Legal education and research in neighbouring Zimbabwe have been enhanced through a significant donation of books to the University of Zimbabwe, which is highly respected for producing most of that country’s judges, administrative tribunals, academics, and public and private sector lawyers.

The legal textbooks valued at over R53 000 were donated by LexisNexis, a leading provider of content and technology solutions for the legal and professional markets, and will take the university’s Faculty of Law one step closer to realising its goal of building a comprehensive  Core Text Book Collection Library.

The collection now includes a list of up-to-date legal textbooks that were pre-selected by the faculty.
On average, the number of students graduating from the faculty is between 130 to 150 annually. University of Zimbabwe Law Librarian, Darlington Musemburi, said the new books would help grow the resources in circulation and improve the learning and teaching experience.

“The books will go a long way in transforming the research experience of users in tax law, family law, contract law, and audit and cost management. Some of the titles selected are updated versions of editions we have in the library, thus a breath of recency will be added to our collection,” said Musemburi.

As a major supplier of legal textbooks to universities, LexisNexis publications are renowned for their quality, relevance and accuracy, Musemburi added.

“Furthermore, the books of South African contexts will be used for comparative basis in the learning, research and teaching in the law faculty and the university at large.” He thanked LexisNexis for its unwavering support to the University of Zimbabwe’s Faculty of Law Library and upholding of the rule of law in Zimbabwe.

LexisNexis Africa’s advancement into Africa aims to improve the effectiveness of legal systems by facilitating access to accurate and up-to-date legal information for African governments, law firms, companies, NGOs and universities. The company encourages the development of national jurisprudence, facilitates regional harmonisation and promotes good governance and transparency.

Dustin Rees, General Manager, Africa and Operations at LexisNexis South Africa, said the company was passionate about supporting the legal fraternity through the provision of relevant products and services within the continent.

“Our donation to the University of Zimbabwe contributes to our mission founded on our underlying global purpose and responsibility of advancing the Rule of Law. We value the respected and skilled legal professionals who graduate from the University of Zimbabwe and are proud to contribute to their success by providing the law library with the required resources,” said Rees.

LexisNexis has invested in the development and enhancement of the Rule of Law in Africa through various projects. Recent projects fulfilled by the LexisNexis Africa division have included:

• Online access to the Laws of Uganda via the MyLexisNexis platform and via LexisMobile – an innovative app that enables users not just to access the information, but to annotate, highlight, copy and paste from an iPad, laptop or computer, even if they don’t have an Internet connection.
• Funding virtual law library resources for the Seychelles, where an anti-piracy court has recently been set up
• 10 year renewal of the Swaziland legislation and law report agreements
• 5 year renewal to publish annual service issues to the Laws of Mauritius
• 10 year extension to the Laws of Ghana commercial publishing rights
• successful delivery of the Malawi Law Reports 2005 – 2009
• a consultancy agreement with the Kenya National Council for Law Reporting
• publication of the Annual Supplement to the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria
• publication of the Swaziland Civil Aviation regulations on behalf of the Swaziland Civil Aviation Authority
• completion and delivery of the Nigerian Oil & Gas cases volumes 7 & 8
• conclusion of agreement with Government of Ghana to deliver print copies of the Service issue 3 of the Laws of Ghana

Submitted by Lexis Nexis