Preserving the Canadian Legal Heritage
Daniel Poulin, Professor
Introduction
A survey conducted by the Judges Computer Advisory Committee of the Canadian Judicial Council (CJC) in January 1996 revealed that not enough was being done to preserve the Canadian judicial heritage. Of the 24 courts surveyed, only 11 had developed a policy or strategy in this regard.
This is not surprising, since many Canadian courts have become computerised only recently. Not so long ago, keeping paper copies of court decisions seemed an adequate way of meeting any immediate or future needs. Only very recently have electronic documents begun to compete with and in some cases replace paper ones. This is exactly what the Judges Computer Advisory Committee of the CJC observed in the opening section of its standards for the preparation of judgements in electronic form.
Download/View PDF HERE.