Overcoming technical challenges in developing a global free-access legal information system for research

Meer over het boek

Assuming the desirability of a global free-access legal information system (LIS), a non-governmental and non-profit provider, and the financial constraints of free access, this dissertation explores several key questions: (i) is such a system technically achievable and sustainable within a realistic timeframe? (ii) if feasible, which technical development models are most suitable? (iii) what are the main technical challenges? The goal is to identify the technical and practical issues in creating a web-based free-access LIS for research and propose solutions to ensure its sustainability. The focus is not on political and economic factors, but on the technical stages of developing the LIS, including data collection, processing, web publication, searching, and interface issues. Grounded in technical literature and informed by experiences from the World Legal Information Institute (WorldLII) and other legal information institutes, the dissertation adopts a comprehensive approach to address the technical challenges. The conclusion reached is that a sustainable system is achievable within financial constraints, with the most promising model being a decentralized multi-layer network of national or multi-country LIIs. While some unresolved issues remain, they are not deemed insurmountable, marking a significant step toward a global solution that has not been previously attempted.