[Bill-Watch] Bill Watch 37/2014 of 24th September [Parliamentary "Session" Ends 25th September 2014]

[Veritas Bill Watch]

BILL WATCH 37/2014
[24th September 2014]
Last Week of the Present Parliamentary Session
Houses Resolve to End "Session" on 25th September 
Last week both Houses of Parliament resolved that "the First Session of the
Eighth Parliament will end on Thursday 25th September 2014".  [Full text of
the resolutions available from the addresses given at the end of this
bulletin.]
This is the first time in the history of the Zimbabwe Parliament that the
Houses have had the power to do this.  The Constitution makes provision for
each House of Parliament to "determine the time and duration of its sittings
. and its periods of recess" [section 146].   Under the former Constitution
it was the President who, by way of Presidential proclamation, fixed the
opening date of each session and later ended it by "proroguing" Parliament
[i.e., putting it in a state of abeyance until he saw fit to summon it back
for the next session].  
It should be noted that some confusion may arise from the terminology of the
resolution: 
.        The Constitution does not use the term "session".   The term comes
from the former Constitution in which the life of each Parliament was
divided into annual sessions.  
.        There seems no serious objection to Parliament's continuing, for
the sake of convenience, to use the term "session" to denote the series of
sittings making up each Parliamentary year.  [It has continued to use
"session" right from the start of the present Parliament.  The daily
Hansards and Votes and Proceedings, for example, have all been headed "First
Session - Eighth Parliament"]
.        Care should be taken, however, that Parliament does not, by using
the previous Constitution's terminology of "sessions", hand back to the
President his former power to determine the start and end of these so-called
"sessions".  It would be advisable for Parliament's new Standing Orders
[still awaited] to explain exactly what this Parliament means when it uses
the word "session". 
President to Open New "Session" 
The warning in the preceding paragraph may be particularly pertinent in view
of the fact that both Houses, in the same resolutions, also resolved-
.        to maintain the convention of having the President officially
opening the "sessions" of Parliament every year
.        that the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the National
Assembly invite the President to officially open Parliament "on a convenient
date".
Both Houses stated that maintaining the convention of an annual Presidential
opening would serve a useful purpose because it would afford Parliament "an
opportunity to be briefed on the legislative programme of Government for the
ensuing year" and enable it to "effectively plan for its legislative and
oversight agenda".  [An opening by the President is permissible under
section 140 of the Constitution which provides that the President may
address Parliament at any time.]  
This resolution asking the President to "open" the next "session" should not
be taken as giving the President the power to determine when the Houses will
reconvene.
When Will Parliament Sit Again?
As pointed out above, the date of the official opening of the "Second
Session" is not stated in the resolutions. Instead, the resolutions mandate
the President of the Senate and the Speaker to "invite the President to
officially open Parliament on a convenient date".  
The opening date of the next "session" should be agreed with the President
by the end of Thursday 25th September to enable the Houses to resolve,
before they adjourn, the date on which to recommence - thereby enabling the
Houses to decide the duration of the coming recess in line with their
constitutional powers.
This is important because, as pointed out above, just as the President no
longer has the power to end a session or sitting he no longer has the power
fix the date for a new "session".  
If, with the President being absent at the current United Nations General
Assembly session in New York, the convenient date for the start of the new
"session" has not been agreed by the 25th September, the Houses will have to
adjourn to a specified date of Parliament's own choosing [they cannot
adjourn indefinitely].  Should it then turn out that the President cannot
perform the opening ceremony on that specified date, there is no real reason
why the "session" should not start then anyway, leaving it to the President
to deliver his opening speech as soon thereafter as convenient.   
Note:  There are only two situations in which the President can summon
Parliament to meet.  They are:
.        for the first sittings of the Houses after a general election;
these sittings must take place not later than 30 days after the date on
which the President assumes office [Constitution, section 145] 
.        when there is "special business" to be conducted while Parliament
is in recess [Constitution, section 146].
Neither provision applies to the present situation. 
The Coming Recess is Likely to be Short
There are still important Bills that must be dealt with in the next session,
three of which still under consideration by the Parliamentary Legal
Committee, and cannot be taken further this week.  There are other Bills in
the pipeline [see below] and there is the hope of more legislation being
introduced to align laws with the Constitution.  The Parliament pre-budget
programme should start towards the end of October.  Also towards the end of
the year there are traditionally recesses when party congresses take place. 
Update on Bills with the Parliamentary Legal Committee
Three Bills are still under consideration by the Parliamentary Legal
Committee [PLC]:
.        Gender Commission of Zimbabwe Bill - as pointed out in Constitution
Watch 8/2014 of 26th August, this Bill fails to comply with the Constitution
in several respects.  The PLC and the responsible Minister are discussing
the changes that need to be made to the Bill to bring it into compliance
with the Constitution.
.        Public Accountants and Auditors Amendment Bill
.        Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (Debt Assumption) Bill - this
controversial Bill is also under consideration by the Portfolio Committee on
Finance and Economic Development, which last week held public hearings on
the Bill in Harare, Mutare, Gweru and Bulawayo.  At these public hearings
the provisions of the Bill were severely criticised by members of the
public.
[All available from the addresses given at the end of this bulletin.]
Other Bills in the Pipeline
[not available to Veritas or the public until gazetted]
Bills in the pipeline include-
.        Marondera State University of Agricultural Science and Technology
Bill, which is with the Government Printer.
.        General Laws Amendment Bill, which has been approved by Cabinet and
is ready for printing.  It will tackle a large number of the more
straightforward changes needed to align existing laws with the Constitution;
the more complex alignment Bills are still to come.
 
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