EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY
East African
Community Secretariat, Kigali , Rwanda 24 October 2012 : The 14th Meeting of the EAC Sectoral
Council on Legal and Judicial Affairs concluded Wednesday in Kigali , Rwanda Partner States
The Sectoral Council cleared the legal content of the
East African Community One Stop Border Post Bill, 2012 and the East African
Community Vehicle Load Control Bill, 2012 for the Council of Ministers’
introduction in the East African Legislative Assembly later this year. The two
bills will legislate the operation of the planned one stop border posts and the
application of a uniform vehicle weight (axle load) limit for the region,
respectively.
The Sectoral Council whose composition includes the
Partner States’ Attorneys General, Solicitors General as well as Ministers
responsible for judicial and constitutional affairs, also approved the legal
content of the draft EAC Protocol on Peace and Security; the draft EAC Protocol
on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures; the draft EAC Protocol on Information
and Communication Technology Networks and advised the Council of Ministers to
conclude them.
The Sectoral Council made legal input into regulations
relating to enforcement of technical matters, designation and testing
laboratories and product certification under the East African Community
Standardisation, Quality Assurance Metrology and Testing Act, 2006.
The Sectoral Council deferred finalisation of legal
input into the East African Community Anti-Counterfeit Bill, 2012 pending
further policy guidance from the EAC Sectoral Council on Trade, Industry,
Finance and Investment.
The Sectoral Council deferred consideration of matters
relating to the jurisdiction of the East African Court of Justice; proposed
amendment of the EAC Treaty and Rules of Procedure for the Council of
Ministers; and Study on Harmonisation of Legal Training and Practice Pending
further consideration by Partner States. These matters will be considered at
the Sectoral Council’s next Ordinary Meeting.
Addressing the Sectoral Council on behalf of the Secretary General, the
Counsel to the Community, Hon. Wilbert T. K. Kaahwa, echoed the critical role the
Sectoral Council plays in the EAC integration process.
Hon. Kaahwa noted that the Sectoral Council was not
only the first Sectoral Council that the Council of Ministers established in
the institutional framework way back in 2000 but it was also the organ charged
with ensuring that all decisions and directives of the Council that require
legal input progressed in a manner that was in conformity with the EAC Treaty
and its relevant annexes.
“This role applies to clearance of all Bills, protocols, procedures and
similar instruments of a legal nature. It is therefore very important that this
Sectoral Council meets as often as it is scheduled to,” Hon. Kaahwa said.
Present at the meeting were Hon. Prof. Githu Muigai, Attorney General
of the Republic of Kenya and Chairperson of the Sectoral Council; Hon. Peter
Nyombi, Attorney General of the Republic of Uganda; Hon. Tharcisse Karugarama,
Minister of Justice/Attorney General of the Republic of Rwanda; His Lordship
Mr. Justice Frederick M. Werema, Attorney General of the United Republic of
Tanzania; and Hon. Pascal Barandagiye, Minister of Justice and Holder of Seals
of the Republic of Burundi.
In attendance were Hon. Peter Munya, Assistant
Minister of East African Community, Kenya; the Deputy Attorney General of
Tanzania, the Solicitors General of Uganda and Kenya, the Permanent Secretaries
of the Ministries of Justice of Rwanda and Burundi; the Chairpersons of the Law
Reform Commissions of Kenya and Rwanda; and senior officials from the Partner
States, Lake Victoria Basin Commission and EAC Secretariat.
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