LPFF has donated N$168,000 to the LAC. Pictured above at the handover of the donation are FLTR Toni Hancox, Director of LAC, Pius Iikwambi, member of the LPFF Board of Control, and Taimi Iileka-Amupanda, member of the LPFF Board of Control.
The Legal Practitioners Fidelity Fund (LPFF) has donated N$168,000 to the Legal Assistance Centre (LAC). The amount will be used for updating the legal database of the LAC, which is made freely available for use by legal practitioners, the judiciary, the press, students and the general public.
The database is the most comprehensive online legal resource of its kind in Namibia, containing:
- NAMLEX, a comprehensive list of Namibian laws, organized by topic;
- the NAMLEX Appendix with details on multilateral treaties applicable to Namibia;
- regularly updated Annotated Statutes which cover all legislation; and
- Annotated Regulations which include post-independence and most pre-independence regulations.
The database is freely available on the LAC website at www.lac.org.na
Expressing gratitude for the donation, Toni Hancox, Director of the LAC, said that updating the database is vital to preserve the capability and understanding of all those who need to access and use the law. However she went on to say that as the legal environment is dynamic and new laws are enacted and regulations are amended, this places responsibility on the LAC to ensure that the database is current and information is kept up to date.
Echoing the sentiment, Pius Iikwambi, member of the LPFF Board of Control, said it is vital for legal practitioners to have statutes at their fingertips when engaging in legal matters, particularly in courts.
Iikwambi noted that the donation partially covers the cost of updating the database and challenged other legal bodies and private sector companies to step in to cover the remaining amount needed for the valuable shared resource.
The LPFF is established in terms of section 53 of the Legal Practitioners Act 1995 for the purpose of reimbursing persons who may suffer pecuniary loss as a result of the theft of money or property entrusted to a Legal Practitioner in the course of his/her practice as such, or where a Legal Practitioner acts as executor or administrator in a deceased estate, or as a trustee in an insolvent estate.
The Fund is capitalized from statutory contributions from registered legal practitioners who practice for their own accounts.
In the event of a surplus the Fund is empowered to direct portions of the surplus to development of the legal environment, including legal training, and development and maintenance of institutions such as LAC and its database.
