The Gazette 1981

APRIL 1981

GAZETTE

Legal Information Retrieval

out subscriptions. A development which could be of considerable interest is one which has commenced on an experimental basis in Belfast, under the aegis of the U.K. National Law Library, known as a "mid-user" scheme. In essence, a number of subscribers would share a single subscription and have access to a centrally located com- puter terminal and would pay for their individual use of the terminal. If, as appears to be a likely outcome of the present enquiries, it appears that the most economical way to establish an Irish Legal Data Base would be as an appendage to a U.K. Data Base, a "mid-user" system might well have considerable attractions. There is one step which should be taken urgently, in order to ensure that the cost of establishing an Irish legal data base does not continue to increase unnecessarily and that is that the drafting and printing of our legislation, from its inception, should be prepared in a computer — compatible form, so that it may ultimately be fed directly into a computer and not have to be laboriously retyped. The necessary technology has been in existence for some time, but the Stationery Office does not as yet appear to have taken the necessary decision to utilise this technology. The Software Dilemma — A Solution Ahead? The increasing complexity of the office technology is in inverse proportion to the ability of the consumer to evaluate it. Independent consultants are few and far between. The speed of development of the technology renders the printed commentary obsolete soon after its publication. These are some of the factors which render the choice of the new technology so difficult. Unlike most of our major purchases, it is not just the physical equipment (the hardware) that has to be carefully assessed. Indeed, apart from the usual concern about service, the choice of hard- ware is unlikely to give rise to many problems. It is the software which gives most cause for concern. For most consumers, the cost of having a special programme written to meet their needs would be pro- hibitive. The hardware manufacturers will have programmes to suit the hardware, but not necessarily to suit each customer's specific needs. Programmes de- signed for use in Britain may not be appropriate for Irish use. If the programme is not suitable, it may be very expensive to alter it. A special Law Society sub-committee is exploring two possibilities 1. the commissioning of a special software programme for Solicitors accounts which would meet the needs of all but the largest offices and would be usable on all but the cheapest machines on the Irish market, and 2. the adaptation of a programme now used by British Solicitors to Irish requirements. It is hoped that the Committee's recommendations will be available in time for the computer seminar. • 101

Advertisements for Legal Information Retrieval Systems abound — We are already urged to subscribe to Lexis or Eurolex, while we are aware of proposals to establish a National Law Library in the U.K. But what is it all about? Do we really need to join? What about Irish Law? Should we be doing something about it? The answers to some of the questions are easily given; others are still awaited, but should not be too far off. The functioning of a Legal Information Retrieval System depends on the establishment of a legal data base, ideally including all statute law and case law in that jurisdiction and, most important perhaps from the Solicitors' point of view, including what are known as "secondary materials," such as textbooks, articles from legal journals and sets of precedents. The present trend is to include every word of the case law in the data base — projects which have restricted themselves to headnotes appear to be less favoured. Establishing a legal data base by putting all this material into the memory of a computer is a massive task, even for a small jurisdiction, and it is interesting to note that the world's most substantial data base, Lexis, was established, not by a legal publishing house, but by a com- puter firm Mead Data Systems. Their Lexis System started by establishing a data base of U.S. Federal Law and was targeted to include all U.S. State Case Law by 1981. To this has now been added U.K. Statute Law, the All England Reports and the Weekly Law Reports. Its principal competitor, Eurolex, a subsidiary of the Thompson Publishing Group, has concentrated on material originating in the E.E.C., but has expanded to include some U.K. Reports, including the Weekly Law Reports and, more interestingly, some secondary materials. From the consumer's point of view, the significant difference between the two systems, apart from their different data bases, is that Lexis is a "dedicated" system — which means that the computer terminal used to access the information can only be used for that pat- ticular purpose. Eurolex is an "integrated" system — which means that the same computer terminal may be used for accessing a firm's accounts, records or word processing, as well as for accessing the Eurolex Data Base. The problem of establishing an Irish legal data base is an unusual one. It is apparently not possible to separate either Irish Statute Law or Irish Case Law from U.K. Statute Law and Case Law; for this reason, the establish- ment of a complete Irish legal data base would involve the inclusion of a substantial amount of U.K. material. It seems clear that duplication of this nature would be foolish and studies are now in progress with a view to ascertaining how best an Irish legal data base can be es- tablished. The study is being carried out by the Depart- ment of Library and Information Services and the Com- puter Department of University College, Dublin. While the subscription charges and charges for using cither Lexis or Eurolex are not unreasonable, it must be doubtful if many Irish legal firms would consider taking