East African Community Secretariat,
Arusha, Tanzania, 22 October 2012: The 14th Meeting
of the EAC Sectoral Council on Legal and Judicial Affairs is taking place 16-22
October, 2012 in Kigali, Rwanda, to consider several instruments in Customs and
Trade; Planning and Infrastructure; Productive and Social Sectors; and Legal
and Judicial matters.
Specifically, the meeting is to consider the East African
Community Anti-Counterfeit Bill, 2011; EAC Vehicle Load Control Bill, 2012; the East African
Community Protocol on Information and Communications Technology Networks; the
East African Community Protocol on Sanitary and Phytosanitary; and the
Comprehensive Technical Paper on the Summit Directive to Extend Jurisdiction of
the East African Court of Justice to Include Among others Crimes Against
Humanity.
The meeting will also consider
the Report on the East African Regional Study with a view to Harmonize Legal
and Regulatory Framework Governing Legal Training, Certification and Practice
within the Community; Report of the East African Judicial Education Committee;
and Report of the Sub-Committee on Approximation of National Laws into EAC
context.
The session of the Sectoral Committee on Legal and
Judicial Affairs was held from 19-21 October; the session
of the Deputy Attorneys General/ Solicitors General/ Permanent Secretaries
on 22- 23 October and the Ministerial and Attorneys General session is on 24
October 2012.
Background to members of legal link international
EAC Vehicle Load Control Bill, 2012
Vehicle over-loading in national and regional transit
highways remains one of the major causes of failure of the road infrastructure
in the EAC Partner States. This failure has resulted in high costs of transport
and frequent maintenance requirements. Unfortunately, the balance between trade
facilitation and protection of the road infrastructure has not been achieved
due to lack of a harmonized approach to this problem in the region.
In view of this, the Council of Ministers approved a
study on the East African Transport Facilitation Strategy to, among others;
develop a framework for effective vehicle load control. The Study, which was
carried out from December 2010 to July 2011, covered the five EAC Partner
States.
The Report of the Study and its recommendations were
adopted by the Sectoral Council on Transport, Communications and Meteorology at
its 9th Meeting held in November 2011. The Study recommended, among
others, the development of an EAC Bill to provide for the application of a
harmonized EAC Vehicle Load regime. The Sectoral Council is expected to
consider and adopt the EAC Vehicle Load Control Bill, 2012 for introduction in
the East African Legislative Assembly.
Protocol on ICT networks
The Council of Ministers at its 22nd
Meeting held in April 2011 recommended that the Partner States conclude a
Protocol on ICT networks in order to facilitate the successful operation and
cross-border interconnection of broadband ICT networks.
Following this recommendation, the Sectoral Council on
Transport, Communications, and Meteorology at its 8th Meeting,
directed that an EAC Protocol for ICT Networks be developed. In line with the
directive, a draft Protocol was developed by experts from Partner States.
The draft Protocol was considered and adopted by the
Sectoral Council on Transport Communications and Meteorology, at its 3rd
Extra-Ordinary Meeting held in February 2012. It was further considered and
adopted by the Council of Ministers at its 25th Meeting, held in
August 2012. The Council of Ministers referred the Protocol to the Sectoral
Council for legal input.
Protocol on
Sanitary and Phytosanitary
At its 20th Meeting held in
March 2012, the Council of Ministers adopted the draft Protocol on Sanitary and
Phytosanitary (SPS) and referred it to the Sectoral Council for legal input. At
its 10th Meeting, the Sectoral Council considered the Draft Protocol and
directed the Secretariat to convene a meeting of SPS Experts and Draftsmen to
improve the Protocol and its annexes.
Extending
Jurisdiction of the EACJ
At its 24th Extraordinary Meeting held in
April 2012, the Council of Ministers was informed that at its 10th
Extra-Ordinary Summit held on 28 April 2012, the Heads of State welcomed the
Resolution by the East African Legislative Assembly of expediting amendment of
the Treaty to extend jurisdiction of the East African Court of Justice or the
conclusion of the Protocol on this matter.
The Summit noted the need to
look into the matter of extending this jurisdiction to cover, among others
crimes against humanity. The Summit also directed the Council to consider this
matter by end of May 2012 and report to an Extraordinary Summit to be convened
immediately thereafter.
Harmonizing the Legal and Regulatory Framework
At its 25th Meeting held in August 2012,
the Council of Ministers took note of the Report on the East African Regional
Study with a view to harmonizing the Legal and Regulatory Framework Governing
Legal Training, Certification and Practice within the Community and directed
the Secretariat to submit it to the Sectoral Council on Legal and Judicial
Affairs for consideration.
Approximation of National Laws in the EAC
The Meeting of the Sub-Committee on Approximation of
National Laws in the EAC context was held in July, 2012. The Sub-Committee
considered issues pertaining to work permits in the Partner States’ national
laws governing immigration and EAC Common Market Protocol; Principles and other
areas for harmonization of Partner States’ laws governing labour and
employment; conflicts and areas of divergences between Partner States’ national
laws governing labour and EAC Common Market; identification of priority
laws for harmonisation; report on
harmonization of the Partner States’ commercial laws; involvement of
stakeholders in the activities of the Sub-Committee and activities of the
Sub-Committee for the FY 2012/2013
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