THE LAW Reform Commission has invited tenders for IT specialists to convert Ireland's primary and secondary legislation from its outdated computer format into a more user-friendly version.
The move will lead to the integration of law amendments into their original Acts, making it simpler and easier to access, read and interpret legislation. Statutes and statutory instruments are currently available online, but those before 1998 are in an old-fashioned format that makes them difficult to manage.
Acts and their amendments are also held separately, which means that reading a law on any particular subject and interpreting it can be a time-consuming and expensive business.
The Law Reform Commission has been charged with "statute law restatement", which is the integration of amendments into their original Acts. When the work is complete, each Act will be contained in a single document.
The work of the IT specialist is part of the commission's first programme of restatement, covering law for restatement in 2008/2009.
This programme will cover the Freedom of Information Act 2007, which has close to 100 amendments; the Data Protection Acts, which have over 70; the Prevention of Corruption Acts; and the Criminal Procedure Act 1967.
Areas of legislation with multiple Acts to be covered include ethics in public office legislation; firearms legislation; statute of limitations legislation (which is made up of 13 Acts); employment leave legislation; proceeds of crime legislation; and equality legislation.
Once a law has been restated it must be certified as accurate by the Attorney General before it can be used in the courts. It will also be open to legal challenge if it is considered inaccurate.
Four staff have been assigned to the project, including three researchers and project manager Alma Clissmann.
Ms Clissmann said they were hoping to publish the Acts online after they were restated and before they were certified by the Attorney General so that interested parties could examine and comment on them.
"We will make some mistakes," she said. "And we are hoping that Government departments and other groups will look at our work and give us feedback."
