LINGLAW

"Semantic Spaces, Multilingualism and Diversity in the Law: The Challenge of Legal Knowledge Management within the European Union (LingLaw)"

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Within the EU, multilingualism and cultural diversity in the law pose intractable situations. Of course, EU legislation and documents of major importance are translated into the 23 official languages, but the EU legal language and the specific concepts chosen do not always correspond with the respective national legal languages and concepts. 27 Member States interpret the same legal text, each influenced by its own political system, legal tradition, legal language and concepts, and overall legal view. Therefore, EU legislation may be implemented in many different ways. Vice versa, the national law is not translated into the official languages of the EU. Thus, it is very difficult for the EU institutions to compare implementation of EU legislation, or for businesses and citizens to locate relevant cross-national legal information. This study will investigate typical pitfalls of interfacing between different legal systems using the example of the Services Directive 2006/123/EC. The Directive aims to revitalise the single market by facilitating the cross-border provision of services within the EC. The study will focus on Chapter 2 (Administrative Simplification) of the Directive, and its interpretation in Austria, Germany, and Poland. The applicant is Austrian, therefore the Austrian legal drafting guidelines, which contain rules for the transposition of European legal concepts into Austrian legal language, will be critically analysed. Importantly, the study will connect to machine-executable language and draw up the specific requirements in cross-national legal knowledge engineering. Combining methods of comparative law, legal theory, legal informatics and linguistics, the study will contribute to a better understanding of the semantic differences in law, and offer strategies on how to tackle the problem on a theoretical level as well as on the level of knowledge engineering. Legal certainty, accessibility and intelligibility of the law will be the guiding principles.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Everyday language can range from very simple to quite complex. Insert politics and tradition into the language of law and the complexity grows, yet purposefully with a strategic vagueness.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Expertise is usually required for deciphering the real meaning and the possible misinterpretations of law text. The reality constructed from the language is thought to be very precise. However, there is a sophistication behind the text that can lead to startling consequences depending on who is giving the explanations.

Funded by the EU, this dynamic project, http://linglaw.eu (LINGLAW), seeks to flush out this topic using the Services Directive 2006/123/EC. This Directive is typical of a compromise directive, a result of the formidable and time-consuming political process of making all Member States happy enough to achieve a consensus. When a directive (a compromise law) is finalised, it usually contains complicated law text.

This particular directive was created to refresh the single market by facilitating the cross-border provision of services within the European community. Soon after enacting the Services Directive 2006/123/EC interpretation began and then clarification. Published by the European Commission, the 2007 handbook clarified implementation of the Services Directive. LINGLAW studied these European guidelines on legal drafting to work with Germany and Austria and correctly implement the Directive.

The European guidelines contain important regulations on quality and the rationale behind the legal norms, but they are not legally binding. LINGLAW argued in support of making these guidelines mandatory. Also, it recommended that artificial intelligence and legal knowledge management challenge the legal community to reveal incoherencies and to discuss vagueness in the law text. LINGLAW disseminated these viewpoints at a workshop organised regarding the Services Directive in Germany. Over 200 participants attended the workshop.