Key Benefits:
36. Executive Secretary, etc.
(1) The Board shall appoint an Executive Secretary of the Board on such terms and conditions as the Board may determine.
(2) No person shall be appointed as Executive Secretary unless the person holds such qualifications and has such experience as the Board may determine.
(3) The Executive Secretary shall be responsible for the day-to-day running of the Board.
(4) The Executive Secretary shall be the Secretary of the Board and every committee of the Board but shall have no right to vote.
(1) A person shall not practise as an Environmental Impact Assessment Practitioner unless such person is registered and certified under this Act.
(2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable to a fine not exceeding P50 000, or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years, or to both.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Board shall establish and maintain a register of practitioners.
(2) The register shall be kept at the offices of the Board and shall be open to inspection during office hours to any member of the public.
(3) The Executive Secretary shall -
(a) keep the register in such form as may be prescribed;
(b) enter in the register, in relation to a practitioner -
(i) his or her name,
(ii) his or her address,
(iii) his or her qualification,
(iv) his or her date of first registration, and
(v) such other particulars as the Board may from time to time determine;
(c) make in the register any necessary alterations to the particulars referred to under paragraph (b);
(d) remove, from the register, the name of a practitioner who dies or ceases to practise as a practitioner;
(e) when required to do so under this Act or in pursuance of an order of a court -
(i) register a practitioner or suspend, from practice, a practitioner, and
(ii) remove, from the register, the name of a practitioner;
(f) on the instructions of the Chairperson, convene meetings of the Board or committee of the Board;
(g) maintain records and minutes of meetings convened under paragraph (f);
(h) appoint, after consultation with the Board, such other staff of the Board as the Board considers necessary;
(i) carry out any other duties assigned to him or her by the Board; and
(j) cause to be published by notice in the Gazette, at the beginning of each year in January, a list containing the names, addresses and qualifications of all registered practitioners remaining on the register at the close of the previous year.
39. Procedures for registration
A person may apply to the Executive Secretary to be registered and certified as a practitioner and shall submit with the application the following -
(a) certificates of qualifications as may be prescribed;
(b) a curriculum vitae;
(c) any other information as may be required; and
(d) such registration fees as may be prescribed shall serve as the annual subscription fee for that year.
(1) A person shall be issued with a certificate of practice on being registered, which shall indicate the professional category to which such person belongs, in terms of the prescribed criteria.
(2) A person duly certified by the Board shall be entitled to place letters signifying that they are certified practitioners.
(3) There shall be paid to the Board in respect of each practising certificate to be issued, such annual practising fee as may be prescribed.
(4) Every practising certificate issued shall have effect from the date of which it is issued and shall expire after 12 months:
Provided that where the name of any practitioner is removed from or struck off the register, the practising certificate of that practitioner shall expire forthwith.
(5) If any person fails to obtain a practising certificate for any year, the Board shall notify such person of the provisions of this section by means of a registered letter posted to him or her at his or her last known address, and if, within 90 days of the posting of such letter the person has not obtained such certificate, the Board shall remove the name of such person from the register.
41. Registration of non-residents
An applicant who is a non-resident of Botswana shall be registered and certified when the Board is satisfied that -
(a) the applicant has complied with the prescribed certification criteria;
(b) the applicant holds a valid recognised certificate to practise as a practitioner;
(c) there is a reciprocal recognition of the Botswana Association in the country where the applicant originates; and
(d) the applicant has paid such fees as may be prescribed.
(1) The Board shall refuse the registration of an applicant where it is satisfied that the applicant -
(a) has at any time, whether within or outside Botswana -
(i) been removed from an office of trust on account of improper conduct, or
(ii) been convicted of extortion, bribery, theft, fraud, forgery or uttering a forged document or perjury and sentenced in respect thereof to imprisonment without the option of a fine; or
(b) notwithstanding that he or she is otherwise qualified, is not a fit person to be registered by reason of-
(i) his or her mental health,
(ii) the fact that he or she is not of good character or reputation, or
(iii) any conduct of his or hers which, if he or she had been registered, would have constituted improper or disgraceful conduct to the profession of practitioners.
(2) The Board shall, before refusing registration under subsection (1), hold an inquiry under Part VIII, and the provisions of this Part shall, with the necessary modifications, apply as if the applicant were registered.
43. Suspension of registration
(1) The Board may suspend the registration of a practitioner where an inquiry under Part VIII has found the practitioner guilty of any allegation referred to in section 50 or 53.
(2) A practitioner who has been suspended in accordance with subsection (1) shall be disqualified from performing the work of a practitioner and his or her registration shall be deemed to be cancelled until the period of suspension has expired.
(1) The Board shall order the removal from the register of-
(a) the name of a practitioner who -
(i) has failed to notify the Executive Secretary of his or her present address, within six months of a notice being sent to him or her by registered letter by the Executive Secretary requesting him or her to so notify the Executive Secretary:
Provided that where such registered letter is returned to the Executive Secretary by reason of it being unclaimed or for any other reason, the Board may, as soon as practicable direct that the name of the practitioner be removed from the register,
(ii) has requested that his or her name be removed from the register and has lodged an affidavit stating that no disciplinary inquiry under Part VIII or criminal proceedings are being or are likely to be instituted against him or her in connection with his or her practice under this Act, or
(iii) has been found guilty by an inquiry under Part VIII; or
(b) any entry which is proved, to the satisfaction of the Board, to have been made in error or through fraudulent representation or concealment of material facts or in circumstances not authorised by this Act.
(2) The Executive Secretary shall remove, from the register, the name of a practitioner who the Board has, in accordance with subsection (l), directed that his or her name be removed.
(3) Where the Executive Secretary removes, from the register, the name of a practitioner or enters, in the register, the suspension of a practitioner, he or she shall -
(a) enter, in the register, a record of the reasons therefor; and
(b) notify the practitioner in writing of the reasons therefor.
(4) A certificate of registration issued to a practitioner whose name has been removed from the register in terms of this section shall be deemed to have been cancelled on the date of the removal and the practitioner shall be deemed not to be registered with effect from that date.
45. Restoration of name to the register
Where the name of a practitioner has been removed from the register or the registration of the practitioner has been suspended, the Board may, either of its own volition, or on the application of the practitioner concerned made in such form as may be prescribed, and after holding such inquiry as the Board may consider necessary, direct that the name of the practitioner be restored to the register.
46. Appeal against refusal to register, etc.
A person aggrieved by a decision of the Board -
(a) refusing to register him or her as a practitioner;
(b) suspending his or her registration; or
(c) removing his or her name from the register,
may, after giving written notice of his or her intention to appeal to the Board, and within 30 days of the date on which notice is given to him or her by the Executive Secretary of the refusal, suspension or removal, appeal to the High Court.
47. Return of practising certificate to Executive Secretary
(1) A practitioner whose name has been removed from the register under section 40 shall return, by registered letter to the Executive Secretary, his or her certificate of practice within 30 days of the date upon which he or she is directed in writing by the Executive Secretary to do so.
(2) A person who refuses to return a certificate of practice in contravention of subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding P2 000, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or to both.
48. Register to be prima facie evidence
(1) The register shall be prima facie evidence of the matters set out therein.
(2) Notwithstanding the generality of subsection (1), a certificate purporting to be signed by the Executive Secretary to the effect that -
(a) the name of a person does not appear in the register shall be prima facie evidence that the person is not a practitioner;
(b) the name of a person appears in the register shall be prima facie evidence that the person is a practitioner; or
(c) a practitioner has been suspended from practice as such for the period specified in the register shall be prima facie evidence that the person has been suspended from practice for the period.
(3) A copy of an entry in the register, a document in the custody of the Executive Secretary or an extract from the register or from any document purporting to be certified by the Executive Secretary, shall be admitted in evidence in all courts without further proof or production of the original.
49. Offences in connection with the register
Any person who -
(a) makes or causes to be made an unauthorised entry, alteration or deletion in the register;
(b) procures or attempts to procure for himsel for hersel for another person, registration or a certificate of practice by means of fraud, false pretence or concealment of a material fact;
(c) makes or causes to be made in connection with an application for registration, a false declaration in a document used for the purpose ofestablishing his or her identity;
(d) wilfully destroys or renders illegible an entry in the register;
(e) without the permission of the holder, wilfully destroys or renders illegible a certificate of practice; or
(f) forges or utters, knowing the same to be forged, a document purporting to be a certificate of practice,
commits an offence and is liable to a fine not exceeding P2 000, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or to both.
