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

Client	How to Connect
Claude.ai	Settings > Connectors > Add Integration > paste URL
Claude Code	claude mcp add botswana-law --transport http https://botswana-law-mcp.vercel.app/mcp
Claude Desktop	Add to config (see below)
GitHub Copilot	Add to VS Code settings (see below)

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

Category	Count	Details
Acts	882 statutes	Comprehensive Botswanan legislation
Provisions	7,626 sections	Full-text searchable with FTS5
Legal Definitions	7,703 definitions	Extracted from Act texts
Database Size	~17 MB	Optimized SQLite, portable
Freshness Checks	Automated	Monitoring against laws.parliament.bw

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 Approach	This MCP Server
Search laws.parliament.bw by Act name	Search by plain language: "data protection consent"
Navigate multi-section Acts manually	Get the exact provision with context
Manual cross-referencing between Acts	build_legal_stance aggregates across sources
"Is this Act still in force?" --> check manually	check_currency tool --> answer in seconds
Find SADC/AU alignment --> dig through frameworks	get_eu_basis --> linked frameworks instantly
No API, no integration	MCP protocol --> AI-native

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)

Tool	Description
search_legislation	FTS5 full-text search across 7,626 provisions with BM25 ranking. Supports quoted phrases, boolean operators, prefix wildcards
get_provision	Retrieve specific provision by Act name and section number
check_currency	Check if an Act is in force, amended, or repealed
validate_citation	Validate citation against database -- zero-hallucination check. Supports "Section 12 Data Protection Act 2018", "s. 5 Penal Code"
build_legal_stance	Aggregate citations from multiple Acts for a legal topic
format_citation	Format citations per Botswanan conventions (full/short/pinpoint)
list_sources	List all available Acts with metadata, coverage scope, and data provenance
about	Server info, capabilities, dataset statistics, and coverage summary

International Law Integration Tools (5)

Tool	Description
get_eu_basis	Get international frameworks (SADC, AU, Commonwealth) that a Botswanan Act aligns with
get_botswanan_implementations	Find Botswanan laws implementing a specific international framework or convention
search_eu_implementations	Search international documents with Botswanan alignment counts
get_provision_eu_basis	Get international law references for a specific provision
validate_eu_compliance	Check alignment status of Botswanan laws against international standards

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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

Field	Value
Authority	Republic of Botswana
Primary source	botswanalaws.com / laws.parliament.bw
Languages	English (official language)
Coverage	882 consolidated Acts
Last ingested	2026-02-25

Automated Freshness Checks

A GitHub Actions workflow monitors data sources for changes:

Check	Method
Act amendments	Drift detection against known provision anchors
New Acts	Comparison against source index
Repealed Acts	Status change detection

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:

Scanner	What It Does	Schedule
CodeQL	Static analysis for security vulnerabilities	Weekly + PRs
Semgrep	SAST scanning (OWASP top 10, secrets, TypeScript)	Every push
Gitleaks	Secret detection across git history	Every push
Trivy	CVE scanning on filesystem and npm dependencies	Daily
Socket.dev	Supply chain attack detection	PRs
Dependabot	Automated dependency updates	Weekly

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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_{Built with care in Stockholm, Sweden}