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ARRANGEMENT
OF SECTIONS
SECTION
1. Short title
2. Interpretation
3. Immunity from legal
proceedings
4. Freedom from arrest
5. Exercise of process
6. Entry to Assembly
7. Regulation of
admission to Assembly
8. Order of withdrawal
from Assembly
9. Power to order
attendance of witnesses
10. Attendance to be
notified by summons
11. Power to issue
warrant to compel attendance
12. Witnesses may be
examined on oath
13. Objection to
answer question or produce papers
14. Privileges of
witnesses
15. Evidence of
proceedings in Assembly or committee not to be given without leave
16. Determination of
questions relating to evidence and production of documents before the Assembly
or committee
17. Proceedings to be
deemed judicial proceedings for certain purposes
18. Offences relating
to admittance to the Assembly
19. Other offences
20. Acceptance of
bribes by Members
21. Penalty for false
answers
22. Journals printed
by the Government Printer to be admitted as evidence
23. Penalty for
printing false copy of law, journal, etc.
24. Protection of
persons responsible for publications authorized by the Assembly
25. Publication of
proceedings without malice
26. Exclusion of
jurisdiction of courts
27. Powers of officers
28. Power of arrest
29. Speaker may order
words out of order not to be published
30. Authority for
prosecutions
31. Rules
Proc. 24, 1961,
HMC Order 1, 1963,
L.N. 84, 1966,
Act 8, 1980,
Act 14, 2005,
S.I. 38, 2007,
S.I. 61, 2007
[Date of
Commencement: 21st April, 1961]
[Ch0205s1]1. Short title
This
Act may be cited as the National Assembly (Powers and Privileges) Act.
[Ch0205s2]2. Interpretation
In
this Act, unless the context otherwise requires-
"Assembly"
means the National Assembly;
"Clerk"
means the Clerk of the National Assembly;
"committee"
means any standing, sessional, select or other committee of the Assembly;
"journals"
means the minutes of the Assembly or the official record of the votes and
proceedings thereof;
"Member"
means any Member of the Assembly;
"officer
of the Assembly" means the Clerk, the Sergeant-at-Arms or any other
officer or person acting within the precincts of the Assembly, other than when
serving a summons under the provisions of section 10(3) under the orders of the
Speaker and includes any member of the Botswana Police Force on duty within the
precincts of the Assembly;
"precincts
of the Assembly" means the chamber and offices of the Assembly and any
galleries and places provided for the use or accommodation of strangers,
members of the public and representatives of the press, and includes, while the
Assembly is sitting, and subject to any exceptions made by direction of the
Speaker, the entire building in which the chamber of the Assembly is situated,
and any forecourt, yard, garden, enclosure or open space adjoining or
appertaining to such building and used or provided for the purposes of the
Assembly;
"Speaker"
means the Speaker of the National Assembly and includes any other Member of the
Assembly presiding for the time being in the Assembly;
"Standing
Orders" means the Standing Orders of the Assembly for the time being
in force;
"stranger"
means any person other than a Member or an officer of the Assembly.
[Ch0205s3]3. Immunity from legal proceedings
No
civil or criminal proceedings may be instituted against any Member for words
spoken before, or written in a report to, the Assembly or to a committee, or by
reason of any matter or thing so brought by him by petition, Bill, motion or
otherwise.
[Ch0205s4]4. Freedom from arrest
No
Member shall be liable to arrest-
(a) for any civil debt whilst going to,
attending at or returning from a meeting of the Assembly or any committee; or
(b) within the precincts of the Assembly while
the Assembly or a committee is sitting, for any criminal offence without the
consent of the Speaker.
[Ch0205s5]5. Exercise of process
No
process issued by any court in the exercise of its jurisdiction shall be served
or executed within the precincts of the Assembly while the Assembly is sitting
or through the Speaker, the Clerk or any officer of the Assembly.
[Ch0205s6]6. Entry to Assembly
No
stranger shall be entitled, as of right, to enter or to remain within the
precincts of the Assembly.
[Ch0205s7]7. Regulation of admission to Assembly
(1)
The Speaker is hereby authorized to issue such orders as he may in his
discretion deem necessary for the regulation of the admittance of strangers to
the precincts of the Assembly.
(2)
Copies of orders made under this section shall be duly authenticated by the
Clerk and exhibited in a conspicuous position in the precincts of the Assembly;
and such copies when so authenticated and exhibited shall be deemed to be
sufficient notice to all persons affected thereby.
[Ch0205s8]8. Order of withdrawal from Assembly
The
Speaker may at any time order any stranger to withdraw from the precincts of
the Assembly.
[Ch0205s9]9. Power to order attendance of witnesses
The
Assembly or any committee may, subject to the provisions of sections 14 and 16,
order any person to attend before the Assembly or before such committee and to
give evidence or to produce any paper, book, record or document in the
possession or under the control of such person.
[Ch0205s10]10. Attendance to be notified by summons
(1)
Any order to attend to give evidence or to produce documents before the
Assembly or a committee shall be notified to the person required to attend or
to produce the documents by a summons, in such form as may be prescribed, under
the hand of the Clerk issued by the direction of the Speaker or, in the case of
a committee, by the chairman and so described on the face of such summons.
Every such summons, if purporting to bear the signature of the Clerk, shall be
deemed prima facie to be lawful and to be issued by the direction of the
Speaker or the chairman as the case may be.
(2)
In every summons under subsection (1) there shall be stated the time when and
the place where the person summoned is required to attend and the particular
documents which he is required to produce and the summons shall be served on
the person mentioned therein either by delivering to him a copy thereof or by
leaving a copy thereof at his usual or last-known place of abode in Botswana,
with some adult person; and there shall be paid or tendered to the person so
summoned, if he does not reside within six kilometres of the place of
attendance specified in the summons, such sum for his expenses as may be
prescribed by Standing Orders.
(3) A
summons under this section may be served by an officer of the Assembly or by a
member of the Botswana Police Force.
[Ch0205s11]11. Power to issue warrant to compel attendance
(1)
If a person to whom a summons under section 10 is directed does not attend
before the Assembly or the committee at the time and place mentioned therein,
the Speaker may, upon being satisfied that the summons was duly served or that
the person to whom the summons is directed wilfully avoids service, direct the
Clerk to issue a warrant, in such form as may be prescribed, to apprehend him
and bring him, at a time and place to be stated in the warrant, before the
Assembly or committee.
(2) A
warrant issued under this section shall be executed by a member of the Botswana
Police Force.
(3)
The Speaker, on directing the issue of a warrant under this section, may, if he
thinks fit, by ordering an appropriate endorsement on the warrant, direct that
the person named in the warrant be released after arrest on his entering into
such recognizance before a court for his appearance before the Assembly or
committee as may be required in the endorsement.
(4)
Every warrant issued under the provisions of this section and every endorsement
upon such warrant shall, if purporting to bear the signature of the Clerk, be
deemed prima facie to be lawful and to be issued or made under the
direction or order of the Speaker.
[Ch0205s12]12. Witnesses may be examined on oath
The
Assembly or any committee empowered to order the attendance of witnesses may
require that any facts, matters and things relating to the subject of inquiry
before the Assembly or such committee be verified or otherwise ascertained by
the oral examination of witnesses, and may cause any such witnesses to be
examined upon oath, which the Clerk or the chairman of the committee or other
person specially appointed for that purpose by the Assembly or by such
committee is hereby authorized to administer.
[Ch0205s13]13. Objection to answer question or produce
papers
(1)
Subject to the provisions of section 14, where any person ordered to attend to
give evidence or to produce any paper, book, record or document before the
Assembly refuses to answer any question that may be put to him or to produce
any such paper, book, record or document on the ground that the same is of a
private nature and does not affect the subject of inquiry, the Speaker may
excuse the answering of such question or the production of such paper, book,
record or document, or may order the answering or production thereof.
(2)
Subject to the provisions of section 14, where any person ordered to attend or
to give evidence or to produce any paper, book, record or document before any
committee refuses to answer any question that may be put to him or to produce
any such paper, book, record or document on the ground that the same is of a
private nature and does not affect the subject of inquiry the chairman of the
committee may report such refusal to the Speaker with the reasons therefor; and
the Speaker may thereupon excuse the answering of such question or the
production of such paper, book, record or document or may order the answering
or production thereof.
[Ch0205s14]14. Privileges of witnesses
(1)
Every person summoned to attend to give evidence or to produce any paper, book,
record or document before the Assembly or a committee thereof shall be
entitled, in respect of such evidence or the disclosure of any communication or
the production of any such paper, book, record or document to the same right or
privilege as before a court of law.
(2)
Except with the consent of the President, no person in the employment of the
Government shall-
(a) produce before the Assembly or a committee
any paper, book, record or document; or
(b) give evidence before the Assembly or a
committee,
relating to correspondence concerning any naval, military or air force
matter; nor shall secondary evidence be received by or produced before the
Assembly or a committee of the contents of any such paper, book, record or
document.
(3)
Except when in the opinion of the President it would be contrary to the public
interest and the President so directs, no person in the employment of the
Government shall refuse-
(a) to produce before the Assembly or a
committee any paper, book, record or document; or
(b) to give evidence before the Assembly or a
committee,
relating to the correspondence of any department of Government or to any
matter affecting the public service; secondary evidence shall not be received
by or produced before the Assembly or a committee of the contents of any such
paper, book, record or document which the President has directed shall not be
produced.
(4)
An answer by a person to a question put by the Assembly or a committee shall
not be admissible in evidence against him in any civil or criminal proceedings
except in the case of criminal proceedings for an offence against this Act or
for perjury, subornation of perjury or defeating or obstructing the course of
justice.
[Ch0205s15]15. Evidence of proceedings in Assembly or
committee not to be given without leave
(1)
Save as provided in this Act, no Member or officer of the Assembly and no
person employed to take minutes of evidence before the Assembly or any
committee shall give evidence elsewhere in respect of the contents of such
minutes of evidence or of the contents of any document laid before the Assembly
or such committee, as the case may be, or in respect of any proceedings or
examination held before the Assembly or such committee, as the case may be,
without first obtaining the special leave of the Assembly.
(2)
The special leave referred to in subsection (1) may be given during a recess or
adjournment by the Speaker, or, during any dissolution of the Assembly, by the
President.
[Ch0205s16]16. Determination of questions relating to
evidence and production of documents before the Assembly or committee
Where
at any time any question arises in the Assembly or in a committee in regard to-
(a) the right or power of the Assembly or a
committee to hear, admit or receive oral evidence;
(b) the right or power of the Assembly or a
committee to peruse or examine any paper, book, record or document or to
summon, direct or call upon any person to produce any paper, book, record or
document before the Assembly or committee; or
(c) the right or privilege of any person
(including a Member of the Assembly or committee) to refuse to produce any
paper, book, record or document or to lay any paper, book, record or document
before the Assembly or committee,
S.I. 61/2007,
s.2. that question shall, subject to the preceding provisions
of this Act, and except in so far as express provision is made in those
provisions for the determination of that question, be determined in accordance
with the usage and practice of the House of Commons of the United
Kingdom.
[Ch0205s17]17. Proceedings to be deemed judicial
proceedings for certain purposes
When
a person gives evidence or produces a paper, book, record or document before
the Assembly or a committee in pursuance of this Act, the proceedings shall be
deemed to be judicial proceedings for the purposes of a prosecution for
perjury, subornation of perjury or defeating or obstructing the course of
justice.
[Ch0205s18]18. Offences relating to admittance to the
Assembly
Any
person who-
(a) being a stranger, enters or attempts to
enter the precincts of the Assembly in contravention of any order of the
Speaker;
(b) being a stranger, fails or refuses to
withdraw from the precincts of the Assembly when ordered to withdraw therefrom
by the Speaker; or
(c) being a stranger contravenes, any order
made under the provisions of this Act by the Speaker regulating the admittance
of strangers to the precincts of the Assembly,
shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding P50, or
to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months.
[Ch0205s19]19. Other offences
Any
person who-
(a) disobeys any order made by the Assembly or
a committee for attendance or for production of papers, books, documents or
records, unless such attendance or production be excused as hereinbefore
provided;
(b) refuses to be examined before, or to answer
any lawful and relevant question put by the Assembly or a committee, unless
such refusal be excused as hereinbefore provided;
(c) offers to any Member or officer of the
Assembly any bribe, in order to influence him in his conduct as such Member or
officer, or offers to any Member or officer of the Assembly any fee, compensation,
gift or reward for or in respect of the promotion of or opposition to any Bill
or matter submitted to or intended to be submitted to the Assembly or any
committee;
(d) assaults, obstructs, molests or insults any
Member coming to, being within, or going from the precincts of the Assembly, or
endeavours to compel any Member by force, insult or menace to declare himself
in favour of or against any proposition or matter pending in or expected to be
brought before the Assembly or any committee;
(e) assaults, molests, insults, resists or
obstructs any officer of the Assembly while in the execution of his duty or
while proceeding to or from the Assembly knowing or having reasonable grounds
for believing him to be such an officer;
(f) creates or joins in any disturbance which
interrupts or is likely to interrupt the proceedings of the Assembly or any
committee while the Assembly or such committee is sitting;
(g) presents to the Assembly or a committee any
false, untrue, fabricated or falsified document with intent to deceive the
Assembly or such committee;
(h) utters or publishes any false or scandalous
slander or libel on the Assembly or upon any Member in his capacity as such;
(i) attempts, directly or indirectly, by
fraud, or by threats or intimidation of any kind, to influence a Member in his
vote, opinion, judgment or action, upon any question arising in the Assembly or
in a committee, or to induce him to absent himself from the Assembly or any
committee;
(j) threatens, assaults or insults a Member or
an officer of the Assembly on account of his conduct as such Member or officer;
(k) gives false evidence (in the case of
witnesses not examined on oath), or is guilty of prevarication or other
misconduct as a witness before the Assembly or a committee;
(l) destroys documents which have been ordered
to be produced before the Assembly or a committee;
(m) endeavours, directly or indirectly, to deter
or hinder any person from appearing or giving evidence before the Assembly or a
committee;
(n) tampers with a witness in regard to
evidence to be given by him before the Assembly or a committee;
(o) threatens or in any way punishes, damnifies
or injures or attempts to punish, damnify or injure any person having given
evidence before the Assembly or a committee, or on account of the evidence
which he has given before the Assembly or a committee; or
(p) publishes any evidence taken by, or
document presented to, a committee where such evidence has been taken within
closed doors, or where its publication has been expressly prohibited by the
Assembly or the committee,
shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding P400, or
to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.
[Ch0205s20]20. Acceptance of bribes by Members
Any
Member who accepts or agrees to accept or obtains or attempts to obtain for
himself or for any other person any bribe, fee, compensation, reward or benefit
of any kind for speaking, voting or acting as such Member or for refraining
from so speaking, voting or acting or on account of his having so spoken, voted
or acted or having so refrained shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a
fine not exceeding P400, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.
[Ch0205s21]21. Penalty for false answers
A
person who, whether he has or has not sworn or made an affirmation, wilfully
makes a false answer before the Assembly or a committee to a question material
to the subject of inquiry which may be put to him during the course of an
examination after he has been cautioned of his liability to punishment under
this section, shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding
P600, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years.
[Ch0205s22]22. Journals printed by the Government Printer
to be admitted as evidence
S.I. 61/2007, s.3. Upon
any inquiry touching the privileges, immunities and powers of the Assembly or
of any Member, a copy of the Journals of the House of Commons of the United
Kingdom printed or purporting to be printed by the order of the Printer of the
Commons House, shall be admitted as prima facie evidence of such
journals in all courts and places without any proof being given that such copy
was so printed.
[Ch0205s23]23. Penalty for printing false copy of law,
journal, etc.
Any
person who prints or causes to be printed a copy of any law or a copy of any
report, paper, minutes or votes and proceedings of the Assembly as purporting
to have been printed by the Government Printer or by order or under the
authority of the Assembly or by order or under the authority of the Speaker,
and the same is not so printed, or tenders in evidence any such copy as
purporting to be so printed, knowing that the same was not so printed, shall be
guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding P400, or to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.
[Ch0205s24]24. Protection of persons responsible for
publications authorized by the Assembly
Any
person, being a defendant in any civil or criminal proceedings instituted for
or on account of or in respect of the publication by such person or by his
servant or agent, by order or under the authority of the Assembly, of any
reports, papers, minutes, votes and proceedings, may, on giving to the
plaintiff or prosecutor, as the case may be, 24 hours' written notice of his
intention, bring before the court in which such civil or criminal proceedings
are being held a certificate under the hand of the Speaker stating that the
reports, papers, minutes, votes and proceedings in respect whereof such civil
or criminal proceedings have been instituted were published by such person or
by his servant or agent by order or under the authority of the Assembly
together with an affidavit verifying such certificate, and such court shall
thereupon immediately stay such civil or criminal proceedings and the same and
every process issued therein shall be deemed to be finally determined.
[Ch0205s25]25. Publication of proceedings without malice
In
any civil proceedings instituted for publishing any report or summary of or any
extract from or abstract of any report, paper, minutes, votes and proceedings
of the Assembly, if the court is satisfied that such report, summary, extract
or abstract was published in good faith and without malice, judgment shall be
entered for the defendant.
[Ch0205s26]26. Exclusion of jurisdiction of courts
Neither
the Speaker nor any officer of the Assembly shall be subject to the
jurisdiction of any court in respect of the exercise of any power conferred on
or vested in the Speaker or such officer by or under this Act.
[Ch0205s27]27. Powers of officers
Every
officer of the Assembly shall in the exercise of the powers conferred and the
duties imposed on him by this Act have all the powers and enjoy all the
privileges of a member of the Botswana Police Force under the provisions of the
criminal law.
[Ch0205s28]28. Power of arrest
An
officer of the Assembly may arrest without warrant-
(a) any person who commits any offence contrary
to section 18 or 19 in his presence; or
(b) any person within the precincts of the
Assembly whom he reasonably suspects of having committed, or being about to
commit, an offence contrary to either of the said sections.
[Ch0205s29]29. Speaker may order words out of order not to
be published
(1)
Where the Speaker, under the provisions of the Standing Orders of the Assembly,
rules any words used by a Member to be out of order, the Speaker may, in his
absolute discretion, order that such words, or any words out of which they
arose or arising out of them, shall not be published in any manner.
(2)
Any person who publishes any words which are the subject of an order made under
the provisions of subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a
fine not exceeding P400, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.
[Ch0205s30]30. Authority for prosecutions
14 of 2005, s. 2. No
prosecution for an offence under this Act shall be instituted except with the
written authority of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
[Ch0205s31]31. Rules
The
President may, by statutory instrument, make rules prescribing anything which,
under the provisions of this Act, may be or is to be prescribed.