LVI 2015: Call for papers

Submission of papers is invited on the following topics, but papers on other aspects of access to legal information via the Internet are also welcome. Papers on technology law not related directly to access to legal information cannot be submitted.

Graham Greenleaf, Andrew Mowbray and Philip Chung
Co-Directors, AustLII and Programme Co-Chairs

15 April 2015 - Submissions open of extended abstract / draft full paper
31 August 2015 - Submissions due of extended abstract / draft full paper
18 September 2015 - Notifications of acceptance finalised and sent out
16 October 2015 - Finalised / revised presentations or papers due

Submissions may be made by email to the Programme Co-Chairs (papers@austlii.edu.au) or by submitting the form provided.
If an author wants the paper to be refereed, a draft full paper must be submitted by 24 July 2015.

Indigenous peoples: Sharing encounters with law
Indigenous peoples across the world have experiences encountering legal systems of varying Western origins. How can they use online services to share information about their experiences, both within a country and internationally?
Sports law online: Putting the boot in, and throwing the book
Does the law of sports need more free access? From the Court of Arbitration for Sport down to the local football tribunals, sport involves a lot of law-making, but not all that much of it is visible in a systematic way.
Engaging communities with law
Formal legal resources attract many different communities of people willing to contribute their knowledge, interpretations, or views of the law - in other contexts, known as User-Generated Content (UGC) . How can providers of formal legal information (cases, legislation etc) engage with these communities of users and content builders?
Managing free access: Challenges for courts and tribunals
Free access republication of their decisions has created new challenges for courts and tribunals, including conditions for republication, issues caused by jury trials, and issues of identification of different categories of persons.
Starting a small LII - Experiences, assistance and pitfalls
Those who have built a small LII, or assisted others to do so, are invited to present brief accounts of what worked best - or did not work - in the process of doing so, from their experience. Presentations must be limited to 10 minutes, as most of this session will involve questions from the floor, and a roundtable discussion.
Reclaiming history
LIIs started with a focus on the future, but are often now recapturing legal history and linking it to current law. What are the varieties of ways this can be done, and what are the priorities?
Making LII content as authoritative as possible
Are governments the only possible source of reliable legal information? What factors make the content provided by LIIs accepted as authoritative, or at least highly reliable? This question can be asked of legislation, case law, treaties or journal articles. What can the official sources of legal information do to assist republishers (like LIIs) to have the highest quality content? Do aspects of legal systems and official practice detract from the authoritativeness of LII content?
Innovation in free access to scholarship
From blogs to online law journals to scholarship repositories and encyclopeadias, free access legal scholarship comes in many forms, individual and collaborative.
Introducing new LIIs
Any new member of the Free Access to Law Movement is invited to give a 10 minute presentation about its aims and achievements, including a demonstration. "New" will be interpreted generously to include the last few years. (Prospective FALM members are also welcome to enquire).
Apps and mobile access
How is the user experience of free access changing, due to mobile and ubiquitous access? How is maintenance and sustainability best managed in a world of multiple platforms and constantly changing versions? Are apps the best answer to these challenges, or are technologies such as responsive or adaptive web design a real alternative? Case studies wanted.
Semantics and standards
What are the issues holding back the greater adoption of 'legal XML', Akoma Ntoso, and the like? Is discussion of standards premature until there is more discussion of what problems need to be solved and what the toolsets may look like? Papers are welcome giving tutorials for those who wish to publish, or discussing potential practical applications.
Data analytics, big data, and legal information
How is 'big data' / data analytics using legal information? How useful is analysis of legal databases for e-discovery or for making such decisions as whether to go to trial? How useful are LII usage logs for developing behavioral models for legal research? What is being done, and what ethical rules should govern such research?
E-learning
Is enough use being made of free access legal content by e-learning tools? Is legal e-learning now moving out of a closed box of 'computer-aided instruction' and embracing the vast amount of online legal content now available for free access? How would that help?
Free access funding models
Are independent (non-government) LIIs economically sustainable? What business models are used by successful LIIs (if there are any)? What aspects of free access funding models do and do not work? Lessons from domains outside law, and case studies of free access legal systems are both relevant.
Where are the free access interactive legal services?
Why is there so little AI in free access? How can we go from 'one size fits all' legal research systems to tools which personalise legislation and other legal sources to individual legal problems, and do it for free at the same time? Or is the 'AI in free access' found somewhere else? What lessons can be learned by free access providers from the 30 year old 'AI and law' community?