Since its inception, the Court of Justice of the European Union has endeavoured to ensure that its case-law is accessible to the general public. That case-law has not only been published in the European Court Reports since 1954 but also disseminated in various formats on EUR-Lex and InfoCuria, and now includes legal and procedural data (metadata).

Those publications, which are intended for citizens and can be read by them directly, should however be distinguished from publication intended for reuse by external IT systems. In order to meet the latter need and in cooperation with the Publications Office, the Court is currently conducting work on identifying ‘Open Data’ publication formats.

Although making datasets available in such ‘Open Data’ formats is relatively straightforward from a technical point of view, there does need to be a governance process in place to identify the data which can be published and reused, in compliance in particular with the rules on the protection of personal data.

In addition, Open Data is particularly relevant to the Court in the context of its pilot projects in the field of artificial intelligence systems. The availability of good quality data in a structured format is not only an asset for the interoperability of IT systems, but also contributes to the optimal functioning of the algorithms of those systems, in a manner consistent with the rules on the ethical aspects of their use. The availability of data in Open Data formats will thus enable the Court to offer a service to external partners while providing a solid basis for the development and operation of its internal IT systems.