How we developed an online solution, where the primary commodities are not goods, but rather information and time?
In this case study, you'll discover:
Since 2012, courts in Slovakia have been required to publish all court decisions within 15 days of them becoming final. A similar practice exists in the Czech Republic. Every court in both countries maintains a database of decisions, which can usually be searched on the official website of the institution. Additionally, the governments of both Slovakia and the Czech Republic are required to publish all current laws and legal regulations.
For a lawyer studying the legal aspects of a specific case, the typical process involves several steps:
The judikaty.info platform was created to simplify this entire process.
The solution is built on PHP technology and works with databases of published rulings and laws from all major public sources, including:
Users simply enter the relevant keywords related to the case into the search bar, and the application handles the rest. It searches through the available databases and displays all relevant rulings and regulations published across various institutions.
Search results can then be sorted by relevance, date, number of citations, and other factors.
On judikaty.info, rulings from the Supreme Court are clearly marked with a special label. The system also provides links to additional relevant documents, such as related laws or regulations, which redirect users to their full versions on zakony.judikaty.info.
Legal concepts and arguments often involve complex phrasing, making the search process challenging. Queries tend to include lengthy expressions that standard search engines may struggle to process. To address this, we developed an enhanced intelligent search feature for judikaty.info.
The search engine uses an algorithm that breaks the query down into smaller phrases, which are then searched individually in the database. Users can also filter by mandatory or excluded terms, legal area, date, or subject. However, these filters are optional, and the system can still deliver relevant results without them.
This algorithmic search method ensures users receive highly relevant results. To make the search process clear for everyone, the platform offers recommended guidelines and video tutorials. If users still cannot find what they are looking for, they can submit a query complaint, which helps us continuously optimize the search function.
While the search function is available to all users, only registered users on judikaty.info can view full legal documents. Upon registering, new users can try all features free of charge for a limited time. After the trial period, users can purchase full access through an annual subscription.
The subscription price varies depending on the number of users and whether the account is for an individual lawyer or part of a larger organization. Institutions such as police departments, ministries, offices, and schools typically purchase access for all their employees.
Currently, the platform has over 100,000 registered users from 500 organizations in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The revenue generated from subscriptions is used to maintain, optimize, and enhance the platform.
In addition to administrative staff handling user communication and promotion, freelancers also contribute to improving the platform. They categorize new content, assign legal areas, key terms, and more to ensure easier searchability. The platform also features original content, including blogs and webinars.
Launched in 2014, judikaty.info continues to be a profitable project. It’s a prime example of a service that thrives on two of today’s most valuable commodities—time and information.
The most important incorporated modules
Technologies used
Judikaty.info and zakony.judikaty.info were created with a clear goal—to help legal professionals do their work more efficiently. Over the years, we’ve fine-tuned these web applications to the point that many users can’t imagine working without them. I think that’s the greatest success a project can achieve. I’m grateful that, with the help of bart, we continue to find ways to improve the platforms. I’m confident they will continue to support legal professionals for years to come.
