identifiers, metadata and document structures:

11-12-2008Ingredients for Inter-European Case Law Search 1

Identifiers, Metadata and Document Structures:Essential Ingredients for Inter-European Case

Law Search

Paris, 11-12-2008

Marc van Opijnen, sr. adviser legal informatics

Council for the Judiciary, the Netherlands

mvanopijnen@rechtspraak.nl

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Topics

• Problems with searching and citing

• Some theory on identifiers and citations

• The Dutch experience

• European Case Law Identifier

• Metadata

• Document structures

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How to cite?

• European Court of Justice, 14-10-2004, C-299/02,

European Court reports 2004, Page I-09761, Celex-nr

62002J0299, CASELEX:EU:2004:8, BAILII: [2004]

EUECJ C-299/02, VLEX-17284540, NJ 2005, 421, a.s.o.

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Some theory

• Work: a distinct intellectual or artistic creation

• Expression: the intellectual or artistic realization of a

work

• Manifestation: the physical embodiment of an

expression of a work

• Item: a single exemplar of a manifestation

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The problem

• Identifiers are on expression level, vendor and

medium specific

• Attributes not usable as an identifier

• Long citations needed

expressionAB p. 93-99

expressionKL 320

expressionDH p.482

work

expressionBB 4701

no identifier

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Solution in the Netherlands

1. Identifier at the work level

2. Building a register

3. Putting the index on line

4. Public private standardization

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European Case Law Identifier

• ECLI: on the work level

• Recognizable

• Not opaque: country, court, year

• Readable

• No substitution of national number, but including it

• ECLI:country code:court code:year:number

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Building ECLI

• Italy, Corte Costituzionale 322/2008– ECLI:IT:CC:2008:322

• Netherlands, LJN BC8581 (Hoge Raad, 01-04-2008) – ECLI:NL:HR:2008:BC8581

• Belgium, Raad van State/Conseil d’État, 185.273, 09-07-2008

– ECLI:BE:RSCE:2008:185273

• Finland, KKO:2008:97– ECLI:FI:KKO:2008:97

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Prerequisites

• A national court designated identifier (work level)

• A freely accessible index

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Metadata

• Various metadata added

• Development of a European metadata model

– Work - expression

• Standards, e.g. Dublin Core

• Extensible

• In the ECLI-repository?

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Document structures

• Advanced searches and display

• Automated analysis of cases

• Interconnect information in judgments

• Adaptation of production process?

• CEN/Metalex: www.metalex.eu

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Conclusion

• Many different initiatives, diversity has to be

cherished

• Some standardization could give a lot of added value

– Identifier

– Metadata

– Document structures

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… thank you