By JANICE HYDE
The Law Library is working with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to plan for the implementation of the GLIN-Americas initiative.
Announced at the Summit of the Americas held by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Quebec, Canada, in April, the GLIN-Americas initiative includes support for a hemispheric network of legislative information that would expand membership in the Law Library's Global Legal Information Network (GLIN) to include all IDB member countries in the Western Hemisphere by the end of 2003.
The published proceedings from the meeting notes that parliaments must deal with complex issues, and "in these circumstances, legislators require timely access to specialized knowledge that is not always available at the individual country level." The goal of GLIN is to link legislatures of the world together in an exchange of legal information to ensure access to a comprehensive database of relevant legal information.
Through a program of technical cooperation, the IDB has already sponsored GLIN participation for the MERCOSUR ("southern market") countries of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. This program enabled the legislatures of the countries to exchange legal information among themselves as well as with other GLIN member nations around the world. One of these countries, Uruguay, earned a "GLIN Model Station" award in 1998 for exemplary performance and continues to play a leading role in the region by offering training and assistance.
The new initiative calls for three subregional components: the Central American parliaments will be incorporated in the network beginning later this year; the Caribbean legislatures will be the focus of efforts beginning early in 2002; and, starting late in 2002, the legislatures of the Andean countries will be linked to GLIN. By concentrating on subregions, the IDB aims to promote dialogue and cooperation among neighboring nations that have the need for extensive interactions.
Through the GLIN-Americas initiative (the aggregate of the subregional efforts), the IDB will provide financial support for training and equipment for the parliaments to participate in GLIN, thus strengthening the infrastructure and human capital of the legislatures in the hemisphere. Parliamentary officials will learn about modern legislative information technologies as well as how to effectively organize and manage legislative information as a result of the GLIN-Americas program. The IDB notes that access to comparative legislation made possible through GLIN will have an impact on the development of legislation at the national, subregional and global levels.
There are currently 16 contributing members of GLIN. The GLIN-Americas initiative will contribute significantly to the Law Library's goal of 40 contributing nations by 2004.
Ms. Hyde is program officer for the Law Library.