westlaw, ILM file) also occasionally contains Asian legal documents not readily available in electronic form elsewhere. See eg Qureshi v USSR 20 ILM 1060, PLD 1981 SC 377; Kamibayashi v Japan (1989) 29 ILM 391 (Tokyo District Court, 18 April 1989).
[15] Westlaw, CLMJAL file.
[16] Westlaw, PACRLPJ file; Lexis, LAWREV Library, PRLPJ file.
[17] Westlaw, UCLAPBLJ file; Lexis, LAWREV Library, UCLAPB file.
[18] MALAY Library, MALLJ file.
[19] INTLAW Library, CHINAL finle; ASIAPC Library, CHINAL file.
[20] Some sense of the difficulties (and hazards) associated with relying upon translations of foreign language legal materials can be gained from R B Schlesinger, H W Baade, M R Damaska, P E Herzog, Comparative law: cases-text-materials 5th ed (Mineola, NY: Foundation Press, 1988), 871-872.
[21] http://www.chinaexpo.com/laws/
[22] http://www.qis.net/chinalaw/
[23] http://www.chinatoday.com/law/a0.htm
[24] CHDY file.
[25] http://www.lawhk.hku.hk/Database.shtml
[26] China Laws and Regulations database.
[27] http://www.lawhk.hku.hk/Database.shtml
[28] Chinese Law Journals Index file.
[29] CLMJAL file. Abstracts only are available on the Internet: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/asiaweb/jal.html
[30] http://ls.wustl.edu/Chinalaw
[31] http://lawwww.cwru.edu/cwrulaw/library/foreign/china.html
[32] http://www.wtdb.com/information/Law_Regu.htm#1 [World Trade Data Base].
[33] http://www.law.pku.edu.cn/
[34] http://www.lawhk.hku.hk/Database.shtml
[35] http://www.lawhk.hku.hk/Database.shtml
[36] http://www.gcw.net/lawonline/ (available to subscribers); http://www.china-investment.com/cn-law/CN-LAW.HTML (intellectual property, foreign investment, economic law, civil law).
[37] HKCHNA Library, HKCAS file.
[38] HKCHNA Library, HKPLR file.
[39] http://www.info.gov.hk/jud/eindex.htm (click on “Guide to Court services”, click on “Court of Final Appeal”, click on “Judgments and determinations of Court of Final Appeal”).
[40] Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
[41] http://www.justice.gov.hk [HKSAR Department of Justice Bilingual Laws Information System].
[42] http://www.legco.gov.hk
[43] HKCHNA Library, AOHK file.
[44] HKCHNA Library, AOHTOC file.
[45] http://www.lawhk.hku.hk/Database.shtml
[46] http://alfa.nic.in/
[47] see India Code Text Base: http://164.100.10.12/incodis/icode.html
[48] http://sebi.com/
[49] see JUDIS – Judgment Information System: http://caselaw.delhi.nic.in/
[50] http://206.252.12.4/lawinc/dialn.htm
[51] see Indotax Online Indonesian Tax Regulations: http://www.indotax.com
[52] http://www.bapedal.go.id/env/policy/ (environmental impact management Acts, regulations and ministerial decrees) [Environmental Impact Management Agency]; http://www.bkkbn.go.id/english/ (population laws, in English translation) [State Ministry for Population, National Family Planning Coordinating Body]; http://www.pu.go.id/publik/peratu~1/html/eng (law on roads, in English translation) [Ministry of Public Works]; http://www.dprin.go.id/index.html (click on “Data Center”, click on “Laws and Regulations”) (in Indonesian) [PUSDATA Online BBS, Ministry of Industry and Trade]; http://www.bappenas.go.id/eng/index.html (click on “Others”) (presidential decrees on development projects) [National Development Planning Agency]; http://mpr.wasantara.net.id/english/index.html (click on “Decrees of PCA”) (list of decrees of PCA) [People’s Consultative Assembly]; http ://www.iptek.net.id/[Indonesian Patent Office].
[53] ENFLEX-IO file.
[54] ENVIRN Library, INDENV file.
[55] Cp Harald Baum and Luke Nottage, “Annotated select bibliography of Japanese business and trade law in Western languages” (1997) 27 Victoria University of Wellington Law Review 121 at 148.
[56] eg http://www.kinoshita.com/lawarchive/lawarchive.shtml (Civil Code, Promissory Note Law, Usury Law, Conflict of Laws, in Japanese); http://www.campusnet.or.jp/~labor/roukihou.html (Labour Standards Law, in English translation); http://www.ntt.co.jp/japan/ (Constitution, Copyright Law, Copyright related Law for Computer Program, in Japanese) [Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp]; http://home.highway.or.jp/JAPANLAW/index.htm (Trade Union Law, Labour Relations Adjustment Law); http://www.jftc.admix.go.jp/e-page/f_home.htm (Antimonopoly Act, Premiums and Representations Act, Subcontract Act, in English translations) [Fair Trade Commission of Japan]; http://www.japanlink.co.jp/cric/cric_e/ecolj/cloj.html (copyright laws); http://www.miti.go.jp/index-e.html (1997 amendment of Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Control Law, in English translation) [Ministry of International Trade and Industry]; http://www.epa.go.jp/pl/pleng-s.html (Product Liability Law, in English translation) [Economic Planning Agency]; http://www.jef.or.jp/news/guidepll.html (Product Liability Law, in English translation) [Japan Economic Foundation]; http://www.sta.go.jp/index-e.html (Science and Technology Basic Law, in unofficial English translation) [Science and Technology Agency].
[57] eg http://www.cebu-online.com/japanlawbase/ (English translations); http://www.mpt.go.jp/index-e.html (click on “Policy Reports”, then click on “Japanese Legislation of Telecommunication Laws”) (English translations) [Ministry of Posts and Telecommunication]; http://www.lec-jp.com/law-station/hourei/name/houname.html (in Japanese); http://j_law.l.kanazawa-u.ac.jp/ (in Japanese).
[58] James Evans, Law on the Net (Berkeley: Nolo Press, 1996), 321.
[59] EHS Law Bulletin Series Japan (Tokyo: Eibun-Horei-Sha).
[60] http://lawwww.cwru.edu/cwrulaw/library/foreign/japan.html [Case Western Reserve University Law School Library]; http://www.columbia.edu/cu/law/library/intlfor/toshlibr.html [Toshiba Library for Japanese Legal Research, Arthur W. Diamond Law Library, Columbia Law School].
[61] http://www.courts.go.jp
[62] http://www.lib.kobe-u.ac.jp/mokuji/AA00261076.html
[63] http://www.patent-jp.com/hiroe/ [Hiroe and Associates].
[64] http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Kitahama/Selwrij.htm [Kitahama Law Office]
[65] http://www.imprensa.macau.gov.mo/main/index.htm [Imprensa Official de Macau].
[66] MALAY Library, MALLJ file.
[67] http://www.cljlaw.com/
[68] http://www.farislaw.com
[69] http://www.cljlaw.com/legislation/index.html
[70] http://www.cljlaw.com/legislation/browse.html
[71] eg http://www.jaring.my/msia/law/law.html (provisions of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 and the Penal Code dealing with prohibited publications).
[72] http://ludwig.hsrc.ac.za/constitutions [Human Sciences Research Council, Modern Constitutions database].
[73] http://www.ntu.edu.au/library/sgmalsin.htm [Northern Territory University Library Subject Guide].
[74] http://yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au/groups/mlsa/
[75] http://bvoice.com/mong/lawlib.html; http://bluemarble.net:80/~mitch/mong/lawlib.html [Mongolia Law Library].
[76] http://www.korea-np.co.jp/pk (click on “Rason FETZ” in left frame).
[77] http://dike.korea.ac.kr:80/LRI/index.html
[78] PHLIPP Library, PHLSCT file.
[79] http://pdx.rpnet.com/supreme/index.htm
[80] http://pdx.rpnet.com/consti/index.htm
[81] PHLIPP Library, PHLLAW file.
[82] http://lcweb2.loc.gov/glin/mdbquery.html
[83] PHLIPP Library, PHLTAX file.
[84] SING Library, SINGLR file.
[85] “Lawyers to get tool to help trawl on-line law reports”, Straits Times, 3 October 1996, p 37.
[86] http://www.gov.sg/judiciary/supremect/policies/pracdir/
[87] SING Library, SINGST file.
[88] SING Library, SNGTOC file.
[89] http://www.asianconnect.com/government [Legis Online].
[90] http://www.asianconnect.com/government/ [Singapore Parliament Reports System]. See “Parliament sitting reports now available on the Net”, Straits Times, 24 October 1996, p 3 and “Court filing system to go electronic in March”, Straits Times, 5 January 1997, p 19.
[91] Republic of Singapore Independence Act (Act 9 of 1965) Central Provident Fund Act (cap 36); Employment Act (cap 91); Women’s Charter (cap 353). The site also contains a facsimile copy of the Agreement relating to the separation of Singapore from Malaysia as an independent and sovereign state, Kuala Lumpur, 7 August 1965, 563 UNTS 89.
[92] http://www.gov.sg/agc/agcciss/lawnet/
[93] http://www.sal.org.sg/
[94] http://www.nus.sg/NUSinfo/Law/slr/slrhome.htm
[95] http://www.nus.sg/NUSinfo/Law/journals/index.html
[96] http://www.nus.sg/NUSinfo/Law/journals/index.html
[97] http://www.ntu.edu.au/library/sgmalsin.htm [Northern Territory University Library subject guide].
[98] http://law.snu.ac.kr/eng/court.html
[99] http://www.yplee.co.kr/yplee/main.htm (Patent Law, Trademark Law, Design Law, Utility Model Law, Copyright Law) [Y P Lee & Associates].
[100] http://www.ftc.go.kr (Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act, Fair Subcontract Transactions Act, Regulation of Standardized Contracts Act) [Korea Fair Trade Commission].
[101] http://dike.korea.ac.kr:80/LRI/index.html
[102] http://dike.korea.ac.kr:80/LRI/htmldocs/supreme/supreme.html
[103] http://www.law-info.com/korealaw/index.html [Hwang Mok Park & Jin].
[104] http://www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/korealaw
[105] http://www.lawhk.hku.hk/Database.shtml
[106] http://legalnet.sysnet.net.tw/LegalNet.html; http://root08.root.com.tw/; http://www.law.com.tw; gopher://serv.hinet.net:70/11/government/department/judicial/[“Collection of the Grand Justice of Judicial Yuan’s Explanations and the Supreme Court’s precedents”].
[107] eg gopher://sun.epa.gov.tw:70/(environmental protection laws); http://www.doc.gov.tw/doc/rule (Corporation Law, Business Accountancy Law); http://arch.org.tw/jania/index.html (construction laws).
[108] eg http://www.stlc.iii.org.tw/eindex.html (click on “Intellectual Property Protection in Taiwan”) (Fair Trade Law, Copyright Law, Patent Law, Trademark Law, Trade Secret Law, some in English translation) [Science & Technology Law Center].
[109] VIETNMOG file.
[110] http://www.batin.com.vn/vninfo/vld.htm; http://home.vnd.net/english/legal_docs/; http://coombs.anu.edu.au/~vern/luat/luat.html (especially environmental protection, trade and foreign investment); http://www.vietnamonline.net/tax.nsf (especially taxation).
[111] formerly http://www.serve.net/vietnam/pages/viet1209.htm
[112] http://www.nyu.edu/law/central_banks_center/texts/order.html [New York University School of Law].
[113] http://www.apeccp.org.tw/
[114] http://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/law/index.html
[115] http://www.ifs.univie.ac.at/~uncjin/uncjin.html (click on “Country Information”) [United Nations Crime and Justice Information Network].
[116] http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/wfcj.htm [United States Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, World Factbook of Criminal Justice Systems].
[117] http://sunisite.nus.sg/apcel/
[118] http://www.unhchr.ch/ (click on “Treaty Bodies Database”).
[119] State Party Reports: India CCPR/C/76/Add.6 (1996), Sri Lanka CCPR/C/70/Add.6 (1994); Concluding observations: India CCPR/C/79/Add.81 (1997), Japan CCPR/C/79/Add.28 (1993), Mongolia (1992) 2 IHRR 192, Nepal (1994) 2 IHRR 430, Sri Lanka (1995) 3 IHRR 175.
[120] State Party Reports: Cambodia CERD/C/292/Add.2 (1997), China CERD/C/275/Add.2 (1996), India CERD/C/299/Add.3 (1996), Nepal CERD/C/298/Add.1 (1997), Pakistan CERD/C/299/Add.6 (1996), Philippines CERD/C/299/Add.12 (1997), Republic of Korea CERD/C/258/Add.2 (1995), Sri Lanka CERD/C/234/Add.1 (1994); Concluding observations: Afghanistan A/52/18, paras 52-56 (1997), China (1996) 4 IHRR 156, India (1996) 4 IHRR 150, Mongolia A/52/18, paras 377-379 (1997), Nepal A/52/18, paras 149-151 (1997), Pakistan CERD/C/304/Add.25 (1997), Philippines CERD/C/304/Add.34 (1997), Republic of Korea (1996) 4 IHRR 147, Sri Lanka A/50/18, paras 130-142 (1995), Vietnam (1993) 2 IHRR 702.
[121] Concluding observations: Bangladesh A/52/38/Rev.1, Part II, paras 409-464 (1997), Japan A/50/38, paras 627-636 (1995), Philippines A/52/38/rev.1, paras 275-305 (1997).
[122] State Party Reports: Bangladesh CRC/C/3/Add.38 (1995), China CRC/C/11/Add.7 (1995), Democratic People’s Republic of Korea CRC/C/3/Add.41 (1996), India CRC/C/28/Add.10 (1997), Indonesia CRC/C/3/Add.26 (1994), Japan CRC/C/41/Add.1 (1996), Laos CRC/C/8/Add.32 (1996), Mongolia CRC/C/3/Add.32, Myanmar CRC/C/8/Add.9 (1995), Nepal CRC/C/3/Add.34 (1995), Pakistan CRC/C/3/Add.13 (1993), Philippines CRC/C/3/Add.23 (1993), Sri Lanka CRC/C/8/Add.13 (1994), Thailand CRC/C/11/Add.13 (1996), Vietnam CRC/C/3/Add.4 (1992); Concluding observations: Bangladesh CRC/C/15/Add.74 (1997), China (1996) 4 IHRR 205, Indonesia CRC/C/15/Add.7 (1993), Indonesia (1994) 2 IHRR 465, Laos CRC/C/15/Add.78 (1997), Mongolia (1996) 3 IHRR 492, Mynamar CRC/C/15/Add.69 (1997), Nepal (1996) 4 IHRR 211, Pakistan CRC/C/15/Add.18 (1994), Philippines (1995) 2 IHRR 478, Sri Lanka CRC/C/15/Add.40 (1995), Vietnam CRC/C/15/Add.3 (1993).
[123] State Party Reports: China CAT/C/20/Add.5 (1996), Republic of Korea CAT/C/32/Add.1 (1996); Concluding observations: China (1996) 4 IHRR 503, Nepal (1994) 3 IHRR 432, Republic of Korea A/52/44, paras 44-69 (1996).
[124] State Party Reports: Philippines E/1986/3/Add.17 (1994), Republic of Korea E/1990/5/Add.19, Sri Lanka E/1990/5/Add.32 (1997); Concluding observations: Philippines E/1995/22, paras 216-220 (1994), Republic of Korea (1994) 2 IHRR 662, Vietnam (1993) 2 IHRR 688.
[125] http://www.umn.edu/humanrts/
[126] eg Human Right Committee: Japan (1993) 1 no. 2 IHRR 275 (French text only online), Mongolia CCPR/C/79/Add.7 (1992) (French text only online), Nepal (1994) 2 IHRR 430, Sri Lanka (1995) 3 IHRR 175; Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: India (1996) 4 IHRR 150; Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women: Japan A/49/38, paras 546-607 (1994); Committee on the Rights of the Child: China (1996) 4 IHRR 205, Korea CRC/C/15/Add.51 (1996), Mongolia (1996) 3 IHRR 492, Nepal (1996) 4 IHRR 211, Pakistan (1994) 1 no. 3 IHRR 176, Philippines (1995) 2 IHRR 478, Indonesia (1994) 2 IHRR 465, Sri Lanka CRC/C/15/Add.40 (1995), Vietnam CRC/C/15/Add.3 (1993); Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Republic of Korea (1995) 2 IHRR 662, Philippines (1995) 2 IHRR 665, Vietnam (1993) 2 IHRR 688.
[127] The Committee publishes its “views” upon complaints brought against State Parties to the First Optional Protocol by individuals claiming that their rights under the ICCPR have been infringed. See International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, New York, 16 December 1966, 999 UNTS 171 (ICCPR).
[128] Jong-Kyu Sohn v Republic of Korea (Com No 518/1992) (1995) 3 IHRR 36.
[129] (First) Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, New York, 16 December 1966, 999 UNTS 302.
[130] Philippines, South Korea and Mongolia – Multilateral treaties deposited with the Secretary-General: status as at 31 December 1996 ST/LEG/SER.E/15 (New York: United Nations, 1997), 159.
[131] http://www.law.qub.ac.uk/ (click on “Human Rights Centre” in left frame).
[132] http://www.unhcr.ch/
[133] See Stefanie Grant, “Recent publications” (1997) 11 Interrights Bulletin 82, 84.
[134] http://www.komnas.go.id/endex.html
[135] http://www.asiandevbank.org/law/menlaw.html
[136] INT-ICJ database.
[137] Note Gillian Triggs, “International Law in the Asia Pacific” (1997) 8 Public Law Review 147 at 148. For examples, see Case concerning Right of Passage over Indian Territory (Portugal v India), ICJ Rep, 1960, p 6; Case concerning the Temple of Preah Vihear (Cambodia v Thailand) ICJ Rep, 1962, p 6; Appeal relating to the jurisdiction of the ICAO Council (India v Pakistan) ICJ Rep, 1972, p 46; Case concerning trial of Pakistani Prisoners of War (Interim Measures) (Pakistan v India), ICJ Rep, 1973, 328; Case concerning trial of Pakistani Prisoners of War (Order) (Pakistan v India), ICJ Rep, 1973, p 347. In the recent Case concerning East Timor, ICJ Rep, 1995, p 90, 105 ILR 226, 34 ILM 1581, the parties before the Court were Portugal and Australia rather than Portugal and Indonesia. This decision is also available on the Internet at http://www.dfat.gov.au/intorgs/timor/icjdir.html [Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade].
[138] http://www.un.org/Depts/Treaty/
[139] See the “Multilateral treaties deposited with the Secretary-General” section of the database.
[140] See Palitha T B Kohona, “The United Nations Treaty Collection on the Internet” (1998) 92 American Journal of International Law 140.
[141] http://www.asean.or.id/ (click on “ASEAN Document Series” in the left frame).
[142] http://ilolex.ilo.ch: 1567/public/english/50normes/infleg/index.htm
[143] http://www.un.org/Depts/Treaty/
[144] INTLAW Library, IBFD file. See also the Tax Notes International file on Lexis: INTLAW Library, TNI file.
[145] http://www.ifs.univie.ac.at/~uncjin/extradit/extindx.htm [United Nations Crime and Justice Network].
[146] http://www.deplu.go.id; http://www.dfa-deplu.go.id/ (click on “International Relations” in left frame).
[147] http://www.asianconnect.com/government/
[148] http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/other/dfat
[149] INTLAW Library, USTRTY file (not available on educational subscriptions).
[150] USTREATIES file.
[151] To determine whether a treaty with the United States remains in force, consult Treaties in Force, available from the State Department site on the Internet http://www.acda.gov/state/ and viewable with an Adobe Acrobat PDF viewer.
[152] http://natlex.ilo.org/scripts/natlexcgi.exe?lang=E
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