EAST AFRICA: Regional Attorney Generals call for harmonisation of laws

By Eric Kabeera

Attorney Generals of the East African Community (EAC) member states have called for harmonisation of laws in member states to help achieve the integration process. 

The officials made the call during the fourteenth sectoral council on legal and judicial affairs in Kigali.

They stressed that it was imperative for partner states to have similar laws.

“Our wish is to have a political federation, however, in order for us to get there, we must make sure that the legal and intuitional support for that ultimate goal is in place as we move along,” Prof Githu Muigai, the Kenyan Attorney General who is also the chairperson of the council, said.

He added that though member countries were making tremendous progress in synchronising laws, there was still a need to fast track harmonisation for the citizen to benefit from the integration.

In Rwanda, some laws like the new immigration law and labour have been synchronised and more are being revised to align them to suit the integration agenda as stipulated in the EAC treaty.

The Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Tharcisse Karugarama, observed that the Council was optimistic about the alignment of laws, adding that the trade laws that were harmonised had yielded significant achievements.

“Laws concerning trade have been harmonised because you can’t trade if the laws are not harmonised. We have a higher level committee of this council that deals with harmonisation of laws and it’s a continuous process and as we continue to further the integration we shall have to harmonise all the laws”

However, while partner states are coordinating their laws, more legislations are still different. For example in some countries, trading in illicit liquor, locally known as Kanyanga, is legal while in other states it’s against the law.

Apparently, only Rwanda and Kenya have already identified the laws and started harmonising them as stipulated by the treaty.

“We try to make sure that our local laws are in harmony with the laws in EAC”, Uganda’s Attorney General, Peter Nyombi, pointed out.

During their meeting, the council approved various protocols, including the legal content of the draft EAC protocol on peace and security, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, information and communication technology networks.

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 introduction in the East African Legislative Assembly by the Council of Ministers later this year.

The Council delayed the 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.

It also 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.

Source: New Times (30/10/2012): http://www.newtimes.co.rw/news/index.php?i=15161&a=60114