Research / Areas of Interest

In response to the development and growth of computerisation in the public sector, IRI has long engaged in research concerning legal automation. This theme of research comprises methods for transformation of legal information into program code. In parallel, substantive legal issues call for attention with regard to interpretation and application of administrative procedure rules in digital environments. Illustrative examples include: public agencies using cloud computing services, engaging into social media and developing apps for case handling purposes. Fundamental values such as the rule of law and freedom of information, as well as trustworthy business and service models, serve as bases for research projects.

ICT is essential for the creation of a secure society. Almost all types of activities are affected. Research topics range from large scale disaster management based on the integration of many different systems, to the design of secure small scale ICT applications. Innovations should be legally and functionally secure, and also socially acceptable. The legitimate strive for security can easily result in extensive surveillance and new types of fear. Activities such as widespread use of data mining, big data collection and processing and predictive analysis raise serious privacy concerns. There is an acute need for research on, among other things, the development of legal risk analysis, privacy impact assessments and proactive law.

ICT law is a broad and dynamic area of research, covering the transformation of traditional legal domains and new problem areas coming into the forefront as a consequence of the ongoing technical revolution. Intellectual property rights, contracting and commercial transactions, personal data processing, cybercrime, borderless jurisdictions and net neutrality are steppingstones, but the landscape is continuously shifting as new phenomena emerge. IRI has a long tradition of analysing such vibrant developments and its staff members are regularly called upon to participate in expert groups and comment on new proposed regulations.

ICT is important for legal work. Digitalization, legal databases and the Internet are essential requisites. We have only seen the beginning – the evolution of the information society is a self-sustained process and potentialities for rationalisation in the legal domain are substantial. Practically this entails research in the forefront of artificial intelligence, embedded legislation and automated decision making. Preservation of basic legal principles, standardisation and quality assurance are crucial. Advancements in this direction often challenge established legal theory, traditional legal culture and mind-sets. In order to develop a theoretical framework for advanced methods and legitimate tools, it is thus also important to analyse the underlying functions of the law, its objectives and limitations.