Cecile Pro

How to Use Cecile Pro

Complete guide — Research, Multi-Document Upload, Voice Dictation, Drafting, Firm Accounts & more. Version 2.8

Overview Research Voice Dictation Single Document Multi-Document Upload Court Bundle Research Tips Drafting Document Types Export & Copy Firm Accounts History Account & Billing Disclaimer

⚠ Important — Please read

Cecile is a sophisticated legal research and document-formatting tool, but like any tool — or any human — it can make mistakes. Research output may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect. Formatted legal documents may contain errors or may not comply with the specific requirements of your court or matter.

It is your personal and professional responsibility to review and verify everything Cecile produces before relying on it, filing it, or serving it on any party. Never file a Cecile-generated document without thorough review by a qualified legal practitioner.

Seekefy (Pty) Ltd accepts no liability for any loss, prejudice, or harm arising from the use of Cecile Pro.

What is Cecile Pro?

Cecile Pro is a professional legal research platform for lawyers, advocates, judges, legal researchers, and law students. It has three core functions:

All processing happens on Cecile's secure EU (Stockholm) server. Your documents are not shared with any third party.

Free queries vs. Pro subscription

TierWhat you get
Free3 complimentary research queries — no credit card required
Pro ($22/month)Unlimited research queries, multi-document upload, case analysis, document formatting, firm accounts
Research History is only saved for logged-in users. Log in before starting your session to ensure your work is preserved.

Research page

The basics

  1. Select your jurisdiction
    Click the country flag button at the top-left of the research box. Search by name or scroll. The jurisdiction sets which legal system Cecile focuses on — statutes, case law, and court rules are all country-specific.
  2. Choose research type
    • Standard Research — broad analysis, good for general questions and first-pass research.
    • Deep Research — more thorough; includes statutory analysis, leading cases, and scholarly commentary. Takes longer (~40 seconds) but produces significantly richer output.
    • Case Law Focus — concentrates specifically on reported cases. Best when you need a list of authorities on a principle.
  3. Type your question
    Write it exactly as you would ask a colleague or brief a junior. Full sentences always produce better output than keywords. Up to 15,000 characters are accepted. You can also use Voice Dictation — see below.
  4. Click Research
    Results typically arrive in 15–45 seconds depending on depth. The result includes structured analysis, supporting cases with citations, and a Sources panel linking to primary sources.

What makes a good research query?

Good — specific and contextual What are the requirements for a valid interdict in South African law? I need to restrain a director from competing with the company. Does the balance of convenience test apply even where irreparable harm is shown?
Good — citing facts My client is accused of murder. The state relies on common purpose doctrine (s18 Riotous Assemblies Act). The accused was present but did not participate in the killing. What is the current law on passive presence and common purpose in South Africa?
Weak — too short interdict requirements
Good — multi-issue Advise on the following: (1) enforceability of a restraint of trade clause in an employment contract under South African law; (2) the Basson test; (3) recent case law on enforcing restraints against software developers.
Include the legal system or jurisdiction in your query if it is not obvious from the country selector — e.g. "under South African common law" or "under the Companies Act 71 of 2008".
For multi-issue research, number your questions. Cecile will address each one in turn.
Cecile performs live searches of legal databases — including SAFLII, WorldLII, Cornell LII, BAILII, Kenya Law, ConCourt DSpace, judiciary.org.za, and other regional LIIs — on every research query. Results include current case law and recent judgments, not just training data. Always verify critical citations against the primary source before filing.

Research results

Each result shows:

  • Structured analysis with headings, sub-headings, and paragraph numbering
  • Case citations in correct legal format
  • Sources Consulted panel — clickable links to SAFLII, WorldLII, Cornell LII, BAILII, CanLII, AustLII, Kenya Law, ConCourt DSpace, and other sources

From the result you can:

  • Export DOCX — download the full research as a formatted Word document (proper headings, page margins, font — ready to insert into heads of argument)
  • Export Session — download all research results from the current session in one document
  • Copy — copy to clipboard; markdown symbols are stripped automatically so you paste clean text into Word or email

Voice Dictation

Cecile Pro has a built-in voice dictation function on the Research page (query box) and the Drafting page (instructions box). Instead of typing a long question, click the mic button and dictate it. Your words are transcribed in real time and inserted into the text box.

How to use

  1. Find the mic button
    A small round grey microphone button (🎙) appears at the bottom-right corner of the research query box or drafting instructions box. It is only visible on Chrome and Edge — it does not appear on Firefox or Safari, which do not support the Web Speech API.
  2. Click once to start recording
    The button turns red and the tooltip changes to "Stop recording". Your browser will ask for microphone permission the first time — click Allow.
  3. Speak naturally
    Dictate your full question or instruction. You can pause mid-sentence — the dictation does not stop on pauses. Cecile continuously listens until you click Stop. Text is appended to whatever is already in the box, so you can type part of a question and dictate the rest.
  4. Click again to stop
    Click the (now red) mic button to stop recording. The transcribed text stays in the box for you to review and edit before submitting.
Voice dictation works best in a quiet environment. Speak at a normal pace — you do not need to pause between words.
Cecile uses South African English (en-ZA) as the default recognition language. Legal terminology, case names, and Afrikaans phrases are generally recognised well.
Voice dictation requires Chrome or Edge on desktop or Android. It is not available on Firefox, Safari, or iOS browsers.
Browser microphone permission must be granted. If you accidentally denied it, go to your browser's site settings for pro.askcecile.com and change the Microphone permission to Allow, then reload the page.

Uploading a single document (PDF or DOCX)

The Research page lets you upload a single PDF or Word (.docx) judgment or legal document and interrogate it directly. Upload a judgment from SAFLII, SCA, ConCourt, or any other source and ask questions about it alongside your normal research.

  1. Click "Upload document"
    The button is below the research text area. Supported formats: PDF and DOCX. Maximum size: 20 MB.
  2. Wait for upload confirmation
    A blue pill appears showing the filename and page count — e.g. 📄 S v Shaik 2007 — 42 pages, 38 450 chars. The text has been extracted server-side.
  3. Click "Analyse Case"
    Cecile analyses the entire document and produces a structured summary: facts, legal issues, court's reasoning, ratio decidendi, obiter dicta, and significance.
  4. Ask questions about the document
    Use the research text area to ask anything about the loaded document. Examples below.
Extract a specific proposition What did the court say about the requirement for prior SAPS involvement before a private citizen can invoke citizen's arrest powers?
Find the ratio What is the ratio decidendi of this judgment and is there any obiter on the position after constitutional amendment?
Practical application My client is in a similar factual position. Based on the reasoning in this judgment, what is the likely outcome of a challenge to the search warrant?
You can upload a document and also run a normal research query. The two workflows are independent — the document remains loaded while you do general research.
Scanned PDFs with no selectable text will not extract correctly. Use a text-layer PDF from SAFLII or the court's website wherever possible.

Multi-Document Upload — analyse up to 10 files at once

What is it?

Multi-Document Upload lets you select up to 10 PDF or DOCX files simultaneously and load them all into a single research session. Cecile extracts text from each file, combines them in order, and treats the entire set as one unified document you can interrogate. This is ideal when you have multiple related judgments, exhibits, or affidavits that you want to analyse together.

When to use it

  • You have downloaded 3–5 cases on a specific legal point and want to compare them together rather than one by one
  • You have a series of contractual documents (agreement, amendment, addendum) and need to understand the combined effect
  • You want to load a founding affidavit and an answering affidavit together and ask about the disputes between them
  • You have multiple related judgments in the same appeal chain and need to understand the progression

How to upload multiple documents

  1. Click "Upload document"
    The same button used for single uploads, below the research text area.
  2. Select multiple files
    In the file picker, hold Ctrl (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ Command (Mac) while clicking to select multiple files at once. You can mix PDFs and DOCX files freely. Maximum: 10 files.
  3. Wait for upload confirmation
    A blue pill appears summarising all the uploaded files — e.g. 📄 3 documents uploaded: 87 pages, 92 140 chars. Each file is processed and combined in the order you selected.
  4. Ask questions across all documents
    Use the research text area normally. Your question will be answered in the context of all uploaded documents combined. Cecile internally labels each document (DOCUMENT 1: filename.pdf, DOCUMENT 2: …) so it can distinguish between them when you ask comparative questions.
Compare multiple judgments I have uploaded three Constitutional Court judgments on the right to housing under section 26 of the Constitution. Trace how the court's approach to minimum core obligations evolved from the first judgment to the third. What changed?
Compare opposing affidavits I have uploaded a founding affidavit and an answering affidavit in the same application. What are the main factual disputes between the parties? Are there any admissions in the answering affidavit that favour the applicant?
Consolidate a series of agreements I have uploaded a master service agreement, an addendum, and an amendment letter. What is the effective monthly fee payable and how is it calculated? Are there any conflicting terms between the documents?
Order matters. Files are combined in the order they appear in the file picker. If chronological order is important (e.g. an appeal chain), rename your files with a number prefix (01_, 02_, 03_) before selecting them.
If you need to add or replace documents, click the × next to the blue pill to clear the current upload and start again.
Each file is still subject to the 20 MB per-file limit. Very large individual files may take longer to process. Keep the tab open until the blue confirmation pill appears.

Court Bundle Upload — CaseLines & large PDF bundles

What is it and when to use it?

The Court Bundle Upload function is designed for litigators who need to interrogate a full court bundle — typically a CaseLines PDF export containing all the pleadings, affidavits, exhibits, heads of argument, and practice notes for a matter, sometimes running to hundreds of pages.

Instead of reading through the entire bundle manually, you upload it once and ask Cecile questions about it directly. The bundle is indexed in full and remains available for the entire session.

Typical use cases:

  • Preparing for a hearing on short notice — quickly extract the key issues, parties, and arguments
  • Identifying applicable case law based on the specific facts in the bundle
  • Checking whether the opposing side's heads of argument contain internal contradictions or weak arguments
  • Verifying bundle completeness — are all required documents present and indexed?
  • Running a proportionality or jurisdictional argument through the relevant legislation and case law
  • Generating a hearing preparation checklist based on the papers filed
This feature handles PDFs up to 50 MB and uses full OCR for scanned pages. For a 400-page bundle this takes 3–6 minutes and replaces hours of manual reading.

How to upload and analyse a court bundle

  1. Download your bundle from CaseLines
    Log in to CaseLines, open the matter, and download the full bundle as a PDF.
  2. Click "Upload document" on the Research page
    Select your PDF. Maximum size: 50 MB. For files larger than 6 MB, the upload goes directly to secure cloud storage — you will see an uploading progress bar.
  3. Wait for extraction and indexing
    A processing banner appears: "Processing document — reading all pages…". For a digitally-created PDF: 30–90 seconds. For a scanned or mixed bundle: allow 3–6 minutes for a 400-page bundle. Keep the tab open.
  4. Confirm the upload
    A green confirmation banner appears. The filename and page count appear in a blue pill below the research text area.
  5. Click "Analyse Document"
    Cecile produces a structured case analysis — see the table below for everything it covers.
  6. Ask follow-up questions
    The full bundle remains indexed for all subsequent questions in the session.
Keep the browser tab open during extraction. Closing or refreshing the tab during the OCR process will require you to re-upload the bundle.

What the Case Analysis covers

SectionWhat Cecile provides
Case OverviewNature of proceedings, court, case number, stage of litigation
PartiesAll parties and their procedural roles
Key FactsChronological factual background extracted from the papers
Legal Issues & GroundsEvery legal issue, ground of appeal, cause of action, or defence raised
Applicable LawLegislation, constitutional provisions, and areas of common law that apply
Spelling, Grammar & TerminologyEvery error and inconsistency with paragraph references — useful for identifying weaknesses in opposing papers
Bundle CompletenessAre all required documents present? Pagination gaps, unsigned affidavits, missing commissioners of oaths
Strengths & VulnerabilitiesStrongest and weakest arguments for each side; concessions in the papers
Suggested Research Topics3–5 research topics that would materially assist preparation
Hearing Preparation ChecklistPractical steps to take before the hearing date based on what is in the bundle

Example questions for a loaded bundle

Case law tied to bundle facts What case law can I use when arguing proportionality and the provisions of the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act 140 of 1992, sections 5, 13, 20 and 21?
Weakness identification Identify every internal contradiction in the opposing side's heads of argument. Are there any concessions I can exploit?
Bundle completeness Are all the documents required for a POCA Chapter 6 application present in this bundle? Is the index complete and accurately paginated?
Proportionality factors List all factual factors in this bundle relevant to a proportionality analysis under POCA section 50. Which factors favour the respondents?
Combine bundle interrogation with live research: ask "What does the case law say about [issue in the bundle]?" — Cecile searches SAFLII and other sources in real time using the facts it has extracted from your bundle as context.

Monthly upload limit

Pro subscribers may upload 10 large court bundles per month. This limit resets on the 1st of each month. Standard document uploads (under 6 MB) are unlimited and do not count against this limit.

If you need additional uploads before the monthly reset, email support@askcecile.com.


Research tips — advanced use

Pasting case text directly

You can paste text from a judgment, a statute, or any legal document directly into the research text area. Cecile will treat it as context for your question. Useful for short excerpts where you do not want to upload a full file.

Example: paste and analyse [Paste the relevant paragraphs here] Based on the above excerpt, explain whether the court applied a subjective or objective test for criminal intention, and how this fits with the current position under South African criminal law.

Requesting specific output format

  • "Summarise in a table: case name, year, court, principle held."
  • "Give me a draft legal opinion in memo format."
  • "Write this as heads of argument with paragraph numbering."
  • "List the cases in order from most recent to oldest."

Multi-country research

Cecile covers 125+ countries. Switch the country selector for each query. For comparative research, run the same question with different countries selected and compare results.

Language

If your selected country's primary legal language is not English (e.g. France, Germany, Brazil, Morocco), a language toggle appears in the header. Cecile produces output in the local legal language. Toggle back to English at any time.


Drafting page

The Drafting page takes your draft document — a working .docx or .pdf containing your facts, arguments, or rough notes — and reformats it into a court-ready legal document in the correct formal style for your jurisdiction, returning a clean .docx for final review and filing.

  1. Go to the Drafting tab
    Click Drafting in the top navigation bar.
  2. Select your jurisdiction
    Use the country selector (top-left). Court formatting conventions are jurisdiction-specific.
  3. Upload your draft
    Click Choose File (.docx or .pdf). The file can be rough notes, a previous version, or a fairly complete draft — Cecile reads the content, not the formatting. Maximum 10 MB.
  4. Enter document type and instructions
    Type the document type and any specific instructions in the text box. You can also dictate your instructions using the mic button (see Voice Dictation above).
  5. Click "Format & Download .docx"
    Processing takes 20–60 seconds. The formatted .docx downloads automatically. A summary of corrections and changes is shown on screen.
After download, click "Format Another Document" to process a second document without reloading the page.

Instruction examples

Notice of Motion Notice of Motion. Prayers: (1) interdict the first respondent from disposing of Erf 123 Sandton; (2) costs on attorney and client scale; (3) further or alternative relief.
Founding Affidavit Founding Affidavit. Fix all spelling and grammar errors. The deponent is the applicant, a natural person.
Particulars of Claim Particulars of Claim. Add a prayer for payment of R250 000 plus interest at 11.25% per annum a tempore morae and costs on the party-and-party scale.
Heads of Argument Heads of Argument. Case number 4567/2026. Applicant represented by Adv. S. Nkosi SC. Respondent by Adv. P. van der Merwe.
Bail Application (criminal) Bail Application under section 60 of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977. Address the s60(4) factors explicitly.
General reformatting only Reformat to court standard. Fix paragraph numbering. Correct spelling throughout. No change to content.

Supported document types — South Africa

Type the document name in the instructions field. Cecile recognises all of the following:

Document typeWhat to typeApplicable rule / Act
Notice of MotionNotice of MotionUniform Rule 6
Founding AffidavitFounding AffidavitUniform Rule 6
Answering AffidavitAnswering AffidavitUniform Rule 6
Replying AffidavitReplying AffidavitUniform Rule 6
Particulars of ClaimParticulars of ClaimUniform Rule 17
PleaPleaUniform Rule 22
ReplicationReplicationUniform Rule 25
ExceptionExceptionUniform Rule 23
Application to Strike OutApplication to Strike OutUniform Rule 23
Heads of ArgumentHeads of Argument
Notice of AppealNotice of AppealUniform Rule 49
Grounds of AppealGrounds of Appeal
Notice of Set-DownNotice of Set-DownUniform Rule 30
Notice to OpposeNotice to OpposeUniform Rule 6
Rule 35 Notice (Discovery)Rule 35 Discovery NoticeUniform Rule 35
Bail ApplicationBail ApplicationCPA s60
Section 112 StatementSection 112 StatementCPA s112
Written RepresentationsWritten Representations
Pre-trial MemorandumPre-trial MemorandumUniform Rule 37
Judgment (for judicial officers)Judgment
Legal Opinion / MemorandumLegal Opinion

Magistrates' Court

Add "Magistrates' Court" to your instruction and Cecile will apply Magistrates' Court Rules instead of Uniform Rules:

Example Particulars of Claim — Magistrates' Court. Prayer for payment of R18 500 plus interest at 10.5% per annum and costs.

Other jurisdictions

  • Kenya: Plaint, Chamber Summons, Grounds of Appeal
  • Nigeria: Writ of Summons, Statement of Claim, Written Address
  • United Kingdom: Particulars of Claim, Defence, Skeleton Argument, Witness Statement
  • Zimbabwe: Summons, Declaration, Heads of Argument
  • Botswana / Namibia / Eswatini: document naming follows South African High Court convention
Always state the document type first, before any other instructions.
Maximum file size for Drafting is 10 MB. Very long documents (over ~80 pages) may be truncated. For lengthy affidavits or heads of argument, consider splitting into sections.

Export & Copy

Every research result can be exported or copied in several ways:

ActionWhat it does
Export DOCX Downloads the current research result as a formatted Microsoft Word document — proper headings, font, margins, and page numbers. Ready to insert into heads of argument or attach to a memo.
Export Session Downloads all research results from the current session in one document. Useful when you have run 3–5 queries in a research session and want everything in a single file.
Copy Copies the full research result to your clipboard. All markdown formatting symbols are stripped automatically so you paste clean, readable text into Word, Outlook, or any other application.
If the Export DOCX button returns an error, reload the page, re-run the research query, and try the export again. This is usually caused by a session timeout.
Research History also allows you to re-export any past result. Go to the History tab, click a result, and use the Export DOCX button from there.

Firm Accounts

What is a Firm Account?

A Firm Account allows a law firm, chambers, or legal department to manage multiple Cecile Pro user seats under one centralised billing and administration account. The firm owner (administrator) registers the firm, adds member seats, and manages billing — individual users simply log in and use Cecile without managing their own subscriptions.

Benefits

  • Centralised billing — one invoice for all seats, not one per user
  • Seat management — add or remove users at any time; only active seats are billed
  • Shared court bundle quota — the 10 large bundle uploads per month are pooled across all firm users
  • Admin dashboard — the firm owner sees usage statistics per user: queries run, documents uploaded, and last active date

How to set up a Firm Account

  1. Register or log in as the firm administrator
    The firm administrator must have a Cecile Pro account. If you do not have one, register first (free — no credit card required).
  2. Go to Firm Sign-Up
    Click Firm Account in the account menu (top right), then Register your firm. Enter your firm name, physical address, VAT number (optional), and the number of seats required.
  3. Choose a plan
    PlanSeatsPrice
    Firm StarterUp to 5 usersContact us
    Firm GrowthUp to 10 usersContact us
    For custom seat counts or government/legal aid pricing, email support@askcecile.com.
  4. Subscribe
    Firm pricing is per seat per month. Payment is processed via PayFast. Billing starts immediately on the day of registration and is prorated for the first month.
  5. Add users
    In the Firm Dashboard, click Add member and enter the email address for each user. An invitation email is sent automatically. Users who already have a Cecile account are linked immediately; new users are prompted to register.
  6. Manage seats
    You can deactivate a seat at any time (e.g. if a staff member leaves). Deactivated seats are not billed in the next billing cycle. You can add new seats at any time — they are billed pro-rata for the remainder of the current month.
Firm members log in to Cecile Pro using their individual accounts. Their personal login credentials and research history remain private — the firm administrator can see usage statistics but not the content of individual queries.
For firms with more than 20 seats, or for government departments and legal aid organisations requiring custom pricing, email support@askcecile.com.
The firm administrator is responsible for ensuring that all users of the firm account are aware of and comply with Cecile's Terms of Use. Misuse of a firm account may result in suspension of the entire firm account.

Research History

The History tab shows every research query you have run while logged in to Cecile Pro. Click any entry to reload the full research result — including the original analysis and sources.

From a loaded historical result you can:

  • Export to .docx via the Export DOCX button
  • Copy to clipboard (markdown-stripped)
  • Use it as a starting point for follow-up research
History is stored per account and persists across sessions. Logging out does not delete your history.
History records research queries only — it does not store documents you uploaded via the Drafting page.

Account & billing

Creating an account

Click Sign In / Register at the top right. Creating an account is free and unlocks 3 free research queries. No credit card required to register.

Pro subscription ($22/month · R399/month)

After your 3 free queries, a paywall prompt appears. Subscribe for $22/month (R399/month) for unlimited research, multi-document upload, case analysis, document formatting, and court bundle uploads (10 large bundles per month). Payment is processed securely via PayFast (Visa, Mastercard, Instant EFT, and other SA payment methods).

Firm Accounts

Law firms, chambers, and legal departments can register a Firm Account to manage multiple user seats under centralised billing. See the Firm Accounts section above for full details.

WhatsApp Pro Access

Once logged in, a 💬 Open WhatsApp button appears at the bottom-right. Register your WhatsApp number to send Cecile Pro research queries from WhatsApp — the same deep research delivered directly to your phone. Useful when you are in court or away from a computer.

Signing out

Click the logout icon at the top right of the header. Your research history and subscription remain intact — sign back in at any time.


Troubleshooting

ProblemSolution
Research is taking a long time Deep Research can take up to 60 seconds. Standard Research is usually 15–25 seconds. If the spinner is running after 90 seconds, try refreshing and resubmitting.
PDF upload says "no text extracted" The PDF is likely a scanned image with no selectable text. Try a different copy — SAFLII provides text PDFs for most post-2000 judgments.
Multi-document upload — one file fails All files are processed individually. If one file fails (e.g. password-protected PDF), the others still load. Check the confirmation pill for the total page count — if it seems low, one file may not have extracted. Try re-uploading just that file to identify the problem.
Mic button is not visible Voice dictation is only available on Chrome and Edge. It does not appear on Firefox, Safari, or iOS browsers. If you are on Chrome/Edge and still cannot see it, check that JavaScript is enabled and that no browser extension is blocking the page script.
Mic button does not respond Check that your browser has microphone permission for pro.askcecile.com. Go to browser Settings → Site settings → Microphone and ensure the site is not blocked. Reload the page after changing the permission.
Dictation stops mid-sentence This should not happen on Chrome/Edge — dictation is set to continuous mode. If it does stop, click the mic button again to resume. Short pauses are fine; only clicking Stop or losing microphone access will end the session.
Drafting download never arrives Processing can take up to 60 seconds. If nothing downloads after 90 seconds, check that your browser is not blocking popups/downloads from pro.askcecile.com, then try again.
Export DOCX gives an error Reload the page, re-run the research query, then export again. If the problem persists, email support@askcecile.com.
Free searches counter stuck at 0 You have used your 3 free queries. Subscribe to Pro ($22/month) for unlimited access.
Getting wrong jurisdiction's law Make sure the country selector shows the correct flag before submitting. Also explicitly mention the jurisdiction in your query: "under South African law…"
Court bundle — processing never completes A 400-page scanned CaseLines bundle can take 3–6 minutes. Keep the tab open. If the spinner is still running after 10 minutes, refresh and try again. If the problem repeats, email support@askcecile.com with the filename and page count.
Court bundle — "file too large" Maximum file size is 50 MB. If your CaseLines bundle exceeds this, download individual sections separately (pleadings only, or affidavits only) and upload them as a multi-document set using the standard upload.
Monthly upload limit reached Pro subscribers have 10 large bundle uploads per month. The limit resets on the 1st of the month. Email support@askcecile.com if you need more before then.
Firm account — user not receiving invitation Check the email address for typos in the Firm Dashboard. Ask the user to check their spam folder. If the problem persists, have the user register manually at pro.askcecile.com and then email support@askcecile.com to link their account to the firm.

Still need help? Email us at support@askcecile.com

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