Botswana Law MCP Server

Botswana Law MCP Server

The BACLAYS alternative for the AI age.

Query 882 Botswanan Acts -- from the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Penal Code to the Companies Act, Employment Act, and more -- directly from Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible client.

If you're building legal tech, compliance tools, or doing Botswanan legal research, this is your verified reference database.

Built by Ansvar Systems -- Stockholm, Sweden

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Why This Exists

Botswanan legal research means navigating laws.parliament.bw, botswanalii.org, and scattered government PDF publications. Whether you're:

• A lawyer validating citations in a brief or contract
• A compliance officer checking obligations under the Data Protection Act 2018 or the Financial Intelligence Act
• A legal tech developer building tools on Botswanan law
• A researcher tracing legislative provisions across 882 Acts

...you shouldn't need dozens of browser tabs and manual PDF cross-referencing. Ask Claude. Get the exact provision. With context.

This MCP server makes Botswanan law searchable, cross-referenceable, and AI-readable.

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Quick Start

Use Remotely (No Install Needed)

Connect directly to the hosted version -- zero dependencies, nothing to install.

Endpoint: https://botswana-law-mcp.vercel.app/mcp

Claude Desktop -- add to claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "botswana-law": {
      "type": "url",
      "url": "https://botswana-law-mcp.vercel.app/mcp"
    }
  }
}

GitHub Copilot -- add to VS Code settings.json:

{
  "github.copilot.chat.mcp.servers": {
    "botswana-law": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://botswana-law-mcp.vercel.app/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Use Locally (npm)

npx @ansvar/botswana-law-mcp

Claude Desktop -- add to claude_desktop_config.json:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "botswana-law": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@ansvar/botswana-law-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Cursor / VS Code:

{
  "mcp.servers": {
    "botswana-law": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@ansvar/botswana-law-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

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Example Queries

Once connected, just ask naturally:

• "What does the Data Protection Act 2018 say about consent for data processing?"
• "Find provisions in the Penal Code about fraud and financial crimes"
• "Search for company law requirements under the Companies Act"
• "What does the Employment Act say about termination and severance?"
• "Is the Financial Intelligence Act still in force?"
• "Find provisions about competition law under the Competition Act"
• "Build a legal stance on corporate governance obligations in Botswana"
• "Validate the citation 'Section 12 of the Data Protection Act 2018'"

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What's Included

Verified data only -- every citation is validated against official sources (laws.parliament.bw, botswanalii.org). Zero LLM-generated content.

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Why This Works

Verbatim Source Text (No LLM Processing):

• All statute text is ingested from botswanalaws.com and the Parliament of Botswana (laws.parliament.bw)
• Provisions are returned unchanged from SQLite FTS5 database rows
• Zero LLM summarization or paraphrasing -- the database contains statute text, not AI interpretations

Smart Context Management:

• Search returns ranked provisions with BM25 scoring (safe for context)
• Provision retrieval gives exact text by Act name and section number
• Cross-references help navigate without loading everything at once

Technical Architecture:

botswanalaws.com / laws.parliament.bw --> Parse --> SQLite --> FTS5 snippet() --> MCP response
                                            ^                        ^
                                     Provision parser         Verbatim database query

Traditional Research vs. This MCP

Traditional: Search laws.parliament.bw --> Download PDF --> Ctrl+F --> Cross-reference Acts --> Check amendments manually --> Repeat

This MCP: "What are the data subject rights under the Data Protection Act 2018 and how do they compare to SADC frameworks?" --> Done.

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Available Tools (13)

Core Legal Research Tools (8)

International Law Integration Tools (5)

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International Law Alignment

Botswana is not an EU member state. Botswanan law develops through its own Westminster-derived constitutional and parliamentary framework, with international alignment through:

• SADC -- Southern African Development Community protocols on trade, finance, and governance; SADC Model Law on Data Protection
• African Union (AU) -- Malabo Convention on Cybersecurity and Personal Data Protection; AU frameworks on digital economy
• Commonwealth -- Commonwealth legal traditions and model laws; Commonwealth Cyber Declaration
• UN Conventions -- UNCAC (anti-corruption), Convention on the Rights of the Child, and international human rights instruments

The international bridge tools allow you to explore these alignment relationships -- checking which Botswanan provisions correspond to SADC or AU requirements, and vice versa.

Note: International cross-references reflect alignment and framework relationships, not direct transposition. Botswana develops its own legislative approach, and the alignment tools help identify where Botswanan and international law address similar domains.

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Data Sources & Freshness

All content is sourced from authoritative Botswanan legal databases:

• botswanalaws.com -- Botswana laws and Acts database (primary source)
• Parliament of Botswana -- Official Acts and subsidiary legislation
• botswanalii.org -- Botswana Legal Information Institute

Data Provenance

Automated Freshness Checks

A GitHub Actions workflow monitors data sources for changes:

Verified data only -- every citation is validated against official sources. Zero LLM-generated content.

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Security

This project uses multiple layers of automated security scanning:

See SECURITY.md for the full policy and vulnerability reporting.

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Important Disclaimers

Legal Advice

THIS TOOL IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE

Statute text is sourced from botswanalaws.com and laws.parliament.bw. However:

• This is a research tool, not a substitute for professional legal counsel
• Court case coverage is not included -- do not rely solely on this for case law research
• Verify critical citations against primary sources for court filings
• International cross-references reflect alignment relationships, not direct transposition

Before using professionally, read: DISCLAIMER.md | SECURITY.md

Client Confidentiality

Queries go through the Claude API. For privileged or confidential matters, use on-premise deployment.

Bar Association

For professional legal use in Botswana, consult guidance from the Law Society of Botswana regarding professional obligations and confidentiality requirements.

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Development

Setup

git clone https://github.com/Ansvar-Systems/Botswana-law-mcp
cd Botswana-law-mcp
npm install
npm run build
npm test

Running Locally

npm run dev                                       # Start MCP server
npx @anthropic/mcp-inspector node dist/index.js   # Test with MCP Inspector

Data Management

npm run ingest              # Ingest Acts from botswanalaws.com
npm run build:db            # Rebuild SQLite database
npm run drift:detect        # Run drift detection against anchors
npm run check-updates       # Check for amendments and new Acts
npm run census              # Generate coverage census

Performance

• Search Speed: <100ms for most FTS5 queries
• Database Size: ~17 MB (efficient, portable)
• Reliability: 100% ingestion success rate across 882 Acts

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Related Projects: Complete Compliance Suite

This server is part of Ansvar's Compliance Suite -- MCP servers that work together for end-to-end compliance coverage:

@ansvar/eu-regulations-mcp

Query 49 EU regulations directly from Claude -- GDPR, AI Act, DORA, NIS2, MiFID II, eIDAS, and more. Full regulatory text with article-level search. npx @ansvar/eu-regulations-mcp

@ansvar/us-regulations-mcp

Query US federal and state compliance laws -- HIPAA, CCPA, SOX, GLBA, FERPA, and more. npx @ansvar/us-regulations-mcp

@ansvar/security-controls-mcp

Query 261 security frameworks -- ISO 27001, NIST CSF, SOC 2, CIS Controls, SCF, and more. npx @ansvar/security-controls-mcp

70+ national law MCPs covering Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Ireland, Japan, Kenya, Malawi, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, UK, and more.

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Contributing

Contributions welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

Priority areas:

• Court case law expansion (High Court of Botswana, Court of Appeal)
• SADC protocol alignment mapping
• AU Malabo Convention cross-references
• Historical Act versions and amendment tracking
• Subsidiary legislation and statutory instruments

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Roadmap

• Core Act database with FTS5 search
• Full corpus ingestion (882 Acts, 7,626 provisions, 7,703 definitions)
• International law alignment tools
• Vercel Streamable HTTP deployment
• npm package publication
• Court case law expansion (High Court, Court of Appeal)
• Historical Act versions (amendment tracking)
• Subsidiary legislation and statutory instruments
• SADC protocol cross-references

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Citation

If you use this MCP server in academic research:

@software{botswana_law_mcp_2026,
  author = {Ansvar Systems AB},
  title = {Botswana Law MCP Server: AI-Powered Legal Research Tool},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://github.com/Ansvar-Systems/Botswana-law-mcp},
  note = {882 Botswanan Acts with 7,626 provisions sourced from botswanalaws.com}
}

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License

Apache License 2.0. See LICENSE for details.

Data Licenses

• Statutes & Legislation: Republic of Botswana (public domain)
• International Framework Metadata: SADC / AU / Commonwealth (public domain)

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About Ansvar Systems

We build AI-accelerated compliance and legal research tools for the global market. This MCP server started as our internal reference tool -- turns out everyone building for the Botswanan or Southern African market has the same research frustrations.

So we're open-sourcing it. Navigating 882 Acts shouldn't require a law degree.

ansvar.eu -- Stockholm, Sweden

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