Internet Newsletter for Lawyers July/August 2005, by Delia Venables |
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The European Union has a good record for making its information available on
the web for free. Europa europa.eu.int is a vast umbrella site which attempts to
provide a co-ordinated front for the information provided by the institutions and
bodies of the EU.
A browse through the English version of the Europa Web site soon gives a
sense of the size of the operation. The work, and cost, involved in making
Europa simultaneously available in up to 20 official languages of the EU does
not bear thinking about. However, the cost of providing the same information in
print is even more alarming, so there is an understandable pressure on the EU
to develop robust electronic provision of information.
Beneath the top level of Europa it soon becomes obvious that each of the
institutions has developed its own materials which reflect that institution’s needs
and purpose. This has led to some duplication of material, for example, the
tracking of the decision-making process is covered in depth by both the
Parliament and the Commission.
The Europa website seeks to meet the needs of a variety of different audiences;
from school children to lawyers. The entry point for most lawyers will be EUR-Lex europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/en/index.htm which aims to offer “direct, easy
access free of charge to the biggest documentary holdings existing on EU law”.
An ambitious programme started in 2004 to merge the EUR-Lex site (which has
always been free) with the CELEX database
europa.eu.int/celex/htm/celex_en.htm (which was previously only available on
a subscription basis). Once all the planned functions are available this will be a
wonderful resource but there is still work to be done. A certain amount of
slippage is unsurprising since CELEX contains material dating back to the
setting up of the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951 and is said to
contain 1,400,000 documents in a number of languages.
The CELEX database was closed in December 2004 and no new material is
being added to it. However, it is still available and can be used for pre-2005
material during EUR-Lex downtime. More importantly, National Implementing
Measures can be viewed. This is the category of material conspicuously absent
in EUR-Lex, though the intention is to load it soon. Watch out for the release of
NAT-Lex, due in September, which will provide a common search template for
the Member States’ legislative databases.
Official Journal (OJ): This provides the previous 10 days’ issues of OJ L and C
series, plus an archive back to 1998, all in pdf. Texts published in the OJ,
including those prior to 1998, can also be accessed by OJ reference or
document number via a search form.
Collections: These are listed at the left hand side of the web page:
* Treaties: Original and consolidated versions, in all official languages
* Legislation in force: The ‘Directory of Community legislation in force’ gives a
classified arrangement of legislation in force, with links to the full text that is
available in varying formats: html, tiff, pdf. The subject structure mirrors the
areas of responsibility of the Directorates General (DGs) of the Commission. If
you get lost, you can try the ‘Simple Search’ facility! The Directory also contains
Consolidated texts of measures that have been amended many times. There is
no way of predicting whether a specific consolidation has been prepared but one
of the FAQs details how to access one direct. A separate link on this page leads
to ‘Community legislation in force on 1 May 2004’ in the nine languages of the
states that joined on that date.
* Preparatory Acts: COM documents since 1999 are the only documents available so
far, but it is intended to add texts from other institutions and bodies documenting the
various stages of the legislative or budgetary process.
* Forthcoming collections (ie highlighted on the web page but not yet available) include
International agreements, Case-law and Parliamentary questions.
Functionality: A Simple Search and an Advanced Search are listed, but only the Simple
Search is available so far. This provides options to search the full database with key
words or controlled vocabulary, by document number, by date, and by type of material.
Language Bar: A language tool bar at the top right hand of the page makes it easy to
compare texts in different languages. In addition, a split screen option can be used
when viewing individual documents.
Beneath the language bar is an inconspicuous set of options: Site map; LexAlert - not
yet active, but this will provide tailored document alerts; FAQ; Help; Contacts; and a
Links section, described later.
Quick links: These are highlighted links shown at the left hand side of the page which
will probably vary over time but at present link to the Budget of the European Union and
the institutions’ registers: Registers of documents exist for the Commission, Council and
Parliament.
Constitution: The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, OJ C 310 of 16
December 2004, is given the prime position in the centre of the main page.
News: This section, towards the bottom of the middle section of the page, provides links
to various sources of news and current information: Dossiers by topics; Selection of new
documents; Enlargement: Community legislation in force on 1 May 2004 (in the nine
new official languages), and Newsletter, with progress in EUR-Lex’s construction.
Links: The main section of links, reached from the bar just under the language bar,
include these:
* TED – tenders (OJ S); the CELEX service, the Decision-making process databases
OEIL and Prelex; Documents of the institutions and bodies of the Union, including Court
of Justice of the European Communities.
* Court of Justice of the European Communities (Curia), at
www.curia.eu.int/en/transitpage.htm. The Web site of the European Court of Justice and
Court of First Instance has Opinions of Advocates General and Judgments and Orders
since 1997. Judgments are loaded the day they are delivered, in the language of the
case, with other language versions added as and when they become available. The
Diary lists hearings scheduled in the following 4 weeks.
The Curia Web site is also showing the effects of the redesign of EUR-Lex. There is a
recommendation to use the Search form rather than the Numerical access for very
recent decisions. The “Proceedings”, a weekly summary of judgments etc, has not been
loaded since early 2004 but is due to be replaced by a “Judicial proceedings” section.
DG Competition: europa.eu.int/comm/competition/index_en.html
has merger decisions and competition legislation.The EUR-Lex upheaval has affected this site too -
OJ listings ceased in November 2004.
Labour Law and Work Organisation:
europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/labour_law/index_en.htm
legislation is detailed as part of the Employment & Social Affairs DG site.
Office for the Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade marks and Designs):
oami.eu.int/en/ has legislation and decisions concerned with the Community Trademark.
Justice and Home Affairs:
http://europa.eu.int/pol/justice/index_en.htm
European Judicial Network in civil and commercial matters:
europa.eu.int/comm/justice_home/ejn/index_en.htm
provides details of the legal systems of EU member states.
National, Community and International Law Sites:
europa.eu.int/ISPO/legal/en/natlaw.html
gives links to legislative and court
publications in member states as does National legal websites of the Member States of the European Union
europa.eu.int/lexsiteref/themahome/index_en.html.
However, a look at the way commercial providers coped with the upheaval in EUR-Lex
is instructive. In a test for currency of information which I carried out in early March
2005, Lawtel EU gained top marks and lived up to their claim of next day indexing of
cases and legislation. Westlaw EU came second, with case information and legislation
available a few days after publication in the OJ.
Justis CELEX and LexisNexis Professional EU were hit by the cessation of CELEX.
Licensees had been promised a new EUR-Lex datafeed but until this started in early
March, these products contained no 2005 material. The publishers were in a difficult
position but no obvious warnings or explanations were given when you logged in.
All the publishers have plans for the future:
Justis has redesigned Justis.com, but the main EU product is still called Justis CELEX.
There are plans to enhance the searchability of EU material, and have EU information
experts monitor content and add value to the raw data.
Westlaw are working to provide more integration between their EU and UK sections.
Lawtel EU has already added value to the service by launching a legislative calendar
that acts as an alerter for forthcoming implementation dates.
Overall, the verdict has to be that EUR-Lex could become the exemplar official legal
Web site: comprehensive, straightforward to search and free. Here’s hoping that the
delays in its construction are quickly overcome.
Sue Pettit is Subject Librarian for Law at the University of Bristol and has been exploring
the Internet’s potential in education and communications since its earliest days. She is
the founder listowner of lis-law, the Jiscmail list for UK legal information professionals,
a section editor of SOSIG Law gateway and author of RDN-VTS Internet for Lawyers
virtual tutorial. In June 2005, she was presented with the Wildy-BIALL Law Librarian of
the Year award.
Email sue.pettit@bristol.ac.uk.
Stop Press: The progress (or lack of it) on the ratification process of the Constitution is
graphically displayed at
europa.eu.int/constitution/ratification_en.htm.
The UK takes over the Presidency of the EU on July 1st. The official website for this is
www.eu2005.gov.uk.
Back to Contents.
EU Law and the Europa Website
By Sue Pettit
An introduction to EUR-Lex
Starting at the main page, as above, you will see the following main sections:Other areas within Europa
Apart from EUR-Lex, there are other areas within the Europa site that provide sectoral
or specific information of use to lawyers. Commentary on policy is available on most of
the Commission’s DG sites, together with legislation in that area and/or decisions not
available in EUR-Lex. A few examples are:
Commercial providers
EUR-Lex is already offering a good service, and one that is free. What role is there for
commercial providers? The answer, as ever, is familiarity with the service, functionality,
added value and customer support. Consistent format, search strategy and linking
between a publisher’s UK and EU material will always be a strong reason to subscribe.Are lawyers’ needs being met?
A straw-poll of information professionals in law firms confirmed that most of their EU
information needs were being met by EUR-Lex and the other sites on Europa. Some
reported using commercial services as well, and one commented that her lawyers
preferred to use Lawtel EU rather than EUR-Lex.