Regularization and refactoring is actually an integral part of most legal systems. Most jurisdictions in the US go through periodic (1-5 decade) "recodifications" of their law, where the code is reorganized to clean up all the path dependencies of the organically grown law. Restatements do something similar for common law (although they are arguably becoming less influential). Non-US jurisdictions often accomplish this by periodically repealing and replacing laws in their entirety.
This is very cool, and exceptionally well-thought-out. I particularly like how they are working with the existing legal/legislative institutions to fix the issues at their source rather than creating yet another unofficial version.
Our nonprofit, Open Law Library, is working on this exact problem. It is definitely not trivial, but it is very doable. We partner directly with governments to help them implement so the git repos become the canonical record (rather than just an unofficial mirror).
Maryland just launched their regs on our platform:
DC Refers is a non-profit that helps people of modest means (200-400% poverty line) find affordable legal representation.
We've built out a custom Django app at dcrefers.org.
We are looking for a freelancer for 3-6 months to help us open source the website and build out new functionality including better reporting, OpenAI integrations, and easier customization by non-technical staff.
If interested, please email me at [email protected] with `[dev]` in the subject line.
It's fun seeing information science applied to different domains. This is very similar to the system that we've converged on over the last 100 years for legal codes with title.chapter.section (see, e.g., https://law.cityofsanmateo.org/us/ca/cities/san-mateo/code/8...). The ability with the system to unambiguously and _succinctly_ cite to a particular part of the law (or, in this case, the filesystem) is a game changer.
We are looking for a part-time (20-40hrs/mo) contractor to support our open source PyGLS (the Python Generic Language Server, https://github.com/openlawlibrary/pygls/) and the community that has grown around it.
Contractor must have strong python skills and experience managing/supporting open source projects.
Open Law Library is a nonprofit tech startup and open access legal publisher dedicated to securing digital law and making it accessible to all.
If you are interested, or know someone who might be, please reach out to me directly at [email protected].
Open Law Library | Full Stack Python/Javascript/C# | Remote for Ukraine & Ukrainian Refugees | flexible hours
Open Law Library is a nonprofit tech startup and open access legal publisher dedicated to securing digital law and making it accessible to all.
If you are looking for a meaningful way to contribute to democracy, you find joy in building the perfect tools for your users, you like deep and challenging problems in such diverse areas as version control, DSL design, UI/UX, and NLP (more accurately, LLP - Legal Language Processing :), and the idea of helping build a team excites you, then we might be a good fit!
We are currently a team of 8 spread across the US and Europe, and we have received donations specifically earmarked to bring on two Ukrainian developers. English is a requirement. We understand the need for flexibility, and so are committed to working with you to ensure your time with us is a success.
If you are interested, or know someone who might be, please reach out to me directly at [email protected].
We've been thinking about that, and decided to err on the side of too lax than too stringent for exactly this reason. Wires to Ukrainian bank would be strong evidence. Red Cross paperwork or refugee visa also seems good enough. Honestly, we're considering simply a signed affidavit (notary paid for by us).
Our nonprofit, Open Law Library, works with governments to do exactly this. For example, the DC Council uses our software to codify and publish their laws in xml and html on github: https://github.com/dccouncil/dc-law-xml. If you're interested in getting your government's laws published using git in human- and computer-readable formats, feel free to reach out to me at dgreisen [at] openlawlib [dot] org.
Open Law Library | REMOTE in USA | Head of Sales and Growth
Open Law Library is a technology-driven nonprofit that is building the foundational government infrastructure for the next 50 years to improve policy, citizen engagement, and government. We develop cutting-edge software that converts the daily deluge of government legal documents into clean and useable legal data in real-time. Governments use our comprehensive software platform to draft, codify, and publish cryptographically-secure laws to ensure preservation, authentication, and access for generations to come. Our open-access publishing platform assures published laws are freely accessible, aligning our interests with those of our government partners and their citizens.
The successful Head of Sales and Growth candidate will report to the CEO and will focus on new sales opportunity creation and execution. Our clients range from small towns to cities, counties, states, and native American tribes. You will be responsible for proactive outreach beginning with lead generation and continuing through all phases of the sales process culminating in sale win/close. As our first sales hire, you will shape our entire sales process and, as we grow, you will have the opportunity to build out our entire sales team.
We take long-term access to the law very seriously. For the reasons you give, we rely only on native git operations. PRs are a convenient interface, nothing more.
There are a number of technical limitations to gpg signatures. Your hypothetical attacker who has access to github can simply add his/her key and show up as a verified committer. gpg signatures have many other issues including metadata corruption, not to mention the nearly insurmountable issues around key management. As mentioned below, we have internal systems that allow us to audit/authenticate the repository. We will be rolling out a UELMA-compliant authentication scheme based on TUF in the next several months that will allow the public to authenticate the repository.
We have internal systems that allow us to audit/authenticate the repository. We will be deploying a cryptographic authentication framework based on TUF in Q1 2019 that will make it possible for _anybody_ to audit/authenticate the repository.
We are in talks with several international governments. We would be delighted to help your country!
The system does not in any way change the legislative process, so you cannot use a pull request to make any substantive change to the law. That would include rewording, changing punctuation, fixing numbering, etc. If such a pull request were made, it would be immediately closed. As throughout history, the only way to make a substantive change to the law is to petition your representative to sponsor a bill and then convince the legislature to pass it.
Even if the canonical copy were hosted on the Council's website, you would still be trusting the hosting provider, the DNS system, and the certificate authority - all private entities.
What is needed is cryptographic authentication so that the git servers can be completely untrusted. This is also necessary to comply with the Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act (adopted by DC here: https://code.dccouncil.us/dc/council/code/titles/2/chapters/...). We will be rolling out such a system based on TUF in Q1 2019.
As with most things in the law, it is complicated. The District legislative process shares many similarities to the federal government's. They pass laws, which are the official representation of the will of the Council. These laws are kinda like hand-crafted change sets. Change sets that can change other change sets.
These change sets are almost impossible to use as they are, so the Council creates an official compilation of all the change sets as applied and organized by subject. This is the Code of the District of Columbia. Usually, when people think about "the law" they are thinking about the code, because that is how people interact with it.
The laws as passed by the Council cannot (and should not) be changed via pull request. Here, the useful representation of those laws, the representation used by everybody who actually interacts with the law, has been updated via PR to more perfectly reflect the underlying laws.
Hi all, I'm a co-founder of Open Law Library, the non-profit that built the platform DC uses to codify and publish their laws. We were so excited when we saw a member of the public make a PR. I'm happy to answer any questions.