LASG Develops Online Platform For Public Access To Laws

Governor Akinwunmi
Ambode of Lagos State has said an online platform would be created where people all over the world could access the laws enacted by the state since 1967 till date.
The governor made the disclosure at the launch of the 2015 Lagos State laws held at the Adeyemi Bero Auditorium, Alausa, Ikeja.
Ambode said that the state government had resolved to make the laws available online and accessible from any part of the world.
“From the online platform, people from any part of the world can easily access and download all the laws in the state since inception in 1967.
“This will further fulfil the obligation of the state government to create easy access to the laws thereby promoting a platform for accountability and responsibility,’’ he said.
He also said it would help investors and would-be investors in the state to avail themselves with various legal protections for their persons and investments.
“To this end, the Lagos State Law Reform Commission is at an advanced stage of developing an online platform for accessing the laws of the state and downloading such laws,’’ he said.
Ambode noted that the need for legislation to be up-to-date and relevant could not be overemphasised in ensuring the necessary legal infrastructure for socio-economic transformation.
Earlier, the State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Adeniji Kazeem, explained that the law reform was strongly informed by the need to avail residents the opportunity of being properly guided and informed through the laws.
He said that this would in turn enhance the effectiveness of the laws, the efficacy of the judicial system and form the platform for economic and infrastructural transformation of the state.
Kazeem said that a prominent feature of the 2015 laws was that textual amendments of archaic and colloquial words were replaced with other words for simplicity and clarity of meaning.
The commissioner said words like “therewith’’, “therein’’, “herewith’’, “hereto’, “hereinafter’’ and words of like nature where appropriate had been simplified.
He said gender specific pronouns were replaced with gender-neutral language.
“Furthermore, obsolete references to military, colonial, imperial or legal orders, offices or institutions have also been substituted with contemporary offices and institutions,” Kazeem said.
The Tide online source reports that the 2015 Laws of Lagos State was put together in partnership with Thomson Reuters.
The Managing Director of Thomson Reuters in Africa, Sneha Shah, commended the Lagos State Law Reform Commission for coming up with great content that was published by her organisation.