Although there is no hard and fast law that requires companies to use legal registers, legal compliance without them is a nightmare no compliance manager wants to face. That said, not all legal registers are created equal.

Some do the job of ensuring that ISO and other management system standards are met, but they remain mere ‘lists of law' – and require lawyers and consultants to ascertain what the law actually requires of an organisation in the context of their specific business.

While regulatory law is generally clear and understandable, the challenge lies in where to find the law that applies to you – hidden in a sea of law that doesn't apply at all. Sabinet Online Legal Registers, in partnership with Libryo, overcome regulatory complexity by using legal technology to effectively answer the question ‘'what does the law require us to do in this specific situation?"

According to Garth Watson, co-founder of Libryo, there are 10 key things that make a legal register more than just a box to tick at audit time:

A great legal register:

• Is expertly customised to the operation to which it applies
• Is kept up to date – both daily as applicable legal provisions change and annually on review of company changes
• Communicates relevant, tailored changes daily to those tasked with maintaining compliance
• Allows users (who may not be legally trained) to find answers to legal questions as they be-come relevant
• Automates as much as possible to free up skilled resources
• Removes all complexity from knowing what legal obligations apply to a company at all levels
• Provides easily accessible, ‘bite size' answers with the option to delve deeper
• Is updated in real time as legal obligations change
• Is supported by legal and technical experts that can address queries immediately
• Is seamlessly linked to operational risk

Be it a small-medium enterprise or a multinational organisation, users of Sabinet's Online Legal Registers can look forward to massive time savings and increased efficiencies in an industry.