13 Sep 2020

BotswanaLII Project Office will provide rapid digitisation and publication of the country’s legal information online and free of charge once fully established.

Speaking at a signing event signifying partnership to mobilise activities of the project office recently, general counsel in the Office of the President, Mr Dittah Molodi, said through project office, documents dating from independence to date, would be digitised and published online on the BotswanaLII website. 

He said documents to be published online included laws, policies, court decisions, government gazettes and parliamentary documents.

“The BotswanaLII will become another link in the chain of legal information institutes in Africa providing free access to legal information online following in the footsteps of other African countries with a similar concept and the broader global network of legal information institutes,” Mr Molodi said. 

BotswanaLII Project Office was in partnership with Government Printing and Publishing Service (GPPS) as well as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 

He said access to legal information also promoted investor confidence, which was encouraging for inclusive and sustainable development and economic growth.

Mr Molodi paid emphasis on the importance of accessible legal and policy regulatory framework as the country accelerated towards a knowledge-based economy and the broader transformation agenda. 

UNDP deputy resident representative, Ms Margunn Indreboe Alshaikh, dubbed the BotswanaLII Project as part of the efforts by UNDP to embrace technology and digital solutions to increase knowledge of and access to law and judicial decisions which are essential to a modern legal and judicial system.  

Ms Alshaikh said UNDP was also embracing a digital transformation agenda, identifying ways to support e-Governance initiatives including partnering with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development on piloting a one-stop-shop for government services.

She said UNDP was pleased to have provided financial and technical support for the establishment of the BotswanaLII Project Office at the GPPS.   

Deputy Permanent Secretary for Information and Broadcasting, Mr Oshinka Tsiang, appreciated the launch of BotswanaLII Project Office. 

He said for the media fraternity, access to information was fundamental especially in terms of reporting informed and constructive content. 

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