Computer representation of legal documents

Fabio VitaliUniversity of Bologna

May 2nd, 2000

“When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less”

Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass

A few words of caveatA few words of caveat

Natural languagesTechnical languagesComputer languagesAlphabet soup

A scenarioA scenario

A legal drafter is writing a contract. He is writing a structured text with clauses. Many of these clauses refer explicitly to articles of national, international and local laws. Some these laws have changed since they were first approved. The contract is put on the Web for all the interested parties to read and approve it. Then it is printed for signatures and added to the firms’ electronic collection of active contracts.

Purposes of computer representationPurposes of computer representation

PrintingBrowsingSearchingConnectingReusingUnderstanding (not in our scope today)

SummarySummary

We will discuss some issues regarding computer support in:

Structuring legal documentsReferring to legal documentsPresenting legal documents

Structuring documentsStructuring documents

The World Wide WebMarkup languagesHTML, SGML, XMLXML for legal documents

The World Wide Web (1)The World Wide Web (1)

The Web was originally the result of some protocols and languages:

HTMLHTTPURLSoftware: browsers and servers

The World Wide Web (2)The World Wide Web (2)

Several additions make the current Web complexServer-side: DB connectivity, CGI applications,

servlets, PHP, etc. Computation: javascript, Vbscript, Java applet,

embedded objectsPresentation: CSS, HTML 4, etc. New media: video, audio, VR, etc.

A simple documentA simple document

Marking documents upMarking documents up

Markup as the means to make explicit an interpretation of a text

Text vs. binary markupTypes of markup

Punctuational and presentational markupProcedural markupDescriptive and referential markup

The mere contentThe mere contentthreemeninaboattosaynothingofthedogjerome

kjeromefvbookschapter1threeinvalidssufferingsofgeorgeandharrisavictimtoonehundredandsevenfatalmaladiestherewerefourofusgeorgeandwilliamsamuelharrisandmyselfandmontmorencyweweresittinginmyroomsmokingandtalkingabouthowbadwewerebadfromamedicalpointofviewimeanofcoursewewereallfeelingseedyandweweregettingquitenervousaboutit

With punctuational markupWith punctuational markupThree men in a boatTo say nothing of the dog!Jerome K. JeromeFV BooksChapter 1Three invalids - Sufferings of George and Harris - A victim to one hundred and seven fatal maladies - … There were four of us - George, and William Samuel Harris, and myself, and Montmorency. We were sitting in my room, smoking, and talking about how bad we were - bad from a medical point of view I mean, of course. We were all feeling seedy, and we were getting quite nervous about it...

A binary specific formatA binary specific format

A specific text formatA specific text format

HTMLHTML

XML (1)XML (1)

XML (2)XML (2)

Extensible Markup Language, 1996, W3CDescriptive markupText formatEmphasizes structuresMeta-markupStandard but with strong industry support

Document types and DTDs

XML for legal documentsXML for legal documents

Meta-markup: many document typesDescriptive markup: elements are described according

to their meaning, not aspectStructure: legal documents are heavily structured, and

can easily be referred to according to their structuresDuration: legal documents are supposed to last for long

periods, longer than the average Web page.

XML for legal documentsXML for legal documents

Italian laws are composed ofA main headingA preamble (not always)A structure of articles and clauses, divided in “parte”,

“libro”, “titolo”, “capo”, “sezione”, “paragrafo”, then in “articolo”, then in “comma“ (actual law clauses). Each of them is numbered according to specific rules.

A conclusion (not always)Zero or more attachments

XML for legal documentsXML for legal documents<codice> <testata> <estremi id="l0001985022800047"> <tipodoc>LEGGE </tipodoc> <datadoc>28 febbraio 1985</datadoc>, <enumdoc>47</enumdoc> </estremi> <epigrafe> TITLE OF LAW </epigrafe> </testata> <articola> <capo id="l0001985022800047p00al00at00ac01a"> <canum><numelem>CAPO I</numelem></canum> <catitolo>TITLE OF HEADING I </catitolo> <articolo id="l0001985022800047ar0001a"> <grnumart><anum>1.</anum></grnumart> <rubrica>TITLE OF ARTICLE 1</rubrica> <comma id="l0001985022800047ar0001ac001a"> <corpo> BODY OF CLAUSE 1 OF ARTICLE 1 </corpo> </comma> <comma id="l0001985022800047ar0001ac002a"> <corpo> BODY OF CLAUSE 2 OF ARTICLE 1 </corpo> </comma> <comma id="l0001985022800047ar0001ac003a"> <corpo> BODY OF CLAUSE 1 OF ARTICLE 1 </corpo> </comma> </articolo> ... </capo> ... </articola></codice>

Referring to legal documentsReferring to legal documents

References are the moving blood of any working legal system.

Implicit vs explicit referencesModifications and referencesHuman and computer referencesSynonyms and identifiers

URLs, URNsURLs, URNsURLs: universal locators of resources

The specific method of access is explicithttp://www.cs.unibo.it/~fabio/laws/1985/0047#a11

http:// protocol for accesswww.cs.unibo.it/ domain name of web site~fabio/laws/1985/0047 local name of resourcea11 internal location within

resourceURNs: universal names of resources

The name is stable and reliable. It is converted to a URL when needed urn://nir/L198502280047#a11

XPathXPathA stable way to refer to locations within resources:

Specific internal namesSpecific nodes identified via tree navigationSpecific text chunks identified via absolute addresses

urn://nir/L198502280047#a11Element called “a11” within document

urn://nir/L198502280047#2/3/55th element within 3rd element within 2nd element of resource

urn://nir/L198502280047#xpointer(/doc/chapter[5]/section[2])

2nd section of 5th chapter of element doc within the resource

XLink (1)XLink (1)

A way to express sophisticated hypertext links (inter-document relationships)

Simple links: point-to-point, local, directional, embedded

Extended inline links: point-to-point, local, multidirectional, embedded links

Extended out-of-line links: point-to-point, remote, multidirectional, external links

XLink (2)XLink (2)

<extlink xl:type=“extended” xl:role=“extlink” xl:title=“prova”> <ruolo xl:type=“arc” xl:from=“one” xl:to=“two”/> <ruolo xl:type=“arc” xl:from=“one” xl:to=“three”/> <local xl:type=“resource” xl:role=“one”> Click here </local> <url xl:type=“locator” xl:role=“two”xl:href=“http://www.sitetwo.com/”/>l:type=“locator” xl:role=“three”xl:href=“http://www.sitothree.com/”/></extlink>

<ruolo xl:type=“arc” xl:from=“one” xl:to=“two”/> <ruolo xl:type=“arc” xl:from=“one” xl:to=“three”/>

<local xl:type=“resource” xl:role=“one”> Click here </local> <url xl:type=“locator” xl:role=“two” xl:href=“http://www.sitetwo.com/”/> <url xl:type=“locator” xl:role=“three” xl:href=“http://www.sitothree.com/”/>

URNs and XLink for legal documentsURNs and XLink for legal documents

Support for absolute referencesRegardless of modifications

Support for specific referencesModifications are specific and local

Support for automatic conversion between human, traditional references and computer, Web-based references

“See clause 3 of article 5 of law 47 of 1985urn://nir/L198502280047#xpointer(/art/articolo[5]/comma[3])

Presenting legal documents

Presenting legal documents

Legal documents must be transformed in order to be read by humans and to be used.

Printed and on-line versionsInclusions and quotations in other legal documentsSummaries and comments by researchers(semi-)automatic generation of modified texts

CSSCSSCascading Style Sheet (CSS) adds rendering semantics to existing XML documents. Used to specify that a text node is a block element, or an inline element, and what appearance attributes to give it. comma { element-type: block;

font-size: 100%; text-align: left; margin-right: 5px; margin-left: 5px; color: #0000FF

}

XSLT and XSLXSLT and XSLExtensible Stylesheet Language Transformation (XSLT) transforms an XML element with structural semantics into another XML document with rendering (or other) semantics. Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) is a set of elements with specific rendering semantics. Fo:block is a paragraph, while fo:inline is an inline elementXSLT transforms any XML document into either an XSL or an HTML document. We can use to specify that an element in the source XML document is a fo:block element or a <P> element

XSLT - an exampleXSLT - an example<xsl:template match=”articolo"> <HR/> <H2> <xsl:value-of select=”grnumart"/> - <xsl:value-of select=”rubrica"/> </H2> <xsl:apply-templates /> </xsl:template>

Each element in the source element is matched with the best fitting template, and the output is written in the destination document.

Two case studiesTwo case studies

There are several experiences in Italy on using XML for the law. Two will be examined:

Zanichelli publisherNorme in rete

(http://www.normeinrete.it/)

ZanichelliZanichelli

A project born in 1996 using SGML instead of XML (but with XML in mind for evolution)

An SGML DTD for laws and normative documents of all kinds

An SGML database with the whole civil and criminal code, and some 400 additional laws and normative documents

A converter for the selection of the laws for printA converter for the selection of laws for a CD

http://www.normeinrete.it/http://www.normeinrete.it/

A project born in 2000 from a joint initiative of Italian Senate, Chamber and the Prime Minister’s office.

A working group identifying the best XML tools for legal drafting and verification

A working group delivering a DTD to constrain and shape future laws

A working group delivering URNs for all present and past normative documents.

A working group delivering meta-information sets for Italian laws and other official documents.

ConclusionsConclusions

Representing legal documents with computersUseful for quotations, references, access, evolutionRequires sophisticated languages more than toolsURNs and XPaths for correct referencesXML for correct structuring XSLT for transformation into usable documents.

References (1)References (1)Case studies

Norme in rete: http://www.normeinrete.it/ Zanichelli: http://www.zanichelli.it/

XML J. Bosak, XML, Java, and the future of the Web,

http://metalab.unc.edu/pub/sun-info/standards/xml/why/xmlapps.htm T. Bray, J. Paoli, C.M. Sperberg-McQueen, Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0,

W3C Recommendation, 10 February 1998, http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-xml

T. Bray, The annotated XML Specification,1998, http://www.xml.com/axml/testaxml.htm

References (2)References (2) XSLT

James Clark, XSL Transformations (XSLT) Version 1.0, W3C Recommendation 16 November 1999, http://www.w3.org/TR/xslt

E.R. Harold, XSL Transformations (XSLT), capitolo 14 del libro XML Bible, disponibile in rete: http://metalab.unc.edu/xml/books/bible/updates/14.html

James Clark, XSLT in Perspective, http://www.jclark.com/xml/xslt-talk.htm

XPointer e XLink S. DeRose, E. Maler, D. Orchard, B. Trafford, XML Linking Language (XLink),

W3C Working Draft , 21 February 2000, http://www.w3.org/TR/xlink/

J. Clark, S. DeRose, XML Path Language (XPath), Version 1.0, W3C Recommendation 16 November 1999, http://www.w3.org/TR/xpath

S. DeRose, R. Daniel Jr., E. Maler, XML Pointer Language (XPointer), W3C Working Draft 6 December 1999, http://www.w3.org/TR/xptr