Towards ECLI 2.0

Abstract

The European Case Law Identifier (ECLI) was established in 2010. It has been implemented by three European courts and (partly or in full) by twelve Member States, while eight Member States are preparing an implementation. During these implementations various issues concerning the format, metadata and the architecture of ECLI have surfaced, while in the meantime technological insights have progressed. To improve the accessibility of current and future case law repositories an ECLI 2.0 needs to be considered. Given the implementations realized, backwards compatibility is an absolute prerequisite. In this paper the various issues and possible solutions are discussed.