He urged the Attorney General "to keep up the good work" by continuously updating the website, saying it would be a drawback if the public was fed out of date information.

He called on the government to move swiftly to similarly avail case law which he said would also benefit the general public.

The Acting Director of the Botswana Network on Ethics, Law and HIV and AIDS (BONELA), Uyapo Ndadi, has also hailed the AG's Chambers for the new development.

"This development is progressive and will greatly assist the people of Botswana because prior to it, the laws were only available at the Government Printers in Gaborone and Francistown, yet ignorance of the law is no excuse in the courts," Ndadi said.

BONELA was gravely concerned at the levels of ignorance of the law, which he said often came to light in their numerous training workshops. "This is clearly brought to light when people are shocked to know that the right to health, the right to education, the right to marry and found a family and other socio-economic and cultural rights are not guaranteed in the Constitution of Botswana," Ndadi said.

Like Moipolai of the law society, Nadadi called for an on-line edition of Botswana case law, a development that would add flesh to statutory law and crystallise it, he said.

Botswana's status as a democracy had resulted in a lot of international enquiries on judgments.

"This puts a strain on organisations like ours as we are often called upon to assist in locating these judgments," Ndadi said. "Availing them on-line will assist the international community and bridge the gap between Botswana and the world."