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Traditionally concerned with computational models of legal reasoning and the analysis of legal data, the field of legal knowledge and information systems has seen increasing interest in the application of data analytics and machine learning tools to legal tasks in recent years. This book presents the proceedings of the 34th annual JURIX conference, which, due to pandemic restrictions, was hosted online in a virtual format from 8 – 10 December 2021 in Vilnius, Lithuania. Since its inception as a mainly Dutch event, the JURIX conference has become truly international and now, as a platform for the exchange of knowledge between theoretical research and applications, attracts academics, legal practitioners, software companies, governmental agencies and judiciary from around the world. A total of 65 submissions were received for this edition, and after rigorous review, 30 of these were selected for publication as long papers or short papers, representing an overall acceptance rate of 46%. The papers are divided into 6 sections: Visualization and Legal Informatics; Knowledge Representation and Data Analytics; Logical and Conceptual Representations; Predictive Models; Explainable Artificial Intelligence; and Legal Ethics, and cover a wide range of topics, from computational models of legal argumentation, case-based reasoning, legal ontologies, smart contracts, privacy management and evidential reasoning, through information extraction from different types of text in legal documents, to ethical dilemmas. Providing an overview of recent advances and the cross-fertilization between law and computing technologies, this book will be of interest to all those working at the interface between technology and law.

FOIS is the flagship conference of the International Association for Ontology and its Applications, a non-profit organization which promotes interdisciplinary research and international collaboration at the intersection of philosophical ontology, linguistics, logic, cognitive science, and computer science, as well as in the applications of ontological analysis to conceptual modeling, knowledge engineering, knowledge management, information-systems development, library and information science, scientific research, and semantic technologies in general. This volume presents the 17 papers accepted for the 11th Formal Ontology in Information Systems conference (FOIS 2020). These papers cover a broad range of topics and are organized into 5 groups. Foundations is dedicated to the general ontological decisions providing a foundation for any ontology, both from a philosophical perspective and with an emphasis on applications. Social Entities is dedicated to the ontological analysis and formalization of various social entities, including secrets, legal theories, decisions, kinship, and cultural heritage. The papers in Intentionality and Embodiment analyze aspects of an agent's intentions, beliefs and desires, as well as the embodiment of functional relations. The section on Parts and Wholes is dedicated to mereology as well as the mereological analysis of certain types of entities (e.g., pluralities, information entities, and computer programs). Lastly, the papers in Methods are about ontology evaluation and use. Altogether, the papers reflect traditional FOIS themes with perhaps a greater emphasis on social and agent aspects, and will be of interest to all those whose work involves ontology and its applications.

The changes brought about by digital technology and the consequent explosion of information known as Big Data have brought opportunities and challenges in all areas of society, and the law is no exception. This book, Knowledge of the Law in the Big Data Age contains a selection of the papers presented at the conference ‘Law via the Internet 2018', held in Florence, Italy, on 11-12 October 2018. This annual conference of the ‘Free Access to Law Movement'(http://www.fatlm.org) hosted more than 60 international speakers from universities, government and research bodies as well as EU institutions. Topics covered range from free access to law and Big Data and data analytics in the legal domain, to policy issues concerning access, publishing and the dissemination of legal information, tools to support democratic participation and opportunities for digital democracy. The book is divided into 3 sections: Part I provides an introductory background, covering aspects such as the evolution of legal science and models for representing the law; Part II addresses the present and future of access to law and to various legal information sources; and Part III covers updates in projects, initiatives, and concrete achievements in the field. The book provides an overview of the practical implementation of legal information systems and the tools to manage this special kind of information, as well as some of the critical issues which must be faced, and will be of interest to all those working at the intersection of law and technology.

Computer technology has become an essential part of all our lives, and the legal profession is no exception. For more than 25 years, the annual JURIX conference has provided an international forum for academics and practitioners working at the cutting edge of research into and the application of the interface between law and computer technologies. This book presents the proceedings of the 28th International Conference on Legal Knowledge and Information Systems (JURIX 2015), which took place in Braga, Portugal in December 2015. The book contains 14 full papers, nine short papers and nine posters delivered at the conference. These address a wide range of topics in legal informatics, and fall into three main subject areas: theory and foundations of AI and law, focusing on themes such as argumentation, reasoning, and evidence; technology of AI and law, which presents technological advancements and solutions; and applications of AI and law, describing implementations of AI and law technology in real world systems. The book offers an overview of the ways in which current information technology is relevant to the practice of law, and will be of interest to all those whose work involves legal theory, argumentation and practice.

Access to accurate legal information is of great importance. Certainty of the law, creating the conditions necessary to equality and fairness in a legal system and improving the functioning of democratic institutions, depends upon it. Citizens have a right to information about the laws which govern their conduct and governments have an obligation to enable access to the law by means of all available and practicable tools. This book presents papers delivered at the workshop ‘From Information to Knowledge - Online Access to Legal Information', held in Florence, Italy, in May 2011. This workshop brought together experts and research groups with international experience and expertise in realizing effective access to online legal information. The book explores theories, methodologies and experiences which focus on enabling access to legal information via the Internet. The first section presents contributions which address the issue from a modeling and theoretical point of view, while the second part deals with initiatives and projects which enable access to legal information from different approaches, and by the implementation of various methodologies and tools. This book will be of interest to all those involved with the dissemination of legal information and the exercise of the rights of citizenship of EU citizens.

'To date, the focus in the field of sustainable building has been on new building design. However, existing residential buildings inflict great environmental burden through three causes: continuous energy consumption, regular building maintenance and replacements. This publication analyses and compares these three causes of environmental burden and shows that material resources needed for replacements generally have a limited potential to reduce environmental impact. Reducing energy consumption for climate control and electrical appliances is much more effective. According to the author, sustainable measures should be tested for shifts in the kind of environmental impact caused due to the use of alternative types of energy resources and altered material quantities. The sustainability of the electricity supply is essential to decrease the total environmental impact of the residential building stock.'