There is no need to worry about the changes to the 'Giving false

information to a public officer' because in reality there is no

amendment there and here is the reason as to why I say so;



The Attorney General admitted to the House that the constitutional

definition of a 'Public Officer' does not include the president, vice

president, ministers, NAMs and all other elected officials and hence

the amendment to the criminal code to include all the above. Well,

that sounds to me a bit dummy for the simple fact that Section 4 of

the 1997 constitution accords supremacy to the constitution above all

other laws including statute and by virtue of the same provision, any

law that is inconsistent with any provision of the constitution is

void to the extent of the inconsistency.



The irony here is, the constitutional definition of 'public officer'

remains short of including the president, vice president and others

referred above. That means extending the definition in the criminal

code beyond the scope of what is being prescribed by the constitution

amounts to an inconsistency and in that respect, the amendment is

utterly void to the extent of its inconsistency with Section 166(4) of

the 1997 Constitution. It follows therefore, that the only way the

president and others referred above can be included in the definition

of a 'public officer' is through a constitutional amendment, which is

not what parliament has done.



If parliament carries a constitutional amendment that involves

extending the definition of a public officer in the way that it was

envisaged in the amendment bill, that too will have ramifications on

the validity of the amendments relating to living on the proceeds of

prostitution and soliciting or opportuning a prostitute for an immoral

conduct because they relate to only men and therefore discriminatory

in nature. Under section 33(3) of the 1997 Constitution,it is legal

for public official to exercise their functions in a discriminatory

manner. That means if Members of Parliament were covered by the

constitutional definition of the term 'public officer', it would have

been illegal for them to pass a law that discriminates men when the

act or acts condemned by that law is in fact, done or can be done by

both men and women.



Which ever way you look at it, it looks like both the Attorney General

and parliament have shot themselves on the foot.



Another point to be deduced from this whole charade is the fact that

the Amendment Bill was in itself a clear admission by the government

to the fact that some of the people who were prosecuted under this law

in the recent past have been wrongly prosecuted. There should now be a

comprehensive case review in place to ensure that compensation is paid

out to victims and wrongful convictions overturned.



I have heard a lot of rumours about Lamin Jobarteh's incompetence and

if this episode is not a confirmation of the same, then he must be

brain dead to have thought that this amendment on the definition of

'public officer' will mean anything legal.



Thanks

Daffeh



On Wednesday, 17 April 2013, Malanding Jaiteh <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Yes, we can punish the poor, the down-trodden for  "complaining to their elected politicians"; venting their anger in public which may include religious sermons in mosques or churches in the name of  "disturbing the peace"; or male prostitution or cross-dressing but condone female prostitution aka "President's Infertility Treatment" and use of our meager resources for self-aggrandizement. Are you kidding me?

>

> Chei.

>

> Malanding  Jaiteh

>

> Criminal Code Act amended ‘to reflect political realities’

>

> africa ≫ gambia

> Wednesday, April 17, 2013

> Deputies at the National Assembly Tuesday passed the Criminal Code Amendment Act 2013, ‘to reflect the current socio-political realities’ in the country.

>

> The Act, tabled before deputies by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Lamin Jobarteh, seeks ‘to ensure effective administration of criminal justice system.’

>

> In tabling the motion, Jobarteh said Section 114 of the Criminal Code which created the offence of giving false information to a public officer is found to be grossly inadequate to the extent that Sections 166(4) and Section 167 of the 1997 Constitution of the Republic of The Gambia exclude the President, Vice President, Speaker, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Ministers or member of the National Assembly, etc from the definition of ‘public officer’ and therefore outside the contemplation of Section 114 of the Criminal Code.

>

> Under the new Act, whoever in a public place disturbs the public peace shall be ‘punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years imprisonment or a fine of D20, 000 or both.

>

> Also under the Act, any male person who knowingly lives wholly or in part on the earning of a prostitute or in any public place solicits or importunes for immoral purposes and any male person who dresses or is attired in the fashion of a woman in a public place or who practices sodomy as a means of livelihood or as a profession shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years or with a fine of D20, 000 or with both.

>

> The Act also provides under Section 167 that any person who being able wholly or in part to maintain himself or his family willfully neglects or refuse to do so; any person who in any street or public place or within sight or hearing of any person therein with intention of annoying or irritating any person sings any scurrilous or abusive songs or words whether any person be particularly addressed therein or not, are deemed to be idle and disorderly persons, and are liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding D25, 000 or imprisonment for a term of five years or both.

>

> Meanwhile, in a related development, deputies also enacted the National Enterprise Development Initiative Bill 2013.

>

> The bill, tabled before deputies by the Minister of Youth and Sports, Alieu K. Jammeh, seeks to provide a legal framework to govern operations of the National Enterprise Development Initiative.

>

> In moving the bill, Minister Jammeh told deputies that it is expected that this legal framework will ensure that the operations, as well as the funds committed to the initiative’s operations are subjected to the necessary scrutiny in accordance with the practice for all public enterprises.

>

> According to him, the bill seeks to establish a clear relationship between the Ministry and the Initiative.

>

> Author: Isatou Senghore

> Source: Picture: Justice Minister Jobarteh

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