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Online legal Information on a budget: A giant leap for the Isle of Man. Lucy Marsh-Smith. A small Island with large technological ambitions. Always going places!. Famous for its speed…. …but not in every area of island life!. Online legal information- Manx style. The Courts website:
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Online legal Information on a budget: A giant leap for the Isle of Man Lucy Marsh-Smith
Always going places! CALC
Online legal information- Manx style • The Courts website: • www.courts.im • Judgments on line: • www.judgments.im • Legislation on line: • www.legislation.gov.im
Courts of Justice website • Dedicated Isle of Man Courts website • Launched to coincide with new Rules of Court in 2009 • Strong desire for openness, transparency and accessibility • Free access to the public • Includes details of court listings and regular public court sittings • Includes principal rules, forms and guidance • News items facility • Recent Judgments provided • Used by the profession, the public and staff!
Judgments on line • Free on-line database providing access to Manx judgments. • Judgments from 2000, earlier ones in PDF. • For those search limited to reference number, titles and party names. • Current lack of clarity as to what should be published.
Legislation on line • Dedicated legislation website • Free access to the public • Advanced search facility/point in time • Ability to show repealed legislation and legislation not yet in operation • Additional features to be available to subscribers to create income stream CALC
ADVANTAGES • Enhanced reputation of Island as sophisticated jurisdiction with which to do business • Maintained in-house, so saving costs of production by commercial publishers • Frequent up-dating possible • No more ‘paste-up’ of books! • Reduced use of paper etc • Opportunity to start on-line Gazette • Links and display CALC
CHALLENGES • Limited budget • Data conversion • Secondary legislation still only as made • Handling of in-house IT Department CALC
What did we learn? • Use the right people: Do your IT experts understand what lawyers need? • Choose what is right for your jurisdiction: most expensive is not always the best • Make your specification as detailed as possible – say what you need and why • Don’t use bespoke systems unless you have to • Have adequate internal resources to plan, supervise and implement your project • Future-proof as much as possible CALC