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4 J. Open Access L. 1 (2016)

handle is hein.journals/jopacc4 and id is 1 raw text is: The Legal Information Needs of Civil Society in Zambia Marc Masson*, Ovais Tahir. * Cornell University, ILR School Cornell University, College of Human Ecology Abstract. For a government to ensure access to justice, it is imperative that it first ensure open access to legal information. This research seeks to assess the legal information needs of Zambian civil society. We first determined the major ways in which civil society actors in Zambia, specifically civil society organisations, labour unions, and legal practitioners, access legal information. Secondly, we surveyed the limitations and barriers associated with these paths to accessing legal information. We found that the provision of openly accessible legal information relies on two factors: the ease of access to legal information and the capacity of civil society to interpret and understand it. Major limitations to accessing and using publicly available legal information were found to be bureaucracy, financial costs, lack of legal knowledge, and the lack of computerisation and internet access. Major factors influencing the ability of civil society organizations to effectively use legal information were donor funding and capacity building services, as well as the use of paralegals. Keywords: Law, Legal Information, Unions, Civil Society Organisations, Non- Governmental Organisations, Lawyers, Legal Practitioners, Access to Justice, Legal Information Institute, Zambia, Development, Paralegals, Capacity Building

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