The GLIN Foundation is a not-for-profit corporation organized under the laws of the District of Columbia and qualified as tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. The purpose of the GLIN Foundation is, among other things, to obtain funding and in-kind support necessary to the sustenance and development of the next generation GLIN Network and to help operate and expand the GLIN Database.
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The Global Legal Information Network (GLIN) is a network of Member States and designated International Organizations committed to enhancing the legislative processes of individual countries, and to making their laws and legal decisions accessible to their citizens, legislators, government and private sector officials and others who relate to the country through international trade, and to participants in the global community generally.
The US Library of Congress created GLIN in 1996 and the United States supported it financially until 2012. It was not a treaty organization; rather it was a federation of Parliaments with a shared objective: to improve and provide access to the legal underpinnings of economic and social development, and to enhance the transparent evolution of international relations and international trade.
Each Member of GLIN operated its own GLIN “Station”. Usually located at the source of national law, i.e. parliaments or parliamentary libraries, these Stations were responsible for entering authenticated law and legal decisions into the GLIN database, which was searchable and accessible on-line, and for preparing searchable précis of the law and legal decisions, also for inclusion in the database. Stations varied in size from country to country. GLIN “Central” functioned as a Secretariat overseeing the overall operations, adding Members, and providing training and technical assistance to the Stations as needed.
GLIN had a salutary effect on the laws of Member countries by making transparent to all, the condition of the law and legal decisions. The GLIN database had rules and incentives for keeping the material current as well as to guarantee its authenticity. Because the database was searchable, those who were drafting new laws could readily view the work of others in Member States with similar traditions. The result was an enhancement to both regional development and particularly to South-South cooperation.
The US Library of Congress created the original GLIN Network in 1996 and the United States supported it financially until 2012 at a cost of $3 to 5 million a year. Pursuant to budgetary constraints in the US, the GLIN operating system was shut down in 2012.
A prime example of a “government network,” GLIN was formed to increase transparency and justice by making the law accessible to those ruled by it. It was the only on-line, searchable source of full, authenticated text of laws and legal decisions of multiple Member countries in the original language and English and maintained by the Member governments themselves.
The GLIN Foundation has undertaken to redevelop the network, the database and its supporting systems, and the user community to achieve the long-term goals established by the original Member States. This will include:
As these shifts are accomplished, the GLIN Foundation will concentrate on addressing the differing needs of varying GLIN country Stations – including the US Station – in order to improve their ability to contribute to and benefit from the Network; a primary means of doing this will be to promote the development of regional hubs and sub-national stations, thereby deepening and enhancing the utility of the database while strengthening the network, increasing transparency, governance, anticorruption and gender equality at the local level.