Presentation Transcript

1. The Role of the Law Reform and Development Commission (LRDC) in Making the Law Readily Accessible in an independent Namibia Presented by Mr. S.E.T Shanghala Chairman LRDC
2. Introduction The Republic of Namibia gained its independence on 21 March 1990 where it adopted a Constitution which stands as the supreme law of the land. The Constitution of Namibia recognizes the inherent dignity, equal and inalienable human rights of all members of the Namibian society and provides for a sovereign, secular, democratic and unitary State founded on the principle of democracy and the rule of law. Fundamental human rights and freedoms, including freedom of speech and expression are enshrined in the Constitution which furthermore lays down the division of powers between the executive, the legislature and the judiciary.
3. Independence Day, 21 March 1990
4. The Constitution of Namibia Although our Constitution is devoid of an express right to legal information, Namibia is a State Party to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR),the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR),and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR),all of which make provision for the right to access to information. These legal instruments are an indication that Namibia, is in fact mandated to ensure that legal information, in particular, is available to the public. Namibia has signed the Declaration on Free Access to Law (The “Montreal Declaration”), adopted at the 2002 ‘Law via the Internet’ Conference in Montreal, for purposes of promoting justice and the rule of law, the importance of citizens to access legal information has been defined by the UN General Assembly, in its very first session held in 1946, which adopted Resolution 59(1) stating the following: “Freedom of information is a fundamental human right and is the touchstone of all the freedoms to which the United Nations is consecrated.”
5. The Constitution of Namibia cont… Namibia’s accession to the aforementioned regional and international legal instruments in the context of the right to information, is an indication that Namibia is both cognizant and appreciable of the fact that access to Law is the cornerstone to good governance, meaningful participation, and increasing transparency. In promotion of this, the Law Reform and Development Commission (LRDC) was established in terms of the Law Reform and Development Commission Act, 1991,(Act No. 29 of 1991). Section 6 of the Act, empowers the LRDC to undertake the consolidation or the codification of any branch of the law or the introduction of any other measures aimed at making the law more readily accessible as well as to undertake research in connection with all branches of the law of Namibia and to make recommendations for the reform and development thereof.
6. The Law Reform and Development Commission (LRDC) The LRDC resorts administratively under the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) of Namibia, and consists of: One Full-time Chairperson; The Ombudsman; One Representative of the Law Society of Namibia; One MoJ Staff; One University of Namibia, Law Faculty Lecturer; and Not more than 3 other persons - all of whom are appointed by the President of the Republic of Namibia.
7. LRDC Commissioners
8. LRDC cont… On the basis of this statutory mandate, the LRDC has commenced urgent efforts to resuscitate the strides made by NamLII (Namibia’s first attempt at a legal information institute) so as to align Namibia’s Free Access to Law Movement efforts with those made by other Legal Information Institute’s across the globe. The LRDC has thus registered a Not for Profit association by the name of Namibia Legal Resources and Information Institute (NaLRII).
9. Historical Background of Namibian Law Namibia has an intricate legal and juridical history which can be divided into 3 periods: The German Colonial Period 1884 - 1915 The South African Colonial Period 1915 - 1989 Post Independent Namibia 1990 – Present
10. German Colonial Period 1884 - 1915 South-West Africa, as Namibia was known then, was declared a German Protectorate and colonized by Germany from 1884 until 1915. Governors of the Territory after 1909, were often advised by the Landesrat, an advisory council. The German era saw the creation of laws that provided for a dual legal system with laws that separated the governance of Europeans and natives. The administration of this law applied mainly in the central and southern parts of the country known as the “Police Zone” as the northern areas of Namibia - including the Kaokoveld, Ovambo, Okavango and Caprivi areas - were not directly affected by German settlement.
11. German colonial Era
12. The South African Colonial Period 1915 - 1989 The Administration of Justice Proclamation, 1919 (Proclamation 21 of 1919) introduced Roman Dutch Common Law into the South-West African territory. This law became applicable to the land by virtue of South-West Africa being a protectorate of South Africa as pronounced by the League of Nations. During this period, SWA was governed by multiple law makers namely: the South African Parliament (which was supreme), the South African State President, the Administrator-General for the Territory of South West Africa and lastly, the Parliament of the Territory of South West Africa.
13. South African colonial era
14. Post Independent Namibia 1990 – Present The South African colonial era ended in 1990 when the Namibian Constitution took effect on 21 March 1990. This constitutional transformation saw the division of governmental powers into the Executive (Cabinet), the Judiciary (the Courts) and the Legislature (Parliament), which is empowered to make laws in accordance with the provisions of the Namibian Constitution.
15. Parliament Building, Windhoek
16. State House, Windhoek
17. Supreme Court, Windhoek
18. Independent Namibia
19. Free Access to Law in Namibia Namibia’s first step towards participating in the Free Access to Law Movement came in the form of the Namibia Legal Information Institute (NamLII),established in 2009 as a Not for profit Company. During its lifespan, NamLII hosted the official e-laws portal for the Ministry of Justice and sent six of its employees, for training on the maintenance of the e-laws portal in Botswana. NamLII also attended the Law via the Internet conferences in 2010 and 2011 respectively, and registered the institution with WorldLII as the official Legal Information Institute for Namibia.
20. FALM in Namibia cont… Despite numerous efforts to advance Namibia in the global FALM context, NamLII became redundant towards the end of 2011 with all of its operations coming to a standstill. There is therefore an urgent need to resuscitate the efforts made by NamLII as a means of aligning Namibia’s FALM efforts with those made by other international Legal Information Institutes.
21. Joining FALM
22. Namibia Legal Resources and Information Institute (NaLRII) The establishment of NaLRII comes at a time when the Namibian nation is devoid of a principle institution specifically mandated to provide and promote free access to online legal information. The purpose of establishing NaLRII therefore, is to provide consistent and updated access to legal information as the recognised and mandated body to do so. The Law Reform and Development Commission Act, 1991 (Act No. 29 of 1991) is currently under review, to be amended with the purpose of incorporating NaLRII as a subsidiary institution to facilitate the LRDC in fulfilling its mandate, as well as to pronounce the institutional function of NaLRII therein.
23. Namibia Legal Resources and Information Institute (NaLRII) The Namibia Legal Resources and Information Institute (NaLRII) has been established to play a critical role in making Namibian law widely accessible to all who seek it. The principle mandate of NaLRII is to ensure that the public has access to the original texts of Statutes & Regulations (pre and post-Independence), Cases, (pre and post-Independence), International Agreements (pre and post-Independence), as well as Hansards, so as to place them in a position to participate effectively in constitutional, judicial and other governmental processes.
24. Vision and Mission Vision To be the premier legal resource and information institution in Namibia; providing reliable, updated and accessible legal information to the public, free of charge. Mission To provide access to public legal information in order to aid the administration of, and access to; justice, the knowledge and practice of law, and the development of jurisprudence.
25. NaLRII Objectives To facilitate, in collaboration with other stakeholders in the Namibian Justice Network, the Open Access to Law Project for Namibia. This will be administered as a means to facilitate the access to legal materials, free of charge, to the public; To implement an e-laws portal that will act as an online repository of all primary and secondary sources of Namibian law; To provide consistent, updated legal information to legal scholars, researchers, students, legal practitioners, policy makers, academics and the international community; To promote the right to information and inform the public of this right by translating various legislative documents into all the local vernaculars, thus ensuring that the overall population is well acquainted with the laws that bind them;
26. Objective cont… To facilitate the development of a virtual platform for the public to participate in an interactive discussion forum, which will collect information on legal issues that will be passed onto policy makers, and other relevant stakeholders, for consideration; To facilitate the expansion of legal research on issues pertaining to human rights. This concerns the issue of enhancing dialogue, awareness and critical thinking, with a specific focus on the grass-root levels, on matters related to political, social, economic and cultural debate, from a human rights perspective; To advance civic education among the Namibian population regarding the access to, and the protection of, human rights; and To promote the implementation of international and regional legal mechanisms for the protection of human rights.
27. Challenges Clearly, access to Namibian law is complicated by the fact that the country was administered by a number of colonial governments. The extent of Namibian law cannot thus, be fully understood without access to all applicable legislation in Namibia from the time that it was colonized by Germany and South Africa. For this reason, an archaeological research of applicable laws in the country becomes necessary, so as to depict the accurate stance of what constitutes the law in Namibia, today. In the same light, because the LRDC is essentially a government body, there remain significant challenges for ensuring that NaLRII realizes all the objectives stated herein. The significant challenges include:
28. Challenges cont… Lack of funding; Lack of access to legacy material; Lack of co-operation among institutions of the Namibia Justice Network; Lack of IT infrastructure; and Lack of internet connectivity.
29. Conclusion With this presentation, we have endeavoured to introduce Namibia’s Free Access to Law efforts to the world and the Free Access to Law international community. Namibia understands that the provision of free access to law will undoubtedly empower especially women, children, poor and marginalized societies so that they may actively participate in the affairs of government, promoting not only education, but also the broad-based development of Namibia and of states within Africa. Where are appreciative of the support and mentorship we have received from the Kenya National Council for Law Reporting (KNCLR) as well as our counterparts from WorldLII and call upon all participants present, to lend us a helping hand as we take our first steps towards being a part of this phenomenal movement.
30. Benchmarking at KNCLR, Kenya
31. Under construction www.nalrii.org Thank you for your attention. The End.