Google launches archive of world's constitutionsSeptember 24, 2013 - 10:13 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Internet giant Google launched an archive of the world's constitutions Monday, Sept 23, in a new online initiative designed to help countries emerging from conflicts or political crises, according to AFP. Launching the new site --- www.constituteproject.org --- in New York, Google officials said the aim was to help people drafting constitutions to see what other countries have done in the past. "We wanted to take the physical constitutions and we wanted to have them organized online, make them universally available online and make them useful for all the different governments going through a constitutional process," Google Ideas director Jared Cohen said. "These constitutions and government documents represent an important opportunity for these countries," he added. They formulated the idea for the site in 2008 after observing constitutional reform in Iraq and Afghanistan and realizing that there was no central resource detailing basic constitutional provisions. "A common result ... is a haphazard and accidental cobbling together of constitutional elements from other countries," the CCP said. Cohen said between five and seven constitutions were drafted each year in different parts of the world. Tunisia's President Moncef Marzouki, who was present at the launch, said the new site would be vital for countries such as his own which is struggling to agree on a constitution and electoral law following a 2011 revolution. "I'm very fascinated by this project and I think it will be extremely useful," he said. The site allows users to search for different constitutions by country or by year, and is subdivided into themes such as citizenship, foreign policy or judicial autonomy and power. "Our aim is to arm drafters with a better tool for constitution design and writing," Google Ideas project manager Sara Sinclair Brody said in a blog post. "We also hope citizens will use Constitute to learn more about their own constitutions, and those of countries around the world." Related links: Top stories Yerevan will host the 2024 edition of the World Congress On Information Technology (WCIT). Rustam Badasyan said due to the lack of such regulation, the state budget is deprived of VAT revenues. Krisp’s smart noise suppression tech silences ambient sounds and isolates your voice for calls. Gurgen Khachatryan claimed that the "illegalities have been taking place in 2020." Partner news Most popular in the section | Putin congratulates Pashinyan’s birthday Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on his birthday on June 1. Opposition motorcade en route to Gyumri for large rally A motorcade of protesters headed by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan is heading to the city of Gyumri. Ruling MPs, Foreign Minister talk Armenia-Azerbaijan processes MOs from the ruling Civil Contract party met with the Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in the Armenian parliament. Russia: Armenia’s frozen membership weakens CSTO position in Caucasus A Russian envoy said any step that could alienate the CSTO member states from each other is “deeply wrong”. |