Abstract:
This article discusses the challenges involved in building the Asian Legal Information
Institute (AsianLII), a free access legal research facility developed by the Australian Legal
Information Institute – AustLII – in conjunction with partners in various Asian countries. The
focus is on dealing with a region of such linguistic diversity and on the rationale and technical
features of AsianLII as well as issues of approaches to partnerships, migration of technology
and content control, and sustainability. The article explains that, while the data aggregation
on which AsianLII is based has been assisted by the copyright laws of the region and by a
centralised approach, the sustainability of AsianLII depends on partnerships and
decentralisation. Similarly, while English language materials have been the best startingpoint
to develop the system, a multi-bilingual approach will be necessary for its longer term
development.
