TERMS AND CONDITIONS

LAST UPDATED ON 9 OCTOBER 2024

Welcome to the Digital future of justice Hackathon 2.0!  The Division for Transversal Challenges and Multilateral Projects of the Council of Europe in collaboration with the Institute of Legal Informatics and Judicial Systems, and the University of Bologna, are organising the hackathon to provide participants with the opportunity to address transversal human rights challenges through innovative solutions, further advancing justice systems that uphold human rights.

OVERVIEW
HACKATHON NAME: Digital future of justice Hackathon 2.0 (“Hackathon“)

THE HACKATHON OBJECTIVE
The purpose of the Digital Future of Justice Hackathon 2.0 is to focus on boosting creativity and involving students and researchers to develop innovative digital solutions to foster human rights focus in national justice systems. By organising this Hackathon, the Council of Europe in collaboration with the Institute of Legal Informatics and Judicial Systems, and the University of Bologna aims to involve students and researchers to harness technology for better human rights protection and contribute to raising awareness of judges, lawyers, and other legal professionals on the constantly evolving case law of the European Court of Human Rights.

The overarching objective of the Digital Future of Justice Hackathon 2.0 is to enhance access to judicial data and information to strengthen the national implementation of human rights standards.

For the participating teams, the Division for Transversal Challenges and Multilateral Projects puts at their disposal the following services free of charge:

• Access to its central web portal
• Registration and authentication services
• Access to 1 workstation on-site per team
• Access to a dedicated server and cloud space (located in the EU) for the
• use of the participants during the hackathon
• Accommodation, travel and catering arrangements

ORGANISER & FACILITATOR
The Organiser (“Organiser”) of the event is the Division for Transversal Challenges and Multilateral Projects of the Council of Europe.

The Facilitator (the “Facilitator”) of the event is Kreativdistrikt S.r.l. ​(hereafter also “KDKT”), ​registered office: Via F. Petrarca 22, 20123 Milano, VAT code and Fiscal Code 09829520965.

The Facilitator and the Organiser may be collectively referred to as “Hackathon Organisers”.

CONTACT
info@kreativdistrikt.com

DATES AND TIMING

APPLICATION PHASE: until 15 October 2024
To be considered for the hackathon, participants must submit a Concept Summary (3 pages maximum) outlining their proposed solution, along with registering their teammates. The summary should include:

• A brief description of your solution and how it addresses the challenge
• Key features of your solution (e.g., data extraction, case comparison, user interface)
• Any open-source components or tools you plan to use
• Description of your participation in open-source projects if you have it
• Teams may consist of up to 4 participants, all of whom must be enrolled in a university or institute in a member state of the Council of Europe.

Selected teams will be notified by KDKT no later than 14 October. Please note that the Council of Europe, as the event’s official timekeeper, reserves the right to extend the selection timeline if necessary.

For selected participants, the Council of Europe will cover travel, accommodation, and meals from the evening of 15 October through to lunch on 17 October. These costs are fully covered, with no payment required from participants. However, any expenses beyond this scope will not be included.

WARM-UP ONLINE SESSIONS

• WARM-UP ONLINE SESSION 1 on the overall idea of the Hackathon and its challenge: 10:00 – CEST on 21 October 2024
• WARM-UP ONLINE SESSION 2 on the structure of judicial decisions, indexing and categorisation in case law databases and the dataset for the Hackathon: 10:00 – CEST on 28 October 2024
• WARM-UP ONLINE SESSION 3 on practical arrangements for the Hackathon participants: 10:00 – CEST on 4 November 2024
• The meeting day will be in Bologna on the 15 October, including check-in, a tour of the University, and dinner.
• 2-DAY HACKATHON: 16 and 17 November 2024 (with early registration open on 15 November 2024 followed by a dinner for the Hackathon participants offered by the Organisers)
• PITCHING & AWARD EVENT: CEST 16:30 on 17 November 2024

The Hackathon Organisers will be the official timekeepers for this event.

CHALLENGE
The following challenge is proposed:

Develop an innovative IT solution to identify and highlight similarities and common information in court cases (judicial decisions) across different jurisdictions. Your challenge is to develop an IT solution that can find similarities in court cases and provide information about such similar elements.

PROOF OF CONCEPT
During the Hackathon, participants will be asked to deliver a “Proof of Concept” (POC) for innovative solutions that could be developed to address the challenge The deliverables to be submitted are provided in the Starter Kit.

GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSIONS
The guidelines for the submission of deliverables can be found directly at this link: https://digitaljustice.tech/

LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS
Submissions must be provided in English. Submissions in other languages will not be accepted.

JUDGING
Right after the end of the Hackathon, the Jury will evaluate the teams’ POCs and demos whenever available.

The evaluation criteria and their weight in deliberation are as follows:

• Innovation (25%): This assesses the level of creativity and originality demonstrated in the project. Judges look for novel ideas and unique approaches to solving the problem at hand.
• Feasibility (15 %): Judges consider whether the project can realistically be implemented. This involves evaluating factors such as the availability of resources, technology, and skills needed to bring the idea to fruition.
• Applicability (25 %): This criterion measures how well the project addresses the specific challenge or problem it was designed for. It assesses whether the solution is practical and relevant to real-world needs.
• Tool Performance (10 %): Judges evaluate how effectively the tools and technologies used in the project perform. This includes assessing the project’s speed, accuracy, and overall functionality.
• Scalability (10 %): Scalability assesses whether the project can grow or adapt to handle increased usage or a larger user base. A scalable solution can handle greater demand without a significant loss in performance.
• Adherence to Data Security and Privacy Standards (15 %): With a growing emphasis on data security and privacy, this criterion examines whether the project complies with relevant regulations and best practices. It assesses how well user data is protected and whether privacy concerns have been addressed.

PRIZES
TBD

WINNERS ANNOUNCEMENT
The winners of the Hackathon will be announced at the end of the event on 17 November 2024.

FAQs
Frequently asked questions can be found here: https://digitaljustice.tech/.

For any further questions please contact info@kreativdistrikt.com with the subject: “Question on the Digital Future of Justice Hackathon 2.0”.

HACKATHON PROCESS (information for the Teams)
At a certain point during the team formation phase, you will be able to download the Digital Future of Justice Hackathon “Starter Kit” from the dedicated Hackathon platform tab named “Starter Kit & Resources” which is visible to registered participants. The Starter Kit contains useful information that we recommend that you read carefully, such as how to use the Hackathon platform, how to create or join a team, how to access the resources, how and when to submit your work, the required content for each deliverable, etc. Once available, please read the document carefully to prepare for the Hackathon.

From 21 October to 4 November 2024, a virtual “Warm Up” will take place. During this period, online interactive sessions with a dedicated team of Digital Future of Justice experts will be organised to guide you in better understanding the challenge, learning to understand how to work with the dataset of the Hackathon and getting familiar with the practical arrangements. Each Team must appoint a team leader. During the 2-day Hackathon, all Teams will be guided and supported by a group of mentors, who will guide you towards shaping and delivering your project. Mentors will be available to all teams throughout the Hackathon. The announcement of winners will take place at CEST 19:00 on 17 November 2024.

Teams’ application for, access to, participation or involvement in the Hackathon is conditioned on their acceptance of and compliance with the following Terms and conditions.

TEAM REQUIREMENTS
Teams may consist of up to 4 participants, all of whom must be enrolled in a university located in a member state of the Council of Europe. For a full list of eligible member states, please refer to this website: https://www.coe.int/en/web/about-us/our-member-states

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
The Participants of the Hackathon retain their intellectual property rights on the created digital tool and algorithms. The organizers and sponsors of the event will not claim any ownership rights over-developed products. 

The dataset of judicial decisions is provided to the participants. The dataset cannot be used outside the Hackathon and shall be destroyed by the Teams at the end of the event on 17 November 2024.

The Participant confirms that the developed Deliverable will not infringe upon any privacy rights, publicity rights, copyrights, contract rights, or any other rights of any person. Furthermore, the Participant agrees that their Deliverable does not breach any law, regulation, rule, code, or other legal obligation. The Deliverables must not contain any software viruses or any other computer code, files, or programs designed to interrupt, destroy, or limit the functionality of any computer software, hardware, or telecommunications equipment.

The Hackathon, the Platforms, and their original content (excluding Content provided by Participants or Mentors), features and functionality are and will remain the exclusive property of the Organisers. Nothing in these Terms constitutes a transfer of any Intellectual Property rights from the Organizers to the Participants.

Participants are permitted to use the Hackathon and the Platforms only as authorised by the Hackathon Organizers.

LIABILITY AND DISPUTE SETTLEMENT
The Organiser is fully entitled to shorten, extend, modify, or cancel the Hackathon in any manner it deems fit without incurring any liability to the Participants. The Organiser is fully entitled to disqualify a Participant or a team that does not abide by these Terms and Conditions or acts in any way deemed inappropriate by the Organiser.

The Organisers shall not be responsible, and assume no liability, for (i) lost, misdirected, or late submissions; (ii) electronic transmission errors; (iii) theft, destruction, change of, or unauthorized, access to submissions; (iv) technical problems, malfunctions or errors in the operation of any hardware or software which is necessary for the transmission of submissions or for the procedure of the Hackathon, including computer viruses and bugs, or for manipulations, unauthorized access, scams, overload of the Internet or a website or any combinations of these, nor for other causes not subject to the inspection by the Organisers and the respective subsidiaries and branches of the Organisers. In case any of the above should occur, the Organisers retain the right, in its sole discretion, to adjust, change, postpone or cancel the hackathon in any manner it deems fit, or to take any other action it deems appropriate, including, without limitation, disqualifying any Participant who wrongfully causes any of the above to occur. The Organisers reserve all rights to recover damages and to take any resources that may be available to it against any such Participant.

Participants who are employees of a corporation, government agency, or academic institution are responsible for ensuring that their participation complies with any policies their respective corporation, agency or institution may have regarding participation in events such as the Hackathon. If the Organisers have reason to believe that a Participant violated any such internal policies, the Organiser reserves the right to prohibit the Participant from participating in the Hackathon. The Organisers assume no liability and are not responsible for any disputes arising between a Participant and his/her employer with respect to participation in the Hackathon. Any dispute regarding this Hackathon shall – failing a friendly settlement – be submitted to arbitration. The Arbitration Board shall be composed of two arbitrators each selected by one of the parties, and of a presiding arbitrator, appointed by the other two arbitrators; in the event of no presiding arbitrator being appointed under the above conditions within a period of six months, the President of the Tribunal Judiciaire of Strasbourg shall make the appointment. Alternatively, the parties may submit the dispute for decision to a single arbitrator selected by them by common agreement or, failing such agreement, by the President of the Tribunal Judiciaire of Strasbourg.

The Board referred to above or, where appropriate, the arbitrator referred to above, shall determine the procedure to be followed. If the parties do not agree upon the law applicable to the Board or, where appropriate, the arbitrator shall decide ex aequo et bono having regard to the general principles of law and commercial usage. The arbitral decision shall be binding upon the parties and there shall be no appeal from it.

PRIVACY
When participating in this Hackathon the Teams members accept and agree to the Privacy Notice of Organiser (see Annex I to the present Terms and Conditions)  and the Facilitator Privacy Policy accessible HERE.

GENERAL
The Hackathon Organisers reserve the right to verify the validity of submissions, as well as their compliance with these Terms and Conditions, and to disqualify any Participant who interferes in any way with the entry process or who submits an entry that is not in accordance with these Terms and Conditions. The Hackathon Organisers reserve the right to cancel the Hackathon and/or cancel or amend the awards if it deems in its sole discretion that there is an insufficient number of participants. The Hackathon Organisers’ decision in relation to any and all aspects of the Hackathon is final and binding on every Participant and there shall be no appeal or review process for any such decision.

The Hackathon Organisers are not responsible for (i) any problems or technical malfunctions of any telephone network or lines, computer or online systems, servers, providers, computer equipment, software, or any technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or any website, delay or error in postal service, or any combination thereof; (ii) any incorrect or inaccurate information caused by any equipment or programming associated with, or used in this Hackathon, or any technical error, including any omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, mobile or satellite network failure, theft, destruction, unauthorized access or alteration of entries, or any combination thereof. The Hackathon Organisers assume no liability and are not responsible for any injury or damage to a Participant’s or any other person’s electronic device resulting from participation in this Hackathon or downloading any data as part thereof. In the event of war, terrorism, economic sanctions, riots, fires, natural disaster, or any other state of emergency or force majeure, the Hackathon Organisers reserve the right to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the Hackathon or take any other action it deems fit with respect to the Hackathon without any liability.

VISIBILITY

Official photos and video recordings will be taken during the event and may be used on the Internet, social networks and other forms of public communication of the Council of Europe. If you do not wish to be photographed and/or recorded, please inform the Organisers accordingly before or during the event but in any case before any such material is released.

INDEMNIFICATION

As a condition of participation in this Hackathon, and/or access to and use of Organiser platforms and data, Participants agree to indemnify the Organisers, its subcontractors, successors and assigns for all damages, costs, expenses and other liabilities, including but not limited to legal fees and expenses, relating to any claim arising out of related to participation to the Hackathon and access to and use of the Platforms, or Participant’s breach of these Terms & Conditions, as well as any applicable law or the rights of another person or party.

NON-DISCLOSURE OF CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION AGREEMENT

The Participant agrees to hold in confidence and not disclose any confidential information obtained from the Hackathon Organisers during the Hackathon. Confidential information includes, but is not limited to, any personal information, financial information, and technical data. The Participant agrees to use the confidential information solely to participate in the Hackathon. The Participant shall take all reasonable steps to ensure that confidential information is not disclosed or distributed to any third party without the prior written consent of the Organiser.

CHANGE OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS
The Hackathon Organisers reserve the right to change these Terms and Conditions and to add and/or remove any provisions from these Terms and Conditions at any time (including before and during the Hackathon), for any reason and in any manner it deems fit.

CANCELATION

All provisions of the Terms & Conditions which by their nature should remain termination shall, in the event thereof, remain valid, including, without limitation, intellectual property rights provision, indemnity, limitations of liability and Non-Disclosure Agreements.

The Organisers shall not be liable to Participants or any third party for any claims or damages arising out of any cancellation or suspension, or any other actions taken by the Organisers in connection therewith.

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The Hackathon is organised by the Council of Europe in partnership with Institute of Legal Informatics and Judicial Systems (Italy) and University of Bologna