How to create an international encyclopaedia of case law
Would it be possible to create an international encyclopaedia of case law?Legal practitioners are often required to consult case law from other jurisdictions. The development of the internet means that it should now be possible to create an international publication with short reports on all written judgments - an international encyclopaedia of case law. Since 2011, this author has developed an online publication entitled Stare Decisis Hibernia, which has summarised and categorised over 7,000 written judgments of the Irish superior courts. A model and template have been developed that could be scaled up to an international level - to include both national courts and supra-national courts such as the Court of Justice of the European Union.
There would be challenges involved in making such an encyclopaedia international, in that some types of case are more common in some court systems than others, and some cases are significantly more technical than others. However, most cases can be categorised and explained with reference to the rights that the parties are seeking to vindicate.
The cost of preparing an entry for every written judgment would not be unduly burdensome, compared with the cost of the court system. If the encyclopaedia were to be available free of charge, it would need funding from the government, the court system or the legal profession. If such funding were not available, it could be funded by subscription - which is the model adopted by Stare Decisis Hibernia - at quite an affordable level for legal practitioners and students alike.
Further challenges would arise if the encyclopaedia were to be available in more than one language. It would be extremely expensive for example to translate each entry into every language of the European Union. However, selective translation would be a practical option with benefits to many users, and it could be funded by relevant international organisations.
In summary, an international encyclopaedia of case law would be of benefit to the legal profession worldwide. It could be prepared at a reasonable cost, following a model similar to that of Stare Decisis Hibernia. It could be funded by states, the legal profession or by subscription. It could be made available in more than one language. The only obstacle is the will to do it.
Related Session:
October 12th, 2018
Session VI.B. Experiences in Accessing the Law Across the Globe
14:45-17:15
Sala Strozzi of Natural History Museum of the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Florence