Institute for Law and Informatics, Saarland University, Germany
The Institute of Law and Informatics concerns itself with the question of how legal professionals can improve their ways of working with the aid of new technology. Law and informatics is part of applied information technology just like business information systems and medical informatics are. The study of Law and Informatics should help to answer the question; which technology (for example computers, databases or the Internet) is available and how could it be used to help legal research, learning or decision making processes and the pros and cons involved.
The ‚Saarbrücker Rechtsinformatik’ (Law and Informatics in Saarbrücken) was founded in 1988 along with the establishment of the department of law and informatics, which was originally funded by the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft (Donors’ Association for the Promotion of Sciences and Humanities in Germany) and headed by Prof. Dr. Herberger. He devoted himself to research and the improvement of teaching in this area and soon founded the German Association for Computing in the Judiciary, which deals with questions relating to the use of computer technology within the judiciary and holds an annual national congress. Nowadays, research activities are carried out through the Institute of Law and Informatics, which is part of the Chair of Civil Law, Legal Theory and Law and Informatics (Prof. Dr. Maximilian Herberger) and the Chair of Civil Law, Law of Civil Procedure and Legal Philosophy (Prof. Dr. Helmut Rüßmann) at the Saarland University.
Contact: Ralph Hecksteden <r.hecksteden [at] mx.uni-saarland.de>
