Change "Code" label in statute type to "Compendium"

fbennett

I would like to poll law users on changing the "Code" label in the statute type to the more descriptive label "Compendium" (in the English locale).

This field maps to CSL container-title, which suggests it is intended for things like USC (US Code) and CFR (Code of Federal Regulations). These are not "codes" in the sense of the term in Civil jurisdictions (i.e. Civil Code, Criminal Code), and I for one have to keep catching myself when entering data to avoid using the field in that sense.

liam.mchugh.russell

This name change makes sense to me. It would work for the compendiums of most Canadian legislation (and regulations for that matter).

jdcrutch

Would such a change be specific to the user's locale? In the legal profession in the United States, "compendium" is not in general use (except perhaps with reference to unofficial collections or treatises). In the United States, a systematic collection of currently-operative statutes or regulations, organized by topic, is universally referred to as a "code", and calling it a "compendium" would, I think, cause some confusion. I doubt most U.S. lawyers would know what a "compendium" field was for, and I think they'd be frustrated by the absence of a "code" field.

If "compendium" is more appropriate in English (U.K.) and Canadian usage, then I'd support the proposed option for those locales (if a U.S. lawyer is even entitled to an opinion!); but I'd oppose the change if it affected users in the U.S.

Regards,

Jim Crutchfield
Long Island City, NY

Rintze

For what it's worth, the change could be made to just the British English locale, if it turns out preferences differ between American and British English.

Gracile

For what it's worth, the change could be made to just the British English locale, if it turns out preferences differ between American and British English.

I agree.

fbennett

Thanks for the feeback, everyone. I'll try to start pulling a consolidated set of changes for legal materials together soon.