Justice portfolios committee to  conduct public hearings on Bill Jessie Majome
Jessie Majome

Jessie Majome

Pamela Shumba Senior Reporter
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Portfolio Committee will today start conducting countrywide hearings on the General Laws Amendment Bill to allow members of the public to express their views on the bill which will soon be tabled in Parliament.

This comes after legal experts expressed concern that Parliament is failing to facilitate public involvement in its legislative processes as well as consult interested parties about the General Laws Amendment Bill as required under the constitution.

The committee will also conduct hearings on the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Amendment.

Chairperson of the committee, Jessie Majome, yesterday said the public hearings will be conducted in Bulawayo, Gweru, Masvingo, Mutare and Harare.

“The public hearing on the General Laws Amendment Bill and the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Amendment will be held this week starting Monday, July 27, at the Holiday Inn in Bulawayo. The second public hearing will be held at the Gweru Theatre on Tuesday while the third will be at Charles Austin in Masvingo on Wednesday.

“We’ll proceed to Mutare on Thursday, where we’ll meet members of the public at the Mutare Hall before we conduct the last public hearing at the Parliament Senate chamber in Harare on Friday,” she said.

Majome, who is also the National Assembly Member for Harare West, said this was the second countrywide public hearing tour after the public hearings on the Electoral Amendment Bill.

She advised members of the public to attend the meetings, saying it was important for people to express their views on the Bill.

“We’ve organised these meetings for the people of Zimbabwe. Everybody is therefore invited to the public hearings to express their views on this bill. Contributions can also be sent to [email protected] or posted to P.O. Box CY298 Causeway, Harare.

“The contributions made will be considered by the Portfolio committee and will constitute part of the committee’s report to be tabled in Parliament at the Second Reading Stage of the Bills,” said Majome.

The General Laws Amendment Bill was gazetted on May 8, 2015 in a development that signals the government’s intention to move with speed in aligning laws with the New Constitution.

The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) recently condemned the proposed Bill, saying it will only bring in minor changes to the 126 statutes that were set to be aligned with the new constitution.

They said while the Bill was welcome, it fell short of substantially amending the electoral law.

 

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