COMPARATIVE LAW AND THE INTERNET Normann Witzleb, Dieter Martiny, Ulrich Thoelke and Tim Frericks European University Viadrina, Frankfurt(Oder (updated August 2002) Readers are reminded that this work is protected by copyright. While they are free to use the ideas expressed in it, they may not copy, distribute or publish the work or part of it, in any form, printed, electronic or otherwise, except for reasonable quoting, clearly indicating the source. Readers are permitted to make copies, electronically or printed, for personal and classroom use. Contents 1. Introduction 2. Legal information on the Internet 2. Reference material 2.2CO 2. 1 Primary sources 2.2.2 Secondary sources 3. Specific usefulness of the Internet for comparative lawyers 3.1 Accessibility 3.2 Searchability 3.3 Authenticity 3. 4 Up-to-dateness 4. How to search legal material on the Internet 4. I Search engines 4.2 Legal indices 5. The virtuelle Rechtsvergleicher' 5. 1 Concept 5.2 Structure 5.3 5.3.1 Legal fields 5.3. 2 The countries 5. 4 The categories 6. Concluding remarks Notes
COMPARATIVE LAW AND THE INTERNET Normann Witzleb, Dieter Martiny, Ulrich Thoelke and Tim Frericks European University Viadrina, Frankfurt (Oder) (updated August 2002) Readers are reminded that this work is protected by copyright. While they are free to use the ideas expressed in it, they may not copy, distribute or publish the work or part of it, in any form, printed, electronic or otherwise, except for reasonable quoting, clearly indicating the source. Readers are permitted to make copies, electronically or printed, for personal and classroom use. Contents 1. Introduction 2. Legal information on the Internet 2.1 Reference material 2.2 Content material 2.2.1 Primary sources 2.2.2 Secondary sources 3. Specific usefulness of the Internet for comparative lawyers 3.1 Accessibility 3.2 Searchability 3.3 Authenticity 3.4 Up-to-dateness 4. How to search legal material on the Internet 4.1 Search engines 4.2 Legal indices 5. The 'virtuelle Rechtsvergleicher' 5.1 Concept 5.2 Structure 5.3 Scope 5.3.1 Legal fields 5.3.2 The countries 5.4 The categories 6. Concluding remarks Notes
1. introduction For their daily work, researchers working in a comparative or international context need a mixture of different types of information, islation, courts and case law, but also on lawyers, studying aw and literature. Research in specialised foreign law libraries or the country itself is, however, rarely a possibility, especially when the question arises ad hoc. Lack of access to foreign legal material and data has therefore, in the past, been a ma jor hindrance to comprehensive and up-to-date research. Modern information technologies help to overcome these problems and eliminate the difference in time and space; theoretically, they give everyone access to the know ledge of the whole world. It is, therefore, of great interest to use these new means for comparative research. This article undertakes to give a survey of material on private law in Europe currently available on the Internet", including some reflections on the usefulness of the Internet in its present state and functionality for the comparative lawyer. On a more practical level, this article also aims to portray and introduce the virtuelle rechtsvergleicher', a research tool designed to accommodate the specific needs of comparative lawyers and to allow structured and easy access to the most informative legal sites in this field 2. Legal information on the internet Considering the vast amount of legal information available on the Internet and the nearly unlimited variety in quality and character, it is hard to find reasonable criteria to structure it. The most useful categorisation seems to be to distinguish between (1.) reference material, i.e. sites that allow research on whether certain documents exist, where they were published and/or how they can be obtained on paper, and(2)content terial, i.e. sources which give direct access to electronic full-text versions of documents 2. 1 Reference material The Internet has become a very dependab available printed material and a convenient aid in establishing a bibliography on a research topic. It is possible to find almost any information on books and legal journals on the net. Most European national
1. Introduction For their daily work, researchers working in a comparative or international context need a mixture of different types of information, mainly on legislation, courts and case law, but also on lawyers, studying law and legal literature. Research in specialised foreign law libraries or the country itself is, however, rarely a possibility, especially when the question arises ad hoc. Lack of access to foreign legal material and data has therefore, in the past, been a major hindrance to comprehensive and up-to-date research. Modern information technologies help to overcome these problems and eliminate the difference in time and space; theoretically, they give everyone access to the knowledge of the whole world. It is, therefore, of great interest to use these new means for comparative research. This article undertakes to give a survey of material on private law in Europe currently available on the Internet(1), including some reflections on the usefulness of the Internet in its present state and functionality for the comparative lawyer. On a more practical level, this article also aims to portray and introduce the 'virtuelle Rechtsvergleicher', a research tool designed to accommodate the specific needs of comparative lawyers and to allow structured and easy access to the most informative legal sites in this field. 2. Legal information on the Internet Considering the vast amount of legal information available on the Internet and the nearly unlimited variety in quality and character, it is hard to find reasonable criteria to structure it. The most useful categorisation seems to be to distinguish between (1.) reference material, i.e. sites that allow research on whether certain documents exist, where they were published and/or how they can be obtained on paper, and (2.) content material, i.e. sources which give direct access to electronic full-text versions of documents. 2.1 Reference material The Internet has become a very dependable source of information about available printed material and a convenient aid in establishing a bibliography on a research topic. It is possible to find almost any information on books and legal journals on the net. Most European national
libraries (which are linked by the gateway Gabriel)and academic libraries provide WWW access to their catalogues allowing searches by formal criteria such as title, author, year of publication as well as search by keywords. The catalogues of library networks (or meta-catalogues such as the German Karlsruher Virtuelle Katalog a)allow simul taneous research in all participating libraries. The publishers or Internet bookshops catalogues as well as indices such as the Verzeichnis lieferbarer Buecher (index of available books in the German language) are useful tools to remain up-to-date on the latest publications that may not yet be shelved in the libraries. The increasing importance of the Internet also means that it has become hard to find a government department, law faculty, research institute or pressure group without some sort of Internet presence. Even though the amount of information given varies considerably, all home pages contain some form of function or mission statement and facilitate contacts for further information. It has therefore become much easier to get a picture of who is working on what, who to ask for background information and how to obtain certain material. Also, for organisers of conferences it has become common to provide dates and details of the proceedings, sometimes n abstracts of the presentations t the I 2.2 Content material 2.2.1 Primary sources Most European countries now publish new legislation to some extent on the Internet. While parliamentary statutes the most important source of law are usually published through their parliamentary servers or through full-text online legal gazettes, the practice as to secondary legislation differs widely. Some countries do not officially publish any secondary legislation, while others offer extensive access either alongside the published statutes or on the government or departmental servers. In many countries, legislation enacted prior to the establishment of online access is not published in full text on the Internet, but can sometimes be traced by title and source. Occasionally, these gaps are filled by private enterprise (e. g, from 1949 onwards, the Bundesgesetzblatt- has been published as a facsimile version of the printed original). Apart from the statutes themselves, parliamentary servers also often provide important information on the legislative process, such as transcripts of parliamentary debates, committee reports or up-to-date information on the current state of legislative proposals
libraries (which are linked by the gateway Gabriel(2)) and academic libraries provide WWW access to their catalogues allowing searches by formal criteria such as title, author, year of publication as well as search by keywords. The catalogues of library networks (or meta-catalogues such as the German Karlsruher Virtuelle Katalog(3)) allow simultaneous research in all participating libraries. The publishers' or Internet bookshops' catalogues as well as indices such as the Verzeichnis lieferbarer Buecher(4) (index of available books in the German language) are useful tools to remain up-to-date on the latest publications that may not yet be shelved in the libraries. The increasing importance of the Internet also means that it has become hard to find a government department, law faculty, research institute or pressure group without some sort of Internet presence. Even though the amount of information given varies considerably, all home pages contain some form of function or mission statement and facilitate contacts for further information. It has therefore become much easier to get a picture of who is working on what, who to ask for background information and how to obtain certain material. Also, for organisers of conferences it has become common to provide dates and details of the proceedings, sometimes even abstracts of the presentations to a wider public on the Internet. 2.2 Content material 2.2.1 Primary sources Most European countries now publish new legislation to some extent on the Internet. While parliamentary statutes - the most important source of law - are usually published through their parliamentary servers or through full-text online legal gazettes, the practice as to secondary legislation differs widely. Some countries do not officially publish any secondary legislation, while others offer extensive access either alongside the published statutes or on the government or departmental servers. In many countries, legislation enacted prior to the establishment of online access is not published in full text on the Internet, but can sometimes be traced by title and source. Occasionally, these gaps are filled by private enterprise (e.g., from 1949 onwards, the Bundesgesetzblatt(5) has been published as a facsimile version of the printed original). Apart from the statutes themselves, parliamentary servers also often provide important information on the legislative process, such as transcripts of parliamentary debates, committee reports or up-to-date information on the current state of legislative proposals
Compilations of legislation and consolidated legislation are more likel to be found from non-authoritative sources only. Apart from commercial databanks, it is often research institutes or non-governmental organisations that provide this service. An important multi-jurisdictional resource on legislation is, e.g., the former U. S House of Representatives Internet law library (now hosted by a number of organisations such as LawGuru ) a further resource is the International Constitutional Law (icl) databank hosted by the University of Wuerzburg, which collates the texts of the constitutions and related information on a large number of countries. The presence of courts on the Internet has also rapidly increased in recent years. Most constitutional courts and supreme courts have their own home page. Whether they contain more than general information on the court and its function depends on the country and the importance of judicial decisions in its legal system. In common-law systems, in particular in the USA and Australia, comprehensive and well-structured access has become a matter of course. As with legislation, lacunae in official publication-especially with older decisions are often filled by private databanks, with scope, speed, search options and method of access depending on the provider. Decisions in specialised legal fields can also be found via universities, law firms or organisations within the field concerned 2. 2. 2 Secondary sources The Internet is also of increasing importance as a mode of publication for legal literature of interest to academics. However, the majority of stablished legal journals to date present only their content pages online, while some others offer at least selected articles in full text as a foretaste of their printed edition. Most online literature can therefore be found in new journals that are- like the ejcl- published exclusively as electronic journals. The speed and force with which the publishing world changes under the influence of modern media have led to a further increase in the number of law journals, particularly at university level. While they can usually be found in lists of journals, it is even harder to keep track or get hold of the mushrooming non-refereed law journals and in-house magazines of legal firms and organisations. They frequently report or comment on recent court decisions or review areas of law with special reference to the needs of the practitioner and thus do not only serve as a forum for communicating with (prospective) clients but also help to keep those interested informed about the latest developments in certain legal fields
Compilations of legislation and consolidated legislation are more likely to be found from non-authoritative sources only. Apart from commercial databanks, it is often research institutes or non-governmental organisations that provide this service. An important multi-jurisdictional resource on legislation is, e.g., the former U.S. House of Representatives Internet law library(6) (now hosted by a number of organisations such as LawGuru(7)); a further resource is the International Constitutional Law (ICL)(8) databank hosted by the University of Wuerzburg, which collates the texts of the constitutions and related information on a large number of countries. The presence of courts on the Internet has also rapidly increased in recent years. Most constitutional courts and supreme courts have their own home page. Whether they contain more than general information on the court and its function depends on the country and the importance of judicial decisions in its legal system. In common-law systems, in particular in the USA and Australia, comprehensive and well-structured access has become a matter of course. As with legislation, lacunae in official publication - especially with older decisions - are often filled by private databanks, with scope, speed, search options and method of access depending on the provider. Decisions in specialised legal fields can also be found via universities, law firms or organisations within the field concerned. 2.2.2 Secondary sources The Internet is also of increasing importance as a mode of publication for legal literature of interest to academics. However, the majority of established legal journals to date present only their content pages online, while some others offer at least selected articles in full text as a foretaste of their printed edition. Most online literature can therefore be found in new journals that are - like the EJCL(9) - published exclusively as electronic journals. The speed and force with which the publishing world changes under the influence of modern media have led to a further increase in the number of law journals, particularly at university level. While they can usually be found in lists of journals, it is even harder to keep track or get hold of the mushrooming non-refereed law journals and in-house magazines of legal firms and organisations. They frequently report or comment on recent court decisions or review areas of law with special reference to the needs of the practitioner and thus do not only serve as a forum for communicating with (prospective) clients but also help to keep those interested informed about the latest developments in certain legal fields
The publication of textbooks solely on the Internet is still rare, and will probably remain so for the foreseeable future. This is probably not only for reasons of commerce and prestige, but also due to the inconvenience of having to down load and read or print vast amounts of text. There are, however, laudable exceptions like the Zivilrecht online Lehrbuch fuer Oesterreichisches Buergerliches Recht(Textbook on Austrian Civil Law) by Professor Heinz Barta from Innsbruck, which is advertised as the first student textbook on the Internet. Also growing number of academic teachers use the Internet as a teaching aid. Offers range from interactive learning tools to a simple presentation of lecture notes, exam papers and diagrams to the students and to interested lawyers outside the university. These are, of course, primarily designed to fit university law courses but -depending on their depth and quality sometimes allow more than a first overview of a certain field or problem. A good example of the latter are Professor Werlauff s publications on various subjects of Danish business law- In general, the publication of secondary material is still developing. At present, it is usually still difficult to predict whether the chand of coming across relevant and useful material will warrant the time spent perusing the net. In particular,' soft' material not directed at the legal academic but at a wider public can often only be traced by using search engines. For this kind of background information, it can be worthwhile checking out the home pages of special agencies, lobby groups professional organisations or other entities that have an interest in disseminating relevant information The extent of publication of legal material depends heavily on the field of law in question. However, there is an interaction between publishers and readers' expectations in this respect: One is more likely to find worthwhile material in areas of law which are anticipated to be searched on the net. For this reason, publications concerning Internet or Information Technology and the Law are naturally among the most readily encountered on the Internet. Less inflationary but still likely to be found is material on transnational aspects of law, especially international commercial, tax or intellectual property law. And in all fields of law, obviously the most recent developments are the most likely to be covered by Internet publications Apart from strictly legal material, the WWw also contains numerous other sites which help to make the work of comparative lawyers simpler and more convenient. Examples of useful tools are (general or legal)dictionaries such as Eurodicautom", a translation engine ma terminology(twelve languages), and directories of legal professionals
The publication of textbooks solely on the Internet is still rare, and will probably remain so for the foreseeable future. This is probably not only for reasons of commerce and prestige, but also due to the inconvenience of having to download and read or print vast amounts of text. There are, however, laudable exceptions like the Zivilrecht online - Lehrbuch fuer Oesterreichisches Buergerliches Recht (Textbook on Austrian Civil Law) by Professor Heinz Barta from Innsbruck, which is advertised as the first student textbook on the Internet(10). Also, a growing number of academic teachers use the Internet as a teaching aid. Offers range from interactive learning tools to a simple presentation of lecture notes, exam papers and diagrams to the students and to interested lawyers outside the university. These are, of course, primarily designed to fit university law courses but - depending on their depth and quality - sometimes allow more than a first overview of a certain field or problem. A good example of the latter are Professor Werlauff's publications on various subjects of Danish business law(11) . In general, the publication of secondary material is still developing. At present, it is usually still difficult to predict whether the chance of coming across relevant and useful material will warrant the time spent perusing the net. In particular, 'soft' material not directed at the legal academic but at a wider public can often only be traced by using search engines. For this kind of background information, it can be worthwhile checking out the home pages of special agencies, lobby groups, professional organisations or other entities that have an interest in disseminating relevant information. The extent of publication of legal material depends heavily on the field of law in question. However, there is an interaction between publishers' and readers' expectations in this respect: One is more likely to find worthwhile material in areas of law which are anticipated to be searched on the net. For this reason, publications concerning Internet or Information Technology and the Law are naturally among the most readily encountered on the Internet. Less inflationary but still likely to be found is material on transnational aspects of law, especially international commercial, tax or intellectual property law. And in all fields of law, obviously the most recent developments are the most likely to be covered by Internet publications. Apart from strictly legal material, the WWW also contains numerous other sites which help to make the work of comparative lawyers simpler and more convenient. Examples of useful tools are (general or legal) dictionaries such as Eurodicautom(12), a translation engine mainly for European Union terminology (twelve languages), and directories of legal professionals
worldwide. Statistical background information on foreign jurisdictions can also be obtained from national departments of statistics, which now publish some of their findings through the Internet. 3. Specific usefulness of the internet for comparative lawyers 3. 1 Accessibility The increasing availability of legal information on the WWW has facilitated legal research enormously. Research of foreign legal material is no longer dependent on travel, not bound to opening times and is generally free of charge. (For those not fortunate enough to get free access with a university server connection, telephone costs are still an issue, though. There is a tendency, however, for initially free databanks to turn fee-based when their offers have become large enough and established in the user community. The first step is often research in the catalogues of foreign libraries to get an overview of the literature available. Most university law libraries now allow guest access to their catalogues. The English library network COPAC(3) the German Suedwestdeutscher Bibliotheksverbund 4) (which includes the library of the Max-Planck Institute for Foreign Private and Private International Law in Hamburg), or the U. S. Library ot Congress (ao have become convenient points of entry for research on iterature in foreign legal systems. The catalogues increasingly employ uniform surfaces, thereby making research more user-friendly than former file-card, microfiche or other systems which were often idiosyncratic and mysterious to outside users. While reference research still is one of the ma jor strengths of Internet legal research, content material is of ever increasing importance Getting the full text of a document from the Internet is most convenient for comparative work. Most Western countries and many of the new democracies in Central and Eastern Europe now provide primary sources on the Internet. Foreign parliamentary sites can be especially useful because they often feature a databank for parliamentary material such as official documents and/or parliamentary debates. This material, formerly virtually inaccessible from outside the country concerned, can now easily be retrieved and searched More convenient and comprehensive research of what printed legal material there is and where it can be found. and direct online access to the material
worldwide. Statistical background information on foreign jurisdictions can also be obtained from national departments of statistics, which now publish some of their findings through the Internet. 3. Specific usefulness of the Internet for comparative lawyers 3.1 Accessibility The increasing availability of legal information on the WWW has facilitated legal research enormously. Research of foreign legal material is no longer dependent on travel, not bound to opening times and is generally free of charge. (For those not fortunate enough to get free access with a university server connection, telephone costs are still an issue, though.) There is a tendency, however, for initially free databanks to turn fee-based when their offers have become large enough and established in the user community. The first step is often research in the catalogues of foreign libraries to get an overview of the literature available. Most university law libraries now allow guest access to their catalogues. The English library network COPAC(13), the German Suedwestdeutscher Bibliotheksverbund(14) (which includes the library of the Max-Planck Institute for Foreign Private and Private International Law in Hamburg(15)), or the U.S. Library of Congress(16) have become convenient points of entry for research on literature in foreign legal systems. The catalogues increasingly employ uniform surfaces, thereby making research more user-friendly than former file-card, microfiche or other systems which were often idiosyncratic and mysterious to outside users. While reference research still is one of the major strengths of Internet legal research, content material is of ever increasing importance. Getting the full text of a document from the Internet is most convenient for comparative work. Most Western countries and many of the new democracies in Central and Eastern Europe now provide primary sources on the Internet. Foreign parliamentary sites(17) can be especially useful because they often feature a databank for parliamentary material such as official documents and/or parliamentary debates. This material, formerly virtually inaccessible from outside the country concerned, can now easily be retrieved and searched. More convenient and comprehensive research of what printed legal material there is and where it can be found, and direct online access to the material
itself are not the only aspects of increased accessibility. Many associations, organisations and individuals use their home pages to raise awareness of their functions and to promote their goals. Accessibility by e-mail allows quick contact and enables the researcher to obtain first-hand information on the latest developments or to verify the accuracy of information found elsewhere. The Internet also helps to bring down language barriers. With English being the language of the web community, there has been a considerabl increase in English-language publications. Particularly for research in the smaller countries, language does not pose the barriers it used to pose since these states have -to varying degrees -opened up and are publishing more information in English, sometimes including special introductions into their legal systems or state structure. 3.2 Searchability Searchability is a major feature of most computer-assisted tools for lega research. Apart from search engines that allow general web searches or searches of legal servers, the internal search options of databanks and other major sites help to locate relevant material. But the success of rd ch depends as much on the quality of the tool as it does on putting the query into meaningful and specific keywords Keyword search can be employed for academic literature, for researching case law as well as foreign legislation. For instance, the U. S. Library of Congress s Thomas server allows bill-tracking by topic, bill number or title. In the U.K., all Acts of Parliament(from 1996)s and all Statutory Instruments(from 1997)20 are not only available full-text,but are also searchable 3.3 Authenticity It does not require more than space on a servers hard drive and some knowledge of the relevant software to publish documents on the Internet. On the one hand, this ease of publishing means that the public can now benefit from material that formerly, due to cost or other reasons, usually were not published. On the other hand, the decentralised and uncontrolled character of the WWW means that there are also no limits to or checks on who publishes and what is published. In the pioneering days of the www, a great deal of information was provided by enthusiastic lay people who saw the possibility of open access to legal
itself are not the only aspects of increased accessibility. Many associations, organisations and individuals use their home pages to raise awareness of their functions and to promote their goals. Accessibility by e-mail allows quick contact and enables the researcher to obtain first-hand information on the latest developments or to verify the accuracy of information found elsewhere. The Internet also helps to bring down language barriers. With English being the language of the web community, there has been a considerable increase in English-language publications. Particularly for research in the smaller countries, language does not pose the barriers it used to pose since these states have - to varying degrees - opened up and are publishing more information in English, sometimes including special introductions into their legal systems or state structure. 3.2 Searchability Searchability is a major feature of most computer-assisted tools for legal research. Apart from search engines that allow general web searches or searches of legal servers, the internal search options of databanks and other major sites help to locate relevant material. But the success of a keyword search depends as much on the scope and quality of the search tool as it does on putting the query into meaningful and specific keywords. Keyword search can be employed for academic literature, for researching case law as well as foreign legislation. For instance, the U.S. Library of Congress's Thomas(18) server allows bill-tracking by topic, bill number or title. In the U.K., all Acts of Parliament (from 1996)(19) and all Statutory Instruments (from 1997)(20) are not only available full-text, but are also searchable. 3.3 Authenticity It does not require more than space on a server's hard drive and some knowledge of the relevant software to publish documents on the Internet. On the one hand, this ease of publishing means that the public can now benefit from material that formerly, due to cost or other reasons, usually were not published. On the other hand, the decentralised and uncontrolled character of the WWW means that there are also no limits to or checks on who publishes and what is published. In the pioneering days of the WWW, a great deal of information was provided by enthusiastic lay people who saw the possibility of open access to legal
material. However, even though the information was often put online with the best intentions, the user was often left without means to evaluate the reliability of the material offered. Inaccuracies were possible when the electronic data were transcriptions of an originally printed source. The ubiquitous use of disclaimers for accuracy of the material published was therefore understandable This has changed considerably. Documents are now increasingly being published by the authors themselves: Legislation can be drawn directly from parliamentary or governmental sites, case reports are published by the courts, suggestions and reports for law reform by the proposing body, minutes and memoranda by the organisers of conferences and meetings. This authenticity ensures a very high degree of accuracy. For this reason, it is now increasingly acceptable to cite from an electronic source (notwiths tanding the specific problems of how to cite a web document correctly). The electronic nature of the publication does, however, have another important drawback for academic research: Data can be removed from the Web just as easily as they have been put onto it, they can be altered or they can be moved to a new location It is, therefore, by no means certain that material once found can be retrieved and /or checked at a later date. For research, this means that it is essential not only to bookmark an interesting site but often advisable to download or print relevant material before it is taken off the Web again 3.4 Up-to-dateness Printed information -except for newspapers-is often outdated especially hen comparative work is concerned with ongoing deve lopments and reform processes. The convenience of Internet publishing has, however, also made publications more timely and up to date. The time-span between writing and accessing material has theoretically diminished to minutes compared to the months that used to pass from giving a draft to the publisher, the printing process and, especially when foreign publishers were involved, delivering the printed material abroad. This applies as much to legislative information on parliamentary sites as to court reporting. The House of Lords, e.g., prides itself in publishing a judgment online usually within two hours of delivery. With perishable data, it is important that data are accurate not only at the time when it is posted onto the net, but also at the time when it is accessed. As one is aware of the fact that many users rely on the correctness of the material published, most official sites are constantly being updated. The date of the most recent publication or update can
material. However, even though the information was often put online with the best intentions, the user was often left without means to evaluate the reliability of the material offered. Inaccuracies were possible when the electronic data were transcriptions of an originally printed source. The ubiquitous use of disclaimers for accuracy of the material published was therefore understandable. This has changed considerably. Documents are now increasingly being published by the authors themselves: Legislation can be drawn directly from parliamentary or governmental sites, case reports are published by the courts, suggestions and reports for law reform by the proposing body, minutes and memoranda by the organisers of conferences and meetings. This authenticity ensures a very high degree of accuracy. For this reason, it is now increasingly acceptable to cite from an electronic source (notwithstanding the specific problems of how to cite(21) a web document correctly). The electronic nature of the publication does, however, have another important drawback for academic research: Data can be removed from the Web just as easily as they have been put onto it, they can be altered or they can be moved to a new location. It is, therefore, by no means certain that material once found can be retrieved and/or checked at a later date. For research, this means that it is essential not only to bookmark an interesting site but often advisable to download or print relevant material before it is taken off the Web again. 3.4 Up-to-dateness Printed information - except for newspapers - is often outdated especially when comparative work is concerned with ongoing developments and reform processes. The convenience of Internet publishing has, however, also made publications more timely and up to date. The time-span between writing and accessing material has theoretically diminished to minutes compared to the months that used to pass from giving a draft to the publisher, the printing process and, especially when foreign publishers were involved, delivering the printed material abroad. This applies as much to legislative information on parliamentary sites as to court reporting. The House of Lords(22) , e.g., prides itself in publishing a judgment online usually within two hours of delivery. With 'perishable' data, it is important that data are accurate not only at the time when it is posted onto the net, but also at the time when it is accessed. As one is aware of the fact that many users rely on the correctness of the material published, most official sites are constantly being updated. The date of the most recent publication or update can
dicate whether the site really is regularly checked and maintained- Apart from that, the accuracy of material can now more easily be verified through e-mail correspondence, fax or telephone directly with the publishe 4. How to search legal material on the internet The golden rule in comparative law- just behave as the natives do-applies equally to research on the Internet. If the research is not to be left to pure chance, one has to know in advance where one could be successful. This requires at least a certain familiarity with the information structure within the foreign system. For simple research, it generally does not make sense to become a customer of a commercial service such as WESTLAW, LEXIS, JURIS or CELEX. Therefore, the knowledge of how to use freely available sites is crucial 4. 1 Search engines Just as for general research on the Internet, search engines allow one to scan the Internet for relevant information on law. Large search engines such as altavista or Hotbot use small programs called robots or bots which crawl ceaselessly through the Www. Search engines create a file of every page they visit and, in this way, compile huge databanks with keywords. Despite their enormous size and capacity, even the most powerful engines register only about 16 to 20% of all WWW-pages(of approximately more than 800, 000, 000 today). Depending on the preciseness of the searchers keywords, the result of the search can either lead to accurate and comprehensive references of the available material or a jumbled list of irrelevant links. To gain an idea of how to use general search engines there are useful manuals such as How to Search the wWW: A Tutorial for Beginners and Non-Experts 2m Legal search engines enable the user to limit the search to some or all legal servers and, therefore, the searches are likely to result in more relevant references. FindLaw's Law Crawler (28) or the LawRunner global Index, a feature of the Internet Legal Resource Guide, are examples of multi-national legal search engines, while Der Fahnder- allows searches on German legal servers onl 4.2 Legal indices
indicate whether the site really is regularly checked and maintained(23) . Apart from that, the accuracy of material can now more easily be verified through e-mail correspondence, fax or telephone directly with the publishers. 4. How to search legal material on the Internet The golden rule in comparative law - just behave as the natives do - applies equally to research on the Internet. If the research is not to be left to pure chance, one has to know in advance where one could be successful. This requires at least a certain familiarity with the information structure within the foreign system. For simple research, it generally does not make sense to become a customer of a commercial service such as WESTLAW, LEXIS, JURIS or CELEX. Therefore, the knowledge of how to use freely available sites is crucial. 4.1 Search engines Just as for general research on the Internet, search engines allow one to scan the Internet for relevant information on law. Large search engines such as AltaVista(24) or Hotbot(25) use small programs called robots or bots, which crawl ceaselessly through the WWW. Search engines create a file of every page they visit and, in this way, compile huge databanks with keywords. Despite their enormous size and capacity, even the most powerful engines register only about 16 to 20% of all WWW-pages (of approximately more than 800,000,000 today)(26). Depending on the preciseness of the searcher's keywords, the result of the search can either lead to accurate and comprehensive references of the available material or a jumbled list of irrelevant links. To gain an idea of how to use general search engines there are useful manuals such as How to Search the WWW: A Tutorial for Beginners and Non-Experts (27) . Legal search engines enable the user to limit the search to some or all legal servers and, therefore, the searches are likely to result in more relevant references. FindLaw's Law Crawler(28) or the LawRunner Global Index(29), a feature of the Internet Legal Resource Guide(30), are examples of multi-national legal search engines, while Der Fahnder(31) allows searches on German legal servers only. 4.2 Legal indices
For more structured searches it is often preferable to make use of legal indices. They arrange information by type of document (legislation,case law, directories, etc., by legal subject(e. g. international trade law, commercial law, intellectual property law)and/or source of information (government, law schools, legal organisations, law firms, etc).Most link collections concentrate on their home jurisdiction; others, however, also provide sections on foreign law. FindLaw(32) is one of the gateways for U.S. law, Mishpat-Net for Israel, Lexadin for the Netherlands and the Juristisches Internetproiekt of the University of Saarbruecken for German Multinational resource guides such as Hieros Gamos or Guide to Law Information Network (GLIN), contain links to many or virtually all sal Online, prepared by the U. S. Law Library of Congress for the Global Leg countries, but the depth and comprehensiveness of the link pages var often their emphasis is on U.S. material. Link pages that are geographically more limited but concentrate on certain law subjects can often be found at sites of institutes, legal associations, law firms or individual lawyers. Some of these collections of links are excellent, especially when they are provided by specialists working in that field who, therefore, make great efforts to create and maintain them 5. The virtuelle rechtsvergleicher 5. 1 Concept Against this background, the idea of the virtuelle rechtsvergleicher was born. It is designed to serve as a reliable and comprehensive research tool for daily work in comparative law. The focus is on private law, including commercial and consumer law, mainly in a European context. It gives access to already existing legal sites in the Internet in such a way that a lawyer working in the field of comparative private law as well as a law student can profit from its use In almost every country of the world, there are similar, and often much more ambitious, projects. In the United States of America there are,e.g The World Wide Web Virtual Library, run by the Indiana University School f Law, The Foreign and International Law Web) of Washburn Universit School of Law Library and the global legal material provided by the Legal
For more structured searches it is often preferable to make use of legal indices. They arrange information by type of document (legislation, case law, directories, etc.), by legal subject (e.g. international trade law, commercial law, intellectual property law) and/or source of information (government, law schools, legal organisations, law firms, etc.). Most link collections concentrate on their home jurisdiction; others, however, also provide sections on foreign law. FindLaw(32) is one of the gateways for U.S. law, Mishpat-Net(33) for Israel, Lexadin(34) for the Netherlands and the Juristisches Internetprojekt(35) of the University of Saarbruecken for Germany. Multinational resource guides such as Hieros Gamos(36) or Guide to Law Online(37), prepared by the U.S. Law Library of Congress for the Global Legal Information Network (GLIN), contain links to many or virtually all countries, but the depth and comprehensiveness of the link pages vary; often their emphasis is on U.S. material. Link pages that are geographically more limited but concentrate on certain law subjects can often be found at sites of university libraries or institutes, legal associations, law firms or individual lawyers. Some of these collections of links are excellent, especially when they are provided by specialists working in that field who, therefore, make great efforts to create and maintain them. 5. The 'virtuelle Rechtsvergleicher' 5.1 Concept Against this background, the idea of the 'virtuelle Rechtsvergleicher' was born. It is designed to serve as a reliable and comprehensive research tool for daily work in comparative law. The focus is on private law, including commercial and consumer law, mainly in a European context. It gives access to already existing legal sites in the Internet in such a way that a lawyer working in the field of comparative private law as well as a law student can profit from its use. In almost every country of the world, there are similar, and often much more ambitious, projects. In the United States of America there are, e.g., The World Wide Web Virtual Library(38), run by the Indiana University School of Law, The Foreign and International Law Web(39) of Washburn University School of Law Library and the global legal material provided by the Legal
