Democracy Through Access to Legal Information for Newly Democratizing Nations: The Kenyan Perspective and Lessons from the American Experience
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2005
Keywords
justice
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2004.10.004
Abstract
The rule of law is essential for a country's development process, providing one of the ingredients for stability in newly democratizing countries that eventually promotes strong judicial systems. Likely factors contributing to weaknesses in the judicial systems include the absence of functional legal information systems, especially the availability of judicial decisions, as well as the inability of the populace generally to access legal material and legal information. Taking Kenya as an example and using the US judicial process as a foil, this paper examines the proposition that the availability of judicial decisions in case reporters enhances democracy by increasing judicial transparency and contributing to some predictability in the law, thus enhancing the rule of law. The paper also emphasizes the crucial role that information technology and the Internet could have in advancing access to legal information.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
No
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Government Information Quarterly, v. 22, issue 1, 108-121
Scholar Commons Citation
Gathegi, John N., "Democracy Through Access to Legal Information for Newly Democratizing Nations: The Kenyan Perspective and Lessons from the American Experience" (2005). School of Information Faculty Publications. 288.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/si_facpub/288
