JEDDAH, 5 August 2003 — The Saudi-Egyptian Group for Consultation and Information Technology has launched the Middle East’s first legal reference website, www.avocato.com, and a legal telephone information line here. “This project is one of the most demanding, (being) synchronized with modernization and the transfer of cultures via advanced technology,” said Prince Dr. Bandar ibn Salman ibn Muhammad Al-Saud, the Saudi representative to the group, after viewing a demonstration of the website and trying the legal telephone network 700-number. The website offers such services as lawyer listings by country, a legal decisions database of past and recent court decisions, legal research services for attorneys and a prepaid method of obtaining legal services from attorneys in several Arab countries. “This is the only Internet reference database available in English and Arabic that carries all past and recent Shariah court decisions,” said Dr. Aiman Atallah, the chairman of the board for the group.
