Annotating legal documents with GaiusT 2.0. (2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zeni, Nicola; Mich, Luisa; Mylopoulos, John
• Is Part Of: International journal of metadata, semantics and ontologies. Volume 12:Number 1(2017)
• Page Start: 47
• Page End: 58
• Publication Date: 2017
• Subjects: semantic annotation -- annotation schema -- annotation engine -- document structure analyser -- legal documents -- legal requirements -- compliance requirements -- natural language processing -- prescriptive language -- linguistic resources -- user needs; Metadata -- Periodicals; Semantic Web -- Periodicals; Ontologies (Information retrieval) -- Periodicals; Data structures (Computer science) -- Periodicals; Information theory -- Periodicals; 005.74
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1744-2621

Abstract

We present the GaiusT 2.0 framework for annotating legal documents. The framework was designed and implemented as a web-based system to semi-automate the extraction of legal concepts from text. In requirements analysis these concepts can be used to identify requirements a software system has to fulfil to comply with a law or regulation. The analysis and annotation of legal documents in prescriptive natural language is still an open problem for research in the field. In GaiusT 2.0, a multistep process exploits a number of linguistic and technological resources to offer a comprehensive annotation environment. The modules of the system are presented as evolutions from corresponding modules of the original GaiusT framework, which in turn was based on a general-purpose annotation tool, Cerno. The application of GaiusT 2.0 is illustrated with two use cases, to demonstrate the extraction process and its adaptability to different law models.