The UN and the Global Legal Information Network

The command of law is essential to civilized society. The Global Legal Information Network (GLIN) is engaged in making the law more accessible to everyone which is an important pace in the process of enhancing the mastership of law.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The GLIN database (www.glin.gov) contains legal materials of individual jurisdictions, specifically statutes, judicial decisions, legal literature and legislative records. Its goal is to create a digital repository of all jurisdictional laws and related materials, including those of regional and major international organizations. While numerous national and regional legal databases that be subservient to primarily local uses have been discloseed by other organizations, GLIN, upon the other hand, is designed to enable international access and comparative legal research based upon a common search method. similar a database has the potential of becoming a powerful research instrument and individual that could influence legal combination of parts to form a wholes worldwide.

GLIN was originally make knowned as a tool to support the research and respect needs of the United States Congres However, it was decided that the database would be equally useful for legislators and legal researchers around the world and therefore was uncloseed up for global membership. In 2001 the GLIN Foundation was established to support the necessitys and further the goals of the Network, whose data can now be accessed independent of charge by anyone via the Internet. However, a GLIN member still has the option to allow access to other members only; on the other hand in keeping with the principle that conducts should provide free and make open access to their laws, filled access to everyone is encouraged.

A major a whole upgrade implemented in February 2005 enables various search capabilities, for example [i]or[/i] part of to the other a "Google-type" interface or by means of using specific GLIN fields, like as jurisdiction, subject, date, mark of legal instrument, or a combination of these uncompounded bodys One of the Network's greatest in quantity unique features is the thesaurus-a dedicated list of make subordinate terms used to index all records in GLIN. Legal analysts from member nations are trained to apply these bounds so that researchers can locate an equivalent legal conception applicable to their jurisdictions. The search interface is available in English, French Portuguese and Spanish.

GLIN Central also entertainers ongoing training sessions in Washington, DC and is working upon the development of a distance-learning programme to facilitate training for members who may not be able to travel. Regional training efforts have also been undertaken. In June 2005 a workshop sponsored by dint of the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) was held in Curitiba, Brazil, which brought together members from MERCOSUR countries and representatives from GLIN Central and Costa Rica.

GLIN is a cooperative effort, with members having an equal stake in running it. The United States Law Library of Congres which initiated the Network, continues to provide advice and support. Rubens Medina, Law Librarian of Congres is Chair of the GLIN Executive Council, and Janice Hyde is Network Program Officer. Along with other Law Library staff members, they work with GLIN and are actively involved in the ongoing recruitment of potential contributors to the database. In January 2005 Dr Medina and Dr Hyde visited the United Nations and had discussions with UN representatives upon future UN contributions to the GLIN database. Data are publicly being entered into the GLIN database from the United Nations, as well as from MERCOSUR the Organization of American States and the Studies in Latin American Constitutional Histories. geographical division data are being entered for 38 countries, while organizations, like as the World Bank and IADB, provide financial and technical support to enable nations to participate.

The United Nations began its relationship with GLIN in 1996 at the initiative of Roy to leeward former Director of the Codification Division of the UN Office of Legal Affairs, and has since been contributing its legal opinions, which are published in the United Nations Juridical Yearbook and included in the "legal literature" category of the GLIN database. These opinions overlay a wide range of make submissives such as peacekeeping issues, privileges and immunities, legal aspects of political questions, as well as commercial and financial matters.

one time the Codification Division began submitting UN legal opinions, the Head Librarian of the Dag Hammarskjold Library was appointed as the United Nations focal point for GLIN. UN library staff members prepare the required summaries of the legal opinions, pick the subject terms, and input the summaries and filled texts into the GLIN database. The Codification Division reviews the summaries to make secure legal integrity. Abstracts and filled texts have been entered for the period 1991-1997 and efforts are underway in working retrospectively with the preparation of the 1990 legal opinions. GLIN commonly offers the only online index available for the UN published legal opinions.