A query system for extracting requirements-related information from legal texts

Amin Sleimi, Marcello Ceci, Nicolas Sannier, Mehrdad Sabetzadeh, Lionel Briand, John Dann

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

Searching legal texts for relevant information is a complex and expensive activity. The search solutions offered by present-day legal portals are targeted primarily at legal professionals. These solutions are not adequate for requirements analysts whose objective is to extract domain knowledge including stakeholders, rights and duties, and business processes that are relevant to legal requirements. Semantic Web technologies now enable smart search capabilities and can be exploited to help requirements analysts in elaborating legal requirements. In our previous work, we developed an automated framework for extracting semantic metadata from legal texts. In this paper, we investigate the use of our metadata extraction framework as an enabler for smart legal search with a focus on requirements engineering activities. We report on our industrial experience helping the Government of Luxembourg provide an advanced search facility over Luxembourg's Income Tax Law. The experience shows that semantic legal metadata can be successfully exploited for answering requirements engineering-related legal queries. Our results also suggest that our conceptualization of semantic legal metadata can be further improved with new information elements and relations.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings - 2019 IEEE 27th International Requirements Engineering Conference, RE 2019
EditorsDaniela Damian, Anna Perini, Seok-Won Lee
PublisherIEEE Computer Society
Pages319-329
Number of pages11
ISBN (Electronic)9781728139128
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sep 2019
Externally publishedYes
Event27th IEEE International Requirements Engineering Conference, RE 2019 - Jeju Island, Korea, Republic of
Duration: 23 Sep 201927 Sep 2019

Publication series

NameProceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Requirements Engineering
Volume2019-September
ISSN (Print)1090-705X
ISSN (Electronic)2332-6441

Conference

Conference27th IEEE International Requirements Engineering Conference, RE 2019
Country/TerritoryKorea, Republic of
CityJeju Island
Period23/09/1927/09/19

Keywords

  • Legal metadata
  • Legal requirements
  • Natural language processing
  • Question answering
  • Smart search

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