MetaLex

Abstract. The Dutch Tax and Customs Administration (DTCA) is one of many organizations that deal with a multitude of electronic legal data, from various sources and in different formats. In this paper, we describe the results of a study aimed at better access to these sources by having a supplier and format independent knowledge store that describes the sources and their interrelations in a semantic network. Furthermore we developed parsers to automatically detect the identity of sources and typed references within the sources to other legal documents. These parsers can be used to fill and update the semantic networks as new documents are added.

Abstract. The Leibniz Center for Law is involved in the project Digitale Uitwisseling Ruimtelijke Plannen (DURP1; digital exchange of spatial plans) which develops a digital exchange format for spatial regulations. For the researchers of the Leibniz Center for Law, hav-ing designed the METALex XML schema (cf. Boer et al., 2002 and Boer et al., 2003) for ?regular? legal sources, involvement in the DURP project offers new possibilities to study a legal area that hasn't yet been studied to the extent it deserves in the field of Computer Science & Law. The last few months we made an inventory of issues we feel are not suffi-ciently covered by current initiatives in the Geo-graphic Information Systems (GIS) field. This inven-tory is an input to the DURP standardization effort. In this paper we will also discuss the possibility of extending the Lex XML schema in order to support exchange of spatial regulations, including the asso-ciated geospatial information in the form of maps.

Abstract. The Leibniz Center for Law is involved in the project Digitale Uitwisseling Ruimtelijke Plannen (DURP1; digital exchange of spatial plans) which develops a digital exchange format for spatial regulations. For the researchers of the Leibniz Center for Law, having designed the METALex XML schema (cf. [3, 4]) for ?regular? legal sources, involvement in the DURP project offers new possibilities to study a legal area that hasn?t yet been studied to the extent it deserves in the field of Computer Science & Law. The last few months we made an inventory of issues we feel are not sufficiently covered by current intiatives in the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) field. This inventory is an input to the DURP standardization effort. In this paper we will also discuss the possibility of extending the METALex XML schema in order to support exchange of spatial regulations, including the associated geospatial information in the form of maps.

Abstract. Understanding electronic legislation requires a comprehension of its lifecycle and the events and corresponding transformations that make up this lifecycle. A metadata description attached to the legislative resource represents a time point in this lifecycle. In this paper we advocate an event-based model of version management for legislation. We are currently developing a Content Management System (CMS) based on this model. This paper discusses the event-based model, sketches the infrastructure of the CMS, and relates it to timestamping in METALex documents.

Abstract. Within the (E-)Power research program a new approach for supporting the chain of processes from the creation of legal texts to the implementation of normative (juridical) information systems has been developed. According to this approach creating formal knowledge models starts with the analysis of the legal text. This process executed by knowledge analysts is very time consuming. Within the Power program an automated concept and norm extraction tool and a model generation tool using linguistic techniques have been developed to improve modelling productivity. This paper describes how this tool can be used to translate legal texts into a formal model (in our case the UML/OCL standard). We will do this by giving some examples of specific legal constructs and discuss the modelling process.

Abstract. ^METALex provides a generic and easily extensible framework for the XML encoding of the structure and contents of legal documents. This paper discusses some design decisions related to language and jurisdiction neutrality

Abstract. This paper presents a proposal for an open XML standard for the markup of legal documents: METALex. The standard provides a generic and easily extensible framework for the XML encoding of the structure and contents of legal and paralegal documents. MetaLex is first and foremost meant as an interchange format for legal documents. It differs from other existing metadata schemes in two respects: It is language and jurisdiction independent and it aims to accommodate uses of XML beyond search and presentation services.

Abstract. This paper presents a proposal for an XML Standard for legal sources in the Netherlands. The standard intends to provide a generic and easily extensible framework for the XML encoding of the structure and contents of legal and paralegal documents. It differs from other existing metadata schemes for legal documents in two respects; It is language independent and it aims to accommodate uses of XML beyond search and presentation services.

Abstract. This paper presents a proposal for an open XML standard for the markup of legal documents: METALex. The standard provides a generic and easily extensible framework for the XML encoding of the structure and contents of legal and paralegal documents. It differs from other existing metadata schemes in two respects: It is language and jurisdiction independent and it aims to accommodate uses of XML beyond search and presentation services.