Legal Information Utilization Support System

Abstract

In the case law and legal search service, we provide users with information on future trends in legal amendments. [Solution] In a legal information utilization support system that provides a legal search service to users, the legal information management server includes: a revision trend management table generation unit that generates a revision trend management table based on the extracted information on future revision trends of laws and regulations by collecting and analyzing documents issued by conference bodies established by a predetermined organization and / or conferences hosted by said conference bodies; and a legal information provision unit that searches a predetermined database according to a search query for legal searches received from the user's information terminal device, controls the display of a search results screen containing the extracted laws and regulations on the interface of the information terminal device, extracts information on future revision trends of the laws and regulations, and controls the display of this information on the search results screen.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a system for assisting in the use of legal-related information.

Background Art

[0002] There is a case and statute search service (sometimes referred to as a "case and statute database service") for searching and providing various information regarding cases and statutes to those involved in legal matters. For example, as commercial case and statute search services, "Westlaw Japan" and "Case Secretary" are well-known. In such services, a user can access the search system, input keywords related to the information they want to find, search for information regarding cases and statutes, and obtain more detailed information about the retrieved information.

[0003] Also, for example, Patent Document 1 below discloses a statute search system that can dynamically customize a user interface based on the procedural relationships and time-series relationships of multiple legal cases in order to provide hyperlinks to corresponding case law documents.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] However, conventional case and statute search systems and the system disclosed in Patent Document 1 above were merely designed to allow users to search for such information by reflecting it in a database based on information published in official gazettes, etc., regarding information on statute amendments. Therefore, they were unable to provide information regarding future amendment trends of statutes.

[0006] Furthermore, while information regarding future amendment trends of laws and regulations may be provided to users through public comments, future amendment trends of laws and regulations have not been predicted or analyzed based on materials at an earlier stage than when such public comments are created (the proposal stage). More specifically, because public comments are a procedure aimed at the general public and one of the final procedures for proceeding with subsequent legal amendments, the relationship between current laws and laws and laws scheduled for amendment is well organized, making it easy to grasp future amendment trends. On the other hand, during discussions in earlier stages of deliberations, the number of documents issued by these deliberations is large, and the wording is often highly abstract, making it difficult to identify the relationship with future amendment trends of laws and regulations. Therefore, information regarding future amendment trends has not been predicted or analyzed based on materials at an earlier stage.

[0007] Therefore, the present invention aims to provide a case law and legal search system that can accurately provide users with information on future trends in legal amendments in a case law and legal search service.

[0008] More specifically, the present invention aims to provide a case law and legal search system that can accurately provide users with information on future trends in legal amendments at an earlier stage than the publication of official gazettes or public comments in a case law and legal search service. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] The present invention, which solves the above problems, is comprised of the following inventive features or technical characteristics.

[0010] The present invention, in accordance with a certain perspective, is a legal information utilization support system that provides a search service for laws and regulations to a user. The legal information utilization support system comprises: a document collection unit that collects documents relating to laws and regulations issued by and / or presented through meetings hosted by a conference body established by a predetermined organization; a revision trend management table generation unit that extracts information on future revision trends of laws and regulations by analyzing the collected documents and generates a revision trend management table based on the extracted information on future revision trends of laws and regulations; a legal information provision unit that searches a predetermined database according to a search query for searching laws and regulations received from a user's information terminal device and controls the display of a search results screen containing the laws and regulations extracted by the search on the user interface of the information terminal device; and a revision trend information extraction unit that extracts information on future revision trends of laws and regulations extracted according to the search query.

[0011] The aforementioned legal information provision unit may control the search results screen to include link information that associates the aforementioned law with information regarding future amendment trends of the said law.

[0012] Furthermore, the legal information provision unit can control the search results screen to include a search results display area for displaying the aforementioned laws and regulations and a revision trend display area for displaying information regarding future revision trends of the aforementioned laws and regulations.

[0013] In this case, the search results display area and the revision trend display area may be formed within the search results screen, which is configured as a single screen. Alternatively, either the search results display area and / or the revision trend display area may be formed as a pop-up window.

[0014] Furthermore, the legal information provision unit may, in response to the user's operation action on the link information in the legal provisions displayed in the search results display area, control the display of information regarding future amendment trends of the legal provisions in the amendment trend display area according to the amendment trend management table.

[0015] In this case, the legal information provision unit can control the display of information regarding amendment trends of the aforementioned laws and regulations over a predetermined period in the amendment trend display area.

[0016] Furthermore, the legal information provision unit may control the display of information regarding future amendment trends of a specific target portion of a law displayed in the search results display area in response to the user's operation action on the link information for that target portion of the law displayed in the search results display area.

[0017] In this case, the legal information provision unit can control the display of information regarding amendment trends of the target portion during a predetermined period in the amendment trend display area.

[0018] Furthermore, the amendment trend information extraction unit can create a summary based on information regarding future amendment trends of the aforementioned laws and regulations. The law-related information provision unit can also control the search results screen to include the summary.

[0019] Furthermore, the amendment trend extraction unit can estimate at least one of the following items based on information regarding future amendment trends of the law: the likelihood that the amendment will be realized, the timing of the amendment, and the progress toward the amendment. In addition, the law-related information provision unit can control the search results screen to include the estimated item.

[0020] Furthermore, the present invention, in a different view, is a legal information utilization support system that provides a legal search service to a user, comprising: a revised trend management table containing information on future revision trends of collected legal documents, including at least documents issued by and / or presented through meetings hosted by a conference body established by a predetermined organization; and a display control unit that controls the display of a predetermined screen on the user interface of the user's information terminal device. The display control unit controls the display of a search results screen containing the legal documents extracted by searching a predetermined database according to a search query for legal document retrieval, on the user interface. In this case, the search screen includes a search results display area for displaying the legal documents and a revised trend display area for displaying information on future revision trends of the legal documents.

[0021] Furthermore, the search results screen may include a search results display area for displaying the aforementioned laws and regulations and a revision trend display area for displaying information regarding future revision trends of the aforementioned laws and regulations.

[0022] Furthermore, the search results screen may include a search results display area for displaying the aforementioned laws and regulations and a revision trend display area for displaying information regarding future revision trends of the aforementioned laws and regulations.

[0023] Furthermore, the display control unit may, in response to the user's operation action on the link information, control the display area to show information regarding future amendment trends of the law.

[0024] Also, the present invention according to another aspect is a method for providing legal-related information by a legal-related information utilization support system that provides a search service related to laws to users. The method includes collecting documents related to the laws, including at least documents issued by a meeting body established by a predetermined organization and / or shown through a meeting hosted by the meeting body; extracting information regarding future amendment trends of the laws by analyzing the collected documents; generating an amendment trend management table based on the extracted information regarding future amendment trends of the laws; receiving a search query for searching for laws from a user's information terminal device; searching a predetermined database according to the received search query; controlling so that a search result screen including the laws extracted by the search is displayed on the interface of the information terminal device; and extracting information regarding future amendment trends of the laws extracted according to the search query. And performing the control includes controlling so that the search result screen includes a search result display area for displaying the laws and an amendment trend display area for displaying information regarding future amendment trends of the laws.

[0025] Also, the present invention according to another aspect is a method for providing legal-related information by a legal-related information utilization support system that provides a search service related to laws to users. The method includes creating an amendment trend management table including information regarding future amendment trends of the laws generated from documents related to the laws collected, including at least documents issued by a meeting body established by a predetermined organization and / or shown through a meeting hosted by the meeting body; and controlling so that a predetermined screen is displayed on the user interface of the user's information terminal device. Performing the control includes controlling so that a search result screen including the laws extracted by searching a predetermined database according to a search query for searching for laws is displayed on the user interface. And the search screen includes a search result display area for displaying the laws and an amendment trend display area for displaying information regarding future amendment trends of the laws.

[0026] In the present disclosure, the term "means" does not simply refer to a physical means, but also includes cases where the function of the means is realized by software. Further, even if the function of one means is realized by two or more physical means, or the functions of two or more means are realized by one physical means, it is acceptable.

[0027] In the present disclosure, the term "system" includes a collection of a plurality of devices (or functional modules that realize specific functions) logically, regardless of whether each device or functional module is physically configured as a single entity or as separate entities.

Advantages of the Invention

[0028] According to the present invention, in a case law and statute search service, information regarding future amendment trends of statutes can be accurately provided to a user.

[0029] Other technical features, objects, operational effects or advantages of the present invention will be clarified by the following embodiments described with reference to the accompanying drawings. [[ID=ID=18]]

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0030] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining an example of a schematic configuration of a computing system including a statute-related information utilization support system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining an example of a functional model of a statute-related information management server according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an amendment trend management table in a statute-related information management server according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining an example of a generation process of an amendment trend management table by a statute-related information management server according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5]Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the process for providing a search service by a legal information management server according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] Figure 6 shows an example of a search top screen provided by a legal information management server according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] Figure 7 shows an example of a search results screen provided by a legal information management server according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] Figure 8 shows an example of a search results screen provided by a legal information management server according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] Figure 9 shows an example of a search results screen provided by a legal information management server according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] Figure 10 shows an example of a search results screen provided by a legal information management server according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] Figure 11 shows an example of the hardware configuration of a legal information management server according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0031] Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, the embodiments described below are merely illustrative, and there is no intention to exclude various modifications or applications of techniques not explicitly stated below. The present invention can be implemented by various modifications (for example, by combining each embodiment) without departing from its spirit. In the following drawings, identical or similar parts are denoted by the same or similar reference numerals. The drawings are schematic and do not necessarily correspond to actual dimensions or proportions. There may be parts in the drawings where the dimensional relationships and proportions differ from those of other parts.

[0032] (Overall structure) Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a computing system including a legal information utilization support system according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the computing system 1 may be configured to include, for example, a legal information utilization support system 10 and an information terminal device 20, which are interconnected via a communication network N. The legal information utilization support system 10 is also interconnected via communication to, for example, a government website 30. The communication network N is a network of any protocol that enables communication between devices (nodes), and may include, for example, an IP-based computer network and a mobile communication network compliant with mobile communication system standards.

[0033] The Legal Information Utilization Support System 10 is a computing device configured to collect information related to laws and regulations and to provide users with search services based on the collected information. In this disclosure, "laws and regulations" means laws, cabinet orders, ministerial ordinances, rules, notices, ordinances, guidelines, and similar matters. The Legal Information Utilization Support System 10 includes, for example, a legal information management server 12 and a database 14. The hardware configuration of the Policy Information Utilization Support System 20 is shown in Figure 11, for example, but since such a configuration is known, its details are omitted.

[0034] The legal information management server 12 responds to user requests (search requests or search queries) related to searching for laws and regulations and presents the search results to the user. In particular, the legal information management server 12 of this disclosure may present the user with information regarding future amendment trends of the laws and regulations when presenting the search results. This allows the user to check the future amendment trends of the laws and regulations when they find the law they are looking for, enabling them to take appropriate action based on future amendment trends. The information regarding future amendment trends of laws and regulations as referred to in this disclosure is not a definitive amendment trend published in the Official Gazette, etc., but rather information that is predicted or inferred based on specific legal information. Here, specific legal information refers to information relating to documents issued by a conference body established by a specified organization and / or documents presented through a conference hosted by said conference body. The specified organization refers to a political group, a political party, the government, or an organization of the national or local government, and includes, for example, each ministry and agency and its subordinate organizations. The legal information management server 12 implements a legal information management program to realize this function. Details of the legal information management server 12 will be described later.

[0035] Database 14 consists of a case law / laws database 141 and a document database 142. The case law / laws database 141 is a database that stores case law and laws. The case law / laws database 141 may utilize known data. Alternatively, the case law / laws database 141 may be an external database that can be accessed, for example, via an API (Application Program Interface). The document database 142 is a database that stores documents related to laws collected from the Web, etc., of the government, etc. Documents include the Web pages themselves and various materials linked from Web pages. Documents are data files or datasets that are structured according to a predetermined format (for example, files in HTML format or PDF format). Documents may also include tags, metadata, etc., that are not normally displayed visually on the user interface.

[0036] The information terminal device 20 is a computing device that, for example, accesses the legal information utilization support system 10 in accordance with interactive operations by a user and displays screens related to the search service for case law and laws on a user interface. The information terminal device 20 may be a personal computer such as a notebook computer or desktop computer, a smartphone, or a tablet computer, but it is sufficient if it is a computing device that can access the legal information utilization support system 10 via a communication network N. Typically, the information terminal device 20 consists of hardware resources such as a CPU (processor), chipset and memory, a communication network module, a user interface (e.g., a display or touch panel, speaker and vibrator), and software resources such as an operating system (e.g., which may include a kernel, various device drivers, standard libraries, etc.) (hereinafter referred to as "OS"). Under the control of the processor, the information terminal device 20 executes various application programs on the OS to realize desired functions. In this disclosure, it is assumed that the information terminal device 20 has a web browser program implemented that can access a web server on the internet. The information terminal device 20 can function as a web browser by executing a web browser program and access the legal information utilization support system 10. Alternatively, the information terminal device 20 may have a client program implemented for accessing the legal information utilization support system 10.

[0037] (System for supporting the use of legal and regulatory information 10) Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional model of a legal information management server according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the legal information management server 12 may be configured to include, for example, a communication interface unit 121, a document collection unit 122, a revision trend management table generation unit 123, a revision trend management table 124, a legal information provision unit 125, and a revision trend evaluation unit %%.

[0038] The communication interface unit 221 is an interface for the legal information management server 12 to communicate with external devices on the communication network 10, typically such as government websites 30 or information terminal devices 20.

[0039] The document collection unit 122 is an automated crawling agent program (crawler) for automatically collecting various information (e.g., web pages and documents) on the Web or cloud. For example, the document collection unit 122 periodically or irregularly visits government websites and other similar sites to collect various documents issued and managed by the government. In particular, the document collection unit 122 of this disclosure collects various documents issued by conference bodies and conferences hosted by such bodies.

[0040] The Amendment Trend Management Table Generation Unit 123 analyzes documents collected by the Document Collection Unit 122, particularly various documents issued by conference bodies and meetings hosted by such bodies, and extracts information regarding future amendment trends of laws and regulations. For example, the Amendment Trend Management Table Generation Unit 123 analyzes documents using machine learning models such as natural language processing to extract specific keywords and / or phrases that suggest future amendment trends of laws and regulations. For example, not only direct terms such as "amendment," but also terms related to "policy" and other policy issues can be specific keywords and / or phrases that suggest future amendment trends of laws and regulations. Furthermore, the Amendment Trend Management Table Generation Unit 123 scores specific keywords and / or phrases based on their frequency of occurrence, and based on the results of this scoring, identifies laws and regulations and their parts (e.g., articles and clauses) that are likely to be amended in the future. Based on the document analysis results, the Amendment Trend Management Table Generation Unit 123 creates and / or updates the Amendment Trend Management Table 124.

[0041] The Amendment Trend Management Table 124 is a table for managing information regarding future amendment trends of laws and regulations. Figure 3 shows an example of the Amendment Trend Management Table in a Law-Related Information Management Server according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the Amendment Trend Management Table 124 consists of items such as "Law," "Target Part," "Document," "Type," "Content," "Registration Date," and "Invalidation Date." "Target Part" refers to the part of a law that suggests a movement toward amendment, indicated by "Chapters," "Articles," "Paragraphs," and "Items," etc. "Type" indicates the type of document that suggests the amendment trend of the law. For example, if "Type" is "Meeting," it indicates a document issued at a meeting held by a certain conference body. "Meeting" refers to a meeting or gathering to discuss policy issues toward the amendment of laws and regulations. "Content" refers to, for example, the theme or policy of the meeting or conference body, public comments, etc. "Policy" refers to the policy indicated by the conference body that discusses policy issues toward the amendment of laws and regulations. Public comments refer to documents issued by a council in relation to its policy response to a policy issue, and include documents in which the council presents the key issues and perspectives on a policy issue at an early stage (such as draft outlines), draft policies issued by the council to address the policy issue (such as summary drafts), documents that the council designates for public comment, and documents that the council approves for finalization (such as reports, recommendations, and suggestions).

[0042] The Legal Information Provision Unit 125 provides users with a search service for precedents and laws stored in the database 14. In this example, the Legal Information Provision Unit 125 includes a legal search engine 1251 and a display control unit 1252. For example, the legal search engine 1251 searches the precedent and law database 141 in response to a search query for precedents and laws received from the user's information terminal device 20. The search query may be, for example, the name of an organization such as a ministry or agency that has jurisdiction over the law. The legal search engine 1251 can identify and extract laws such as the "Telecommunications Business Act" that are under the jurisdiction of an organization such as the "Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications." As a result of the search, the display control unit 1252 transmits the search results of precedents and laws extracted from the precedent and law database 141 by the legal search engine 125 to the information terminal device 20 so that the search results are displayed on the user interface of the information terminal device 20. In response, the information terminal device 20 displays the search results on the user interface. In this disclosure, the Legal Information Provision Unit 125, in cooperation with the Amendment Trend Information Extraction Unit 126, may present to the user information regarding future amendment trends of laws and regulations as part of the search results when searching for case law and laws and regulations. Information regarding amendment trends includes, for example, the laws and regulations themselves, and parts of the laws and regulations indicated by "chapters," "articles," "paragraphs," and "items." Generally, in conventional case law and law search services, when a user searches for past case law using a specific keyword, related laws and regulations may also be extracted or identified along with the case law and presented together as search results. The Legal Information Provision Unit 125 may also present information regarding amendment trends of laws and regulations extracted in relation to such case law searches.

[0043] In this disclosure, the display control unit 1252 controls the display of the search results screen on the user interface of the information terminal device 20, and may control the search results screen to include link information that associates the extracted laws and regulations with information regarding future amendment trends of those laws and regulations (see Figure 7, etc.). The link information is associated with the relevant part (whole or in part) of the laws and regulations related to future amendment trends. The link information is displayed visually distinguishable, for example, by icons. This allows the user to immediately grasp whether or not there are future amendment trends for the laws and regulations when they find the laws and regulations they are looking for.

[0044] Furthermore, the display control unit 1252 can control the search results screen to include a search results display area for displaying laws and regulations and a revision trend display area for displaying information on future revision trends of laws and regulations. For example, when a user selects an icon indicating link information in the search results display area, the display control unit 1252 controls the system so that information on future revision trends of laws and regulations associated with the link information is displayed in the revision trend display area.

[0045] The amendment trend information extraction unit 126 refers to the amendment trend management table 124 for laws and regulations extracted by the law-related information provision unit 125 according to the search query, and extracts information on the amendment trends of those laws and regulations. The amendment trend information extraction unit 126 then hands over the extracted information on the amendment trends of the laws and regulations to the law-related information provision unit 125.

[0046] Furthermore, the amendment trend information extraction unit 126 may, for example, extract information on amendment trends over a predetermined period. More specifically, the amendment trend information extraction unit 126 can extract information on amendment trends over a certain period in the past or the latest amendment trends since the previous amendment, based on the "registration date" and "invalidation date" in the amendment trend management table 124. This makes it easy for users to grasp the movements toward amendments to laws and regulations over a certain period in the past and the movements toward the most recent amendment.

[0047] Furthermore, the amendment trend information extraction unit 126 may include a summarization engine (not shown) that creates a summary based on information regarding future amendment trends. A known summarization engine may be applied. For example, the summarization engine refers to the database 14 and creates a summary of the background and latest status of the amendment based on information regarding amendment trends. In response, the legal information provision unit 125 controls the display of the summary on the search results screen. This allows users to easily understand information regarding amendment trends in laws and regulations.

[0048] Furthermore, the amendment trend information extraction unit 126 can extract or estimate at least one of the following items based on information regarding future amendment trends of laws and regulations: the timing of the planned amendment, the likelihood that the amendment will be realized, and the progress toward the amendment.

[0049] For example, the amendment trend information extraction unit 126 can apply natural language processing and machine learning models to documents collected by the document collection unit 122 (e.g., meeting materials and minutes) to estimate information that refers to the planned timing of amendments to the law itself and / or the relevant parts thereof from the content of the documents. More specifically, if the meeting materials contain keywords indicating "amendment," "planned," and the timing (date), the amendment trend information extraction unit 126 can extract such keywords and estimate the planned timing of the amendment.

[0050] Furthermore, the amendment trend information extraction unit 126 can estimate the progress of legal amendments according to several milestones (progress indicators) defined based on certain events in the process toward future amendments to the laws and / or the relevant parts. For example, each event in a series of processes such as "hearings" at meetings, issuance of "draft issue summary" documents, issuance of "summary outline" documents, and issuance of "summary draft" documents related to public comments are defined as milestones. The amendment trend information extraction unit 126 can apply natural language processing and machine learning models to the meetings and / or documents issued by the meetings to determine from their contents whether or not a milestone has been reached.

[0051] Furthermore, the revision trend information extraction unit 126 can apply natural language processing and machine learning models to the collected documents to estimate the likelihood of future revisions of the laws and regulations from their contents. More specifically, if the revision trend information extraction unit 126 can extract statements toward revision by persons with strong authority regarding the revision of laws and regulations (for example, the Prime Minister's commitment), it adds a predetermined value to the value indicating the likelihood. Also, if the degree of consensus among the members of the meeting body toward the revision of the laws and regulations, extracted from the contents of the documents, is high (for example, 9 out of 10 people say it is a good proposal), the revision trend information extraction unit 126 adds a predetermined value to the value indicating the likelihood. In addition, the revision trend information extraction unit 126 adds a predetermined value to the value indicating the likelihood according to the milestone that it determines has been reached. For example, the later the milestone in the series of processes toward revision, the higher the value that can be added.

[0052] (Process for generating the revised trend management table) Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the process for generating a revision trend management table by a legal information management server according to one embodiment of the present invention. This process is realized by the legal information management server 12 cooperating with predetermined hardware by executing a legal information management program under the control of a processor.

[0053] When a predetermined execution time arrives, the legal information management server 12 crawls government and other web pages to collect and acquire various documents (S401). Subsequently, the legal information management server 12 analyzes the acquired documents and extracts specific keywords and / or phrases that suggest future trends in amendments to laws and regulations (S402).

[0054] Next, the legal information management server 12 scores the extracted specific keywords and / or phrases based on their frequency of occurrence, and based on the results of this scoring, identifies laws and regulations and parts thereof (e.g., articles and clauses) that are likely to be amended in the future (S403).

[0055] Then, the legal information management server 12 creates and updates the amendment trend management table 124 based on the identified laws and regulations and their parts (S404). This provides the latest amendment trend management table 124, which includes information on future amendment trends of laws and regulations.

[0056] (Search service provision process) Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the process of providing a search service by a legal information management server according to one embodiment of the present invention. This process is realized by the legal information management server 12 cooperating with predetermined hardware by executing a legal information management program under the control of a processor.

[0057] For example, a user enters keywords related to the case law or law they want to find on the case law / law search screen displayed on the user interface of the information terminal device 30. In response, the information terminal device 30 sends a search query based on the entered keywords to the law-related information management server 12. As a result, as shown in the figure, the law-related information management server 12 obtains the search query (S501). Subsequently, the law-related information management server 12 refers to the case law / law database 141 based on the search query and extracts the case law or law (S502). In the case of searching for a case law, the law-related information management server 12 may further extract laws related to the extracted case law.

[0058] Next, the legal information management server 12 attempts to extract information on the trends in legal amendments by referring to the amendment trend management table 124 (S503). Subsequently, the legal information management server 12 determines whether or not it was able to extract information on the trends in legal amendments (S504). If it determines that it was not able to extract information on the trends in legal amendments (No. in S504), the legal information management server 12 generates display data to display the extracted precedents and laws as results on the interface (S505).

[0059] Next, the legal information provision unit 125 transmits the generated display data to the information terminal device 20 (S509). In response, the information terminal device 20 displays the results screen on the user interface. The search results screen in this case is the same as the search results screen from the previous case law search.

[0060] In response to this, if the legal information management server 12 determines that it has been able to extract information regarding the trends in amendments to laws and regulations (Yes in S504), the legal information management server 12 extracts or estimates, based on the extracted information regarding laws and regulations and their future amendment trends, the timing of the planned amendments, the probability that the amendments will be realized, and the progress toward the amendments (S506).

[0061] Next, the legal information management server 12 adds link information that associates the extracted laws and regulations with information regarding their future amendment trends (S507). Subsequently, the legal information provision unit 125 generates display data for displaying the extracted precedents, laws and regulations, and the link information associated with those laws and regulations as search results on the interface (S508). Subsequently, the legal information provision unit 125 transmits the generated display data to the information terminal device 20 (S509). In response, the information terminal device 20 displays the search results screen on the user interface. In this case, the search results screen displays, for example, an icon indicating the existence of information regarding amendment trends associated with laws and regulations whose amendment trends are estimated. The legal information provision unit 125 controls the search results screen to display information regarding the future amendment trends of laws and regulations in response to the user's operation action on the icons. The legal information provision unit 125 can also control the search results screen to display information regarding the planned amendment date, probability, and progress (see Figure 8, etc.).

[0062] (Examples) The user operates the user interface of the information terminal device 20 to access the legal information management server 12 and displays a top screen 600 related to the search service on the user interface of the information terminal device 30, for example, as shown in Figure 6. In the example shown in the figure, the top screen 600 includes a search query input field 601. The user enters keywords related to precedents and laws into the search query input field 601. In this example, the user enters "Telecommunications Business Act" as the keyword. In response, the information terminal device 30 sends a search query containing the entered keyword to the legal information management server 12.

[0063] When the policy-related information management server 22 receives a search query, it refers to the case law and legislation database 141 based on the keywords indicated in the search query, extracts case law and legislation, and also refers to the amendment trend management table 124 to extract information on the amendment trends of the extracted legislation. Furthermore, the policy-related information management server 22 generates display data based on the extracted case law, legislation and information on amendment trends of legislation. The display data includes link information that associates legislation with information on amendment trends. Subsequently, the policy-related information management server 22 controls the information terminal device 20 to display a results screen based on the generated display data on its interface. In response, the information terminal device 20 displays a search results screen 700 on its user interface, for example, as shown in Figure 7.

[0064] As shown in the figure, the search results screen 700 is composed of, for example, a search results display area 701 and a revision trends display area 702. The search results display area 701 displays a list of "Telecommunications Business Act" and its articles that match the searched keyword. On the other hand, in this example, nothing is currently displayed in the revision trends display area 702.

[0065] On the search results screen 700, users can find the desired article by, for example, operating the scroll bar to scroll the search results display area 701, or by entering keywords using search commands provided by, for example, the CTL key + F key. In this example, icons 703a and 703b are displayed for "Telecommunications Business Act" and "Article 27," respectively. Icons 703a and 703b are associated with link information and indicate that future amendment trends are anticipated.

[0066] For example, if a user selects icon 703b for "Article 27," the information terminal device 20 displays a search results screen 700' on the user interface, as shown in Figure 8, according to the link information associated with icon 703b. On the search results screen 700', information regarding future revision trends for "Article 27" is displayed in the revision trend display area 702. In other words, information regarding future revision trends for "Article 27" is extracted and presented to the user according to the revision trend management table 124, as shown in Figure 3. More specifically, detailed information regarding "meetings" and "policies" for future revisions of "Article 27" is presented. In addition, a link 704 is associated with "Document 2," and the user can view the document "Document 2" by clicking on it (not shown). Furthermore, in this example, information regarding the likelihood of future revisions of the law, the planned revision date, and the progress is displayed (area 705). This allows the user to learn that there are movements toward future revisions of individual articles in the "Telecommunications Business Act" and to quickly grasp the content.

[0067] Furthermore, if a user selects, for example, the icon 703a for "Telecommunications Business Act" on the search results screen 700 as shown in Figure 7 or the search results screen 700' as shown in Figure 8, the information terminal device 20 displays the search results screen 700'' as shown in Figure 9 on the user interface according to the link information associated with the icon 703a. On the search results screen 700'', the amendment trend display area 702 displays information regarding the future amendment trends of the "Telecommunications Business Act" as a whole. This allows the user to grasp not only the future amendment trends of individual articles in the "Telecommunications Business Act," but also the overall movement toward amendment of the "Telecommunications Business Act."

[0068] In this example, nothing is displayed in the revision trend display area 702 on the search results screen 700. However, this is not limited to this. For example, if there are movements toward future revisions of laws and regulations, the search results screen 700'' shown in Figure 9 may be displayed immediately.

[0069] Alternatively, the search results screen 700 may not consist of a search results display area 701 and a revision trend display area 702, but rather as a single area (screen), where the content displayed there may be selectively switched depending on the user's operation action on the icon 703 (for example, switching between tab screens), or it may be displayed as a pop-up window 702' as shown in Figure 10.

[0070] As described above, according to this embodiment, the Legal Information Utilization Support System 1 can accurately provide users with information on future amendment trends of laws and regulations in the case law and law search service. In particular, according to this embodiment, the Legal Information Utilization Support System 1 predicts or infers future amendment trends of laws and regulations by analyzing documents collected from the internet that are issued by and / or presented through meetings hosted by a conference body established by a predetermined organization, manages this information in the amendment trend management table 124, and displays search results on the screen that extract information on laws and regulations and future amendment trends of those laws and regulations in response to search queries from users. As a result, users can grasp future amendment trends of the laws and regulations being searched at an earlier stage than the publication of the Official Gazette or public comments.

[0071] The embodiments described above are illustrative examples for illustrating the present invention and are not intended to limit the invention to these embodiments only. The present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from its spirit.

[0072] For example, in the methods disclosed herein, steps, operations, or functions may be performed in parallel or in different orders, as long as this does not result in a contradiction in the outcome. The steps, operations, and functions described are provided merely as examples, and some of the steps, operations, and functions may be omitted, combined with each other to form a single unit, or other steps, operations, or functions may be added, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

[0073] Furthermore, although various embodiments are disclosed herein, specific features (technical matters) in one embodiment can be added to or replaced in other embodiments, with appropriate modifications, and such forms are also included in the gist of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0074] 1… Computing systems 10… System for supporting the use of legal and regulatory information 12… Legal Information Management Server 121...Communication Interface Section 122...Document Collection Department 123...Revision Trend Management Table Generation Unit 124…Revision Trend Management Table 125... Department for Providing Legal and Legal Information 126…Revision trend information extraction department 14…Database 141…Case Law and Legal Database 142…Document Database 20… Information terminal device 30…Government and other websites N...communication network

Claims

1. A legal information utilization support system that provides users with a search service for laws and regulations, A document collection unit that collects documents relating to the aforementioned laws and regulations, which are issued by a council established by a designated organization and / or shown through a meeting hosted by said council, A revision trend management table generation unit generates a revision trend management table based on the extracted information on future revision trends of the said laws and regulations by analyzing the collected documents, and A legal information provision unit that, in accordance with a search query for searching for laws and regulations received from the user's information terminal device, searches a predetermined database and controls the display of a search results screen containing the laws and regulations extracted by the search on the user interface of the information terminal device. The system includes an amendment trend information extraction unit that extracts information on future amendment trends of the aforementioned laws and regulations extracted according to the aforementioned search query, A system to support the use of legal and regulatory information.

2. The aforementioned legal information provision unit controls the search results screen to include link information that associates the aforementioned law with information regarding future amendment trends of the said law. A system for supporting the use of legal information as described in claim 1.

3. The aforementioned legal information provision unit controls the search results screen to include a search results display area for displaying the aforementioned laws and regulations and a revision trend display area for displaying information regarding future revision trends of the aforementioned laws and regulations. A system for supporting the use of legal information as described in claim 1.

4. The search results display area and the revision trend display area are formed within the search results screen, which is configured as a single screen. A system for supporting the use of legal information as described in claim 3.

5. Either the search results display area and / or the revised trends display area is formed as a pop-up window. A system for supporting the use of legal information as described in claim 3.

6. The aforementioned legal information provision unit, in response to the user's operation action on the link information in the aforementioned legal provisions displayed in the search results display area, controls the display of information regarding future amendment trends of the aforementioned legal provisions in the amendment trend display area according to the amendment trend management table. A system for supporting the use of legal information as described in claim 3.

7. The aforementioned legal information provision unit controls the display of information regarding amendment trends of the aforementioned laws and regulations over a predetermined period in the amendment trend display area. A system for supporting the use of legal information as described in claim 6.

8. The aforementioned legal information provision unit, in response to the user's operation action on the link information for a predetermined target portion of the law displayed in the search results display area, controls the display of information regarding future revision trends of the target portion in the revision trend display area. A system for supporting the use of legal information as described in claim 6.

9. The aforementioned legal information provision unit controls the display of information regarding amendment trends of the subject portion during a predetermined period in the amendment trend display area. A system for supporting the use of legal information as described in claim 8.

10. The aforementioned amendment trend information extraction unit creates a summary based on information regarding future amendment trends of the aforementioned laws and regulations. The aforementioned legal information provision unit controls the search results screen to include the summary. A system for supporting the use of legal information as described in claim 1.

11. The aforementioned amendment trend extraction unit estimates, based on information regarding future amendment trends of the aforementioned laws and regulations, at least one of the following items: the likelihood that the amendment will be realized, the timing of the planned amendment, and the progress toward the amendment. The aforementioned legal information provision unit controls the search results screen to include the estimated items. A system for supporting the use of legal information as described in claim 1.

12. A legal information utilization support system that provides users with a search service for laws and regulations, A revision trend management table includes documents relating to the aforementioned laws and regulations, which are issued by a council established by a designated organization and / or presented through a meeting hosted by said council, and information on future revision trends of the aforementioned laws and regulations generated from said documents. It comprises a display control unit that controls the display of a predetermined screen on the user interface of the user's information terminal device, The display control unit controls the display of a search results screen containing the laws and regulations extracted by searching a predetermined database according to a search query for searching laws and regulations, so that it is displayed on the user interface. The search screen includes a search results display area for displaying the aforementioned laws and regulations and a revision trend display area for displaying information regarding future revision trends of the aforementioned laws and regulations. A system to support the use of legal and regulatory information.

13. The search results screen includes a search results display area for displaying the aforementioned laws and regulations and an amendment trend display area for displaying information regarding future amendment trends of the aforementioned laws and regulations. A system for supporting the use of legal information as described in claim 12.

14. The display control unit, in response to the user's operation action on the link information, controls the display area to show information regarding future amendment trends of the law. A system for supporting the use of legal information as described in claim 13.

15. A method for providing legal information through a legal information utilization support system that provides a search service for laws and regulations to users, To collect documents relating to the aforementioned laws and regulations, which are issued by and / or presented through meetings hosted by a council established by a designated organization, By analyzing the collected documents, information regarding future amendment trends of the aforementioned laws and regulations will be extracted, Based on the information regarding future amendment trends of the aforementioned laws and regulations that has been extracted, an amendment trend management table will be generated, The system accepts search queries related to legal information from the user's information terminal device, The system searches a designated database according to the received search query, Control the system so that the search results screen containing the aforementioned laws and regulations extracted by the search is displayed on the user interface of the information terminal device. This includes extracting information regarding future amendment trends of the aforementioned laws and regulations extracted according to the aforementioned search query, Performing the aforementioned control includes controlling the search results screen to include a search results display area for displaying the aforementioned laws and regulations and a revision trend display area for displaying information regarding future revision trends of the aforementioned laws and regulations. Method of providing legal and regulatory information.

16. A method for providing legal information through a legal information utilization support system that provides a search service for laws and regulations to users, To create a revision trend management table that includes documents relating to the aforementioned laws and regulations, which are issued and / or shown through meetings hosted by a council established by a designated organization, and information on future revision trends of the aforementioned laws and regulations generated from such documents; This includes controlling the display of a predetermined screen on the user interface of the user's information terminal device, Performing the aforementioned control includes controlling the display of a search results screen on the user interface that includes the aforementioned laws and regulations extracted by searching a predetermined database according to a search query for searching laws and regulations. The search screen includes a search results display area for displaying the aforementioned laws and regulations and a revision trend display area for displaying information regarding future revision trends of the aforementioned laws and regulations. Method of providing legal and regulatory information.

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