LexisNexis South Africa, a leading provider of content and technology solutions for the professional, academic and government sectors, has marked a new milestone in its drive to modernise and improve technology at South African courts.
The company has launched its digital self help kiosk concept at the Durban High Court, where Deputy Judge President of the KZN High Courts, Achmat Naaim Jappie, presided over the ribbon cutting ceremony on Monday, 25 November.
Declaring the technology a significant step for legal research, LexisNexis CEO, Billy Last, says that the tool could be introduced at other courts across South Africa should the pilot prove successful. The concept is an extension of LexisNexis’ ongoing efforts to improve the efficiency of legal operations and follows on from the company’s groundbreaking rollout of wireless technology at the courts since 2011.
The digital self help kiosks, to be located in LexisNexis WiFi hotspots in the courts, feature a modern and interactive touch screen display through which legal practitioners can gain access to legislation, law reports and commentary.
This includes an array of LexisNexis professional legal publications and free access to the company’s online research solutions, My LexisNexis and Practical Guidance. The kiosks also offer direct links to training, customer service, sales and technical support.
Mr Last says the company continued to explore ways in which to aid professionals, governments and citizens to uphold the Rule of Law.
“A transparent legal system is a fundamental necessity for the Rule of Law and there is certainly no doubt of the importance of access to complete, accurate and up-to-date legislation and case law in the administration of justice.
“As LexisNexis South Africa, we are committed to providing tools to assist the legal fraternity to save valuable time and improve efficiencies. For example, through the digital self help kiosk technology, last minute legal research can be done at court without requiring a special device,” he says.
He says the legal industry’s reliance on digital information continued to increase and drive growing demand for sophisticated online research tools.
To date, LexisNexis South Africa has made wireless technology available at the Magistrates’ Courts in Durban, Johannesburg and Pretoria, as well as the Johannesburg High Court, Pretoria High Court, North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria; South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg; Western Cape High Court; the KwaZulu-Natal High Courts in Pietermaritzburg and Durban; and the Constitutional Court of South Africa.