11 Dec 2013

Defence, justice and security minister, Mr Dikgakgamatso Seretse has presented the Criminal Procedure and Evidence (Amendment) Bill, 2013 (No.27 of 2013) before Parliament for a second reading.

Presenting the Bill, Mr Seretse said amongst other things, the Bill seeks to amend Section 97 and 96 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act to allow the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to exercise discretion on whether to commit criminal cases to the high court or magistrate courts, depending on the seriousness of the cases- unlike before where all cases were committed before Magistrate Courts.

Minister Seretse said the Bill sets out the documents to be served by the DPP on the accused person and the court when in dieting an accused person for trial and dispenses with the requirement of summaries of statement of witnesses, commonly known as summary of evidence, which in most cases contributes significantly to the delays.

“The process outlined above will be effected by amending the five Sections of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act through the Criminal Procedure and Evidence (Amendment) Bill, 2013 (No.27 of 2013) and the Bill has six Clauses to effect such amendments,” he added.

Debating the Bill, Gaborone Central MP and also Botswana Congress Party leader, Mr Dumelang Saleshando asked the minister to explain why the Bill was necessary. Responding to Mr Saleshando’s question, Mr Seretse said the Bill was necessary and urgent in the sense that the process was long.

Mr Seretse explained that “what is actually happening now is that in a case of serious criminal cases such as murder or corruption- but in this particular case we are dealing with corruption, committal must be at the magistrates before you can go to the high court. You don’t go directly to the high court. You must be committed at the magistrate court.”

“So, what we are doing now is removing that committal at the magistrate court, such that after the DPP has processed all the evidence and given the other parties the documents they can go directly to the high court, as opposed to going to the magistrate court,” he added.

This, he said, was because now there was a judge for the high court who was responsible for corruption cases. Previously, he said this high court judge would be waiting for the magistrate to finish the process before cases were referred to him, “but now he is going to be going directly to the high court for that process, as opposed to going to the magistrate court.”

Tonota South MP and also National Assembly deputy speaker, Mr Pono Moatlhodi commended Mr Seretse for the (Amendment) Bill saying that would speed up the process of dealing with corruption cases in the country. He also urged him to ensure that police officers, as they were also in the same justice chain, were provided with all the necessary resources that would enable them to carry out their duties diligently.

MP for Palapye, Mr Moiseraele Goya and Shoshong MP, Mr Phillip Makgalemele also supported the (Amendment) Bill.

Mr Makgalemele encouraged Minister Seretse to continuously come up with ways in which the country’s judiciary system and procedures could be further improved. Meanwhile, Parliament Task Team chairperson, Mr Samson Guma has tabled a report on the findings of Parliamentary Task Team on Strengthening Accountability to Enhance Parliamentary Oversight.

The Assistant Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Keletso Rakhudu also tabled before Parliament, the Electronic Communications and Transactions Bill, 2013 (No. 25 of 2013) for first reading. In addition, Finance and Development Planning assistant minister, Mr Vincent Seretse also presented before Parliament, the Building Societies Amendment Bill, 2013 (No. 24 of 2013), which was published on November 1, 2013, for first reading. ENDS