GLIN GLOBAL JOURNAL - The Library of Congress Saudi Arabia, a brochure has been produced that has...

Issue 3

December 2009

Table of Contents

Network News•Field Focus•From the Editor•

Several GLIN members have expressed an interest in learning more about the automatedprocessbywhichlegalinformationfromtheUnitedKingdomwastransferredintotheGLINdatabaseandcontinuestobeupdated.Thisisabriefaccount of the pilot project to develop and test a method to electronically transfer the Acts of Parliament (Acts) and the related Explanatory Notes of the UnitedKingdomdirectlytotheGLINdatabasewithaslittlehandlingoftheindi-vidualrecordaspossiblewiththeexpectationthatthelessonslearnedcouldbereadilyappliedtootherdatasets.

BeforeturningtothediscussionofthisprojectIshouldhighlightthosespecificconditionsthatmakeajurisdictionagoodcandidatefortheelectronictransferofdatatoGLIN.First,themetadatamustbeinaformatthatcanbemapped

UK Data Transferred to GLINBy: Charles Dove

Network Members Promote Knowledge and use of GLINBy: Janice Hyde

Continued on page 3

Continued on page 5

The16thAnnualMeetingofDirectorsoftheGlobalLegalInformationNetwork(GLIN)washeldattheLibraryfromSeptember1-3,2009.RepresentativesfromtwentyonedifferentGLINmembergovernmentsassembledtodiscussinitiativesundertaken over the past year and to plan for the future development of the databaseandthenetwork.Inadditiontodirectorsfromcurrentmemberjurisdic-tions,thisyear’smeetingwasattendedbyobserversfrompotentialGLINmembernationsincludingthePeople’sRepublicofChinaandUganda.JoAnnJenkins,ChiefofStafffortheLibraryofCongress,welcomedtheattendees,notingthat“GLINhas grown and thrived admirably in the years that you have been working and meetingtogether….Byworkinginconcert,youhavecreatedadynamicresourceforresearchandunderstandingacrosslegalculturesandlanguagebarriers.”Ro-bertaShaffer,whobeganhertenureasLawLibrarianofCongressthedaybeforethemeeting,offeredopeningremarksandremindedtheparticipantsthatthethreehallmarksoflaw—thatitbeauthoritative,accurate,andauthentic--arealsothehallmarksofGLIN. Asinpreviousyears,GLINdirectorsweregiventheopportunitytopro-

GLIN GLOBAL JOURNAL

-Page1-

Field Focus

Fromrighttoleft)Dr.IvánEscobarFornos;MSc.AnaRosa(Chavarría,DirectorGLINNicaragua-CSJ;Licda.LindaGrijalvaÁlvarez,LegalAnalyst;andIng.JoséAntonioPereiraTechnicalSpecialist.Receivingtextstobe included in GLIN

Continued on page 6

GLIN Has a New Associate Central American Court of JusticeBy:GLINNicaragua,TranslatedbyFranciscoMacias

Recently,GLINNicaragua-SupremeCourtofJustice(CSJ,inSpanish)signedanagreementwiththeCentralAmericanCourtofJustice(CCJ,inSpanish)andbyvirtueofthatagreementhasprovideduswiththejudicialdecisionsithasissuedsinceitstarteditsoperationinMana-gua,on12October1994,sothatthesemaybeincludedinGLIN.TheCCJisthepermanentjudicialagencyofthe“SistemadeIntegraciónCentroamericana”(CentralAmericanIntegra-tionSystem),whosepermanentheadquartersareintheCityofManagua.

ThejurisdictionandcompetencyoftheCentralAmericanCourtisaRegionaloneanditsdecisionsmustbeineludiblyobeyedbythememberStates.TheLegalStatutesoftheCCJ,formpartoftheCentralAmericanCommunityLaw.ItwascreatedupontheinterpretationandimplementationoftheProtocolofTegucigalpatotheCharteroftheOrganizationofCen-

tralAmericanStates(ODECA,inSpanish)anditscomplementaryinstrumentsoractsderivedfromit.TheProtocolofTegucigalpaprovidesforthecreationoftheCentralAmericanCourtofJusticeinarticle12,andalsoreferstoitsStatustoregulatetheintegration,operationandPowersoftheSupranationalJudicialOrgan.

IntheStatusAgreementoftheCentralAmericanCourt,itspowersandjurisdictionareexpandedanditismadeanInternationalCourt,anArbitra-tionCourt,aConsultationCourtand(withsomerestrictions)aConstitutionalCourt.Article1ofthereferencedStatusAgreementprovidesthatthisCourtisherebyconstitutedandshalloperateaccordingtotheprovisionsofthesaidStatute,Ordinance,RegulationsandResolutionsthatitissues.Webelievethat the legal resources that have been provided us by the members of the CentralAmericanCourtofJusticeareofgreatimportantandwillservetoenrichtheGLINdatabase.

TheteamofGLINNicaragua-CSJ,iscontributingLegalLiteraturebyourcountry’srenownedauthor:Dr.IvánEscobarFornos,formerPresidentoftheNationalAssemblyofNicaragua,currentlyJusticeoftheSupremeCourtofJusticeandmemberoftheChambersofCivilandConstitutionalmatters,andChairoftheIberoamericanInstituteofConstitutionalLaw,NicaraguanDivision—whohaswrittenmorethanfiftytextsonthesubjectsofConstitutionalLaw,HumanRights,CivilLawandReg-istrationLaw,whichwillsoonbeavailableintheGLINdatabasetobeconsulted.

GLIN Costa Rica: Meeting with the Minister of the Treasury Jenny PhillipsBy:GLINCostaRica,TranslatedbyDanteFigueroa

TheDirectoroftheGLINNationalStationforCostaRica,IsabelZúñigaQuirós,accompaniedbyJulietaVolioGuevara,AssistanttotheGLINExecutiveCommittee,andVirginiaVargasAyales,Directora.i.oftheLegislativeLibrary,metonNovember17,2009,withtheMinisteroftheTreasuryofCostaRica,JennyPhillips,withtheaimofpresentingtheworkdevelopedbytheGLINNetworkatthenationalandinternationallevels.Inthisrespect,theMinisterindicatedhersat-isfactionwiththeeffort,anddeclaredthatGLIN“isadatabasethatprovidesassistancetothelegalworkoftheinstitu-tions,andthatrequiresofmoresupporttoexpandthepublic’sknowledgeofit.” Inthiscontext,ZúñigaQuirósthankedthesupportandemphasizedthatGLIN-CostaRicaisaneffortoftheNationalAs-semblytooffer,gratuitously,viaInternet,nationalnormative,legislativerecords,judicialdecisions,andnationaldoc-

-Page2-

NETWORK MEMBERS: continued from page 1

videreportsonthestatusoftheirrespectiveGLINstationsandtohighlightnewand/orspecialinitiatives.Thepresen-tationsrevealedarangeofactivitiesintendedtoexpandthelegalinformationcontentofthedatabase.IsabelZúñigaQuiros,DirectorofGLINCostaRicareportedonhersuccessinnegotiatingagreementswithvariousinstitutionsinclud-ingtheSupremeCourt,theTechnicalServicesDepartmentoftheLegislativeAssembly,andtheUniversityofCostaRicaLawSchool.These“affiliate”GLINstationshave,respectively,startedtocontributeSupremeCourtdecisions,legislativerecords,andlawjournalarticlestotheGLINdatabaseprovidingmorecomprehensivecoverageofCostaRicanlegalmaterials.AnupdatewasprovidedbyRenánPascal,DirectorofGLINUruguay,onGLIN-Uruguay’sworktoincorporatesub-nationalinformationintothedatabase.Overthepastyear,the19differentregionaldepartmentsofUruguay(repre-sentingurban,suburban,andruralareasofthecountry),begansubmittingtheirlawstotheGLINdatabaseprovidingthecitizensofUruguay,andallGLINusers,withonecentralizedsourceforbothnationalandsub-nationallaw.Thepartici-pationofthedepartmentsintheGLINefforthasledsometodevelopbetterlegalpublishingpractices.ThereportfromtheUnitedKingdom,offeredbyCarolTullo,Director,ControllerandQueen’sPrinter,OfficeofPublicSectorInformation(OPSI),describedthesuccessfulcollaborationbetweenOPSI,whosepoliciesencouragere-useoflegislativematerials,andGLIN.Asaresultofaone-time,bulktransferofinformation,GLINnowincludesActsofParliamentdatingbackto1988andassociatedexplanatorynotessince2000.Aweb-servicestoolallowscontinuousupdatingoftheinformationintheGLINdatabase.ThelessonslearnedfromworkwiththeU.K.willhelpGLINapplysimilartechniquesforautomatedingestionandupdatetoincorporatethelegalmaterialsofotherjurisdictionsinthefuture. PromotingknowledgeanduseofGLINamonglegislatorswasathemetoucheduponbyseveralmembers.ThalíaRodríguezSoria,CoordinatorofGLINMexico,describedamonthlyonlinebulletinshehasdevelopedformembersoftheChamberofDeputiesoftheMexicanCongressthatincludessamplesummariesoflawsfromvariousGLINjurisdic-tionsontopicsofcurrentlegislativeinterestsuchaselectionlawandfreedomofspeech.ShewaspleasedtosharethecontentsofletterofthanksreceivedfromaCongressmanforthiseffort.BothMexicoandElSalvadoraremakinguseofclosedcircuittelevisionavailableformembersoftheirlegislaturestooffer“GLINspots”thatfillthespacesbetweenbroadcastsoflegislativesessions.InSaudiArabia,abrochurehasbeenproducedthathasbeencirculatedtomembersoftheShuraCouncil(legislature)andalinktoGLINhasbeenaddedtotheShuraCouncil’sintranet.Finally,theStellaChenuandLi-MinChang,DirectorsofGLINParaguayandGLINTaiwanrespectively,reportedontheirprovisionofinteractiveworkshops(Paraguay)andinstructionalprograms(Taiwan)forlegislatorsandlegislativestafftopromotetheuseofGLIN. Lookingtopossiblefuturedevelopments,DanChirita,thedirectorfromGLINRomania,whoalsoservesastheChairoftheGLINTechnicalCommittee,gaveapresentationfocusingonmakingGLINaccessiblethroughmobiledevicessuchasPersonalDigitalAssistants(PDAs)andcellulartelephones.AlthoughmuchoftheGLINinterfaceandcontentiscurrentlyavailablethroughmobiledevices,Mr.Chiritaexplainedthattheadoptionofcertainstandardsandbestprac-ticescanfacilitatesuchaccessandmakeitmoreuser-friendly.HeprovidedexamplesfromtheirexperiencecreatingmobileaccesstothewebsiteoftheChamberofDeputiesoftheParliamentofRomania.Whilemostdocumentscanbeprovidedviamobiledevices,theyfoundthatitwasnotcurrentlyadvisabletotryandofferphotographs,videos,orlinkstoexternalwebsites.TheissueofmobileaccesstoGLINwillbefurtherdiscussedandrefinedbytheGLINTechnicalCommitteeforconsiderationbythemembers. TheChartersigningisthefinalsteprequiredtobecomeavotingmemberoftheNetwork.Atthisyear’smeeting,MarieDoudouKolomeni,GLINDirectorfromCameroon,signedtheChartersignalingthatjurisdiction’sformalaccessionintotheNetwork.AclosingeventfeaturedakeynotespeechdeliveredbyDr.MohamedMattar,ExecutiveDirectoroftheProtectionProjectlocatedattheSchoolforAdvancedInternationalStudiesofJohnsHopkinsUniversity.Inhisremarks,Dr.Mattarsuggestedthatbyprovidingaccesstoawide-rangeoflawsfromnumerouscountriesGLINcanassistineffortstoharmonizelaws,establishinternationalstandards,anddevelopmodellaws.

Followingthespeech,severalawardswerepresentedtorecognizeongoingexcellenceandspecialachievements.GLINstationsinArgentina,DemocraticRepublicofCongo,Mexico,Paraguay,Taiwan,andUruguayearnedExemplaryPerfor-manceAwardsgiventopreviousrecipientsoftheGLINModelStationawardthatcontinuetomaintainallstandardsfortimelinessandqualityofinformationcontributedtothedatabase.TheSpecialAchievementAwardwasgiventoCostaRicainrecognitionofitsinclusionofallfourcategoriesoflegalmaterialsGLIN.SandraSawickireceivedthe2009Out-standingServiceAwardforworkingonaspecialprojecttoimprovetheGLINthesaurus.Finally,the2009GLINModelStationawardwaspresentedtoGLIN-KuwaittoacknowledgethatitsperformanceasaGLINstationshouldserveasanexampletoothermembers.

-Page3-

-Page4-

DATA TRANSFERRED : continued from page 1

directlytoGLIN.Second,thereshouldbedatalocatedinthesameplaceineachrecordthatcanserveasanEnglishsummary.Third,eachrecordshouldbeindexedbysubjecttermsthatareselectedfromathesaurusthatcanbemappedtotheGLINThesaurus.Fourth,theremustbeawebservicesavailabletoupdatetheinitialloadwithnewcontributionstotheOPSIdatabase.Finally,theremustbesufficientfinancialresourcestodeveloptherequiredcomputerprograms(API)fortheinitialtransferofdataandtoconnecttoOPSIwebservices.

WhentheUnitedKingdomjoinedGLINascontributingmemberitseemedthatthebestwaytoloadthelawsfortheUKwouldbethroughalaboriousmanualcopyandpasteprocedure.Whilethiswasstillunderconsid-erationCarolTullo,theDirectoroftheOfficeofPublicSectorInformation(OPSI),informedGLINCentralofthedecisionofherAgencytorepublishtheentirecontentsoftheOPSIwebsite.GLINCentral,therefore,decidedtoputthedatatransferprojectonholduntilcompletionoftherepublishingefforts.BytheendofJune2007JohnSheridan,Headofe-Services,PublicSectorInformationDirectorate,TheNationalArchivesandGLINCentraldeterminedthatthenowrepublisheddataprovidedformatsthatcouldeasilybeutilizedforelectronictransferofdata.TheplanthatevolvedbyFebruary2008usedtheXMLformattedfilesforthemetadatamapping.Theplanpermittedmappingthemetadataelementsfortitle,instrumentclass,instrumentnumber,issuancedate,publicationname,publicationdate,andpublicationnumberfromOPSIdirectlytoreciprocalfieldsinGLIN.TheOPSIoptiontooutputfilesinbothHTMLandPDFformatsprovidedthefulltextinaformatutilizedbyGLIN.TheprogramminganddataanalysisfordatatransfertoGLINwerearequirementoftheexistingGLINdevelopmentcontract.

ByFebruary2008althoughthemajorcontoursoftheplanhadbeenshapedavarietyoftasksremainedtobeaccomplished before the data exchange could occur:• ObtaintheURLsforthefilestobetransferred;• IdentifyadataelementtoprovideanEnglishsummaryforeachAct.TheExplanatoryNotesprovedtoo timeconsumingtocondenseforthispurpose;• Selectionoftheactualmethodforthedatatransferfromtheavailableoptions(copytoaportablede vice,ftp,ordirectlyfromthewebsiteserver);• Identifythewebservicesthatwouldbeusedtorefreshthedata;• EstablishanauthorfortheExplanatoryNotes;• IdentifythesourceofpublicationfortheActs;• MaptheIntegratedPublicSectorVocabulary(ISPV)totheGLINThesaurus.

Overthenextfewmonthsaseriesofemailsandconferencecallsresolvedalmostalloftheremainingissues:• JohnprovideaspreadsheetthatlistedtheURLforeachActfrom1988tothepresent;• ThetitleforeachActwouldfunctionasthesummaryintheGLINmetadatarecord;• ThedatatransferwouldoperatedirectlyfromtheOPSImirrorfailoverbackupservertoavoidanychance, howeverremote,ofdegradingtheperformanceoftheOPSIwebsite;• TheAtomfeedwasthewebserviceselectedtoperiodicallyrefreshthedata;• UnitedKingdomGovernmentwasestablishedasthecorporateauthorfortheExplanatoryNotes;• SincetheUnitedKingdomdoesnotpublishanofficialgazettethesourceofpublicationfortheActbe cometheQueen’sPrinterofActsofParliamentandtheControllerofHerMajesty’sStationeryOffice;• EachoftheISPVtermsusedbyOPSItoindextheActswasmappedthebroadestreciprocalterminthe GLINThesaurus.

InOctoberof2008GLINCentralannouncedtotheNetworkthattheActsofParliamentfortheUnitedKingdomfrom1988toOctober2008alongwiththeirrelatedExplanatoryNoteswerenowaccessiblethroughGLIN.Twoissues,however,camequicklytotheattentionofGLINCentral: • ThemappingofIPSVsubjecttermstoGLINreciprocalswasnotagoodmatch;

Continued on page 6

-Page5-

DATA TRANSFERRED : continued from page 5

• TheAtomfeedwasnotconsistentlyavailable.

GLINCentralresolvedthefirstissuebymanuallyre-indexingalloftheActswithsubjecttermsselectedfromtheGLINThesaurus.AtpresentthisisanongoingprocessasadditionalActsareloaded.OPSIisstillintheprocessresolvingthesecondproblem.InthemeantimeupdatingGLINrequiresperiodicmanualsearchesoftheOPSItodetermineifeitheranynewActsorExplanatoryNoteshavebeenaddedsincethelastupload.

Tosummarize,theelementsthatmadeworkingwithOPSIoptimalwerethefollowing:

• Anextremelyknowledgeableandcooperativestaff;• Englishissharedlanguage;• OPSImetadatawashighlycompatiblewiththatofGLIN;• Textthatcouldbeusedasasummary;• AvailabilityofwebservicestoupdateGLIN;• Availabilityofresourcestosupportthework.

Evenwithallofthesepositiveelementsthetwoconditionsthatwerenotmet--subjecttermsthatmaptotheGLINThe-saurusandafullyavailablewebservice--couldhavedelayedorterminatedtheprojectiftheUnitedKingdomwasprolificinthepassageofnewActsofParliament.Therefore,themostimportantlessontocomefromthiseffortisthatanydeci-siontoautomaticallytransferthelegalresourcesofajurisdictionmustinvolvecarefulevaluationtodetermineifalloftheconditionshavebeenmetandifnotwhethercantheyberesolvedwiththeavailableresources

GLIN COSTA RICA: MEETING: continued from page 2

trine,andthatthesupportprovidedbythecurrentpresidentoftheLegislativeAssembly,RepresentativeFranciscoAntonioPacheco,hasbeenkeytosigncooperationagreements,andforthecreationofstationsaffiliatedtoGLINinCostaRica(EAGLIN),attheSupremeCourtofJustice,aswellasattheDepartmentofTechnicalServicesoftheCongress,theUniversityofCostaRicaandtheOfficeoftheGeneralAttorneyoftheRepublic.

CostaRicaGLINofficialsadvocatedwiththeMinisterforacontinuedsupportofCostaRicaatthemeetingofthegovernorsoftheWorldBank,andforobtainingloansfromfinancialentitiestostrengthenthedatabaseinCostaRicaandCentralAmerica.

GLIN Costa Rica: Welcomes the new Director of the Affiliated Station at the Technical Services Department

GloriaValerínRodríguez,directoroftheTechnicalServicesDepartmentattheLegislativeAssemblyofCostaRica,assumed,onNovember1,2009,asDirectoroftheAffiliatedStationinTechnicalServicesattheLegislativeAssembly.ThisEAGLINincludesthelegislativeregistriesperformedbytheLegislativeAssemblyandcon-stitutesanimportantinputindecision-makingbyCostaRicanLegislativeAssemblymembers.

ValerínRodríguezisassistedGustavoRiveraSibaja,legalanalystandtranslator,whoalsohasbroadexperienceinthefieldofparliamentaryassistance.ThenewcollaboratorsreceivedtrainingbyofficialsoftheCostaRicaGLINStationdur-ingthemonthsofOctoberandNovemberofthisyear.

Fromleft,Licda.VirginiaVargasAyales,DirectoroftheLegislativeLibrary;center,MinisteroftheTreasuryLicdaJennyPhillipsAguilar;andtotheright,M.Sc.IsabelZúñigaQuirós,DirectorofGLIN-CostaRica.

-Page6-

WiththisissueoftheGLINGlobalJournaltheeditorialresponsibilitiespassfromthevery capable hands of LeeAnne Buckley tomine.Icanonlyhopetomaintainthehigh standards that LeeAnne set with the inauguralissueofOctober2007.Theattractivedesignofeachissuealongwiththeselectionofarticlesandphotographs

ofinteresthaveconsistentlycapturedtheattentionandkepttheGLINmembershipinformedofNetworkactivities.ThankyouLeeAnnefortheenthusiasmandtalentthatyoubroughttotheGLINGlobalJournalasitsfirsteditor.

For those of you who may not know me I have been with GLINsince2001.MyresponsibilitiesasGLINProjectMan-ager have been largely technical and have focused on the developmentoftheGLINdatasystem.Morerecently,how-ever,IhavebeeninvolvedwiththedailyoperationalworkofGLINCentral.

TobesuccessfulaseditorIwillneedyourcontinuedsupportintheformofreportsonjurisdictionalactivities.IintendtopublishtheGLINGlobalJournalquarterlywiththenextissueinMarch2010.Thiswillprovideyouwithtimetoprepareandsendmeyourarticlesforthenextissue.Alsoplease email me your comments on this and future issues of theGLINGlobalJournalatcdove@loc.gov.

Charles Dove

-Page7-