Resolution on the Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act

Endorsed by the AALL Executive Board, November 1, 2013

WHEREAS, the American Association of Law Libraries believes that permanent public access to official, authentic legal information is critical to the legal system of the United States; and

WHEREAS, the American Association of Law Libraries holds that information published on government websites must be trustworthy and reliable; and

WHEREAS, the American Association of Law Libraries promotes the idea that information on government websites must be preserved and permanently accessible, and offered to the public without charge whenever possible; and

WHEREAS, the American Association of Law Libraries has found that most state governments have not yet met their responsibilities to provide trustworthy, reliable access to online legal information; and

WHEREAS, the Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act promulgated by the Uniform Law Commission provides a technology-neutral, outcomes-based approach to ensuring that online state legal material deemed official will be preserved and will be permanently available to the public in unaltered form; and

WHEREAS, the Act requires that if legal material is published only in electronic form, it must be designated official; and

WHEREAS, the Act requires that electronic legal material that has been designated official must be capable of being authenticated, preserved and permanently accessible to the public; and

WHEREAS, members of the American Association of Law Libraries participated in the drafting of the Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act and have been instrumental in advocating for its adoption; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the American Association of Law Libraries supports enactment of the Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act in every state and the District of Columbia; and be it further

RESOLVED, that the American Association of Law Libraries encourages its chapters to adopt this resolution; and be it further

RESOLVED, that the American Association of Law Libraries transmit a copy of this resolution to the Uniform Law Commission, American Bar Association, state officials, and others as appropriate.