Volume 24, numéro 2, 1983

EN :

Mixing computer technology and linguistic savy as an aid to legal research is no mean undertaking, yet it is the purpose of this article. In it Wallace Schwab attempts to describe those areas in computer science and applied linguistics that either have much to offer or represent formidable obstacles to computerizing legal research. From the simplest aids up through scripts and other artificial intelligence devices, the main theme focusses upon integrating disparate techniques into one finely tuned instrument for linguistically based computer research in law. Ultimately this article leads up to the question as to what limit can be ascribed to digitizing legal data and Schwab proposes short, medium and long term limitations.

EN :

The development of computer and communication technology applied to payment by cheques has eliminated several manual operations, reduced the number of documents transfered and accelerated the time processing of payments. With these changes, there is more than a technical novelty and a simple mechanization of banking business. The general practices of banking and the relationship between financial institutions and their clients are affected. In the new system the rights of consumers are of great concern. The author illustrates some problems arising and the necessity of the intervention of the legislator to provide a basic framework establishing rights, liabilities and responsibility of all parties involved and to insure greater protection for the individual consumer's rights.

EN :

Payment by delivery of a sum of money or by another common type of negotiable instrument is regarded in practice as an obsolete way of settling debts. It is being gradually replaced by a product of modern technology often called « electronic money ». This phenomenon may call for a new juridical framework. Serious consideration is given to the matter in the following article which, in the process, affords us a glimpse of its treatment under French law.

EN :

This article attempts to demonstrate the need to enrich and to make explicit information contained in legislation in order to build an informative and easily retrievable legislative data base.

Two methods of achieving this goal are proposed. First, it is suggested that the international standard bibliographic description (ISBD) be applied to legislative texts. Second, it is recommended that the methods and standards of the International Standardization Organization (ISO) be followed.

These two proposals are considered the bare minimum for an efficient legislative data base.

EN :

A public servant's scope of authority is determined by law and not, as recent decisions would appear to say, by any notion of « apparent authority », or « apparent mandate ». Indeed, the theory of « apparent mandate », which deals only with the granting of legal capacity, does not apply on the face of legislative or statutory provisions to the contrary.

EN :

Following a number of acquittals based on a strict interpretation of the terms of the Food and Drugs Act, the Supreme Court of Canada recently had to determine, in Dunn, if a mushroom containing « psilocybin » was a restricted drug despite the fact that the legislation was referring only to the chemical substance and not to the plant itself

The Supreme Court found that the text was clear and that the fact that « psilocybin » may be contained within a mushroom does not destroy its character as a restricted drug.

Drug traffic must naturally be condemned, but that is not the problem for the moment. The problem is that the Supreme Court of Canada adopted, in Dunn, the rule of the liberal interpretation of a penal statute despite the fact that, not so long ago, it chose a different approach when dealing with a different statute.

We are critical of both the way the inferior courts treated the cases before them and the way the legislator treated the problem. We think that it was possible for the lower courts to find the accused guilty of attempting to commit the offense. We think also that it was possible for the legislator to anticipate those situations and take some precautions by deliberately adopting a text capable of embracing these cases.