Recently, I reflected here on possibilities to (partially) automate the legal system by using machine-readable language. As chance would have it, just in these days the current work of a Viennese doctoral student of law became known, who has set an initiative in this direction:
Since the beginning of February, the so-called "vaccination obligation" against COVID-19 has been in effect in Austria. But what does "in effect" mean. The associated law and the implementing ordinance issued on the basis of the law comprise a total of 35 paragraphs with countless subdivisions (paragraph, numbers) - not a text from which one can see at a glance how a particular circumstance is to be classified.
On his Website impfpflichterfüllt.at Paul Eberstaller leads the questioners with few, simple questions by the topic and offers at the end a clear answer: the inoculation status is valid or not valid. According to his own information, he needed only four hours for the development.
And now I wonder: compulsory vaccination is one of the most hotly debated topics in Austria because it deeply interferes with people's right to self-determination. If it is possible, even in this highly sensitive area, to formulate legal regulations so clearly that specific facts can be measured against them mechanically - why does this exception not become the rule? This would serve everyone!
