Licensing of Reuse of Judgments: Analysis of Selected European Jurisdictions

Abstract

The online publication of judgments by states can strengthen the rule of law and democracy, by enhancing transparency and accountability, ensuring legal consistency, and improving access to legal services through new data-driven technologies. However, it raises also significant concerns. The reuse of judgments poses risks for respect for privacy, the fair public administration of justice, and intellectual property rights – which may be complicated by the increasing use of AI. Licenses can play a crucial role in mitigating and managing these risks when judgments are made available online. This report examines how licenses are employed in selected European countries to govern the reuse of judgments published online. After charting how licences are increasing used to regulate open government data and providing and overview of relevant European legislation, the report analyses the framework and practice in five countries: UK, France, Estonia, Finlandand Norway. Drawing on desk research and interviews with key actors, we analyse each country along four main vectors: (1) requirement of a licence; (2) approval process; (3) terms and conditions for reuse; and (4) technical conditions for reuse. We also analyse the broader governance of open judgment data, including the existence of monitoring and enforcement mechanisms, and the background context in each country. The latter includes the current volume of published judgments and whether there are felt needs to encourage or restrain the emergent legal technology sector. The report finds that there are significant differences in licensing approaches among the countries, even if they share some common features. In some jurisdictions, there is almost no regulation of reuse while in others there specific licensing requirements concerning privacy and responsible AI use, while approval processes or technical restrictions govern bulk use for computational use. Based on the findings, the report presents three recommendations to advance the development of licensing practices in Europe. These are to: (1) develop national policies for licensing arrangements in line with national goals, but also legal duties and restrictions; (2) create European models for licensing of online judgments that correspond with different national interests; and (3) establish a European Working Group to share national experiences and develop model licences.