Recent publications by public institutions and authorities clearly highlight “Law as Code.” Rulemapping is identified as a key method for implementing the digital transformation of lawmaking and enforcement.
Recognition by the business community, academia, and policymakers marks a transition from methodological validation to structural application. The focus here is on the need to translate legal complexity into machine-readable logic in order to maintain the operational capacity of government and economic processes.
Rankings by leading institutions
Several recent publications are currently shaping the debate on digital legislation:
- The Federal Government’s Modernization Agenda: The strategy aims to establish “Law as Code” as the standard by 2028. This includes providing an open-source editor and setting up repositories for digital rule maps of current law.
- Final Report of the Commission on the Welfare State (BMAS): As part of the modernization of the welfare state, the report emphasizes the need to prepare legal frameworks in a way that makes them digitally executable. Rulemapping is seen here as a way to make the complexity of social law manageable and to promote automated decision-making.
- BDI Agenda “Einfach Staat”: The Federation of German Industries recommends consistently advancing the “Law as Code” approach. The goal is to develop laws using a model-based approach during the drafting process, rather than digitizing them retrospectively as plain text.
- EFI Report: The expert commission highlights rule mapping as a tool for checking the existing web of regulations for redundancies and supporting the “once-only” principle through systematic structuring.
Relevance for the Public and Private Sectors
The systematic application of rule mapping addresses challenges in two key areas:
- Public Sector: By transforming linear texts into visual decision trees, the foundation is laid for automated and consistent administration.
- Private Sector & Compliance: For companies, the provision of machine-readable standards offers the opportunity to integrate compliance requirements directly into IT systems. This is particularly important for navigating international regulations.
Implementation as a Necessity
Their inclusion in official strategy documents underscores the need for action at the federal and state levels. The methodological framework provided by SPRIND forms the foundation for this. The task now is to ensure the widespread adoption of these standards in order to accelerate the implementation of legislation and digital enforcement both nationally and internationally.
