General Laws Bill ‘inimical to democracy’
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
Thursday, 25 November 2010 19:35
ZIMBABWEANS’ right to freely access and disseminate public information will
be further curtailed if the proposed General Laws Amendment Bill goes
through the Parliamentary Legal Committee without amendments.
Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa steered the Bill through its first
reading two weeks ago.
The General Laws Amendment Bill, among other issues, seeks to amend the
Copyright and Neighbouring Act by giving copyright protection to
legislation, notices and other material in the Government Gazette, court
judgments and certain public registers.
Copyright in all these documents will vest in government. Government, as
copyright holder, will have complete discretion in deciding whether or not
the documents should be published and disseminated, after their initial
publication in the Gazette; and government will be able to dictate the terms
and conditions under which the documents are published and disseminated.
Local human rights and legal rights organisations have condemned the
development saying it is retrogressive and unconstitutional in a democratic
state.
Veritas, a local lawyers grouping, blasted the changes as inimical to
democracy.
“The amendment proposed by clause 16 of the Bill will violate Section 20 of
the Constitution, will be inimical to transparent government, human rights
and the rule of law, and will be contrary to best practice in the southern
African region,” Veritas said.
“Amending the Copyright and Neighbouring Act has serious implications for
the rights of citizens to freely access and distribute legislation, notices
and other material in the Government Gazette, court judgments and certain
public registers. It is important that such information should remain in the
public domain.”
Section 10 of the current Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act does not
subject certain public documents to copyright such as official texts or
statutes; official texts of judicial proceedings and decisions (judgments);
notices and material published in the Government Gazette and the contents of
official registers.
Pedzisai Ruhanya, Crisis Coalition programmes manager, echoed the same
sentiments as Veritas saying the development was uncalled for.
He said: “It is uncalled for. The system that was there before should be
observed. Public documents are in the public interest. I believe people
moving for the changes do not understand how democracy works. What do they
want to hide from the public?”
Takura Zhangazha, a civic activist, concurred saying the Bill wanted to
curtail the influence of non-governmental organisations and other
pro-democracy groups from disseminating information which government may
deem sensitive.
“The intention of the Bill is political rather than administrative. They are
seeking to control the flow of information. This should also be read in the
context of electoral language as Zanu PF braces for elections next year.
They are trying to manage the flow of information and this is contrary to
democratic principles,” Zhangazha said.
The activists said if government was granted copyright in statutes and
judgments, then the state would control how they are disseminated.
Human rights and legal activists believe that the amendments in clause 16
are a great departure from other jurisdictions in the region citing examples
from South Africa, Zambia and Botswana. In all three countries no copyright
subsists in official texts of a legislative, administrative or legal nature.
Statutes and judgments are not subject to copyright.
The amendment will have profound effects on private organisations that would
like to publicise electoral laws prior to an election as they will have to
seek government permission first, in addition to any permission they may
require from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.
Human rights orgainsations that want to disseminate a court judgment would
have to get permission from the Minister of Justice while organisations that
want to print and issue a statutory form enabling women to apply for
maintenance will have to get permission too and may also have to pay a
royalty to government for each form printed and distributed.
Paidamoyo Muzulu