New vLex and Juta partnership brings South African case law to a global audience

Global News

26
Aug
2020

Editor

Later this year, there will be expanded potential for comparative research of South African case law, in addition to legal information from over 130 jurisdictions, on a single platform. 

A recent agreement between vLex and Juta will make an extensive collection of South African case law and authoritative reported series widely available to the legal industry around the world.

This new collection will provide access to around 80,000 cases from Southern African courts, dating back to 1910, including cases from The South Africa Law Reports, South Africa Criminal Law Reports, South African Appellate Division Reports as well as Juta’s Unreported Judgments series.

Artificial intelligence and South African law 

Accessing the new collection on vLex’s legal research platform will bring intuitive search and analysis tools to South African legal information. For example, the AI-powered legal research assistant, Vincent, will identify important cases by combining human search behaviour with machine speed. Also, visualisation features such as the Precedent Map and Key Passages will allow for new insights to be drawn from this vast collection of legal information.

Masoud Gerami, Managing Director of vLex Global Markets, discussed the importance of this new collection: “We are excited to make this significant collection available more widely, and we are confident that researchers and academics around the world will benefit from such comprehensive coverage. South Africa was one of the first regions we had considered to enhance the range of content that we offer from vLex, and we are very happy to have achieved this by having a partner of the quality and pedigree of Juta.”

“Juta is delighted to be partnering with vLex on this important initiative”, says Kamal Patel, CEO of Juta and Company. “It will enhance and broaden the availability of our trusted case law offerings beyond South African borders, bringing new and innovative solutions to the market. As a South African pioneer of technology-driven legal information solutions, this partnership aligns with our digital transformation objectives, and our commitment to contributing to the rule of law around the globe.”