Lagos State, LawPavilion Sign Agreement on E-Publishing 

Last week, in a move to increase access to and ensure quick dispensation of justice, the Lagos State Government has moved to ensure that all State laws are published online.

The State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Moyosore Onigbanjo, SAN, disclosed this at a press conference held to announce the partnership between the Ministry of Justice and LawPavilion on e-publishing Laws of Lagos State.

Onigbanjo said the electronically published Laws of Lagos State will bring the administration of justice in Lagos State in line with international best practices, which technology serves as a major driver of legal initiatives. The new initiative of e-publishing of the laws will also improve the ease of doing business in the State, as investors and other interested persons will now have access to all the Laws of Lagos State at a glance, the AG further added.

“The importance of creating awareness of the Laws that are being passed by the Lagos State House of Assembly, cannot be overemphasised.

“Therefore, the State, in its bid for continued effective and efficient administration of justice through the Law Reform Commission, 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 these 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”, he said.

Onigbanjo stated that the State laws that would be available on the LawPavilion platform are the 2015 Compendium, and all the laws that have been passed from 2015 to date. He said those who want access to the Laws of Lagos State have the option of either outright purchase of the fundamental laws, or an annual subscription through the LawPavilion platform.

The Managing Director of LawPavilion, Mr Ope Olugasa, in his remarks, described the electronic publication of Lagos State laws as the first of its kind in the country.

Olugasa said the initiative would make it easy for Judges, Lawyers, and other legal practitioners to have access to up-to-date laws of the State. He said his company has developed annotations for about 265 Laws of Lagos State, for use by Judges and Lawyers.

He also highlighted the importance of digitalising legal practice to aid dispute resolution, stressing that: “the speed of justice delivery in Lagos State has just received a boost”.