Abstract The OWL 2 Web Ontology Language, informally OWL 2, is an ontology language for the Seman... more Abstract The OWL 2 Web Ontology Language, informally OWL 2, is an ontology language for the Semantic Web with formally defined meaning. OWL 2 ontologies provide classes, properties, individuals, and data values and are stored as Semantic Web documents. OWL 2 ontologies can be used along with information written in RDF, and OWL 2 ontologies themselves are primarily exchanged as RDF documents. The OWL 2 Document Overview describes the overall state of OWL 2, and should be read before other OWL 2 documents.
ABSTRACT Currently almost all legislative bodies throughout Europe use general purpose word-proce... more ABSTRACT Currently almost all legislative bodies throughout Europe use general purpose word-processing software for the drafting of legal documents. These regular word processors do not provide specific support for legislative drafters and parliamentarians to facilitate the legislative process. Furthermore, they do not natively support metadata on regulations. This paper describes how the MetaLex regulation-drafting environment (MetaVex) aims to meet such requirements.
Abstract Land use regulations are an important but often underrated legal domain. In densely popu... more Abstract Land use regulations are an important but often underrated legal domain. In densely populated regions such as the Netherlands, spatial plans have a profound impact on both (local) governments and citizens. This article describes our work on a 'Legal Atlas'.
In the CLIME1 project a large-scale ontology was developed for the purpose of a web-based legal a... more In the CLIME1 project a large-scale ontology was developed for the purpose of a web-based legal advice system, MILE (Maritime Information and Legal Explanation, see Figure 1). The system features both extended conceptual retrieval and normative assessment (See [WBBH00] and [WBBB99]) on international rules and regulations regarding ship-classification (Bureau Veritas) and maritime pollution (MARPOL). The user can formulate a case using a structured natural-language interface (WYSIWYM, see [PECT00]).
This paper presents a proposal for an XML Standard for legal sources in the Netherlands. The stan... more This paper presents a proposal for an XML Standard for legal sources in the Netherlands. The standard intends to provide a generic and easily extensible framework for the XML encoding of the structure and contents of legal and paralegal documents. It differs from other existing metadata schemes for legal documents in two respects; It is language-independent and it aims to accommodate uses of XML beyond search and presentation services.
Abstract OWL 2 extends the W3C OWL Web Ontology Language with a small but useful set of features ... more Abstract OWL 2 extends the W3C OWL Web Ontology Language with a small but useful set of features that have been requested by users, for which effective reasoning algorithms are now available, and that OWL tool developers are willing to support. The new features include extra syntactic sugar, additional property and qualified
Abstract. This paper describes experiences with the limitations imposed by OWL on the representat... more Abstract. This paper describes experiences with the limitations imposed by OWL on the representation of common constructs in two distinct application domains: qualitative reasoning models in ecology, and ontology based legal reasoning. We will show that OWL is not expressive enough to unambiguously represent situations using restrictions.
Abstract Participative decision-making may promote the quality and the support of regulations. Th... more Abstract Participative decision-making may promote the quality and the support of regulations. This also applies to regulations applying to a location. To date it has been very difficult for citizens to participate in legislative debates since this domain requires a level of expertise which is not widely available. Traditional approaches providing access to these regulations are not satisfactory to citizens since they are confronted with vast amounts of often contradicting regulations.
Abstract For more than a decade constructing ontologies for legal domains, we, at the Leibniz Cen... more Abstract For more than a decade constructing ontologies for legal domains, we, at the Leibniz Center for Law, felt really the need to develop a core ontology for law that would enable us to re-use the common denominator of the various legal domains. In this paper we present two core ontologies for law. The first one was the result of a PhD thesis by [Valente, 1995], called FOLaw. FOLaw specifies functional dependencies between types of knowledge involved in legal reasoning.
Abstract There are several reasons why citizens, businesses and civil servants need access to reg... more Abstract There are several reasons why citizens, businesses and civil servants need access to regulations. Unfortunately, traditional approaches that aim to provide this access fall short, especially in the area of spatial planning. Fairly straight-forward questions such as" where will I be able to perform this kind of activity" or" is this activity allowed here" are not answered automatically by current systems. There are many attempts to create one-stop-shop front-ends to eGovernment, but these are seldom built from the perspective of the user.
Abstract. This paper presents a proposal for an open XML standard for the markup of legal documen... more Abstract. This paper presents a proposal for an open XML standard for the markup of legal documents: METALex. The standard provides a generic and easily extensible framework for the XML encoding of the structure and contents of legal and paralegal documents. It differs from other existing metadata schemes in two respects: It is language and jurisdiction independent and it aims to accommodate uses of XML beyond search and presentation services.
Abstract This paper presents a proposal for an open XML standard for the markup of legal document... more Abstract This paper presents a proposal for an open XML standard for the markup of legal documents: METALex. The standard provides a generic and easily extensible framework for the XML encoding of the structure and contents of legal and paralegal documents. MetaLex is first and foremost meant as an interchange format for legal documents. It differs from other existing metadata schemes in two respects: It is language and jurisdiction independent and it aims to accommodate uses of XML beyond search and presentation services.
Abstract In this paper, we present an approach to commonsense causal explanation of stories that ... more Abstract In this paper, we present an approach to commonsense causal explanation of stories that can be used for automatically determining the liable party in legal case descriptions. The approach is based on LRICore, a core ontology for law that takes a commonsense perspective. Aside from our thesis that in the legal domain many terms still have a strong commonsense flavour, the descriptions of events in legal cases, as eg presented at judicial trials, are cast in commonsense terms as well.
Abstract. In the ESPRIT project CLIME (25.414) we are building a" Legal Information Server"(LIS),... more Abstract. In the ESPRIT project CLIME (25.414) we are building a" Legal Information Server"(LIS), an advanced legal information retrieval system. Part of the LIS is a module for what we call" extended conceptual retrieval". In CLIME we elaborate on the notion of CR in several ways. We describe the principles of extended CR, provide data on the quite extensive model we have built so far, and present first evaluation results.
Abstract. The processes of drafting consistent and coherent legislation and upholding and applyin... more Abstract. The processes of drafting consistent and coherent legislation and upholding and applying valid law are getting more and more complicated. In this paper we sketch the components of an integrated Knowledge Management architecture for Legislative Drafting and deployment of legislation in an international setting and discuss problems conceptual mismatches in legal vocabulary of competing legislative authorities.
This paper introduces the MetaLex Document Server (MDS), an ongoing project to improve access to ... more This paper introduces the MetaLex Document Server (MDS), an ongoing project to improve access to legal sources (regulations, court rulings) by means of a generic legal XML syntax (CEN MetaLex) and Linked Data. The MDS defines a generic conversion mechanism from legacy legal XML syntaxes to CEN MetaLex, RDF and Pajek network files, and discloses content by means of HTTP-based content negotiation, a SPARQL endpoint and a basic search interface.
Abstract. This paper presents lessons learned from the CLIME project (1998-2001), aimed at improv... more Abstract. This paper presents lessons learned from the CLIME project (1998-2001), aimed at improving the access and understanding of large bodies of legal information through the Internet. Our approach involves explicil representation of the content of the legal sources consisting of three types of knowledge:(1) the domain being regulated (a domain ontology);(2) normative statements about the domain;(3) resolution mechanisms when normative statements conflict (meta knowledge).
In dit college maak je kennis met een aantal belangrijke stromingen en denkers uit de traditie va... more In dit college maak je kennis met een aantal belangrijke stromingen en denkers uit de traditie van de sociale en culturele wijsbegeerte en leer je primaire filosofische teksten lezen op het gebied van de sociale en culturele wijsbegeerte. Daartoe moet je zelfstandig een overzichtswerk bestuderen waarin een beeld wordt geschetst van de (post-) moderne samenleving en de paradoxen die daarin besloten liggen.
Abstract This (draft) report is part of an effort to define a XML Standard for Legislation and Pu... more Abstract This (draft) report is part of an effort to define a XML Standard for Legislation and Public Decisions in the Netherlands. The research is carried out in the context of the ePOWER project and the LEXML initiative for XML standards for the various European jurisdictions. This document lists the design goals, technologies, and a standardized legal terminology.
Abstract The OWL 2 Web Ontology Language, informally OWL 2, is an ontology language for the Seman... more Abstract The OWL 2 Web Ontology Language, informally OWL 2, is an ontology language for the Semantic Web with formally defined meaning. OWL 2 ontologies provide classes, properties, individuals, and data values and are stored as Semantic Web documents. OWL 2 ontologies can be used along with information written in RDF, and OWL 2 ontologies themselves are primarily exchanged as RDF documents. The OWL 2 Document Overview describes the overall state of OWL 2, and should be read before other OWL 2 documents.
ABSTRACT Currently almost all legislative bodies throughout Europe use general purpose word-proce... more ABSTRACT Currently almost all legislative bodies throughout Europe use general purpose word-processing software for the drafting of legal documents. These regular word processors do not provide specific support for legislative drafters and parliamentarians to facilitate the legislative process. Furthermore, they do not natively support metadata on regulations. This paper describes how the MetaLex regulation-drafting environment (MetaVex) aims to meet such requirements.
Abstract Land use regulations are an important but often underrated legal domain. In densely popu... more Abstract Land use regulations are an important but often underrated legal domain. In densely populated regions such as the Netherlands, spatial plans have a profound impact on both (local) governments and citizens. This article describes our work on a 'Legal Atlas'.
In the CLIME1 project a large-scale ontology was developed for the purpose of a web-based legal a... more In the CLIME1 project a large-scale ontology was developed for the purpose of a web-based legal advice system, MILE (Maritime Information and Legal Explanation, see Figure 1). The system features both extended conceptual retrieval and normative assessment (See [WBBH00] and [WBBB99]) on international rules and regulations regarding ship-classification (Bureau Veritas) and maritime pollution (MARPOL). The user can formulate a case using a structured natural-language interface (WYSIWYM, see [PECT00]).
This paper presents a proposal for an XML Standard for legal sources in the Netherlands. The stan... more This paper presents a proposal for an XML Standard for legal sources in the Netherlands. The standard intends to provide a generic and easily extensible framework for the XML encoding of the structure and contents of legal and paralegal documents. It differs from other existing metadata schemes for legal documents in two respects; It is language-independent and it aims to accommodate uses of XML beyond search and presentation services.
Abstract OWL 2 extends the W3C OWL Web Ontology Language with a small but useful set of features ... more Abstract OWL 2 extends the W3C OWL Web Ontology Language with a small but useful set of features that have been requested by users, for which effective reasoning algorithms are now available, and that OWL tool developers are willing to support. The new features include extra syntactic sugar, additional property and qualified
Abstract. This paper describes experiences with the limitations imposed by OWL on the representat... more Abstract. This paper describes experiences with the limitations imposed by OWL on the representation of common constructs in two distinct application domains: qualitative reasoning models in ecology, and ontology based legal reasoning. We will show that OWL is not expressive enough to unambiguously represent situations using restrictions.
Abstract Participative decision-making may promote the quality and the support of regulations. Th... more Abstract Participative decision-making may promote the quality and the support of regulations. This also applies to regulations applying to a location. To date it has been very difficult for citizens to participate in legislative debates since this domain requires a level of expertise which is not widely available. Traditional approaches providing access to these regulations are not satisfactory to citizens since they are confronted with vast amounts of often contradicting regulations.
Abstract For more than a decade constructing ontologies for legal domains, we, at the Leibniz Cen... more Abstract For more than a decade constructing ontologies for legal domains, we, at the Leibniz Center for Law, felt really the need to develop a core ontology for law that would enable us to re-use the common denominator of the various legal domains. In this paper we present two core ontologies for law. The first one was the result of a PhD thesis by [Valente, 1995], called FOLaw. FOLaw specifies functional dependencies between types of knowledge involved in legal reasoning.
Abstract There are several reasons why citizens, businesses and civil servants need access to reg... more Abstract There are several reasons why citizens, businesses and civil servants need access to regulations. Unfortunately, traditional approaches that aim to provide this access fall short, especially in the area of spatial planning. Fairly straight-forward questions such as" where will I be able to perform this kind of activity" or" is this activity allowed here" are not answered automatically by current systems. There are many attempts to create one-stop-shop front-ends to eGovernment, but these are seldom built from the perspective of the user.
Abstract. This paper presents a proposal for an open XML standard for the markup of legal documen... more Abstract. This paper presents a proposal for an open XML standard for the markup of legal documents: METALex. The standard provides a generic and easily extensible framework for the XML encoding of the structure and contents of legal and paralegal documents. It differs from other existing metadata schemes in two respects: It is language and jurisdiction independent and it aims to accommodate uses of XML beyond search and presentation services.
Abstract This paper presents a proposal for an open XML standard for the markup of legal document... more Abstract This paper presents a proposal for an open XML standard for the markup of legal documents: METALex. The standard provides a generic and easily extensible framework for the XML encoding of the structure and contents of legal and paralegal documents. MetaLex is first and foremost meant as an interchange format for legal documents. It differs from other existing metadata schemes in two respects: It is language and jurisdiction independent and it aims to accommodate uses of XML beyond search and presentation services.
Abstract In this paper, we present an approach to commonsense causal explanation of stories that ... more Abstract In this paper, we present an approach to commonsense causal explanation of stories that can be used for automatically determining the liable party in legal case descriptions. The approach is based on LRICore, a core ontology for law that takes a commonsense perspective. Aside from our thesis that in the legal domain many terms still have a strong commonsense flavour, the descriptions of events in legal cases, as eg presented at judicial trials, are cast in commonsense terms as well.
Abstract. In the ESPRIT project CLIME (25.414) we are building a" Legal Information Server"(LIS),... more Abstract. In the ESPRIT project CLIME (25.414) we are building a" Legal Information Server"(LIS), an advanced legal information retrieval system. Part of the LIS is a module for what we call" extended conceptual retrieval". In CLIME we elaborate on the notion of CR in several ways. We describe the principles of extended CR, provide data on the quite extensive model we have built so far, and present first evaluation results.
Abstract. The processes of drafting consistent and coherent legislation and upholding and applyin... more Abstract. The processes of drafting consistent and coherent legislation and upholding and applying valid law are getting more and more complicated. In this paper we sketch the components of an integrated Knowledge Management architecture for Legislative Drafting and deployment of legislation in an international setting and discuss problems conceptual mismatches in legal vocabulary of competing legislative authorities.
This paper introduces the MetaLex Document Server (MDS), an ongoing project to improve access to ... more This paper introduces the MetaLex Document Server (MDS), an ongoing project to improve access to legal sources (regulations, court rulings) by means of a generic legal XML syntax (CEN MetaLex) and Linked Data. The MDS defines a generic conversion mechanism from legacy legal XML syntaxes to CEN MetaLex, RDF and Pajek network files, and discloses content by means of HTTP-based content negotiation, a SPARQL endpoint and a basic search interface.
Abstract. This paper presents lessons learned from the CLIME project (1998-2001), aimed at improv... more Abstract. This paper presents lessons learned from the CLIME project (1998-2001), aimed at improving the access and understanding of large bodies of legal information through the Internet. Our approach involves explicil representation of the content of the legal sources consisting of three types of knowledge:(1) the domain being regulated (a domain ontology);(2) normative statements about the domain;(3) resolution mechanisms when normative statements conflict (meta knowledge).
In dit college maak je kennis met een aantal belangrijke stromingen en denkers uit de traditie va... more In dit college maak je kennis met een aantal belangrijke stromingen en denkers uit de traditie van de sociale en culturele wijsbegeerte en leer je primaire filosofische teksten lezen op het gebied van de sociale en culturele wijsbegeerte. Daartoe moet je zelfstandig een overzichtswerk bestuderen waarin een beeld wordt geschetst van de (post-) moderne samenleving en de paradoxen die daarin besloten liggen.
Abstract This (draft) report is part of an effort to define a XML Standard for Legislation and Pu... more Abstract This (draft) report is part of an effort to define a XML Standard for Legislation and Public Decisions in the Netherlands. The research is carried out in the context of the ePOWER project and the LEXML initiative for XML standards for the various European jurisdictions. This document lists the design goals, technologies, and a standardized legal terminology.
Abstract. This paper describes an approach to SKOS vocabulary mapping that takes into account the... more Abstract. This paper describes an approach to SKOS vocabulary mapping that takes into account the context in which vocabulary terms are used in annotations. The standard vocabulary mapping properties in SKOS only allow for binary mappings between concepts. In the BestMap ontology, annotated resources are the contexts in which annotations coincide and allow for a more fine grained control over when mappings hold. A mapping between two vocabularies is defined as a class that groups descriptions of a resource.
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