Public access to statutory and case law remains restricted in many parts of the world, and most egregiously in much of Sub-Saharan Africa. The Information Program cooperates with an international network of Legal Information Institutes that work with governments, courts and law societies to collate law corpuses and make them freely available online.
The Information Program and Open Society Foundation’s Africa foundations are supporting the development of a larger initiative which is undertaking to make open access to law the norm throughout Africa. To achieve this, Legal Information Institutes are being established at the national level in Sub-Saharan Africa, while a regional body has been developed to provide support and training to the national Legal Information Institutes. We are partnering with UNDP, Freedom House and the Africa Technology and Transparency Initiative to support this initiative.
The Open Access to Law Initiative has a full program of work for 2013. The Open Access to Law Initiative will consider applications from new partners in line with above stated priorities however please keep in mind that we are only able to fund a limited number of the many applications we receive. If you are considering applying for funding under this initiative, please send a one-page concept paper to informationprogram.grants@opensocietyfoundations.org. The paper should include the following information:
- A brief description of the project goals and planned activities.
- Information about the applicant organization and project partners.
- An idea of how much your project will cost.
We endeavor to respond to applications for funds which meet the criteria specified within two months.