Presenting Bills proposed by the Council of Ministers to the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) for debate to facilitate the East African Community integration has become harder for lack of green light by the Sectoral Council.

The bills must be scrutinised and accepted by the EAC Sectoral Council on legal and judicial affairs before submission to the regional Assembly.

But sectoral council has not met for nearly two years, The New Times understands.

The sectoral council on legal and judicial affairs is made up of East African Community Attorneys General, Solicitors General and ministers responsible for judicial and constitutional affairs.

MP Patricia Hajabakiga, the chairperson of the Rwandan delegation to the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), in a recent interview with The New Times, said laws such as the EAC Standardisation, Quality Assurance, Metrology and Testing (SQMT) Act that are outdated and need urgent review remain unaddressed.

"Bills proposed by Council have to go through the sectoral council on legal and judicial affairs in order to be submitted to parliament. But the problem is that the sectoral council rarely meets,” she said.

"They have not sat for the past two years to look at any legislation. This means that, for the past two years, apart from the Appropriation Bills which are budget related and don’t require the sectoral council on judicial and legal, no other laws came to parliament.”

The SQMT Act, enacted in 2006, provides a framework for development and implementation of SQMT activities in the bloc and other lower level technical teams have worked on amendments to update it but the sectoral council has never looked at their work.

Asked if EALA has ever asked the Council about the issue, Hajabakiga said that has been done, "several times,” at Assembly level in the plenary and at Commission level.

The EALA Commission, one of the Assembly’s seven standing committees, is the principal committee which manages the affairs of the Assembly, organises the business and programme of the House, and nominates members of other committees.

Hajabakiga said: "When we ask them [Council of Ministers] they say they have about 12 pending Bills which are supposed to be looked into by the sectoral council on legal and judicial affairs but are unable to submit them to parliament because those people have not met.”

These considered necessary meetings of the sectoral council on legal and judicial affairs are preceded by those of sectoral groups "which actually do their work” but must have to wait for the ministers to examine the final product.

During a recent EAC media training workshop in Nairobi, Peter Njoroge, director of Economics with Kenya’s Ministry of EAC Affairs, also noted there was frustration caused by the sectoral council.

"If there is a sectoral council we are having problems with it is the sectoral council on legal and judicial affairs. They do not meet to look at legislation and this affects progress,” Njoroge said, while shedding light on issues concerning the East African Monetary Union project.

Rwanda’s Minister for Justice and Attorney General, Johnston Busingye, acknowledged that it is important that sectoral councils meet because when one does not meet to discharge its Community functions, work remains undone and impacts integration directly.

He added: "The sectoral council of the Attorneys General has not met for some time owing to busy domestic schedules of one or the other Attorney General when there is a meeting scheduled. This can happen.

"I hope each of us will do what it takes to ensure that the next meeting takes place so that we can clear the work pending our input.”

As per the EAC Treaty, only two entities can send Bills to EALA: the Council or by means of a private members’ Bill but the latter has limitations since lawmakers cannot put forward any law which has financial implications.

Since most laws have financial implications, Hajabakiga said: "It is extremely difficult for us.”

During one of its sessions, in September 2014, the sectoral council of legal and judicial affairs cleared legal input into the draft EAC Elimination of Non Tariff Barriers Bill, 2014; the draft East African Competition Act (Amendment) Bill, 2014; and the East African Community Customs Management Act (Amendment) Bill, 2014, all of which aimed at ensuring statutory support for relevant policy positions and advised the Council to introduce them in the Assembly.

That meeting also finalised legal input into the draft Protocol to Operationalise the Extended Jurisdiction of the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) whose purpose was to ensure the court’s extended jurisdiction to cover trade and investment disputes.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw