LEGAL ONTOLOGY DRIVEN LEGAL SERVICE PROCESS MANAGEMENT

Abstract

Process management and optimization play vital role in almost all industries regardless of different domains. The process managements involves with designing the process and applying the engineering principles on it in order to reduction of complexities in the selected system in the domain interested. The process optimization involves with reduction of time in between processes and possibility to automate the processes. The legal domain is one of the complex domains in Sri Lanka since more number of collaborative actors; interoperable issues within the system; complex legislation laws and rules; and difficult Courts procedures. This research project was initiated and completed in order to develop an ontology framework model for the service process management at the District Courts in the legal sector. The ontology framework model was developed with five aspect models namely action model, process model, object model, data model and construction model. These all five aspect models deal with five different views and construction of the ontology framework model. The development model is named as Design and Engineering Modeling of Organization - Extended (DEMO-E). The backbone of the DEMO-E is the "transaction" (which is the complete cycle of one or more coordination acts and a production act to produce an either material or immaterial output as the result).DEMO-E is a theory to do a construction and operation of any enterprises. The intended result is provided through the standard pattern of the transaction (it is series of communication act in order to achieve an output which cause an effect on social world) via series of communication acts. The legal XII domain is rich in more conrimunicational agenda and more number of participants in a single case. A transaction meta-model was developed in order to apply on the mile stone events and get the relevant model for the transaction in both within the selected case filing area and other stages of the casein legal sub domains. A case must passes around four basic stages such as filing, hearing, case moving or transferring when necessary and verdict. The case filing major transaction it have many sub-transactions namely case tender, necessary payments, binding and decision of the judge collectively implies as case filing. The said each sub transactions obey the generic transaction stages including both coordination acts such as request, promise, state and accept and production act such as execution act. In fact all five different ontology aspect models map the conceptual design of legal process management with easy understanding. Further, DEMO-E can be successfully applied to the legal domain due to optimal constructional pattern and the optimal operational acts. More than this, the DEMO provides re-engineering and re-designing options to the designers. Thus the judicial Courts procedure and the organization can be restructured for the optimal output and it leads to break the barrier of complexity and inter-operable issues