WorldLII: A new home for Commonwealth law online

1. WorldLII: A new home for Commonwealth law online Graham Greenleaf, Philip Chung, and Andrew Mowbray 13th Commonwealth Law ConferenceMelbourne, April 2003

2. Overview of paper • Argues that free Internet access to law is vital to development of a Commonwealth common law • Describes WorldLII - largest free access source of legal information on the Internet - a collaboration • Surveys current state of free Internet access to law in Commonwealth countries • Argues that it is more important for Courts and government to provide case and legislation data to 3rd party publishers than to publish it themselves • Invites all Courts & govts in Commonwealth countries to join in publishing via WorldLII

3. Why value free access to law? • Free access to our country’s own laws • Supports the rule of law - inaccessible laws are less legitimate laws - public access must be free • Increases international transparency of our legal systems - trade and legitimacy advantages • Free access to other countries’ laws • Advantages of comparative law for law reform • In developing countries, comparative law libraries and fee-based services are impossible luxuries • Cases from other common law countries (particularly UK) have precedent value ….

4. Commonwealth common law • Historical dominance of UK decisions • Influenced by greater accessibility of UK decisions - ‘hub & spokes’ model • Need for an international common law • Lord Cooke of Thorndon (1996) • Saw greater use of international precedents • ‘two way traffic over the bridge’ is apposite • Brooke LJ (2003) • Internet as a ‘level playing field’ for access • Applies internationally, not only within UK • Proliferation of websites ≠ effective access

5. Legal Information Institutes (LIIs) • LIIs in Australasia, Canada, UK/Ireland, Pacific Islands, Hong Kong & USA • Independent and University-based • Non-profit, free access to law via Internet • Common software and cooperation (WorldLII) • Have created Internet’s largest free sources of law • Montreal Declaration on Public Access to Law • Affirms importance of Courts / governments providing access to legal data to 3rd-party publishers • A challenge & invitation to Courts and governments

6. WorldLII <www.worldlii.org> Main features • Free access to over 300 databases from 22 countries + international organisations • Largest online collection of Commonwealth law • Most databases are from its cooperating LIIs • AustLII, BAILII, CanLII, HKLII, PacLII, LII (Cornell) • Additional databases only on WorldLII • International Courts,Tribunals, and organisations • Other countries where there is no local LII • WorldLII Catalog / Websearch • 15,000+ links to law websites in every country • Own web spider allows searching of full texts

7. More features of WorldLII • Search options on WorldLII - examples: • All Databases (default) - 300+ • All Case Law - 150+ national & international • All Highest National Courts - 20+ • All Legislation - 30+ jurisdictions + databases of Treaties, Law Reform & Law Journals • Hypertext links between jurisdictions • Uniform Court-designated citations • New method adopted by Australian & UK courts

8. The Commonwealth: How much free access exists? • Legislation • 20/56 countries have legislation online • Largest is WorldLII (24 jurisdictions, 8 countries) • Case Law • 21/56 countries have case law online • Largest is WorldLII (164 databases, 13 countries) • Law Reform Reports • 9/56 countries (23 jurisdictions) with reports online • WorldLII only has ALRC (+ Ireland & HK) • 50%+ Cth countries (29/56) have some significant law online

9. Do Cth Courts cite each other? • Table in paper is only a rough indicator • An example of analysis that needs to be done • 14 countries cited in 2 most recent cases • UK (60), Canada (10), Australia (5), NZ (5), other (10) • Over 10% of these on WorldLII (10/90) - old cases • Conclusions • There is some support for Lord Cooke’s prediction • Internet case law constributes to cross-citation • WorldLII could become a ‘home’ this jurisprudence

10. An invitation to join WorldLII • Invitation to Commonwealth Courts and governments • We will include in WorldLII (or a LII) • Decisions of any Commonwealth senior Court • Other Courts and Tribunals if resoures allow • Legislation / Law Reform from any Commonwealth country • Assistance needed • Data in electronic form (preferably by email) • Goodwill by data providers - free access and standards • We will provide • Conversion of data to WorldLII’s high standard • Servers with near 100% availability “24/7” • A system with the highest daily access rates

11. ‘Incubating’ new LIIs • AustLII software & technical assistance & ‘start-up’ use of servers • BAILII, HKLII and PacLII (CanLII only software) • ‘Incubation’ within WorldLII one way to start • Software available to a local partner which • Is independent and non-profit (preferably University-based) • Has access to key data flows in one or more jurisdictions • Has the technical capacity to be self-sustaining • Has sufficient finances to have reasonable prospects • Is willing to be part of the WorldLII consortium

12. Web version of this paper • <http://www2.austlii.edu.au/~graham/publications/2003/Cth_Conference/WorldLII_Cth_final.html>