Enabling Goal 16 of UN Sustainable Development Goals through Digitized Legal Data: Making Access to Legal Information a Development Agenda in Sub-Saharan Africa
| Autore | Oluwatoyin Akinwande Badejogbin |
| Carica | Advocacy and Policy Lead for the African Legal Information Institute at the University of Cape Town |
| Pagine | 111-136 |
Enabling Goal 16 of UN Sustainable Development Goals
through Digitized Legal Data: Making Access to Legal
Information a Development Agenda in Sub-Saharan Africa
OLUWATOYI N AKINWAND E BADEJO GBI N∗
SUM MARY:1. Introduction – 2. Explaining the Free Access to Law Challenge – 3.
Goal 16, UN SDGs: Why Free Access to Law Is Critical for African Development –
4. The Free Access to Legal Information Project in Africa – 5. The Project’s Impact in
Sub-Saharan Africa – 6. The Statistics and What They Say – 6.1. General Observations
– 6.2. The Demographics – 6.3. User Int erests– 7. The Future of Free Access to Law in
Africa – 8. Conclusion: Why Invest in Access to Legal Information
1. INT RODU CTI ON
At a free access to law workshop for legal information institutes in Africa
1
,
held in Ghana in February 2016, a Ghanaian parliamentarian and keen advo-
cate of free access to law made the following pertinent observation: «there
can be no rule of law without access to the law».
The context of the observation is no less pertinent. In 2014, Ghana’s Elec-
toral Commission (EC) was preoccupied with organizing District Assembly
elections, which were scheduled forMarch 3, 2015
2
. Preparations for the polls
had reached full gear by February 2015, but that was when the problems be-
gan. The closure of nominations before the plaintiff could file his nomination
form effectively disqualified him from contesting the elections. Accordingly,
he filed a lawsuit (Benjamin Eyi Mensah v The Chairman, Electoral Commission
& the Attorney General and Minister for Justice) in which the constitutionality
of the opening and closure of nominations was challenged.
∗
The Author is Advocacy and Policy Lead for the African Legal Information Institute at
the University of Cape Town.
1
Acronyms have been used in this paper, including: LII: Legal Information Institute;
AfricanLII: African Legal Information Institute; LesothoLII: Lesotho Legal Information
Institute; MalawiLII: Malawi Legal Information Institute; SAFLII: Southern Africa Legal
Information Institute; SeyLII: Seychelles Legal Information Institute; SierraLII: Sierra Leone
Legal Information Institute; SwaziLII: Swaziland Legal Information Institute; ULII: Uganda
Legal Information Institute; ZambiaLII: Zambia Legal Information Institute; ZimLII: Zim-
babwe Legal Information Institute.
2
Supreme Court Cancels District Assembly Elections (February 27, 2015). Web
May 8 2017, http://ghananewslink.com/index.php/2014-01-01-17-42-23/5106-supreme-court-
cancels-district-assembly-elections.
Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane ISSN 0390-0975
112 Informatica e diritto /Studi e ricerche
Resolving the constitutionality of the disqualification dwelt on whether
the EC acted within the limits of its power under a Constitutional Instrument
upon which it sought to rely. The EC contended that the Instrument regulated
the anticipated polls, and, in particular, when nominations could be submitted.
Unfortunately, however, it could not produce a copy of the instrument, nor
show through parliamentary records that it existed. In the end, the Supreme
Court ruled that the law was “illusory” and that the scheduled polls did
not comply with constitutional provisions
3
. The Court stated: «. .. there
was reference to a C.I. 78 which, it was contended, could ... govern the
commencement of the upcoming District Level Elections, slated for 3/3/2015.
The reference to the said C.I. 78 proved illusory as its existence cannot be
fathomed. This mysterious legislation is not even listed in the manual of the
Electoral Commission entitled Electoral Laws».
But the law existed, had been published in the Government Gazette of
September 24, 2012, and came into force on October 3, 2012. A very different
conclusion could well have been reached had thecourt accessed the law. It
did not and the eventual decision would cost Ghana’s political process and
economy dearly. The polls were deferred by several months and the GHS317
million (approximately USD80 million) invested into preparations for it
went down the drain, besides personal resources that candidates had invested
into contesting elections. Convening new District Assemblies had to wait,
and that, expectedly, would have had considerable impact on district level
governance4.
2. EXP LAI NIN G TH E FREE ACC ESS TO LAW CHAL LEN GE
The inability of the Supreme Court of Ghana to access a law that was
crucial to the resolution of an electoral dispute generally typifies the state of
access to legal information in Africa, and the impact it can have on the politi-
cal process and on national economies
5
. Law is essential for regulating society
3
Benjamin Eyi Mensah v The Chairman, Electoral Commission & the Attorney General and
Minister for Justice (Unreported), Writ No J1/11/2015, deliveredFebruary 27, 2015.
4
A. FRIM PON G (March 29, 2015), Postponement of District Assembly Level Elec-
tions: Implications for Women, 2015, https://www.modernghana.com/news/607973/1/
postponement-of-the- district-assembly-level-electi.html.
5
See M. BADE VA-BRIGH T,Rethinking “Open” in Free and Open Access to Law, in G.
Peruginelli, M. Ragona (eds.), “Law via the Internet: Free Access Quality of Information
Effectiveness of Rights”, Florence, European Press Academic Publishing, 2009, pp. 261-263;
M. MASS ON, O. TAH IR,The Legal Information Needs of Civil Society in Zambia, in “Journal
ISSN 0390-0975 Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane
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