About the API

This describes the Laws.Africa Content API.

Endpoint

The latest version of the API is version 3. It is available at the endpoint:

https://api.laws.africa/v3/

OpenAPI Schema

The API is described using the Open API format.

Akoma Ntoso FRBR URIs

The API relies heavily on Akoma Ntoso FRBR URIs, which are described in the Akoma Ntoso naming convention standard.

When we use a URL such as /v3/frbr-uri/ in this guide, the frbr-uri part is a full FRBR URI, such as /akn/za/act/1998/84/eng.

Content types

Some API calls can return content in multiple formats. You can specify the required content of your request by placing .format at the end of the URL. In most cases the default response type is JSON.

  • .json or Accept: application/json: return JSON

  • .xml or Accept: application/xml: return Akoma Ntoso XML

  • .html or Accept: text/html: return human friendly HTML

  • .epub or Accept: application/epub+zip: return an ePUB (ebook) document

  • .pdf or Accept: application/pdf: return a PDF document

  • .zip or Accept: application/zip: return a ZIP file with the document XML and media attachments

Not all responses support all formats, the documentation will be explicit about what is supported.

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