Information Support for the Legal Profession

Information support is of great importance in every professional field. It is, inter alia, important to the legal profession. The principles of basic law are eternal and universal, but concepts change from time to time according to the needs of the society and the demand of public interest. A person in the legal profession has to keep abreast with development of law. Information plays a key role in this regard. The law changes and develops not merely by legislation, but by the disciplined interpretative skill of judges. While judges follow the principle of binding precedents, they shape the law to the needs of the situation by appropriately interpreting such precedents. In this process, they make law to meet the ends of justice so that law and justice are congruous. Information Support for the Legal Profession is the text of the 14th "Dr. S.R. Ranganathan Memorial Lectures," delivered by Justice Gopal Sri Ram (Judge, Court of Appeal, Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur) in August 2006 in Bangalore. The first lecture demonstrates the role and value of precedent, while the second lecture traces the history of information support for the legal profession. In the third lecture, the various sources of information used by the legal profession are discussed.