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The District of Columbia uses Git to track law changes as well. https://github.com/DCCouncil/law-xml https://github.com/DCCouncil/law-xml Similarly, the entir

The District of Columbia uses Git to track law changes as well. https://github.com/DCCouncil/law-xml https://github.com/DCCouncil/law-xml Similarly, the entire German Federal law can be found on Github: https://github.com/bundestag/gesetze https://github.com/bundestag/gesetze

p-e-w 4y ago
To my knowledge, those are outreach initiatives by the respective institutions with the goal of appearing more "tech savvy". It's not that lawmakers or their staff are actually using Git when drafting laws and other legal documents. More like "look, we've arrived in the 21st century, because we allowed one of our summer interns to create this repo in our name".
- Deukhoofd 4y ago
  The District of Columbia law git repo is the authoritative source as far as I know, so not really an outreach initiative. I do not know whether the lawmakers actually actively use it, or that they, more likely, just let clerks do it for them. The Bundestag one is an outreach initiative, making it easier to track law changes.
  - p-e-w 4y ago
    Authoritative source? No way. The authoritative source are the legal gazettes and official publications, just like they've always been. You think the legal profession will accept an XML repository, hosted by a private company serving the software industry, as authoritative? That's absurd. Perhaps you meant "official" rather than "authoritative"? As in "published by an actual lawmaking institution", but not "the authoritative reference for those laws".
    - inferiorhuman 4y ago
      > You think the legal profession will accept an XML repository, hosted by a private company serving the software industry, as authoritative? That's absurd. You bet I do. Look at any state or municipality that's adopted fire and electric codes from their respective trade groups. Or look at the relative power of companies like Westlaw. https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-03-18/state-laws-copyrighted https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-03-18/state-laws...

p-e-w 4y ago

To my knowledge, those are outreach initiatives by the respective institutions with the goal of appearing more "tech savvy". It's not that lawmakers or their staff are actually using Git when drafting laws and other legal documents. More like "look, we've arrived in the 21st century, because we allowed one of our summer interns to create this repo in our name".

Deukhoofd 4y ago
The District of Columbia law git repo is the authoritative source as far as I know, so not really an outreach initiative. I do not know whether the lawmakers actually actively use it, or that they, more likely, just let clerks do it for them. The Bundestag one is an outreach initiative, making it easier to track law changes.
- p-e-w 4y ago
  Authoritative source? No way. The authoritative source are the legal gazettes and official publications, just like they've always been. You think the legal profession will accept an XML repository, hosted by a private company serving the software industry, as authoritative? That's absurd. Perhaps you meant "official" rather than "authoritative"? As in "published by an actual lawmaking institution", but not "the authoritative reference for those laws".
  - inferiorhuman 4y ago
    > You think the legal profession will accept an XML repository, hosted by a private company serving the software industry, as authoritative? That's absurd. You bet I do. Look at any state or municipality that's adopted fire and electric codes from their respective trade groups. Or look at the relative power of companies like Westlaw. https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-03-18/state-laws-copyrighted https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-03-18/state-laws...