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China-Related E-Resources

Submitted by Evelyn Ma on Tue, 10/11/2011 - 10:05am
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The law library and the East Asian Library provide access to a wide range of electronic resources useful for conducting Chinese legal research.

Finding laws and regulations

These databases offer bilingual searching functionality but coverage of contents is much broader in the Chinese sites:

In English only:

  • China law and practice (also available in Westlaw)  - the database offers good English translation of major business-related laws and practice-oriented commentaries      

Finding cases

A small selection of cases is included in these databases primarily in Chinese and very selectively in English.

Finding journal articles

  • Chinalawinfo – The journal collection offers searching in English, full text in Chinese only          
  • Chinese Academic Journal (CAJ) – it is part of the CNKI knowledge database  with bilingual searching functionality and abstracts in English.  Full text articles, however, are available in Chinese only.
  • Wanfang’s Chinese online journals (COJ) – full text in Chinese              

 In English:

  • Frontiers of law in China(Springerlink) – it provides English translation of selective noteworthy journal articles published in Chinese legal journals
  • JSTOR - includes interdisciplinary East Asian studies journals such as the China Quarterly, China Journal and Modern China
  • HeinOnline - includes US and non-US law reviews such as Columbia J of Asian Law, U Penn's East Asia Law Review and UCLA Asian Pacific American Law Journal
  • SSRN Asian law ejournals

Finding newspapers

Finding statistical data

Finding Disserations

Parliamentary Election in Poland

Submitted by bo5 on Wed, 10/05/2011 - 2:26pm
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The Top Players

A guide to the main parties contesting Poland’s Oct. 9 parliamentary elections: who they are and what they stand for.


1. Civic Platform (PO)
The center-right party stands for:
- economic liberalism, lower taxes
- privatization as a driver of economic development
- more European integration
- decentralization, power in the hands of local government
Party leader: Donald Tusk (since June 2003), prime minister heading the governing coalition formed by the PO and the Polish People’s Party (PSL)
First vice-chairman: Grzegorz Schetyna, the Speaker of the Sejm, the lower house of parliament
Vice-chairs: Ewa Kopacz, health minister, Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, mayor of Warsaw, Radosław Sikorski, foreign minister
Support in the polls ranging from 31 to 48 percent

2. Law and Justice (PiS)
The party stands for:
- conservatism, patriotism, tradition, Roman Catholic values
- emphasizing the role of the state, especially in the economy
- opposition to the privatization of key sectors of the economy
- a progressive tax system
- toughening of the legal system, “zero tolerance” for crime
- Euro-skepticism, favoring a “Europe of homelands” rather than a European super-state
- national sovereignty and the primacy of Polish interests
Party leader: Jarosław Kaczyński (prime minister from 2006 to 2007)
Party vice-chairs: Adam Lipiński, Beata Szydło, Zbigniew Ziobro (ex-justice minister in the former PiS government)
Approval ratings ranging from 18 to 29 percent

3. Democratic Left Alliance (SLD)
The party stands for:
- a leftist vision of the state
- a social market economy
- prominent role for the state in the economy
- opposition to “exploitative” privatization
- a progressive tax system plus tax breaks for the poorest
- greater European integration
- changes in social policy, including relaxation of the restrictive anti-abortion law, introducing equality for common-law couples, decriminalization of soft drugs
- the separation of church and state, reducing the role of the Roman Catholic religion in public life, abolishing the clergy’s property and tax privileges
Party leader: Grzegorz Napieralski 
Vice-chairs: Katarzyna Piekarska, Longin Pastusiak (ex-Speaker of the Senate)
Support in the polls ranging from 7 to 15 percent

4. Polish People’s Party (PSL)
The party stands for:
- centralization
- an economy based on a solid, modern and self-sufficient agricultural and food sector
- maintaining tax breaks for farmers
- slowing down the pace of privatization
- pro-family policies, changing the tax system to one enabling families to be taxed jointly
- opposition to the legalization of abortion, to euthanasia, to soft drugs and to same-sex unions
- maintaining the role of the Church in public life
- Christian democracy
Party leader: Waldemar Pawlak (prime minister in the 1990s)
Vice-chairs: Jan Bury, Jolanta Fedak, labor minister; Ewa Kierzkowska, deputy Sejm Speaker; Marek Sawicki, agriculture minister
Support in the polls ranging from 4 to 9 percent

5. Poland Comes First (PJN)
The party stands for:
- conservatism
- Christian democracy
This party, formed in late 2010 by a group of defectors from Law and Justice (PiS), does not differ significantly from PiS in its main views. However, it favors dialogue with the governing Civic Platform (PO) instead of confrontation, and also favors cooperation with the governing coalition on some issues. PJN was formed after a clash between some of its members and PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński and his allies.
Party leader: Paweł Kowal
Party executives: Elżbieta Jakubiak, Michał Kamiński (Euro-MP), Paweł Poncyliusz
Support in the polls ranging from 2 to 7 percent

6. The Palikot Support Movement
The group stands for:
- anti-clericalism: taking religion classes out of schools, slapping taxes on the Roman Catholic Church, keeping tabs on the finances of religious organizations
- legal abortion and free birth control
- state-subsidized in-vitro fertilization
- registration of civil partnerships, including same-sex couples
- abolition of the Senate
- legalization of soft drugs
- reduction of military spending to 1 percent of GDP, withdrawing Polish troops from military missions abroad
Party leader: Janusz Palikot, a businessman, formerly a prominent figure in the Civic Platform, the author of several books exposing the backstage workings of Poland’s political scene
Support in the polls ranging from 1 to 4 percent

7. Polish Labor Party
The party stands for:
- a leftist state
- democratic socialism
- progressive taxes
- support for families
- opposition to privatization
- opposition to a liberal economic system
- free education and healthcare
Party leader: Bogusław Ziętek, former radical trade union activist, organizer of street protests

Approval ratings below 1 percent

What kind of coalition?
Depending on the outcome of the election, there are a variety of scenarios. It is not certain that the leader of the party winning the most votes will get to form a new government. President Bronisław Komorowski has said that such a mission may be entrusted to a politician who stands the biggest chance of creating a stable coalition. In turn, Prime Minister Donald Tusk has declared that the Civic Platform will not be seeking to form another ruling coalition if it loses the elections.

The most likely scenarios:

If the PO wins the elections,
it will be only natural that its coalition with the Polish People’s Party (PSL) will continue—unless, of course, the latter party fails to reach the 5 percent voter support threshold required to get into parliament. Somewhat less likely, though possible, would be a coalition between the PO and the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD); some politicians from both parties have mentioned such a scenario, especially if the SLD garners some 13-15 percent of the vote. SLD leader Grzegorz Napieralski has repeatedly declared that his party is ready to accept responsibility for jointly governing the country, but at the same time he has consistently lambasted the PO for doing a poor job of governing the country over the last four years.

A return to the idea of a coalition between the PO and the Law and Justice party (PiS)—one that was expected to materialize back in 2005—is very unlikely. This would require some fundamental changes within PiS, including the departure of its leader Jarosław Kaczyński.

Possible scenarios also include an alliance between the PO and the PJN or the Palikot Support Movement, but this could only happen if one of these two groups does surprisingly well in the elections, winning more than 10 percent of the vote, or else if the PO secures enough seats to put together a majority in parliament with the help of only a smaller junior coalition partner with a dozen or so deputies.

If Law and Justice wins,
it is hard to imagine how a viable coalition could be formed. In 2005, PiS first decided to form a minority government, then made a “stabilization pact” with the Samoobrona farmers’ “self-defense” group and the nationalist League of Polish Families (LPR), and finally formed a government coalition with these two parties. However, that coalition did not last long. Today, an alliance between PiS and the PSL seems theoretically possible, while a team-up with the SLD is unlikely, and a coalition with either the PJN or the Palikot Support Movement completely ruled out. One of PiS’s leaders, Joachim Brudziński, declared recently that a deal with “a part of the PO,” meaning some right-wing politicians from that party, is also an option. However, in practice, this would require a breakup of the PO and the resignation of its leader Donald Tusk, in what is a far-fetched scenario at this point.


The election and government-formation procedure:

Voters elect 460 deputies and 100 senators on Oct. 9.

- Within 14 days of the first meeting of the lower house of parliament, the Sejm, the president designates a prime minister—typically a politician chosen earlier either by a party with an independent majority in the Sejm, or by a coalition of parties, and tasks him or her with forming a government.

- The prime minister-designate has 14 days to propose the lineup of the new government to the president. The president appoints the prime minister and other ministers and accepts their oaths.

- Within the next 14 days the prime minister makes a policy speech in the Sejm and asks the house for a vote of confidence in the Cabinet. The Sejm must pass such a vote by an absolute majority in the presence of at least half the statutory number of deputies.

- If the new government fails to be formed in such a way, or if it fails to secure a vote of confidence from parliament, within the next 14 days deputies elect the prime minister—as well as other government ministers proposed by the prime minister—themselves by an absolute majority of votes in the presence of at least half the statutory number of deputies. The president appoints the government chosen in this way and swears it into office.

- If the Sejm fails to produce a government, the matter returns to the president, who, within 14 days, appoints a prime minister and other government members at the prime minister’s request, and receives their oaths.

- Within 14 days of the appointment of the government by the president, the prime minister delivers a policy speech in the Sejm and asks for a vote of confidence. The Sejm must pass a vote of confidence by a simple majority of votes in the presence of at least half the statutory number of deputies.

- If the government fails to secure a vote of confidence, the president announces new elections.

Conducting Canadian Legal Research: an Introduction for the American Law Student

Submitted by lak49 on Tue, 10/04/2011 - 1:45pm
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This is a very brief introduction to Canadian legal research mainly designed for the American law school student. More information and more in-depth guides can be found at the links at the end of this post.

For a researcher familiar with conducting legal research with American legal materials, Canadian legal research can, in many ways, feel familiar. Both are common law jurisdictions with a federal structure and an important supreme court. There are enough differences, however, that an American researcher should be careful to understand the material that they find and the place held by the producer of the information in the Canadian legal system.

Canadian Maple Leaf

As with most legal research problems, a non-expert will most likely want to start their Canadian research in a secondary source. To an American, the types of secondary sources available will feel familiar.

To find out about the basic laws governing most situations or to understand where a legal concept fits in the Canadian legal system, most researchers will want to start with a legal encyclopedia. There are two important legal encyclopedias in common use in Canada.

  • Halsbury’s Laws of Canada is a multivolume encyclopedic treatment of Canadian law. Halsbury’s provides researchers with a short “black letter” statement of the law and will provide references to some relevant Acts, cases, and administrative law. Halsbury’s is available in some American law libraries and on the Canadian legal research service QuickLaw (from Lexis). Halsbury’s is generally not available under the typical Academic Lexis subscription in the United States.
  • The Canadian Encyclopedic Digest is a multivolume service that acts as both an encyclopedia and a digest of the law. The CED (Western and Ontario) is available on Westlaw and the print version is available in some American law libraries.

The search for topical Canadian legal treatises will feel comfortable for the American legal researcher. The same sort of library catalog searches that will find American treatises will find Canadian treatises as well. In addition, many of the same publishers are active in both jurisdictions. The only real differences in the research are that the material will be classified under the KE letters in most libraries and that “Canada” should be used in the subject headings rather than “United States”. The guidebooks for treatises that have been appearing in the United States are not as prevalent in Canada. Note well the treatises that are available on Westlaw. The versions of Quicklaw and Lexis available under the United States academic licenses do not contain many Canada-specific treatises.

Searching for Canadian law reviews is almost exactly the same as looking for American law reviews. The same resources will cover many of the law reviews. Westlaw, Lexis, and Quicklaw have the full text of many of the law reviews published in Canada. Also, the American periodical indexes, Index to Legal Periodicals and Books, and LegalTrac both cover many Canadian Journals. Hein Online also includes many Canadian Journals. One final resource that an American researcher might consider is the Index to Canadian Legal Literature that is available at some American libraries and on Westlaw.

Halsbury's Laws of Canada

Halsbury's Laws of Canada

As in the United States, the Canadian federal government and the Canadian provinces pass legislation.  At the federal level, Canadian legislation is occasionally consolidated in a “revision”. The most recent revision of the Canadian statutes was in 1985. Westlaw, Quicklaw, the Department of Justice and CanLII provide electronic access to Federal legislation and the most recent Consolidation. To find amendments to legislation, a researcher should first check the “Table of Public Statutes” in revision that they are using. These are usually updated every six months and include any amendments since the revision. The Canadian Abridgement, discussed below, contains an annual listing of legislation that includes information about which prior acts were amended and how. There are also several other research tools that may be available, such as CCH’s Canadian Legislative Pulse, which tracks legislation.

Canadian case law research is a little different than case law research in the United States. As in the United States, most appellate cases, Provincial and federal, can be found in an online database provided by Westlaw, Quicklaw (Lexis), and Lexis. Also the cases of the federal courts and Provincial courts are published in various print reporters that may be available in an American Law Library.  Some of the more common reporters are: Supreme Court Reports (S.C.R.), Federal Court Reports (F.C.), Dominion Law Reports (D.L.R.), Western Weekly Reports (W.W.R.).

In addition, there are several topical collections of cases. Some of these are available online and others can be found in a law library catalog, using a subject search for reports and a subject search for the subject of interest.

Identifying Canadian cases entails some of the same issues and difficulties that case finding in the United States does. After secondary sources and citators, the next tool to consider is the Canadian Abridgement. This resource contains many parts, including the annual legislative update mentioned above and a citator. The part of interest here is the classification system for parts of cases. This system works much like the West Topic and Key Number system to describe the legal issue in a part of the case. By using the Canadian Abridgement in print or on Westlaw, a researcher can take the Canadian Abridgement reference number and find additional cases on the same topic. The Canadian Abridgement is available online on Westlaw.

One difference between Canadian cases and American cases should be noted. Canadian federal cases, other than the cases from the Supreme Court of Canada, are important only in the limited areas of their jurisdiction. Canadian Federal courts are empowered in only limited subjects, including: copyright, maritime law, and actions against the Crown. The provincial and federal courts are in three levels with the Supreme Court of Canada as the top level for both systems. Historical researchers may wish to note that before 1949, appeal to the Privy Council was available from a Supreme Court ruling.

As in the United States, ministries in the federal and provincial governments create regulations to fill out the legislation. Federal regulations are gathered and published in the Consolidated Regulations of Canada. Prior to inclusion in the consolidation, regulations are first published in the Canadian Gazette. Federal Regulations are also available on Westlaw. Quicklaw, and Lexis. Those sources also have selected Provincial regulations. Federal and provincial regulations are also available at the web sites of the Department of Justice and Provincial web site. Here, for example are the consolidated regulations of Nova Scotia. A Google search should find the provincial regulations.

There are several excellent guides to Canadian legal research. For more detail a researcher may wish to consult Best’s Guide to Canadian Legal Research, Doing Legal Research in Canada from LLRX, or Researching Canadian Law from GlobaLex.

International Law Video Course

Submitted by bo5 on Wed, 09/28/2011 - 2:55pm
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The Yale Law Library has recently acquired a ten part DVD video course on International Law. This is the second edition and updates the first edition created in 1995.  The course was produced by WTL Productions in cooperation with the  American Society of International Law and is funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Center for Education.  Professor Elizabeth Defeis of the Seton Hall University School of Law is the Project Director .

Ten thirty minute segments comprise the course:

  • Nature and Sources
  • States
  • Treaties
  • International Human Rights
  • International Organizations
  • Use of Force
  • International Dispute Settlement
  • International Criminal Law
  • Global Concerns, and
  • International Economic Law

Many notable International law judges and academics appear in the course including:

A Learner’s Guide accompanies the course.  Each chapter includes a summary, a list of cases, and supplementary reading.

The course may be checked out from the library a disc at a time, i.e., focusing on a single topic or in its totality.

                                                                             --- Dan Wade

Legal Research in Turkey

Submitted by lak49 on Mon, 09/26/2011 - 3:13pm
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Did you know that democratic republic of Turkey is the only Muslim country in the world that is secular state? The government does, however, have a Directorate of Religious Affairs. 

Turkey by Numbers

  • Population (2010): 73,722,988 with 17 million residing in Istanbul
  • Area: 783,562 km2
  • GDP per capita (2010): $13,464
  • 16th largest world economy in 20100
  • Highest growth rate in the Q1 of 2011

Istanbul

Istanbul

Hierarchy of Written (Enacted) Laws

The superior legal code of Turkey is the Constitution (Anayasa). Beneath the Constitution is the Codes and Statues (Kanunlar). Next is International Treaties (Milletlerarası Andlaşmalar), followed by Statutory Decrees (Kanun Hükmünde Karanameler). Below the Statutory Decrees are Regulations (Tüzükler) and last, but not least, Bylaws (Yönetmelikler).

Interested in legal research in Turkey…Where to begin?

There are two types of sources for legal research on Turkey: primary and secondary. Primary sources include legislation and court decisions (precedents) while secondary sources are comprised of books, periodicals, and other compilations.

Primary Source: Legislation

The official legislation of Turkey is known as Resmi Gazete. Legislation from February 7, 1921 to the present is accessible online. Another great resource is The Legislation Information System (Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi).

Primary Source: Court Decisions (Precedents)

Secondary Source: Union Catalogs

Secondary Source: Periodicals

Secondary Source: Open Access

Ahoy Matey!

Submitted by lak49 on Thu, 09/22/2011 - 1:59pm
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Piracy is taking center stage in the legal arena as the international community has seen a spike in the number of attacks in international waters, especially at the hands of Somali trials, over the last few years. The economic losses due to piracy continue to skyrocket, as well. The Foreign and International section of the library seeks to draw attention to this issue through our latest display on Level 1.

Article 101 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) defines what constitutes an act of piracy. Signed in 1982 and entered into force in 1994, this international agreement updated the widely-accepted notion of “freedom of the sea” that had been in place since the 17th century.

This issue is not confined to international agreements. The recent attack by Somali pirates on the U.S. Maersk Alabama was resolved via a plea deal in U.S. courts.  Fiona Doherty, who is currently a Visiting Associate Clinical Professor at Yale Law School, represented the defendent.

Piracy is nothing new, of course. The display features one of the first books written on pirates, published out of Hartford in 1886. Ezra Strong's The History of the Lives and Bloody Exploits of the Most Noted Pirates: their Trials and Executions comes to us from the Rare Books Collection.

Numerous books have been written on the exploits of modern piracy, as well. Check out some of these fascinating titles:

For information related to international and legal policy:

On a lighter note, September 19 is celebrated as Talk Like a Pirate Day. Cast away to Level 1 (L1) of the library to check out a treasure chest of fascinating materials in the Foreign and International display case. You'll be hooked!

K = Law: Kafka and the law

Submitted by bo5 on Mon, 05/23/2011 - 11:25am
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When the Studia Humanitatis were created as a separate discipline in 14th century Italy, they were meant as both an aid and challenge to the already established professional subjects of theology, medicine, art, and law. This is still the case today.

The exhibit on Law Library Level 1, K = Law: Kafka and the Law, is our initial effort to raise awareness of law as a multidisciplinary sphere of study. We hope that our visual approach will unleash the imagination, invite critical views, and further our educational mission.

                        

Generally, we are focusing on foreign law and humanities; precisely, we are exploring connections between law and such humanistic disciplines as literature, philosophy, and history. We will present scholars and writers whose work had crucial influence in the relations between law and humanities.

This blog serves as a continuation of our existing presentation on Franz Kafka which is currently on display in the Foreign and International section of the library on L1.

You might explore Kafka and the Law by reading these books.

 

                      kafka judge.jpg                      

                  

                                                               

 

 

                                                                                                                        Barbara Olszowa

Australian Whaling Case To Be Heard in ICJ May 2012

Submitted by Evelyn Ma on Thu, 05/12/2011 - 3:10pm
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The Australian Government last week filed a complaint at ICJ charging the Japanese whaling program off the Antarctic violated international ban of commercial whaling.  Oral arguments are scheduled sometime after May 2012.  More on the history of the case since Australia’s initial application last June can be found here, here and here.

The international legal instruments governing scientific research whaling include the International Convention for Regulation of Whaling (ICRW) and the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), specifically Article 65 governing marine mammals.  More on rules governing scientific whaling permits and member states is available in the International Whaling Commission website.

Much has been written on the legality of scientific whaling and its interplay with international treaties and customs:

The Legitimacy of International Governance: A Coming Challenge for International Environmental Law; Bodansky, Daniel, 93 Am. J. Int'l L. 596 (1999)

Scientific Research Whaling in International Law: Objectives and Objections; Schiffman, Howard, 8 ILSA J. Int’l & Comp. L. 473 (2001-2002).

Status of Scientific Research Whaling in international law; Yagi, Nobuyuki, 8 ILSA J. Int’l & Comp. L. 487 (2001-2002).

Whales and Tuna: The Past and Future of Litigation between Australia and Japan; Klein, Natalie, 21 Geo. Int'l Envtl. L. Rev. 185 (2008-2009).

The Role and History of the International Whaling Commission; McHugh J.L., Harvard University Press, 1974.

To locate treatises, Search in Morris/Encore with these subject headings:

  • International Whaling Commission
  • Whaling - Government policy
  • Whaling - Law and legislation
 
 
 



Pufendorf Congratulates All Those Graduating and Sends His Best Wishes To Everyone for an Engaging and Productive Summer!

Submitted by bo5 on Tue, 05/10/2011 - 12:50pm
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The Foreign and International Law Collection staff received the following reference question this week:

“In Pufendorf’s De Jure Naturae et Gentium Libri Octo there is reference to Johannes Friderich Hornius as the author of De Civitate, the author index in edition of the Carnegie Classics of International Law series notes him as Johan Friedrich Horn (German jurists).

I see the Yale University Library has the following holding:  Joh. Frid. Hornii Briga-Silesii Architectonica de civitate; Horn, Johann Friedrich, 1629?-ca. 1665; Architectonica de civitate

I have the following query: Is there an English or French translation of Architectonica de civitate; and if so, which library is holding it?’

Who is/was Pufendorf? (We’ll save Hornius for another time)

Pufendorf Is the Foreign and International Law Collection’s totemic dappled rabbit, sitting at the foot of the stairs going into L1, the lower level of the Law Library.  He welcomes all who visit the Foreign and International Law collection with a message of “love,” which he bears on his sign.

In a contest open to students it was suggested Pufendorf was the best name suggested. (Could it be that the name resembles Puff the Magic Dragon?). Our love bunny was acquired in 1992 by Dan Wade at the Kutztown, PA Folk Festival. Our love bunny was carved in the Philippines and was designed by Paul Weir of Rittman, Ohio. On May 21, 2003, the roof fell in on him when the bomb exploded in the Law School. He remains as a memorial to the extraordinary perseverance of Yale Law students. Not only has he withstood bomb blast, but a few years before the bomb he was kidnapped by a group of 3L’s and ransomed for a keg of beer.

During graduation please come and visit Puf. Rub his nose for good luck and more love in your life! While you are here browse the collection for signs of hope in the books on the law of war and peace and human rights and notice the exhibit on Franz Kafka in our new exhibit case. 

Pufendorf was named after Baron Samuel von Pufendorf  (1632-1694), a German jurist and political philosopher. Among his major contributions were his revisions of the natural law theories of Hugo Grotius and Thomas Hobbes.

Born in Saxony of a Lutheran pastor in 1632, Pufendorf studied theology at the University of Leipzig before turning to the study of law at the University Jena where he read Hobbes and Grotius. In 1658 he became a tutor to the children of the Swedish ambassador to Denmark. When conflict broke out he was imprisoned for eight months. There he wrote one of his major works, Elementa jurisprudentiae universalis libri duo, a system of universal law (1960).

Following his release, in 1661 he accepted a Chair of Natural Law and Nations, the first of its kind in the world, at the University of Heidelberg. He was forced to resign in 1668 following his attack on a tax imposed on official documents. He next went to the University of Lund as a professor of natural law, and in 1672 published his great work on nature and the law of nations, De Jure naturae et gentium libri octo, which proposed his just war theory. Here he argued that every human being on the basis of human dignity has a right to equality and freedom. He based his theory of natural law on man as a social being. Against Hobbes, he argued that the state of nature was peace, not war.

In 1677 Pufendorf became the Swedish royal historian. He published his De habitu religionis christianae ad vitam civilem, drawing limits between civil and ecclesiastical power.

In 1688 Pufendorf became  the historian and privy councilor for the Elector of Brandenburg and in 1694 the King of Sweden made him a baron. Pufendorf died shortly thereafter.

While Pufendorf passionately disputed with Leibnitz, he is said to have influenced Blackstone and Montesquieu.

                                                                                   -----Daniel Wade

Bolivia's Fight for its Right... to the Sea

Submitted by Teresa Miguel-Ste... on Tue, 05/10/2011 - 11:37am
in

Despite a significant navy that performs exercises on Lake Titicaca, Bolivia has been without direct access to the sea since 1879, when they lost their coastline to Chile in the War of the Pacific.  Each May, Bolivia commemorates a Day of the Sea.  Last fall Peru agreed to allow Bolivia to use one of its ports, giving the landlocked country access to the sea for the first time in over 100 years. 

Bolivia

Quite a bit has been written about Bolivia's claim to the sea.  For example:

Historical material available on HeinOnline includes:

Subject Headings include:

  • War of the Pacific, 1879-1884
  • Bolivia--History--1879-1938
  • Bolivia--Foreign relations--Chile
  • Chile--Foreign relations--Bolivia
  • Chile--Boundaries--Bolivia--History
  • Bolivia--Boundaries--Chile--History
  • Access to the sea (International Law)
  • Maritime Law--Bolivia