The Freedom of Information act enables
the sharing of information to the public effectively. This includes case law
information. While you might say it is impossible to know all the legislation
in force and impossible to know the common law case by case, the ability to procure
needed information at the shortest time possible is a legal right.
So how do we preserve this?
1.
Open Democracy and Courts
Public information accessibility
through modern technology is neither difficult nor restricted. Today, legal
professionals aren’t the only individuals who could interpret legal information
but educated individuals as well.
All legal cases must be
published on public channels. This includes all new laws and pending cases. All
courts must also understand that all cases are publicly accessible for
evaluation of different individuals.
2.
Regulators
You might say freedom is not
freedom when regulators are present. Regulators are important because they
scrutinize the quality of legal records in the country.
As the “gatekeeper”, they have
public responsibilities to report any decision for any pending case. It is important
that the public and related individuals know about the decisions to ensure the
decision is recognised and does not completely fall out of society and the
system.
3.
The Four Kinds of Information
Ideally speaking, if the country
puts four types of legal information for public access, namely the initiating
documents, oral hearing, the judgment and the orders of the court, then legal information
procurement would be easy.
For now, the awesome
development of the National Archives and the UK’s official printer the HMSO
would be a great addition for the successes of the UK’s preservation of public
legal information.
