In the United States today, digital versions of current decisions, bills, statutes, and regulations issued by federal and state governments are widely available on publicly accessible Web sites. Worldwide, official (defined as “authoritative,” or “the official” word of the law) legal information issued by international organizations and foreign governments is also becoming available on the Web. However, there are currently no standards for the production and authentication of digital documents. Moreover, the information is sometimes available only for a short time and then disappears from the site. No guidelines exist either to promote a uniform way to cite to digital legal materials.

This article examines the contents of legal data and information on the Internet, with a special focus on the United States. It then evaluates the quality of the data, its impact on legal research and access to legal information, and addresses some issues raised by the digital medium, such as its reliability and permanent access concerns.

The modern history of Vietnam indicates that the country has always had more than one legal system, whether the country was unified or divided. These systems have changed and been influenced by indigenous customs, by Chinese, French, American, and socialist laws, and by other political or violent events. For example, starting from the period when Vietnam was under French domination, the country had three separate sets of laws for its three geographical regions: 1) Tonkin in the North; 2) Annam in the Center; and 3) Cochin China in the South.