File size: 4,535 Bytes
84d5665
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
feb2a33
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
84d5665
 
 
feb2a33
84d5665
87c1edf
 
 
 
 
 
 
84d5665
 
 
 
feb2a33
84d5665
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
---
license: mit
task_categories:
- text-classification
- text-generation
language:
- de
tags:
- legal
pretty_name: Clean Open Legal Data
size_categories:
- 100K<n<1M
configs:
- config_name: cases
  data_files:
  - split: main
    path: data/cases.jsonl.gz
---
<h1 align="center">Clean Open Legal Data</h1>
<h4 align="center">
   <p>
       <a href=#overview>Overview</a> |
       <a href=#dataset-structure>Dataset Structure</a>  |
       <a href=#key-fields>Key Fields</a>  |
       <a href=#example-entry>Example Entry</a> |
       <a href=#using-the-dataset-with-python>Using the Dataset with Python</a> |
       <a href=#license>License</a>
   <p>
</h4>

## Overview

This dataset is a comprehensive collection of open legal case records in JSONL format. It comprises **251,038** cases extracted and processed from the [Open Legal Data dump](https://static.openlegaldata.io/dumps/de/2022-10-18/) (as of _2022-10-18_). The dataset is designed for legal research, data science, and natural language processing applications. While the majority of entries (especially _tenor_, _tatbestand_, _gründe_, and _entscheidungsgründe_) have been carefully separated and extracted, approximately **1,176** (**0.47%** of total) cases have been flagged as "_messy_" due to extraction or formatting issues. These messy entries are included for full transparency, and their "_slug_" IDs are available in [`problematic_case_slugs.txt`](https://huggingface.co/datasets/harshildarji/openlegaldata/blob/main/problematic_case_slugs.txt) so users can decide whether to filter them out or work with them. In references, law references and case references are also separated, as shown in the [example entry](#example-entry).

## Dataset Structure

```
├── README.md
├── data
│   └── cases.jsonl.gz
└── problematic_case_slugs.txt
```

- **Language:** German
- **Format:** JSONL
- **Total Cases:** 251,038

## Key Fields

- **id:** Unique identifier for the record.
- **file_number:** Identifier for the case (e.g., `"1 A 2639/20"`).
- **slug:** URL-friendly unique identifier (e.g., `"ovgnrw-2022-03-25-1-a-263920"`).
- **ecli:** European Case Law Identifier.
- **date:** Date of the decision in `YYYY-MM-DD` format.
- **court:** JSON object with court details (e.g., _name_, _city_, _state_, _jurisdiction_).
- **type:** Type of legal decision (e.g., "Beschluss").
- **tenor:** List of summary statements of the decision.
- **tatbestand:** List of factual background details.
- **gründe:** List of reasoning or legal arguments provided.
- **entscheidungsgründe:** Detailed decision reasons.
- **references:** Contains references to laws and related cases.

## Example Entry

Below is an example entry from the JSONL file:

```json
{
    "id": 344319,
    "file_number": "1 A 2639/20",
    "slug": "ovgnrw-2022-03-25-1-a-263920",
    "ecli": "ECLI:DE:OVGNRW:2022:0325.1A2639.20.00",
    "date": "2022-03-25",
    "court": {
        "id": 823,
        "name": "Oberverwaltungsgericht Nordrhein-Westfalen",
        "slug": "ovgnrw",
        "city": "Unspecified",
        "state": "Nordrhein-Westfalen",
        "jurisdiction": "Verwaltungsgerichtsbarkeit",
        "level_of_appeal": null
    },
    "type": "Beschluss",
    "tenor": [
        "Der Antrag wird abgelehnt.",
        "...",
        "Der Streitwert wird auch für das Zulassungsverfahren auf 7.500,00 Euro festgesetzt."
    ],
    "tatbestand": [],
    "gründe": [
        "Der Antrag des Klägers auf Zulassung der Berufung hat keinen Erfolg.",
        "...",
        "Das angefochtene Urteil ist nunmehr rechtskräftig, § 124a Abs. 5 Satz 4 VwGO."
    ],
    "entscheidungsgründe": [],
    "references": {
        "law": [
            "§ 124a Abs. 4 Satz 4 VwGO",
            "§ 124a Abs. 5 Satz 4 VwGO",
            "..."
        ],
        "case": [
            "1 A 5162/05",
            "1 KR 87/11",
            "..."
        ]
    }
}
```

## Using the Dataset with Python

Below is an example of how to load and explore the dataset using Python with the [🤗 Datasets](https://huggingface.co/docs/hub/datasets-usage) library:

```python
import json

from datasets import load_dataset

# Load cases
cases = load_dataset("harshildarji/openlegaldata", "cases", split="main")

# Total cases
print(len(cases))

# View first case
print(json.dumps(cases[0], indent=4, default=str, ensure_ascii=False))
```

## License

This dataset is released under the MIT license, same license as the [Open Legal Data platform](https://github.com/openlegaldata/oldp).