About the Center
Administrator November 15th, 2006
Center for e-Law launched in response to “technology revolution”
by David L. Ballesteros (Arellano Law Today, August 2003 issue)
The Arellano University School of Law (AUSL) launched the Center for e-Law, which will take the lead within the academic circle in the areas of research, policy advocacy, and legal education that addresses the developments in technology law. The said Center is envisioned to be at the forefront of the various legal issues brought about by developents in information technology. “The Center is similar to Harvard Law School’s Beckman Center for Internet and Society,” said Atty. Jaime N. Soriano, the Head of the Center.
“To my knowledge, our law school is pioneering these efforts, as no other law school in the Philippines has a similar institute or center dedicated to IT law development,” he further said.
Among the objectives of the Center are to conduct research on the effects of information technology on the Philippine legal system; pursue policy initiatives and advocacy on the development of Philippine law on information and communication technology; organize regular lectures and other fora on legal developments in technology law; establish appropriate network and linkages; and generate grants and scholarships on a distinct or difficult aspect of technology law.
The global development in information technology resulting from the phenomenal convergence of computers and communications has brought about challenges in law practice and legal education. As information technology dramatically affects the way people live, it also affects in the same degree almost every aspect of existing legal systems and relationships. Needless to say, the law must be technology-neutral and must always adopt to the needs of the times.
To prepare for this “technology revolution,” many law school and Bar institutions abroad formed units dedicated to information technology developments within their respective institutions. In the Philippines, much has to be desired in this area from the academic community because of its strong adherence to conservative and traditional approach to legal education. The Center was thus established in response to this inevitable paradigm shift.
For its first project, the Center will implement an e-mail system for the AUSL, entailing the creation of a website that will serve as bulletin or forum board and will feature announcements of school events, among others. A survey was recently conducted to assess the readiness of AUSL students to respond to the developments in information technology.
The e-Law Center would like to produce Arellano lawyers who are ready to respond to the challenges of the global community. In line with this objective, the Center will make available facilities that will encourage the AUSL academic community to utilize information technology in their campus interaction, legal research and studies, not only through www.lawphil.net, but also through www.arellanolaw.net.
