ABU DHABI // Up to a million people worldwide have logged onto a YouTube channel launched by an Abu Dhabi resident to better understand complex laws and regulations.
Lex Animata TV is the first animated legal video channel on YouTube that explains UAE and international law in colourful and fun two-minute videos.
Hesham El Rafei, 35, who created the channel and produces the videos, said that the concept has attracted thousands of viewers from around the globe and is “simplifying, visualising and animating complex legal topics in plain English and making them entertaining and easy to understand”.
“The whole point is to share the legal knowledge in a nutshell in a modern and entertaining way, relying on the power of YouTube, without being trapped in the traditional, boring and outdated legal complexity,” he said.
Mr El Rafei founded Lex Animata, which is Latin for law animate, after discovering how tedious legal topics are while studying.
“I discovered during my law schools studies that laws, regulations and legal topics are complicated, boring and not easy to understand,” he said. “From the ambiguity of the law-making process, to the rigid drafting language of legislation, to the 500 pages of the textbooks in law school and the mediocre methods of teaching law which did not change since WW2 - everything in the legal world is complicated.
“One reason for that is the lack of innovation. Also, the legal industry is an ego-driven one; it’s an exclusive club where simplicity and clarity of legal topics is the profession’s enemy.”
The majority of Lex Animata’s viewers are young students of law and Mr El Rafei chooses topics at their request - “especially during law school exam time”.
Last December, to celebrate UAE National Day, he created an animation on the UAE constitution.
“How Sheikh Zayed created the UAE federation from a legal and judicial point of view. This video is very important as there is no visual material on the internet explaining the legal system in the Emirates,” Mr El Rafei said.
Dubai resident Duncan Woods, who has used the channel himself, said that it was a “really good concept, taking complex legal topics and making it palatable for the public”.
Such a channel, he said, is much needed in Dubai and the UAE as a whole. “A lot of people don’t know what they need to know and when to approach a lawyer,” said Mr Woods. “Lex Animata makes this information more transparent and available.”
Another fan is Nasir Khamlichi, who said the channel was “massively important”.
“It is very important for the public to have access to justice. Lawyers all over the world are very specialised but [law] is something everybody should know about,” he said.
In addition to creating the legal videos, Mr Al Rafei holds a government job in Abu Dhabi.
“It takes time to create a video, especially that I’m doing it as a hobby in addition to my job at the government,” he said, but he still manages to create about 30 videos a year.
“Once I choose the legal topic, I spend a good amount of time researching, reading and analysing the legal material,” Mr El Rafei said. “After that, the big mission is to summarise it and break it down in a one-page script to fit in a two-minute video. It’s not easy as sometimes I have about 50 pages of raw material after which I work on the storytelling animation part, which also takes time as it’s full of details, from the background music to the colours and animation design.”
However, his efforts are not going unnoticed and recently a Canadian channel offered him a partnership deal to help develop Lex Animata.
“A lot of lawyers and law professors are offering their support to contribute to the channel,” Mr El Rafei said.
“For example, a law professor from Canada lately offered to create French versions of the videos to target the Francophone part of the world. Also a university in the Philippines is using my video in their AML courses, while a law professor in Russia asked me if she can use my videos to illustrate the class for her students. I’m proud that we are using the power of YouTube for higher educational purposes.”
To view the channel, visit www.youtube.com/user/SuperMasryGedan.
salnuwais@thenational.ae