The Lagos State Government through its Ministry of Justice has published and distributed its laws electronically.
Mr Moyosore Onigbanjo, the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, stated this in his welcome address at the presentation of the e-laws on Wednesday.
For him, the move is the first of its kind by any state in the country and is designed to ensure quick dispensation of justice and easy access to justice.
Onigbanjo, who is also a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, explained that in its bid for continued effective and efficient administration of justice through the Law Reform Commission, the state entered into an agreement with LawPavilion Business Solutions – a technology solutions provider engaged in the business of publishing, distributing, and viewing electronic judicial authorities, cases, and laws.
The commission is an agency of government charged with the responsibility of publishing the laws of Lagos State and other state legislations in electronic and print copies.
According to the commissioner, the agreement is for annotation of the laws of Lagos State and conversion of the laws on agreed texts and format for publication on the LawPavilion electronic platform.
He added that this would make the annotated laws of Lagos State available to the public, and particularly to lawyers all over the world.
The Managing Director of LawPavillion, Mr Ope Olugasa, in his remarks, described the initiative as an epoch-making event.
He said the e-law would make it easy for judges and legal practitioners to have access to the complete and updated laws of Lagos State.
Olugasa added that those who want access to the laws have the option of either an outright purchase for a token of the entire laws or an annual subscription through the LawPavillion platform.
In her address, the Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Titilayo Shitta-Bey, noted that this could not have been achieved without the support of the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
She also thanked the Law Reform Commission for a thorough job which she said would in no small measure bring the administration of justice in Lagos State in line with international best practices.
Read the full text of the AG’s speech at the briefing:
It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to this Press Conference which is aimed at announcing the partnership between the Lagos State Ministry of Justice and Law Pavilion Business Solutions on e-publishing laws of Lagos State.
Under my watch as Attorney-General, the justice sector in Lagos State has experienced the implementation of programmes aimed at giving the people of Lagos State greater access to justice through dynamic law reforms and adherence to the rule of law. Today’s event, again, marks another milestone.
The importance of creating awareness of the laws that are being passed by the Lagos State House of Assembly cannot be over-emphasized.
Therefore, the State in its bid for the continued effective and efficient administration of justice, through the Law Reform Commission, an Agency of Government charged with the responsibility of publishing the laws of Lagos State and other State legislations in electronic and print copies, entered into an Agreement with LawPavilion Business Solutions – a technology solutions provider engaged in the business of publishing, distributing and viewing electronic judicial authorities, cases, and laws.
The Agreement is for annotation of the laws of Lagos State and conversion of the laws on agreed texts and format for publication on the LawPavilion electronic platform.
This means that the annotated laws of Lagos State are available to the public, and particularly to lawyers all over the world.
Those who want access to the laws of Lagos State have the option of either outright purchase of the entire laws or an annual subscription through the LawPavilion platform.
The Lagos State laws available on the LawPavilion platform are the 2015 Compendium as well as all the Laws that have been passed from 2015 to date.
The beauty and further advantage are that all the said laws are annotated.
I am pleased to inform you that with the click of a button the entire annotated laws of the State are made available to interested parties for a token.
Another great advantage to this initiative is that the e-publishing of the laws will provide ease of doing business as investors and other interested persons will now have access to all the laws of Lagos State at a glance.
It will also reduce the difficulties that are often associated with the physical purchase of the law ranging from time spent in traffic to the eventual wear and tear of the hard copies.
In the final analysis, the electronically published laws of Lagos State will in no small measure bring the administration of Justice in Lagos State in line with international best practices, which encourages technology as a major driver of legal initiatives.
I, therefore, welcome you to a world of easy access to the robust laws of Lagos State.
