In one letter that prompted the lawsuit, the authority said that the laws it is charged with violating actually shield it from disclosure.

Varying Success But increasingly these laws are being questioned as some advocates for children charge that the laws too often shield bureaucracies that function poorly and make dreadful mistakes.

Critics here and abroad, including members of the United States Congress, say the law will shield the commanders from serious punishment for some of the worst atrocities of the conflict.

The law does not shield children from being forced to testify against their parents.

The refugees' hopes that French law, principles and ideals would shield them from the Germans were doomed by the French authorities' acquiescence and even enthusiasm for cracking down both on immigrants and on Jewish citizens.

Supporters said the law would shield children from pornography on the World Wide Web, but opponents said it would chill speech on line.

In other states, the new laws shield the companies from civil or criminal prosecution if they voluntarily disclose incriminating information.

After all, the argument goes, if the law does not shield American producers from foreign competition, it must not be working.

One lingering uncertainty is whether the agreement and law will shield German companies from future lawsuits that arise from the Holocaust.

The response springs from laws intended to protect the privacy of families, but increasingly these laws are being questioned as some advocates for children charge that the laws too often shield bureaucracies that function poorly and make dreadful mistakes.