Manual for Guidance of Legislative Draftspersons in Uganda

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UGANDA CAPACITY BUILDING PROJECT (UICBP)

MANUAL FOR GUIDANCE OF LEGISLATIVE DRAFTSPERSONS IN UGANDA

By L J Chinery-Hesse

Legislative Drafting Consultant/Advisor

June, 1996.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TOC \fPART I - INTRODUCTION 4

PART II- ROLE OF THE DRAFTSPERSON 5

PART III -THE PARLIAMENTARY DRAFTSPERSON AS A PUBLIC SERVANT 8

PART IV-CLASSIFICATION OF LEGISLATION IN UGANDA 10

PART V- BASIC WORKING TOOLS OF A PARLIAMENTARY DRAFTSPERSON 12

PART VI-THE CONSTITUTION 13

PART VII -GOVERNMENT STANDING ORDERS 19

PART VIII- RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE NATIONAL RESISTANCE COUNCIL 22

PART IX- INTERPRETATION DECREE, 1976, DECREE NO.18 OF 1976 29

PART X- ACTS OF PARLIAMENT ACT (CAP 15) 42

PART XI- BUDGET LEGISLATION 47

PART XII- STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS 53

PART XIII-SOME BASIC RULES ON LEGISLATIVE DRAFTING 55

PART XIV- PROOFREADING OF LEGISLATION BY DRAFTSPERSONS 73

APPENDIX IINTERNAL RULES OF PROCEDURE 74

APPENDIX II BOOKS, REPORTS, MANUALS AND MODEL DRAFTS 75

APPENDIX IIIACTS/DECREES/STATUTES/STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS/LEGAL NOTICES 83

APPENDIX IV

A NOTE ON NOTICES OF AMENDMENTS TO BILLS IVA

APPENDIX V

LIST OF PRINTERS` CORRECTION MARKS VD

MANUAL FOR GUIDANCE OF LEGISLATIVE DRAFTSPERSONS IN UGANDA

PART I - INTRODUCTIONtc \l1 "PART I - INTRODUCTION

This manual is intended to serve as a guide to persons who are engaged in legislative drafting in Uganda. It seeks in particular to highlight certain legislation and other matters which such a person should bear in mind in Uganda.

This manual lists reading materials for legislative drafting officers in Uganda. In compiling the materials I have endeavoured to incorporate materials which are available either in the library of the Ministry of Justice or in the Library of the Supreme Court or the High Court.

The list includes internal procedure rules (e.g. rules of procedure of the Legislature and Government Standing Orders), books, reports, manuals and model drafts of legislation. It also includes the Constitution and a number of Acts, Decrees, Statutes, Statutory Instruments and Legal Notices, the reading of which in my opinion will benefit legislative drafting officers as such officers and also in their capacity as legal officers of the Government and as public officers generally. These are legislation of a type which these officers are likely in the course of their careers to be called upon to draft or to draft amendments to or to draft subsidiary legislation under or in respect of which they may be required from time to time to render legal advice or the knowledge of which they should, in any case, have in the background for any legal work which they may be called upon to perform for the Government.

So far as the legislation are concerned, since the list is intended to enable legislative drafting officers to observe their form and structure, quite apart from their detailed provisions, it is in my opinion not very important that any particular listed legislation may or may not be at any particular time in force. The existing indexes to Statutes and statutory instruments will assist in tracing the listed legislation.

PART II- ROLE OF THE DRAFTSPERSONtc \l1 "PART II- ROLE OF THE DRAFTSPERSON

As is well known, legislation is the main instrument or engine by which many of Government`s policies are implemented. This is all the more so in the case of developing countries which inherited colonial laws which have to be remodelled and modernised to suit the new status of the country and the changed conditions in it and where there is urgent need to promote economic, legal and other developments requiring the regulation of rights and obligations of citizens and others engaged in the economy. For all these reasons, it is difficult to exaggerate the importance of the draftsperson's role, he or she being the professional charged with the preparation of all the necessary legislation to convert government policy into laws. Indeed legislative draftspersons have sometimes been described as legal engineers and sometimes even as a midwives to legislation.

The task of the draftsperson is to communicate, in such a way as to avoid being misunderstood, Government or Ministry policy decisions that have legal consequences for the community. Above all, he or she must succeed in making his or her work comprehensible to those sections of the community that will be affected by it.

Indeed one jurist has stated that a parliamentary draftsperson must aim at making his or her draft so clear that even a dishonest person cannot misinterpret it.

When drafting a Bill, the draftsperson should remember that he or she is trying to communicate with four distinct groups of persons and that his or her work will be most effective only if he or she succeeds in communicating with all four. These are-

(a) the Legislature i.e. the members of Parliament, who must pass the Bill;

(b) those who will have to administer the Bill when it is passed into law, namely, civil servants and professional advisers such as lawyers, accountants and tax consultants;

(c) those members of society who will be affected by the new Act; and

(d) the judges, who may have to interpret it in resolving disputes.

As to the man or woman in the street, who belongs to group (c) above, it may be said that it is unrealistic to think that most Bills can be drafted in a language or style that makes them readily intelligible to this group. Indeed, there is one type of Bill in which intelligibility, even for one or more of the other three groups above may often be difficult to achieve, namely, a Bill which, because of the technical nature of the subject it deals with, may be comprehensible only to those familiar with that subject.

On the other hand, the ability of the man or woman in the street to understand a new law that is going to affect him or her should not be under-estimated. Moreover, if he or she is not overlooked by the draftsperson, the latter may succeed in drafting legislation that makes the task of the three other groups easier. As much as possible the draftsperson must draft in the usage of the language of the community or jurisdiction in which he or she operates.

To succeed in communicating the law to the four groups already defined, the draftsperson needs one quality above all - precision. He or she must have precision in thought, so as to be able to see all the legal implications of the policy to be given effect to in the Bill, and he or she must have precision of language so as to be able to express that policy accurately. Precision also implies careful attention to details, i.e. to the less important provisions of a Bill as well as the more important ones, so that when it becomes an Act it is not found to have defects that either reduce its effectiveness or prevent the implementation of the policy it is intended to implement.

Taking nothing for granted

The draftsperson has to do a good deal of research and hard thinking to discover how any changes in the law as requested in the drafting instructions can be implemented in a way that will best fit the existing framework of the law. It is a job of dovetailing. In doing this he or she should act on the principle of taking nothing he or she is told about the legal background for granted. He or she must check every reference by going to the source and never merely accept what he or she is told in the drafting instructions or act from memory.

The highest degree of accuracy is demanded in drafting. Every word counts. The draftsperson must be accurate in relying on definitions contained in the Interpretation Act or Decree and on those which he or she inserts in the Bill.

Intelligibility

In addition, the draftsperson should always aim at intelligibility. While precision must be his or her first priority, he or she should not concentrate on attaining it to the exclusion of intelligibility. In many cases where an Act (or a particular provision in it) is unintelligible, this is because precision has not been achieved either. So, if the draftsperson succeeds in making his or her draft intelligible, he or she is likely at the same time to produce a more precise draft.

Above all, a draftsperson must be consistent in terminology, expression and arrangement. He or she must make sure that each recurring word or term has been used consistently and must avoid using the same word or term in more than one sense. He or she must also avoid using different words or terms to denote the same idea in the same way and must always express different ideas differently.

To be or to become a good draftsperson one must have, or quickly develop, an orderly logical mind, and be able to express his or her thoughts in precise, accurate and intelligible English. A disorderly mind, or a tendency to looseness or vagueness in expression, is an insuperable obstacle to good drafting.

PART III -THE PARLIAMENTARY DRAFTSPERSON AS A PUBLIC SERVANT tc \l1 "PART III -THE PARLIAMENTARY DRAFTSPERSON AS A PUBLIC SERVANT

It is important that a parliamentary draftsperson should be a good and effective public servant as well as being a competent draftsperson.

Efficient file management

One of the cardinal principles arising out of the status of a draftsperson as a being a public servant is the need to realise that he or she is a mere bird of passage working for a state which is of permanent existence. Consequently, he or she has a duty to keep proper records as to work done and to promote continuity in the work and avoid causing a break down. Following from this a draftsperson has a duty to ensure that a proper file is maintained in respect of all Bills and statutory instruments on which he or she is working and that at any time it should be possible for any other person to take up the file and continue the work on the Bill or instrument.

In short as much as possible a file which an officer has dealt with must speak for itself as to what has been done at every stage of the work.

Thus, it behoves each draftsperson to put on the action file-

(a)all incoming correspondence on the subject properly filed;

(b)information as to what transpired at any meeting on the subject to which the file relates;

(c)what happened to the relevant Bill at each stage of processing in the Legislature;

(d)a copy of the published Bill;

(e)a copy of each letter or minute sent by the draftsperson on the subject;

(f)a record of the outcome of any important telephone discussion on the Bill;

and

(g) a copy of the assented Statute and also of the final Statute as published in the Gazette.

For the purpose of paragraph (a) above it is necessary for all Bills and statutory instruments dispatched to Ministries or Government Departments or to the Government Printer for printing to be accompanied by a letter or minute a copy of which is filed on the Bill or instrument file.

It is also necessary to ensure that the pages of each action file which an officer handles are properly numbered.

What is stated above in relation to a Bill applies with necessary modifications to statutory instruments.

Finally, in relation to file management, it is necessary to state that the most efficient public servant is the one who assists the system to work so efficiently that it can whenever necessary, work effectively without him or her. It should not happen that for lack of proper information on the relevant file work comes to a standstill on a particular subject just because the officer handling it is for the time being either on leave or is otherwise not available to be consulted.

PART IV-CLASSIFICATION OF LEGISLATION IN UGANDAtc \l1 "PART IV-CLASSIFICATION OF LEGISLATION IN UGANDA

In Uganda the principal legislation on the Statute book (apart from the Constitution) consist of Acts, Decrees (of Military regimes) and Statutes. Beside principal legislation there are delegated legislation or otherwise known as subsidiary or subordinate legislation. These are generally referred to in the law of Uganda as statutory instruments or SIs.

Whereas principal legislation are enacted directly by Parliament or other National Legislature in the exercise of the Legislative power of the state as conferred by a Constitution, proclamation or other law under which Uganda is for the time being ruled,

statutory instruments are made by the President, a Minister, a public officer, a local government council or other public authority, and they are made under Acts, Decrees or Statutes or under the Constitution itself if it makes provision for the making of such an instrument (eg under articles 110, 119(6), 135 (3), 178(1) and 274).

Just as Acts, Decrees and Statutes will be void to the extent of any inconsistency with the Constitution (article 2), statutory instruments must also conform with the principal law under which they are made. If they conflict the instrument will be struck down as ultra vires to the extent of the inconsistency. Additionally, a statutory instrument must not conflict with any principal legislation, unless authority is expressly given by Parliament for it to modify such principal legislation. Both principal legislation and statutory instruments are referred to as "written law" which term is defined in section 2 of the Interpretation Decree, 1976 (Decree No 18 of 1976). Both will also fall under the expression "enactment"

The term "statutory instrument" is defined in section 14 of the Interpretation Decree, 1976, Decree No.18 of 1976 as follows -

"Definition 14 Where any Act or Decree confers on the

of statutory President, a Minister or any other authority a power to make or a instrument. power exercisable by making proclamations, rules, regulations bye-laws, statutory orders or statutory instruments, any document by which that power is exercised shall be known as a statutory instrument."

UK Statutes

In addition to the Constitution and Acts, Decrees and Statutes of Uganda, there is another category of principal law, which are really United Kingdom Statutes that have been made to continue to apply to Uganda with adaptations. Thus under section 50 of the Judicature Statute, 1996, (Statute No.13 of 1996) certain UK Statutes listed in the First Schedule to the Statute are made to continue to apply in Uganda subject to adaptations specified in the First Schedule. One such Statute is the Admiralty Offences (Colonial) Act, 1949.

These UK Statutes will apply notwithstanding that they may have been repealed or amended in the UK and the Uganda Parliament can amend or repeal them as part of the law of Uganda.

Legal Notices

There is another category of subsidiary legislation called Legal Notices which, like statutory instruments, are published in the Gazette. These are instruments made under Acts or other principal legislation which do not fall under the definition of "statutory instrument" under section 14 of the Interpretation Decree, 1976 but are considered sufficiently important to be published in the Gazette, not simply in the main Gazette as general notices and are bound annually with the statutory instruments of the year. Examples of Legal Notices are Notices appointing Commissions of Inquiry under section 1 of the Commissions of Inquiry Act (Cap 56). Also Legal Notice No.2 of 1988 namely, the Public Service (Delegation of Powers of the President under Article 104 of the [1967] Constitution Directive, 1988.

Though these Legal Notices are not statutory instruments, they are considered all the same to be law. Incidentally, section 5 of the Laws (Revised Edition) Statute, 1994 (Statute No. 12 of 1994) authorises the Law Revision Commissioners under that Statute to redesignate Legal Notices as statutory instruments.

PART V- BASIC WORKING TOOLS OF A PARLIAMENTARY DRAFTSPERSONtc \l1 "PART V- BASIC WORKING TOOLS OF A PARLIAMENTARY DRAFTSPERSON

For any person to be able to embark upon the drafting of legislation effectively in Uganda he or she must acquire and familiarise himself or herself with the following basic tools of the trade -

(a) the Uganda Constitution, in particular the provisions of the Constitution dealing with legislation, fundamental human rights, the limits on Parliamentary power to enact legislation and the means of challenging Parliamentary legislation as being unconstitutional or inconsistent with the Constitution ;

b) the Interpretation Decree, 1976 Decree No 18 of 1976;

c) the relevant part of the Government Standing Orders relating to legislation namely Part Y-b under the rubric "Public Service General.";

d) Rules of Procedure of the Legislature;

e) a good modern English dictionary and a thesaurus of English words and phrases;

In addition to the above a draftsperson would require an authority on English usage such as Fowler or Gower. It will further be necessary for a draftsperson to keep abreast of judicial decisions on the interpretation of Statutes or otherwise in which the drafting of legislation is discussed.

The draftsperson should also by reading a periodical like the Statute Law Review and also issues of the Commonwealth Law Bulletin, learn of some problems facing the draftsperson in other common law countries and see what attempts have been made to cope with them or learn about new developments in the area of legislation.

Further it is highly recommended that a draftsperson constantly has by him or her one or more of the textbooks on legislative drafting listed below in this manual such as Thornton`s Legislative Drafting, Dreidger`s Composition of Legislation , Dickerson`s Fundamentals of Legal Drafting and Crabbe`s Legislative Drafting.

PART VI-THE CONSTITUTIONtc \l1 "PART VI-THE CONSTITUTION

Under article 1 of the Constitution all power including the legislative power of the state belongs to the people who are to exercise their sovereignty in accordance with the Constitution. An illustration of the exercise by the people of their power to legislate is the enactment and promulgation of the Constitution itself by elected delegates of the people.

All laws are required by the Constitution to be in conformity with the Constitution otherwise they can be struck down by the Constitutional Court as being unconstitutional. Thus article 2 of the Constitution provides that the Constitution is the supreme law of Uganda and shall have binding force on all authorities and persons throughout Uganda. The article further provides that if any other law or custom is inconsistent with any provision of the Constitution, the Constitution shall prevail, and the other law or custom shall, to the extent of the inconsistency be void.

Parliament and the legislative power of the State

Article 79 confers on Parliament power to make laws on any matter for the peace, order, development and good governance of Uganda. The article further provides that no authority in Uganda has power to make legislation except when authorised by Act of Parliament. This is as the article states, subject to the provisions of the Constitution. Thus there are cases where the Constitution itself directly or indirectly gives power to make laws apart from the powers conferred in article 79. The following are examples -

(a) in article 110 the President is empowered by proclamation to declare a state of emergency and also to revoke the emergency;

b) Attorney General: Article 119(6)

Under article 119(6) the Attorney General is given power by statutory instrument, to exempt any category of agreement or contract none of the parties to which is a foreign government or its agency or is an international organisation from application of clause (5) of the article which requires the advice of the Attorney General to such agreement and contracts;

c) Article 135 (3)(b) authorises the Chief Justice after consultation with the Attorney-General by statutory order, to determine the sitting places of divisions of the Court of Appeal created by the Chief Justice under article 135(3);

d) Under article 178(1) (d) of the Constitution the Councils, trust funds or secretariats formed under article 178 by cooperating districts are authorised to make rules, regulations and bye laws not inconsistent with the Constitution;

e) Under article 202 (2) the President is authorised to make statutory instruments in exercise of the legislative functions of any district whose functions have been taken over by the President under that article;

f) Article 274 in the Transitional Provisions Chapter of the Constitution (i.e. Chapter 19) empowers the first elected President to make statutory instruments, repealing, modifying, adding to or adapting any law for bringing it into conformity with the Constitution or giving effect to the Constitution.

Exercise of the Legislative Power of the State

Article 91 of the Constitution requires Parliament, subject to the provisions of the Constitution to exercise its powers as the supreme legislative authority in the land through Bills passed by Parliament and assented to by the President.

Article 91 has introduced an innovation in the passing of Acts in Uganda. For, it in certain circumstances enable a Bill passed by Parliament to become law and to come into force even where the President has refused or failed to give his or her Assent to it. See clauses (3) to (7) of article 91, and see also article 262(4) relating to amendment of the Constitution. These provisions must have been intended to recognise the separation of the legislative and executive powers of the State under the Constitution and the role of Parliament as the supreme legislative authority in Uganda.

Incidentally, part of the executive authority of Uganda vested in the President by the Constitution is the duty to execute and maintain the Constitution and all laws made under or continued in force by the Constitution (article 99). Needless to say, all such laws are binding on all persons in Uganda including the President.

Procedure of Parliament under the 1995 Constitution:

Article 88 of the Constitution provides that Parliament shall have a quorum of one-third of all members of Parliament. Article 89 provides that except as otherwise prescribed by the Constitution or any law consistent with the Constitution, any question proposed for decision of Parliament shall be determined by a majority of votes of the members present and voting.

The same article provides that the person presiding shall have neither an original nor a casting vote and that if on any question before Parliament the votes are equally divided the motion shall be lost.

Committees of Parliament

Article 90 requires Parliament to establish standing and other committees and provides for the composition of the committees and also their functions and confers on Parliamentary Committees the powers of the High Court for compelling witnesses including even Ministers to appear before the Committees and also the power to issue a commission or request to examine witnesses abroad.

Rules of procedure

Article 94 confers on Parliament power to make rules to regulate its own procedure including the procedure of its committees. The article provides that Parliament may act notwithstanding any vacancy in its membership. Clause (4) of article 94 enjoins Parliament to include certain matters in the rules of procedure. These are that-

(a) the Speaker shall determine the order of business in

Parliament and shall give priority to Government

business;

(b) a member of Parliament has the right to move a private member's, Bill.

(c) the member moving the private member`s Bill shall be afforded reasonable assistance by the department of Government whose area of operation is affected by the Bill; and

(d) the office of the Attorney-General shall afford the member moving the private members's Bill professional assistance in the drafting of the Bill.

The Role of the President in the law- making process under the new Constitution.

Unlike the case of previous constitutional systems that have obtained in Uganda, under the 1995 Constitution the President is not part of Parliament (see article 78). However, since the President is the Chief Executive, Head of State and Head of Government of Uganda he or she will necessarily have a lot of influence in Parliament. In the first place article 94(4)(a) requires that the rules of procedure of Parliament shall provide that the Speaker shall give priority to Government business in Parliament.

Secondly, under the Constitution members of Parliament are allowed to be appointed as Ministers and even where upon their appointment as Ministers they are not members of Parliament they are to become ex-officio members of Parliament without the right to vote on any issue requiring a vote in Parliament. This includes even the Vice-President. (See articles 78, 113 and 114). It is clear therefore that the greater part of business in Parliament will be that of the President or his or her government. Additionally, under article 93 of the Constitution the Government has the exclusive right to introduce in Parliament Bills or motions relating to taxation and other fiscal matters.

Assent to Bills under the 1995 Constitution.

Normally Bills passed by Parliament cannot become Acts or come into force as law without the Assent of the President. However, article 91 of the Constitution has introduced an innovation in this respect. Under that article, in certain circumstances a Bill is allowed to become law and to come into force even where the President has refused or failed to give his or her Assent to it.(And see article 262(4) relating to amendment of the Constitution ). As already stated above, this provision must have been intended to recognise the separation of the legislative and executive powers of the State under the Constitution and the role of Parliament as the supreme legislative authority in Uganda.

Again as already stated, part of the executive authority of Uganda vested in the President by the Constitution is the duty to execute and maintain the Constitution and all laws made by,

under or continued in force by the Constitution (article 99).

Limitations on powers of Parliament

It must be emphasised that under the new Constitution although Parliament is constituted as the sovereign and supreme legislative authority in the land it is not in the same position as the Parliament of the United Kingdom which is the Supreme Authority in the UK. In relation to the UK Parliament a famous jurist has even said that it can do anything apart from turning a man into a woman or vice versa. Under the Uganda Constitution Parliament is subject to the Constitution and can pass only such laws as the Constitution authorises it to pass. In particular, the powers of Parliament are subject to the reserve powers of the people to whom belong all power of the State. (article 1).

In addition, there are various limits on the powers of Parliament provided for in the Constitution. Some of these are as follows -

(a)apart from the limited powers given to Parliament by articles 43, or during a state of emergency under articles 46,47 and 110 to derogate from the fundamental and other human rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution ,Parliament cannot derogate from or limit these rights and freedoms;

(b)under article 75 Parliament cannot establish a one- party state;

(c)under article 28 (7) and (8) Parliament cannot create retrospective offences or provide for the imposition of retrospective criminal penalties;

(d) under article 92, Parliament cannot pass laws to affect retrospectively court decisions as between parties;

(e)under article 179 any measure to alter the boundaries of districts or to create new districts is required to be supported by a majority of all members of Parliament;

(f)under articles 259 and 260 of the Constitution, Parliament is prohibited from amending various specified provisions of the Constitution except when the proposal is approved respectively at a referendum or ratified by two thirds of the members of the district councils in each of at least two thirds of all districts of Uganda and also supported in each case by two thirds of all members of Parliament at second and third readings of the Bill concerned;

(g)under article 261 Parliament may amend articles of the Constitution other than those to which articles 259 and 260 apply, only if the relevant Bill is supported at the second and third readings by the votes of not less than two thirds of all members of Parliament.

Challenging the validity or constitutionally of Acts of Parliament

Article 137 of the Constitution which creates the Constitutional Court confers on that Court power to declare Acts of Parliament unconstitutional or void . A challenge of the validity of an Act of Parliament can arise either by a person petitioning to the court directly for a declaration or by the matter being referred to the Constitutional Court by another court where in any proceedings the question of the constitutionality of an Act has arisen. In the latter case article 137 requires the court which referred the matter to give effect to the decision of the Constitutional Court. Where a person has petitioned to the Constitutional Court directly, the court may grant an order of redress or refer the matter to the High Court for an appropriate redress.

Sessions, prorogation and dissolution of Parliament

Under article 95 of the Constitution a newly elected Parliament is required to hold its first sitting at a place and on a date appointed by proclamation by the President and the President is required to appoint a date not beyond seven days after the expiry of the Parliamentary term (five years) or of any extended period introduced under article 77 (4) of the Constitution which permits Parliament to extend its term by resolution for a period not exceeding six months during a state of emergency.

Sessions and prorogation

Article 95 requires Parliament to hold a session at least once within a year in such place and at such a time as the Speaker may, by proclamation, appoint and empowers the Speaker after consultation with the President, to prorogue Parliament by proclamation. Prorogation of Parliament is discontinuance of meetings within the term of Parliament without dissolving it. Prorogation brings to an end a normal session of Parliament

Article 95 (5) authorises at least one third of all the members of Parliament by writing signed by them to request a meeting of Parliament and the Speaker is required to summon Parliament to meet within twenty days after receipt of the request.

Dissolution of Parliament

Under article 96 of the Constitution Parliament shall stand dissolved upon the expiration of its term as prescribed by the Constitution. The term of Parliament is five years from the date of its first sitting after a general election (Article 77(3)).

Gender sensitive language of the Constitution

It will be observed that the 1995 Constitution in its provisions has deliberately adopted gender sensitive language or in other words in the use of personal pronouns has chosen to refer to both sexes and has not left the female to be implied by definition from the male. The Interpretation Decree, 1976 (Statute No 18) provides in section 3(2) in this connection as follows-

"(2) Words and expressions importing the masculine gender include females."

So far parliamentary draftspersons are concerned , what the adoption by the Constitution of gender sensitive language implies is that they should when drafting any Bill or statutory instrument employ gender sensitive language that is say," he" or "she "or "his" or "her" instead of saying "he" or "his" or "him" and relying on the Interpretation Decree to import the feminine gender. The Interpretation Decree, 1976, like other such Acts, is subject to a contrary intention in the enactment in which the word or expression to be interpreted is found. Thus section 1(2) of the 1976 Decree provides as follows-

"(2) Where-

(a) it is expressly provided that this Decree or any provision thereof shall not apply; or

(b) there is something in the subject or context inconsistent with the application of this Decree or any provision thereof,

this Decree or that part thereof, as the case may be ,shall not apply."

By virtue of this provision if a draftsperson uses "his" or "her" or "he" or "she" in part of a Bill, the use of the male or the female pronoun alone in another part of the Bill will NOT be interpreted as importing the other gender.

PART VII -GOVERNMENT STANDING ORDERS tc \l1 "PART VII -GOVERNMENT STANDING ORDERS

Chapter I of the Government Standing Orders which is headed "Public Service General" - deals with the initiation and processing of legislation in Part Y - b. This Part states that where it is proposed to promote new or amend existing legislation or make statutory instruments, the procedure has been laid down by the Cabinet as set out in that Part. These requirements cannot be changed or varied in anyway except by Cabinet and where a change or variation becomes necessary, Cabinet authority to that effect must be sought and obtained.

Authority to draft

It is required by the Standing Orders that before drafting instructions are given to the First Parliamentary Counsel for drafting Bills or statutory instruments, the instructing Ministry or Department must -

(a) seek Cabinet approval in principle authorising the subject legislation; or

(b) request through its Minister the authority of the Attorney General or Solicitor General for the legislation to be drafted without the prior approval of Cabinet. This approval is to be given only in special circumstances.

(Para 2).

Instructions to counsel

When Cabinet has approved the proposals for legislation, the instructing Ministry or Department must then forward copies of the Minister's Cabinet memorandum and the Cabinet minute to the First Parliamentary Counsel together with any other relevant papers so that the draftsperson is given the clearest possible explanation of what it is intended to achieve by the legislation to be drafted.(Para 3).

Allocation of drafting duties

The particular drafting task will then be assigned to a particular draftsperson who will be generally responsible for the legislation until it is enacted. Officers in the Ministry or Department promoting the legislation may be called on to attend a number of conferences with the Parliamentary Counsel and will be expected to seek out and provide all information that may be required for the purposes of drafting.(Para 4)

Scrutiny of drafts

The drafts of the legislation when ready will be provided to the instructing Ministry or Department which will be expected not only to examine them critically but also to circulate them to persons who in the opinion of the instructing Ministry or Department should be given an opportunity to comment on them such as the Ministry of Finance and the Auditor-General in respect of financial provisions or the Chairman or Managing Director of any particular parastatal body that may be affected by the legislation.(Para 5)

Satisfaction of the Law Officers(Para 6).

Certain provisions in the legislation being drafted are required to be brought to the personal attention of the Law Officers namely the Attorney-General and the Solicitor General. It is important to note that it is the responsibility of the draftsperson to do this.

Such provisions include provisions which -

(i) may have the effect of altering any provision of the Constitution; or

(ii) interfere with private property; or

(iii) fail to preserve existing personal or similar

rights;

(iv) might render a person stateless;

(v) are contrary to the rule of law as generally understood

in a democratic society; or

(vi) might offend against the comity of nations or against public international law.

Final Draft

After the legislation has been drafted by Parliamentary Counsel and approved by the promoting Ministry or Department and by the Law Officers (if required) the legislation must then be submitted to the Cabinet accompanied by a Memorandum by the subject Minister explaining the legal effect of its more important provisions. It is emphasised by the Standing Orders that no Bill (without exception ) must be published in the Gazette until this Cabinet approval has been obtained. The First Parliamentary Counsel is to supply the required number of copies of the Bill to the promoting Ministry or Department for the purpose.(Para 7).

Publication

After Cabinet approval has been given to the final draft of the Bill a copy of the Bill accompanied by a Memorandum signed by the Minister of the instructing Ministry or Department will be sent to the First Parliamentary Counsel who will instruct the Government Printer to publish it in the Gazette after receiving Cabinet's minute authorising publication.(Para 8)

Non-conformity to the laid down procedure

Paragraph 9 of the Part on legislation concludes by emphasising that the procedure laid down in that Part should be followed in all cases and that any request for preparation or publication of a Bill or a statutory instrument which does not follow that procedure will not be given consideration by the First Parliamentary Counsel and this is discouraged as it will give rise to unnecessary delays.

PART VIII- RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE NATIONAL RESISTANCE COUNCILtc \l1 "PART VIII- RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE NATIONAL RESISTANCE COUNCIL

Until Parliament is in place and makes its own rules of procedure under article 94 of the Constitution, the rules governing the procedure of the Legislature (NRC) are those made by the NRC under the plenary powers conferred on it by paragraph 7(ii) of Proclamation No 1 of 1986. No doubt the new Parliament will adopt similar rules of procedure. Until the main organs of the new Government under the Constitution are fully in place, namely, the President and Parliament, article 263 of the Constitution continues the NRM Government in power and correspondingly, the legislative powers of the NRC under the 1986 Proclamation. Paragraph 7 of the Proclamation vests the NRC with all legislative powers of (the previous) Parliament and requires those powers to be exercised through the passing of Statutes assented to by the President.

Publication and introduction of Bills

Most Bills are Government Bills which are introduced and piloted by Government Ministers. However, rule 54 of the Rules of Procedure allows private members` Bills to be introduced. A private member's Bill is introduced by way of Notice of motion to which the proposed Bill is attached. If the motion is carried the printing and gazetting of the Bill shall be the responsibility of the Government. Otherwise the processing of a private member`s Bill is the same as that of a Government Bill.

Publication of Bills

Whether introduced by Government or by a private member, bills are required by rule 56 of the Rules of Procedure to be published in the Gazette and the rule requires that the Minister or the private member in charge of the Bill shall deliver to the Clerk a sufficient number of copies of the Bill for distribution to members of Parliament and the Clerk is required on receipt of the copies to dispatch a copy immediately to every member. Once a Bill is published and distributed under rule 56 it can immediately be introduced in the Legislature.

Stages of processing a Bill in the Legislature

Every Bill introduced in the NRC has to pass through five formal stages before being submitted to the President for assent. These stages are-

(a) First Reading;

(b) Second Reading;

(c) Committee Stage;

(d) Report Stage; and

(e) Third reading Stage.

First Reading

The First reading is only a formal stage. The Minister or the private member in charge of the Bill, upon being called to introduce the Bill moves formally that it be read a first time, then the Clerk of the Council reads the short title of the Bill and the Bill is then deemed to have been read a first time.

Second Reading

After the First Reading the Minister or private member in charge of the Bill may move a motion for the Second Reading or the Chairman may appoint a day for the Second Reading. Under rule 58(2) the second reading of a Bill shall not be taken earlier than fourteen days after the publication of the Bill in the Gazette unless that subrule is formally suspended for the purpose on a motion for suspension of the subrule moved under rule 99 of the Rules. In certain circumstances more than one Bill may be dealt with at second reading at the same time. Second reading is the stage at which there is a full debate on the principles and general merits and policy of the Bill.

Role of draftsperson re Second Reading Stage

Second Reading Speeches

Where the Bill belongs to the Ministry of Justice the draftsperson is expected to prepare for the Attorney- General or other Minister piloting the Bill in the Legislature a second speech explaining the policy and principles of the Bill and otherwise justifying the Bill. The draftsperson may also be called upon to assist officials of other Ministries to prepare similar speeches on Bills piloted by the Minsters of those Ministries.

Notes of Advice to Ministers

Additionally, the draftsperson is required to be present during the second reading debate to pass on written notes of advice to the Attorney- General to bring to his or her attention information that will assist the Attorney- General in the debate. Such notes are passed on through an usher of the Legislature. The draftsperson has a similar duty towards other Ministers handling their Ministries` Bills. In the latter case however, it may be advisable unless the draftsperson is personally known to the particular Minister and the Minister does not object, to pass the notes through an official from the Minister`s Ministry.

Committee Stage

Under rule 61 of the NRC Rules of Procedure if a motion for second reading is carried, the Bill is required to be committed, forthwith or on a date to be fixed, to a Committee of the whole Council unless the Council on motion, commits it to a select committee to be nominated immediately by the Chairman. A motion under rule 61 does not require notice, may be moved at any time before the Council has resolved itself into a Committee of the whole Council on the Bill and may be proposed by any member.

Under rule 62 any Committee to which a Bill is committed is required not to discuss the principles of the Bill but only its details and may make any amendments in the Bill it thinks fit if the amendments (including new clauses and new schedules) are relevant to the subject matter of the Bill. The Chairman of a committee may accept proposals for corrections of obvious misprints and punctuation errors and may instruct the Clerk to make necessary amendments to the Bill without any formal amendment being moved by a member of the Council.

Committee of the whole Council

Under rule 63-whenever the committee stage of any Bill or Bills to be considered in Committee of the whole Council is reached, the Chairman shall leave the chair without putting any question and the Council shall then resolve itself into a Committee of the whole Council. After completion of consideration of all Bills referred to a Committee of the whole Council or at any time when the Committee desires to report that they are unable to complete the business before them at the current sitting, any member may move that the Council resume and that the Committee do report to the Council. The question is then put on it without amendment or debate and upon the motion being agreed to, the Council shall resume and the member who moved the motion shall report to the Council all Bills on which the Committee has been unable to complete the business before them and also report progress on the Bills processed.

Procedure in Committee of the whole Council on a Bill

The Clerk is required in a Committee of the whole Council to call the number of each clause in succession and if no amendment is proposed on it or when all amendments have been disposed of, the Chairman shall propose the question that the clause (or the clause as amended) stand part of the Bill".

No amendment shall be moved which is inconsistent with any clause already agreed upon or any decision already come to by the Committee (rule 64 (5) ).

At the conclusion of the proceedings in Committee on a Bill the Minister or the private member in charge of the Bill may move "That the Bill (as amended) be reported to the Council" and the question on the Bill shall be decided without amendment or debate.(rule 64(17)).

Recommittal of Bills from Committee of the whole Council

At any time before a member rises to move the Third Reading of a Bill any member who wishes to introduce any new provisions in the Bill may move that the Bill be recommitted either wholly or in respect of some particular amendments and the Council may resolve itself into a Committee to consider the new business so committed which may be the whole Bill or only a particular amendment and the Council will then repeat the process adopted in respect of the Bill and may on a motion to resume being agreed to, resume and the Minister or private member in charge of the Bill shall report to the Council and the Bill shall proceed to Third Reading.

A Bill committed to a Select Committee is required to go through the procedure outlined above in the Select Committee and to be reported on to the Council by the Select Committee and the Chairman is required to lay the report of the Committee on the Table and the Council may approve the report on a motion that the report of the Select Committee be approved. The Council may then proceed to the Third Reading of the Bill as reported from the Select Committee. Upon the motion to approve the report of the Select Committee on a Bill any member may move for recommittal of the Bill wholly or in respect of any particular amendments to a Committee of the whole Council and if the motion is agreed to the Bill shall stand so recommitted. The Council may then resolve itself into a Committee and consider the business so recommitted.

Role of the Draftsperson in relation to Committee Stage

Once a Bill is published it is in connection with the Committee Stage that the draftsperson has his or her greatest role. For, the draftsperson is required to prepare all amendments to be moved to the Bill by Ministers and also to assist private members wishing to move amendments ,to draft their amendments . It is indeed in the draftsperson`s interest to ensure that such amendments are drafted competently. For, this will ensure a uniform standard of drafting throughout the Bill.

In any case when improperly drafted amendments are incorporated in a Bill the persons using the Act when passed will only blame the draftsperson for the imperfections without realising that they were introduced by members of the Legislature. In drafting amendments to be moved to Bills one should observe the need to be simple so that members

of the Legislature recognise the effect the amendment is intended to achieve. In particular, since the Legislature in Committee Stage goes through the Bill Clause by Clause it is essential to draft amendments to each Clause separately and not lump amendments to several Clauses together. Attached in Appendix IV, is a set of rules developed in Ghana for the drafting of Notices of amendments which is recommended for use in Uganda with modifications to suit the requirements of the Ugandan Legislature. These were employed beneficially for the proceedings of the erstwhile Constituent Assembly when processing the Constitution.

Third Reading of Bills

Where a Bill has been reported on from a Committee of the whole Council or after the Council has approved a report of a Select Committee on a Bill (including a report on a recommittal) the Council is to proceed to the Third Reading of the Bill upon a motion that the Bill be read a third time and do pass.

The Third Reading stage is, like the First Reading Stage, a formality. There the Minister or the private member in charge of the Bill moves the Third Reading and the question is put without debate.

Standing Sectoral Committees

The NRC has established nine sectoral or subject matter committees to which are referred, inter alia, Bills relating to the committees subjects before they are debated in the Legislature. These Bills are required to be critically examined by the relevant committees and reported on. The Sectoral Committees normally report on these Bills to the Legislature at Committee Stage of the Bill and the Legislature may accept their report in whole or reject it and subject the Bill to the normal committee process. One such case of rejection of a Sectorial Committee's report on a Bill was in the passing of the Parliamentary Elections (Interim Provisions) Statute, 1996 (Statute No.4 of 1996).

Standing Committees

The Council is also required by the Rules to appoint the following Standing Committees:

(a) the Public Accounts Committees;

(b) the Committee on Rules and Orders;

(c) the Committee of Privileges;

(d) the Committee on Discipline;

(e) the Committee on the Economy; and

(f) the Committee on Parastatal Accounts.

These Committees are assigned various duties by the Rules relating to their subject area or as the Council may order (Rules 73 to 79)

.

Committee of Supply

Under Part XXI of the Rules of Procedure of the NRC the Council is required to resolve itself into a Committee of supply to deal with the annual estimates, any supplementary estimates and any votes on account. The heads of expenditure of estimates when approved in committee of supply are subsequently incorporated in the Appropriation Bill for the relevant financial year required to be passed by article 156 of the Constitution to provide for the issue from the Consolidated Fund of the sums necessary to meet that expenditure and the appropriation of those funds for the purposes specified in the Bill or are contained as the case may be in the supplementary Appropriate Bill required to be introduced in the subsequent financial year as provided for in Clause (3) of article 156.

Decision taking by the Legislature

According to rule 49 of the Rules of Procedure all questions shall be decided by a majority of votes of members present and voting and if on any question the votes are equally divided the motion is lost. The Chairman or any other person when presiding over the Council or a Committee of the whole Council, shall not vote, but that other person when presiding over any other Committee shall have an original but not a casting vote.

According to rule 50 after a question is put by the Chairman no further discussion on it shall be allowed.

Under rule 51, votes are taken by voices "Ayes" and "Noes" and the result shall be declared by the Chairman. According to rule 52 if after the Chairman has announced the results of the voting under rule 51 fifty members stand immediately in their places signifying their disapproval of the outcome of the vote, the Chairman shall order for a division and the lobbies shall be cleared for the purpose. The members voting "Ayes" or "Noes" are counted by tellers who are required to return to the chamber and report the number of those who have voted in their respective lobbies to the Chairman, who shall then declare the results of the division. During a discussion the doors giving access to the lobbies from the chamber are required to be locked.

According to rule 59 the manner of taking decisions set out in rules 49 (Questions to be decided by majority) and 52 (Division) do not apply to an annual Appropriation Bill or any Supplementary Appropriation Bill.

Adjustments in numbering etc in Bills

According to rule 98 of the Rules of Procedure the Clerk of the Council may, subject to the directions of the Chairman and in consultation with Parliamentary Counsel, make such adjustments and modifications in the numbering of provisions of, and references in, a Bill approved by the Council and make such other adaptations as may be necessary to accord with decisions taken by the Council in the Bill.

Finally, rule 100 of the Rules empowers the Chairman of the Council to determine any question of order or procedure not provided for in the Rules and his or her decision on the matter shall be final.

PART IX- INTERPRETATION DECREE, 1976, DECREE NO.18 OF 1976tc \l1 "PART IX- INTERPRETATION DECREE, 1976, DECREE NO.18 OF 1976

Every draftsperson shall have as a constant companion the Interpretation Decree 1976 (Statute No.18 of 1976). An Interpretation Act is a modern device intended to shorten and clarify Acts and statutory instruments by defining terms and expressions used in them. It enables one in particular to use words and expressions or to imply meanings which, but for the definitions and rules in the Interpretation Act would require to be spelt out in every enactment. An interpretation Act is therefore the shadowy companion of each Act and statutory instrument having the same effect as if expressly written into it. For this reason no one who has occasion to consult legislation should fail to consider the Interpretation Act otherwise he or she will only have part of the story. Many of the rules of interpretation as laid down in an Interpretation Act are derived from common law rules of interpretation which have been codified into legislation.

Interpretation Acts subject to contrary intention

One principle that should be observed with all Interpretation Acts is that the rules of interpretation laid down in them are subject to a contrary intention in the enactments to be interpreted. For instance in the Interpretation Decree 1976 of Uganda section 1 provides in subsection (2) as follows-

"(2) Where -

(a) it is expressly provided that this Decree or any provision thereof shall not apply; or

(b) there is something in the subject or context inconsistent with the application of this Decree or any provision thereof,

this Decree or that provision thereof, as the case may be, shall not apply."

Additionally, under subsection (3) of section 1 of the Decree, the Decree shall not apply for the construction of the constitutional instruments (i.e. the Uganda Constitution of 1962) or an applied law (i.e. an Act of Parliament or Order in Council of the UK or other legislative instrument made thereunder otherwise than by an authority in Uganda, (excluding the constitutional instruments)).

The Interpretation Decree and the 1995 Constitution

The Interpretation Decree cannot in my view be employed for the construction or interpretation of the Constitution. This is because the Constitution has itself established its own procedure for determining any question as to the interpretation of the Constitution. The interpretation of the Constitution is to be carried out by the Constitutional Court. Questions go to the Constitutional Court for interpretation either directly by way of a petition for a declaration under clause (3) of article 137 or by way of a reference under Clause (5) of that article to the Court by another court in which a question of interpretation of the Constitution arises involving a substantial a question of law. This applies to any court of law other than a Field Court Martial. The Court is bound to make the reference in any case if any party to the proceedings requests the court to do so after a question as to the interpretation has arisen in the proceedings.

General coverage of Decree

Apart from the limits described above the provisions of the Interpretation Decree apply for the construction and interpretation of all Acts of Parliament and Decrees (presumably including Statutes) as well as statutory instruments (section 1(1) ). The provisions of the Decree are also to apply in all other cases where its provisions are relevant and capable of being applied. This should permit the application of the provisions of the Decree to Statutes even though Statutes are not expressly referred to in the Decree.

Provisions of Interpretation Decree deserving special attention of legislative draftspersons

While it can be said that all the provisions of the Interpretation Decree are important for the draftsperson as a lawyer and draftsperson the following deserve to be highlighted as deserving special attention -

'Section 2 - Definitions

"act" used in reference to an offence or civil wrong includes a series of acts, and words which refer to acts done extend to illegal omissions.'

"contravene" in relation to any requirement or condition prescribed in any Act of Parliament, Decree or in any grant, permit, lease, licence or authority granted by or under any Act or Decree, includes a failure to comply with the requirement or condition.

"enactment" includes any provision contained in any Act or Decree;

"person" includes any company or association or body of persons corporate or unincorporate.

"prescribed" means prescribed by or under the Act or Decree in which the word occurs.

"section" means a section of the Act or Decree in which the word occurs.

Comment

With this definition it is really not necessary to say for instance "section 12 of this Act".

"statutory declaration" means a statutory declaration made under the statutory declarations Act, 1835 of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

"subsection" means a subsection of the section in which the word occurs;

Comment

This implies that it is not necessary to say subsection (5) of this section.

"written law" means the constitutional instruments, Acts, Decrees statutory instruments and, any other legislation having effect in Uganda.

Section 3 - Grammatical variations, gender and number

According to section 3(1) where a word or an expression is defined in any Act or Decree, the definition shall extend to the grammatical variations of the word or expressions so defined. Under section 3(2) words importing the masculine gender include females and according to section 3(3) words and expressions in the singular include the plural, and words and expressions in the plural include the singular.

Comment

As far as section 3(2) is concerned, the Constitution encourages the use of references to both genders i.e. "he" or "she".

Section 7 - Reference to "The Minister" and "the Treasury"

A reference to "the Minister" shall be construed as a reference to the Minister for the time being responsible for the matter in connection with which the reference is made.

Section 9 Particular reference to written law

Under this section a reference to any particular Act or Decree shall be construed as including a reference to that Act or Decree as amended from time to time and to any statutory instrument made thereunder (S 9(1)).

A reference to a particular statutory instrument shall be construed as including a reference to that instrument as amended from time to time (S 9(2)).

Repeals

Part 111 (sections 10-13) of the Decree contains important provisions relating to repeals of Acts and statutory instruments.

Section 10-Repeal and substitution

Under this section, where any Act or Decree repeals wholly or partially and substitutes provisions for the enactment repealed, the repealed enactment shall remain in force until the substituted provisions come into force.

Section 11- Repeal to include repeal of amendments.

Under this section, where an Act or Decree is repealed, the repeal affects all Acts and Decrees which have amended this repealed Act or Decree.

Comment

This can of course apply only to an enactment which is passed or made only to amend the repealed Act or Decree. For example the Legal Notice No.1 of 1986 (Amendment) Statute, 1994 (Statute No.7 of 1994) is deemed to be repealed by the repeal by article 287 of the Constitution of the principal enactment which the Statute amended, that is, Legal Notice No.1 of 1986. On the other hand, the Judicature Statute, 1996 (Statute No.13 of 1996) which amended the Trial on Indictment Decree, 1971 will not be repealed by the repeal of the Decree. Only the sections carrying the amendments can be said to be repealed.

Section 12-Effect of repeal on statutory instruments.

This provision automatically saves and continues in force statutory instruments made under Acts or Decrees or parts of Acts or Decrees when the Act or Decree or that part is repealed and reenacted with or without modification.

This is subject to the following conditions-

(a) it only takes place-unless the context otherwise

appears;

(b) the S.Is must not be inconsistent with the repealing Act or Decree;

(c) they continue in force until they are revoked or repealed by a statutory instrument made under the repealing Act or Decree;

(d) until revoked or repealed as described in paragraph (c),they are deemed to have been made under the repealing Act or Decree.

Comment

Section 12 contrasts with the legal position in certain other common law countries such as Ghana where laws have adopted the common law position that when an Act is repealed, all statutory instruments made under it are also taken to be repealed or revoked. For the principle is that an Act, like a tree, falls with its branches (the statutory instruments). In such a regime, the draftsperson when drafting a repeal to any Act has to consider all the statutory instruments made under the Act to be repealed and to preserve by a saving provision in the Bill those which are required as a matter of policy to be retained.

On the other hand, under section 12, in Uganda, all the statutory instruments existing under the repealed Act are preserved unless they are expressly revoked by or under the repealing Act or are inconsistent with the new Act. Therefore in Uganda where the draftsperson feels that certain statutory instruments made under an Act about to be repealed ought not to be retained under section 12, the draftsperson should expressly include in the repealing Bill a provision for the revocation of those statutory instruments. This will amount to a contrary intention for the purposes of that section.

Section 13-Effect of repeal

This section prescribes certain important consequences of a repeal of an Act or Decree which inter alia, renders it unnecessary to spell out those provisions in every Act.

Section 13(1) This subsection provides that where an Act or Decree repeals or re-enacts, with or without modification, any provision of a former Act or Decree, references in any other enactment to the provisions so repealed, shall, unless the contrary intention appears, be construed as references to the provisions so re-enacted.

Section 13(2) Makes provision in cases where an enactment is repealed without replacement. Under the subsection, where any Act or Decree repeals any other enactment, then unless the contrary intention appears, the repeal shall not-

(a)revive anything not in force or existing at the time at which, the repeal takes effect; or

(b)affect the previous operation of any enactment so repealed or anything duly done or suffered under any enactment so repealed; or

(c)affect any right, privilege, obligation or liability acquired or accrued under any enactment so repealed;

(d)affect any penalty, forfeiture or punishment incurred in respect of any offence committed against an enactment so repealed; or

(e)affect any investigation, legal proceedings or remedy in respect of any such right, privilege, liability;

penalty, forfeiture or punishment and any such investigation, legal proceeding or remedy may be continued or enforced, and any such penalty may be imposed as if the repealing Act or Decree had not been passed.

Comment.

In consequence of the above subsection, any person whose right to any property had vested under a repealed Act before the repeal, can retain the right despite the repeal. Correspondingly, where a person has committed and been convicted of an offence committed under the repealed Act, he or she is not absolved from the consequences of the offence by the mere repeal of the enactment. This is of course like any other provision of the Decree, subject to a contrary intention.

Section 13(3)

Under this subsection, the consequences prescribed by section 13 are applied to an Act or Decree which has expired.

Comment

An example of an Act which expires is the Non-Performing Assets Recovery Trust Statute, 1994 (Statute No.11 of 1994) which provides in section 31 that it will exist only for three years.

Part IV-Statutory Instruments.

This Part of the Decree contains useful provisions relating to statutory instruments.

Section 14-Definition of statutory instrument

Under section 14, statutory instruments comprise any document, made by the President, Minister or other authority under a power to make or exercisable by making proclamations, rules, regulations, bye laws, statutory orders or statutory instruments.

Section 15 Citation of a statutory instrument

Under section 15, a statutory instrument may be cited by its short title or by reference to the number of the notice under which it appeared in the Gazette.

Comment

Therefore under this section, the Constituent Assembly (Rules of Procedure) Instrument, 1994 may be cited by its title or by Statutory Instrument No 174 of 194 under which it was published in Gazette No 27 of 24th June, 1994.

Section 16- Publication of Statutory Instruments

This section provides that all statutory instruments shall be published in the Gazette and be judicially noticed.

Section 17- Commencement of statutory instruments

Under section 17(1) a statutory instrument comes into force on the date provided for in or under the instrument or where no date is so provided, on the date of its publication as notified in the Gazette.

Section 17(2)-retrospective effect.

According to subsection (2) of section, 17 a statutory instrument may be made to operate retrospectively to any date but that date shall not be earlier than the commencement of the Act or Decree under which the instrument is made.

Section 17(3)

Under this subsection, no statutory instrument is to make a person liable to any penalty in respect of any act committed before the date on which the instrument was published in the Gazette.

Comment

This provision is consistent with articles 28(7) or (8) of the Constitution which prohibit retrospective offences and penalties

.

Section 17(4).

Under this subsection, a statutory instrument made and published on the date of commencement of the Act or Decree under which the instrument is made, shall be deemed to come into force simultaneously with that Act or Decree.

Section 17(6) states that the provisions of section 17 are to be read without prejudice to section 21-Exercise of powers between publication and commencement of Act or Decree.

Under section 21 where by any Act or Decree is published but its commencement is postponed, any statutory instrument authorised to be made under it may be made at any time after the date of publication of the Act or Decree in the Gazette except that by the proviso to section 21, no instrument made under such an Act or Decree is to have any effect until the commencement of the Act or Decree except in the case of an instrument bringing the Act or Decree into force. Incidentally, the provisions of section 21 apply equally to the making of an appointment or do any other thing under a published Act or Decree under which it is made.

Section 18-General provisions relating to statutory instruments

According to subsection (1) of section 18, a reference in an instrument to "the Act" or "the Decree" is to be construed as a reference to the Act or Decree under which the instrument was made.

Section 18(2)

Under this subsection terms and expressions used in a statutory instrument are to have the same meaning as in the Act or Decree under which the instrument was made.

Section 18(3) - implied power to amend statutory instruments.

Under subsection (3) of section 18 a statutory instrument may at any time be amended (which includes revocation - see definition of "amend" in section 2) by the authority by which the instrument was made, or if that authority has been lawfully replaced by another authority, by that other authority.

Section 18 (4)- Ultra vires . This subsection provides that any provision of a statutory instrument which is inconsistent with any provision of the Act or Decree under which it is made, shall be void to the extent of the inconsistency.

Comment

This subsection reflects in the statutory instrument context the rule of ultra vires contained in article 2 of the Constitution vis a vis Acts. This is a common law concept according to which a thing is done ultra vires by a public authority, a company, or a fiduciary person, when it is not within the scope of the powers entrusted to that authority, company or person.

As stated earlier, under article 2 of the Constitution, any law or any custom which is inconsistent with any of the provisions of the Constitution shall, to the extent of the

inconsistency be void.

The difference with statutory instruments is that being subordinate legislation - they must also not conflict with other principal legislation such as Acts, Decrees or Statutes.

Section 18(5)

Under subsection (5) an act done under a statutory instrument is deemed to have been done under the Act or Decree under which the instrument was made.

Section 18 (6)- Wrong reference to authority under which an instrument is made

Under subsection (6) of section 18 every statutory instrument is deemed to be made under all powers enabling the instrument to be made whether or not it purports to be made in exercise of the particular power or powers.

Comment

This is an important provision that saves the validity of a statutory instrument if a wrong reference is made to the provision under which it is authorised to be made. eg a reference to say section 2 instead of section 9 of the enabling Act.

Indeed it is arguable that once there is power for a Minister or other authority to make an instrument the instrument when made will be valid by virtue of subsection (6) even where the authority to make the instrument is not recited in the instrument.

This provision is aimed at protecting the State but does not absolve the draftsperson from the absolute need of ensuring that he or she recites correctly the authority or vires under which the particular instrument is made as well as the occurrence of any events which are a necessary requisite to the exercise of the power to make the instrument .

Section 18(7) This provision applies to statutory instruments the provisions of section 13 (2) of the Decree prescribing the consequences of a repeal of an Act.

Comment

For example this means that the repeal or revocation of a statutory instrument does not affect the previous operation of or any right acquired or any obligation incurred under the repealed/revoked instrument.

Section 28 Power of majority

According to this section where any act or thing may or is required to be done by more than two persons, a majority of them may do it.

Section 29 - Law officers

This section states expressly that the Solicitor General may exercise or perform any power or duty conferred or imposed on the Attorney - General -

(a) in any case where the Attorney General is unable to act owing to illness or absence; and

(b) in any case or class of cases where the Attorney-General has authorised the Solicitor - General to do so.

Comment

The Attorney - General and the Solicitor General are the Law Officers of the State. See paragraph 6 of Part Y - b of Chapter 1 (Legislation) of the Government Standing Orders.

Section 30 Powers of certain bodies not affected by vacancy

Under this section the proceedings of certain specified bodies are not affected by a vacancy in their membership, or by the presence or participation in their proceedings by a person not entitled to do so or any minor irregularity in convening or conduct of any meeting. These bodies include councils and committees of local authorities, boards, commissions or similar bodies established by or under any Act or Decree.

Section 31 Exercise of a Minister's power by President or by another Minister.

Under this section where a power is conferred on a Minister by any Act or Decree, the exercise of the power may be signified under the hand of the President or ANY Minister; and the President or the Minister signifying the exercise of the power is to be deemed to be the Minister for the time being authorised to exercise it.

Comment

What this section implies for draftspersons is that where the power to make a statutory instrument is conferred on a Minister, the exercise of the power can legally be signified by the President or any Minister whatsoever.

Section 34 - Compilation of time etc

Comment

Draftspersons ought to study this section which lays down important rules as to computation of time. For example a period of days from the happening of an event or the doing of any act or thing shall be deemed to be exclusive of the day on which the event happens or the act or thing is done. For example if a period of ten days is prescribed for the doing of anything from the first sitting of Parliament the counting of the days should exclude the day of the first meeting of Parliament. The section also indicates when to exclude Sundays and public holidays.

Section 34 (3) -Time for extension of time

Attention also ought to called to subsection (3) of this section. According to this subsection where any Act or Decree prescribes the time for doing any act or the taking of any proceeding and gives power to the court or other authority to extend the time, the power, may be exercised although the application for the exercise of it is not made until after the expiration of the time prescribed.

Section 35 Service by post

Under this section any document required to be served by post is deemed to have been duly effected by properly addressing preparing and posting by registered post a letter containing the document unless the contrary is proved and to have been effected at the time at which the letter would have been delivered in the ordinary course of post.

Section 37 Penalties prescribed in any Act or Decree for an offence are required to be stated as maximum penalties.

Section 38 -Penalty under statutory instruments

This section is important for the Parliamentary draftsperson. According to the section any statutory instrument may provide in respect of any contravention of the instrument that the offender shall be liable to a fine not exceeding three thousand shillings or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding three months.

Comment

For most offences under statutory instruments the above penalties are (especially the fine) inadequate particularly taking into account the provisions of the Currency Reform Statute, 1987( Statute No 2 of 1987) which reduces two zeros from every shilling amount in legislation. It is recommended that in drafting a section in a Bill conferring power to make a statutory instrument where offences are to be prescribed, a draftsperson should prescribe in the Bill itself power to prescribe higher penalties in the statutory instruments than what is prescribed in section 38 of the Interpretation Decree, 1976. This will serve as a contrary intention for the purposes of section 1(2) of the Decree so as to exclude the application of section 38.

Section 40 Evidence of signature of Attorney-General or DPP

Under this section any document purporting to be the consent or authority of the Attorney - General or the Director of Public Prosecutions, shall be received as prima facie evidence in any proceeding without proof of being given that the signature to the consent or authority is that of the Attorney - General or the DPP. Where the Solicitor-General is acting for the Attorney-General under section 29 this applies to him or her also (S 40(2)).

Section 41 - Saving of rights of Government

According to this section no Act and no Decree shall in any manner whatsoever affect the rights of the Government unless it is expressly provided in it or unless it so appears by necessary implication,

Comment

Does this imply that for the avoidance of doubt draftspersons should state expressly in an Bill that it applies to the Government or the State?

Section 43 - Deviation from forms

Under this section forms prescribed in enactments may be deviated from if the deviation does not affect the substance and is not intended to mislead.

Section 44 Fees

This section makes detailed provision for the exercise of powers under any Act or Decree to prescribe fees. These provisions are very important when preparing statutory instruments for prescribing such fees. For instance, the section imports a power to prescribe NO fee or charge, or to impose generally or in specified circumstances. It also imports power to prescribe minimum or maximum fees or charges and for the reduction, waiver or refund (in whole or in part) of the fee or charge generally or specifically. All fees and charges imposed by any Act or Decree when collected, are to be paid into the Consolidated Fund.

Section 46 Change in designation of public office

Under this section the Minister when satisfied that any change of a public office has been or is about to be made, he or she may by order published in the Gazette declare the new designation and appoint a day on which the charge shall take effect, and from the day so appointed, any reference to the former designation shall be construed as a reference to the designation declared under the order.

Comment

An order under section 46 can be made by any Minister and it can be argued that once an order is made it changes even the old designation in enactments. However it looks as if such an order is not a statutory instrument as defined by section 14 of the Interpretation Decree, 1996 since it is not classified as a statutory order or a statutory instrument and does not fall under the other categories specified in section 14 of the Interpretation Decree, 1996 such as bye-laws and regulations or statutory orders .

This is the category of instrument which will normally be published as a Legal Notice.

Rules of Interpretation other than those contained in the Interpretation Decree, 1976

Draftspersons should also bear in mind the common law rules of construction and interpretation of statutes which have been developed by the courts but have not found their way into interpretation Acts because they are not sufficiently precise in their application to be capable of statement in legislative form.

I would in this connection recommend draftspersons to consult from time to time the following text books-

(a) Maxwell's Interpretation of Statutes;

(b) Craies on Statute Law; Sweet and Maxwell;

(c) Francis Bennion on Statutory Interpretation,

Butterworths; and

(d) Cross on Statutory Interpretation, 2nd Edition, Butterworths.

PART X- ACTS OF PARLIAMENT ACT (CAP 15)tc \l1 "PART X- ACTS OF PARLIAMENT ACT (CAP 15)

Another Act of considerable importance to parliamentary draftspersons is the Acts of Parliament Act, Cap 15 as amended by the Acts of Parliament (Amendment) Act, 1970 (Act No.6 of 1970).

The long title of the Act reads as follows -

"An Act to provide for the form and commencement of Acts of Parliament, for the procedure following the passing of bills and for other purposes connected therewith"

Section 1- Acts and Bills

According to section 1 of the Act applies with respect to forms of Acts of Parliament and the forms of Bills are required to correspond.

Section 2 - Title

By this section every Act shall bear at the head a short title immediately followed by a long title describing the leading provisions of the Act.

Comment

(i) With this requirement it is arguable that there is no need to have a special clause conferring a short title on the Bill. It makes it possible therefore to have a Bill with only one clause. This provision is derived from the Acts of Parliament Act, 1960 (CA7) of Ghana (See page 356, Note 2. of Bennion's book on the Constitutional law of Ghana.)

(ii) A short title serves two purposes. The first is to indicate at a glance the subject matter of the Bill and later the Act and the second is to provide a brief name by which the Bill or Act can be referred to. In practice in the case of codifying Acts an Act is sometimes labelled a Code e.g. the Criminal Code 1960 of Ghana, but see also the Leadership Code, 1992 (Statute No.8 of 1992) and the Investment Code 1991 (Statute No.1 of 1991)of Uganda.

Section 3 -Words of enactment

This section requires every Act to be prefaced by the words of enactment specified in the First Schedule to the Acts of Parliament Act and the words of enactment are to be taken to extend to all sections of the Act and to any Schedule and other provisions contained in it (Section 3(2) ).

Comment

(1) This provision is owed to the fact that formerly every section of a British Act had to be preceded by words of enactment. The current rule is that the enacting formula at the beginning of the Act governs all the provisions of the Act. Where there is a preamble to the Act the enacting formula is preceded by "NOW THEREFORE"

President Not Part of Parliament

(2) Unlike the case with earlier Constitutions of Uganda the 1995 Constitution does not make the President part of Parliament (See Article 78). Therefore, the enacting formula may require to be modified to omit the reference to the President i.e. no longer "Be it enacted by the President and the National Assembly" (the two of which constituted Parliament under the 1967 Constitution) but "Be it enacted by Parliament"

Section 4 - Subdivisions

This section requires an Act which contains more than one enactment to be divided into sections and sections containing more than are enactment to be divided into subsections.

Section 5 - Preparation of presentation copies

This section regulates the preparation by the Clerk of Parliament of presentation copies of a Bill passed by the Legislature for presentation to the President for his or her or her assent. The Clerk is to cause four copies to be printed and to certify them to be correct as passed. Section 6 and the Second Schedule prescribe the form of the Presidential Assent.

According to section 6(2), a Bill becomes an Act of Parliament on the signature by the President of the first of the four copies and the Clerk is required by section 7 to give the new Act a number and the numbering is to begin afresh at the commencement of a calendar year. Under section 8 the four copies signed are deemed to be the original copies of the Act and are to be conclusive evidence of the terms of the Act, its number and the date of assent. Section 8(2) requires the President to retain two copies and to deposit one copy each of the remaining two with the Chief Justice and the Speaker of the National Assembly.

Section 9 Publication

Section 9 requires every Act to be published by the Government Printer as soon as possible after presidential assent.

Section 10 Evidence of Act

Section 10 states that every Act shall be a public Act and provides further that a copy of the Act other than an original copy purported to have been printed or published by the Government Printer shall be prima facie evidence of the terms of the Act, its number and the date of assent.

Commencement of Acts

According to section 11 of the Acts of Parliament Act, an Act of

Parliament shall come into force on such date as is provided in or under the Act or where no date is provided, the date of its publication as notified in the Gazette.

Under section 11(2) every Act of Parliament shall be deemed to come into force immediately on the expiration of the day next preceding its commencement.

Under section 11(3) a provision in an Act regulating the coming into force of the Act or any part of it shall have effect notwithstanding that the part of the Act containing the provision has not come into operation.

According to section 11(4) where an Act is given retrospective effect the commencement of the Act shall be the date from which it is given or deemed to be given such effect.

Section 11(5) provides that the other provisions of that section 11 shall only apply after the date of publication of the Act has been notified in the Gazette and that until that date is specified the Act shall be without effect.

Comment

Owing to section 11(5), it is imperative therefore that each Act be published in the Gazette.

Citation of Acts

Section 12 of the Acts of Parliament Act provides that the citation of the short title to the Act shall be sufficient to identify the Act.

Section 13 Amendment and repeal

This section provides that an Act passed in any session of the Legislature may at any time be amended or repealed in the same session.

Comment

This express provision is found necessary because formerly this was not possible with the UK Parliament. See Erskine May`s Parliamentary Practice 17th Edition page 520. This is now allowed by section 10 of the United Kingdom Interpretation Act, 1889. Previously, a prorogation for say two days had to be resorted to enable a Bill to be passed in the "same session". The prorogation thus effectively terminated the session and enabled the subsequent Bill to be introduced in what would technically amount to a new session.

It must be observed however that prorogation which brings a session to an end or dissolution which signifies the end of a parliamentary term terminates all unfinished business such as Bills in progress and proceedings of select committees and they have to be recommenced (if desired) in the next session (See rule 2(3) of the NRC Rules of Procedure).

Section 14 Reprint and Revised Editions

This section as amended by Act No.6 of 1970 provides for a reprint of Acts with the authority of the Attorney-General incorporating all additions, omissions, substitutions and amendments effected by other Acts. Under section 14(2) if the Attorney-General approves the reprint by statutory order, a copy of the reprint is required to be judicially noticed as the authentic copy of the Act as amended.

Comment

Examples of such statutory orders issued by the Attorney-General are Statutory Instrument No 197 of 1994 which approved the updated version of the Constituent Assembly Statute, 1993 (Statute No 6 of 1993) and Statutory Instrument No 107 of 1995 which approved the Grey Book containing updated enactments relating to the Courts, Evidence, Criminal Law and Criminal and Civil Procedure

This section is applied to statutory instruments by section 20 of the Interpretation Decree, 1976.

Section 14(3)

Under this section, the Attorney General may by statutory instrument order a revised addition of the written or any part of the written law to be reprinted subject to such conditions as may be specified in the instrument. An instrument made under subsection (3) of the section is required by section 14(4) to be laid before the Legislature and to be subject to annulment by the Legislature.

Section 15 Special Bills

This section makes provision for the Speaker to certify compliance with the law where particular Bills are required to be passed with special majorities. This section corresponds to article 262 of the 1995 Constitution which requires the Speaker to certify that the provisions of Chapter Eighteen (amendment of the Constitution) requiring referenda or ratification and two thirds majorities for the passing of particular amendments of the Constitution have been complied with.

PART XI- BUDGET LEGISLATIONtc \l1 "PART XI- BUDGET LEGISLATION

The Finance Act or Statute

In Uganda every year when the Minister of Finance reads the national budget, a Finance Bill is drafted by the Legislative Drafting Section of the Ministry of Justice to give effect to the taxation proposals or measures proposed in the budget. The Finance Bill is a composite statute which amends existing legislation on taxes and duties either by increasing or reducing them or by creating new ones and sometimes by abolishing existing taxes or duties.

Neither the Constitution nor any other legislation requires that there should be one Finance Act embracing all the new tax proposals in a budget statement instead of having a few separate Bills amending each of the relevant existing taxation Acts separately. From the drafting point of view although Governments may consider it convenient, a Finance Bill is out of date. The modern practice is that whenever possible, any amendment required to an existing Act should be contained in a separate Bill. This facilitates indexing and identification of the amendment. A composite Finance Bill does not readily expose the changes being made in the law by the Act and thus makes them difficult to be accessed by the persons and institutions whom the law is intended to affect. For, if one is looking for an amendment to income tax or to sales tax one should be able to identify the amendment more easily by looking in the Statutes index for an Income Tax (Amendment ) Act or a Sales Tax (Amendment ) Act rather than for a Finance Act in which the amendment happens to be hidden.. This is thus an obstacle to law revision. Also, when drafting a Finance Bill the component parts cannot be processed separately; and each time one of the components is to be amended it means the whole Bill has to be reproduced.

But above all, the greatest disadvantage about a Finance Bill is that it is mainly handled by one or two officers every year and the other drafting officers do not get exposed to the drafting of tax legislation. The tendency will therefore be that if the officers who deal with the Finance Bill each year happen not to be around at budget time there will be a crisis since the other officers have never drafted a Finance Bill.

The best thing to do therefore should be to split what goes into a Finance Bill into separate Bills each amending the relevant law say, the Income Tax law , the Value Added Tax Statute etc rather than lumping them all together in one Finance Bill. This will make the new amendments more easily accessible to those for whom they are intended. More importantly, this will expose all the draftspersons in the Drafting Section to the drafting of taxation legislation and in particular, it will abolish the mystery surrounding the drafting of the Finance Bill or legislation on taxation generally.

Drafting tax legislation

The most important requirement that can be said about the drafting of tax legislation is that the tax or duty must be imposed by clear and unambiguous words. Rowland J. stated in the case of Cape Brandy Syndicate v IRC[1921] 1 KB64 at page 71 as follows-

" in a taxing Act one has to look at what is clearly said. There is no room for any amendment. There is no equity about tax . There is no presumption as to tax. Nothing to is be read in. Nothing is implied. One can only look fairly at the language used"

Thornton in his book on Legislative Drafting, 3rd Ed. on page 223, recommends the following check list for legislation imposing tax or empowering the imposition of a levy indicating the elements that should go into a tax Bill-

Identification of subject of tax (person, object, transaction, activity, process) and imposition of tax.

Identification of person obliged to pay (owner, possessor, occupier, vendor, user, person performing an action).

Fixing point in time when liability is to attach.

Rate of tax - variation of rate.

Time of payment.

Extension of time of payment - payment by instalments.

Appointment of collection agent.

Issue of receipts.

Recovery of tax.

Recovery of tax by distress.

Evidence in recovery suits.

Recovery from third parties (eg creditors of taxpayer).

Recovery of tax paid on behalf of another person.

Disposal of tax by recipient (where it is not to be paid into Consolidated Fund).

Reimbursement of Crown for collection of levy.

Effect of non -payment of tax (eg liability to additional or penal tax).

Relief in cases of hardship (eg time to pay or payment by instalments).

Exemptions from liability and provision for further exemptions.

Refunds, rebates.

Appointment of officer responsible for administration of tax.

Delegation of functions of person appointed under 20.

Registration system for persons liable to tax.

Returns, prescription of forms.

Further returns, information and attendance to answer questions.

Presumption of authority to make returns.

Duty to keep, preserve and produce books of accounts and records.

Power of entry and search.

Assessment and notice of assessment.

Default or estimated assessment.

Additional or amended assessment.

Withdrawal or cancellation of assessment.

Objections to assessment.

Review of assessment.

Appeal against assessment.

Settling appeals.

Taxing authority may state case of opinion of court.

Obligation to pay not affected by appeal.

Institution of proceedings.

Time for commencing prosecutions.

Penalties not to give relief from tax.

Secrecy and non-disclosure of information.

Service of documents and substituted service.

Priority of tax in bankruptcy.

Power to take samples.

Provision where taxpayer dies or leaves country.

Offences by bodies corporate or partnerships.

Protection of officers.

Regulations.

The Taxes and Duties (Provisional Collection) Act, Cap 177.

It is necessary to bring to the attention of draftspersons in Uganda the existence of the Taxes and Duties (Provisional Collection) Act, Cap 177 in relation to Budget Legislation.

Section 2- Provisional Collection Orders

Section 2 of this Act empowers the Minister whenever the Government approves the introduction into the National Assembly ( Legislature) of a Bill by which if the Bill were passed into law-

(a) any tax or duty or rate of tax or duty or any allowance relating to the tax or duty would be imposed or created; or

(b) any tax or duty or any rate or allowance would be altered or removed,

to make a statutory instrument, subject to the provisions of the Act, ordering that there shall be charged , levied and collected the tax or duty which would become payable if the Bill were passed and came into operation in place of the tax or duty which would otherwise be payable or as the case may be, that there shall cease to be charged, levied and collected any tax or duty which would cease to be payable if the Bill were passed into law and came into operation.

Section 3- Duration of Orders

Section 3 of the Act provides that an order made by the Minister under section 2 shall come into force on a date specified in the order and that without prejudice to the power to revoke the order at any time, ( by virtue of section 18(3) of the Interpretation Decree, 1976), the order shall cease to have effect-

(a) if the Bill in respect of which the order is made is not introduced into the Legislature within three months after the making of the order; or

(b) on the rejection by the Legislature of the Bill or on the consideration of the Bill by the Legislature being adjourned sine die: or

(c) on the expiration of four months after the date on which the order is expressed to come into operation; or

(d) on the Bill with or without modification, being passed into law and coming into operation.

Section 3 has a proviso which states that if prior approval of the Legislature is obtained signified by resolution, the Minister may, from time to time by statutory order extend the period mentioned in paragraph (c) by such further period as may be signified in the order.

Section 4- Refunds

This section provides that any tax or duty paid in compliance with an order made under the Act which is in excess of the tax or duty payable immediately after the order ceases to have effect shall, to the extent that it is not refunded under any other law providing for their refund, be refunded-

(a) in the manner set out in paragraph (a) of the proviso to subsection (1) of section 8 of the Public Finance Act, Cap 149 ; or

(b) by being charged and paid out of the Consolidated Fund.

Article 152(1) of the Constitution- Taxation

The question is how far Cap 177 is affected by clause (1) of article 152 of the Constitution.

Article 152(1) reads as follows-

"Taxation 152(1) No tax shall be imposed except under the authority of an Act of

Parliament."

In the first place, while "tax' is not defined in article 257(Interpretation) of the Constitution it is clear that it includes "duty" also.

There was no equivalent of article 152(1) in the 1967 Uganda Constitution or in the existing law before the 1995 Constitution was promulgated..

It is arguable that a strict interpretation of article 152 (1) would require that no tax or duty or no increase in tax or duty should be imposed except by an Act itself imposing the tax or duty. However, section 2 of Cap 177 authorises by the Minister`s order that the tax or duty or waiver etc in the case of a Bill approved for introduction into the Legislature be collected or implemented. Cap 177 is an Act which was continued in force under article 273 (Existing law) of the Constitution. Cap 177 is quite fair since the taxes and duties the collection of which is not approved by the Legislature is refunded under section 4.

If provisional collection of taxes or duties under Cap 177 is successfully challenged as being unconstitutional, it may be advisable to select, at each budget time, the taxes or duties such as customs duties and sales tax which are required to be implemented immediately and pass the Bills on them in the Legislature through all their stages on the day the budget is read, to cater for those taxes and duties, which are intended to come into force immediately the budget is read. This is the practice adopted in Ghana.

Examples of orders made under section 2 of Cap 177 are as follows-

The Taxes and Duties (Provisional Collection) Order, 1994 (SI No 173 of 1994); and

The Taxes and Duties (Provisional Collection) Order, 1995 (SI No 82 of 1995).

These provisional orders can still be made whether Finance Bills are retained or whether they are replaced by individual tax Bills as recommended in this manual.

PART XII- STATUTORY INSTRUMENTStc \l1 "PART XII- STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS

Statutory instruments are necessary because it is recognised that it is not possible to include in an Act of Parliament all the matters of detail which will need attention if the legislative purpose is to be achieved. Parliament has neither the time nor the capacity to concern itself with all the ramifications of its enactments.

Statutory instruments are required to be published in the Gazette and are required to be judicially noticed (Interpretation Decree, 1976 s16).

Commencement of statutory instruments

Under section 17 of the Interpretation Decree, 1976 a statutory instrument shall some into force on a date specified in the instrument or where no date is specified, on the date of its publication as notified in the Gazette and every statutory instrument is deemed to have come into force immediately on the expiration of the day next preceding its commencement.

Under the same section a statutory instrument may be made to operate retrospectively to any date which is not earlier than the commencement of the Act under which it is made. Like Acts however, statutory instruments cannot create retrospective offences or increase penalties retrospectively (Section 17(3)).

Under section 18 of the Interpretation Decree, 1976, the terms and expressions used in a statutory instrument shall have the same meaning as in the Act under which the instrument was made.

Ultra Vires Rule

Just as an Act will be invalid to the extent to which it is in any way contrary to the Constitution, so also a statutory instrument has strictly to accord with the Act under which it is made( including the manner in which it is to be made) and if it fails to do so it is considered ultra vires and void to the extent of the failure to accord. This principle is expressly stated in section 18(4) of the Interpretation Decree, 1976.

Additionally, a statutory instrument will also be void if it conflicts with any other Statute unless express power is given by Parliament for it to modify that Statute.

Parliamentary Control of the making of statutory instruments

The Legislature usually exercises control over the making of statutory instruments in two ways -

(a) it may require that the instrument be submitted to it for approval before it is made; in which case it may reject the instrument altogether or suggest amendments and the instrument cannot be made or come into force without Parliamentary approval. An example of an instrument for which prior Parliamentary approval had to be sought was the Parliamentary Elections (Special Interest Groups) Regulations, 1996 (SI No 20 of 1996), also SI Nos 18 and 19 of 1996 all made under the Parliamentary Elections (Interim Provisions) Statute, 1996 ; or

(b) the Legislature may require in the enabling Act under which the instrument is made that the instrument should be laid before it and be subject to annulment, in which case the instrument may be made and can come into force according to its provisions but may be annulled or cancelled by the Legislature by resolution within a specified time. If annulled it is usually provided that the annulment does not affect steps previously taken under the instrument before annulment. An example of an instrument being made subject to annulment is to be found in section 14(4) of the Acts of Parliament Act (Cap 15) which requires instruments made by the Attorney- General under section 14(3) ordering reprints of written law to be laid before the Legislature and to be subject to annulment.

PART XIII-SOME BASIC RULES ON LEGISLATIVE DRAFTINGtc \l1 "PART XIII-SOME BASIC RULES ON LEGISLATIVE DRAFTING

The following are basic rules and pieces of advice aimed at guiding and assisting parliamentary draftspersons operating in Uganda in the carrying out of their functions and are not intended to substitute for the text books and authorities on legislative drafting recommended in this manual.

An Act speaks all the time

An Act is considered to be continuously speaking. Therefore the draftsperson should not employ words such as "now", "recent", "already", "heretofore" or "hereafter" to relate events to the time when the Act or instrument takes effect. For example to indicate that something is in existence at the time of coming into force of an Act or instrument, the draftsperson should not say, " now in existence" or "already in existence", but rather should say "in existence at the coming into force or at the commencement of this Act or instrument "(see Reed Dickerson's Fundamentals of Legal Drafting page 94).

Duration of Acts

An Act endures for ever unless it is repealed or it is expressed to expire. (See Driedger`s Composition of Legislation, page 178). The date of expiry may be a fixed date either ascertained or unascertained; it may be left to be fixed by some subsequent event. The expiry may be conditional; and it may apply to the whole Act or any portions of the Act.

An example of an Act with a fixed duration in Uganda is the Non-Performing Assets (Recovery) Statute, 1994 (Statute No.11 of 1994) section 31 of which prescribed a life of three years for the Statute.

Acts and other existing legislation on repeal of Constitution

All legislation derive their life and existence from the Constitution. Therefore when a new Constitution is introduced, a transitional provision similar to article 273 (Existing Law) of the 1995 Constitution will need to be inserted by the draftsperson to continue the existing law under the new Constitution. It will be recalled that the Interpretation Decree, 1976 could not normally apply for the interpretation of the Constitution and therefore its provisions relating to the consequences of the repeal of Acts will not apply to the Constitution.

STAGES OF THE DRAFTING PROCESS

Thornton in his book on Legislative Drafting 3rd Edition (page 112) identifies five stages in the drafting process. These are -

1. Understanding

2. Analysis

3. Design

4. Composition

5. Scrutiny.

It is recommended that each draftsperson studies closely Chapter 6 of Thornton`s book so as to attain a mastery of these stages.

Understanding

The draftsperson will first need to study his or her drafting instructions carefully and seek, where necessary, meetings or consultations with the relevant officers in the instructing Ministry or Department and ask appropriate questions so as to obtain the required answers that will make him or her fully understand the proposals.

Analysis

After the draftsperson is satisfied that he or she has understood the policy, the draftsperson then proceeds with the stage of analysis. At this stage the draftsperson will consider matters such as the following -

a) whether the Bill is necessary or practicable at all;

b) whether the proposed legislation is likely to achieve the objectives for which purpose the drafting instructions were issued;

c) the extent, if any, to which the Bill will affect the existing law;

d) whether the Bill is likely to have legal implications which the instructing Ministry or Department may have overlooked.

The analysis stage may also require consultations or meetings with the relevant officials of the instructing Ministry or Department. At this stage also the draftsperson should bring to the attention of the Law Officers who are the Attorney General and Solicitor General, any of the matters required to be brought to their attention under paragraph 6 Chapter 1 Y-b of the Government Standing Orders.

Design Stage

At the third or design stage the draftsperson will make a rough plan or outline of the Bill as the draftsperson conceives it before getting down to actual drafting of sections. This is often done by writing out side notes or marginal notes for each head of the drafting instructions and arranging the list in order of importance.

Arrangement of the provisions of a Bill depends on the convention on the matter obtaining in the particular jurisdiction. The usual practice however, is to place major provisions early in the Bill and to leave administrative provisions to the later part of the Bill. Minor and technical provisions and forms are often placed in a schedule. However, in a Bill setting up a Statutory Corporation or Authority, it is the normal practice to place the sections establishing the body early in the Bill leaving any statement of principles and functions to the later part of the Bill.

The convention in Uganda requires the placing of sections such as those on short titles, commencement, application, and Interpretation first, whereas in certain other countries such as Ghana and the United Kingdom these are placed at the end of the Bill as auxiliary provisions and administrative provisions.

At the design stage the draftsperson will normally compose provisionally the titles to the Bill. The long title should be wide enough to cover the whole contents of the Bill. The short title should normally reflect the most important topic in the long title. A design is only provisional and may need to be changed as the Bill progresses. Whereas the design may be indispensable in the case of the long and complex Bill, in the case of short Bills or where extreme pressure of time necessitates it, this stage is sometimes dispensed with.

At the design stage the draftsperson will consider whether or not any purpose will be served by dividing the Bill into Parts. A Bill does not have to be divided into parts just because it is long. On the other hand a short Bill may need to be divided into parts having regard to the relationship of the various sections to one another. Normally Parts of a Bill are determined by grouping into one Part a set of sections which deal with the same general subject.

Composition or drafting stage

The actual drafting normally involves drafting section by section following the order indicated in the plan or outline made at the design stage. Sometimes the draftsperson may have to draft first the more important sections and then draft the minor or consequential sections related to or associated with each major section. The draftsperson should state clearly and precisely what he or she means. After the first draft the draftsperson should carefully, critically and objectively re-read the draft to satisfy himself or herself that the draft represents what he or she intends to say.

One sentence in each provision

Where a section contains more than one sentence, each sentence should be placed in a separate numbered subsection. Sentences should be short and simple so as to guarantee intelligibility in the Bill as a whole. Numbering sentences in subsections not only makes the Bill readable but it also facilitates amendments in subsequent legislation.

Terms and expressions to be defined

In the course of drafting, the draftsperson is well advised to note down words or expressions which will require definition. However, it is normally after completing the drafting of the whole Bill that the draftsperson will be able to compose finally the definition section.

One therefore sometimes questions the wisdom in putting the definition section at the beginning of the Bill.

Textual amendments and referential legislation

(a) It is desirable when drafting amendments to existing Acts and statutory instruments, to continue following the practice already existing in Uganda of amending the existing principal law textually and directly by inserting new provisions or repealing or substituting for existing provisions rather than the practice often adopted in the United Kingdom of amending the existing legislation by what looks like an independent legislation so that the effect of the intended amendment only comes indirectly by implication.

(b) Where it is intended to adopt in a later Act the provisions of an earlier Act, with modifications for the purposes of the later Act, it is recommended that the relevant provisions of the earlier Act should be re-enacted in the later Act with the desired modifications.

Scrutiny

When the whole Bill is drafted, the draftsperson must study the Bill carefully from beginning to end, to satisfy himself or herself that the provisions of the Bill are coherent as a whole. It is beneficial at this stage to enable one`s colleagues to read the Bill with a fresh mind and to take seriously into account comments and criticisms from them as well as from the relevant officers from the instructing Ministries or Departments. This is important since there is a tendency not to notice one's own errors, and also to read the correct thing into drafts prepared by oneself.

Finally, before dispatching the Bill, it is recommended that the following measures be taken-

(a) have a last look at the Arrangement of Parts (if any) and of

sections, side notes, marginal notes and any cross headings;

(b) have a final look at the short title, the long title, the

commencement section and any repeals and transitional provisions;

(c) have a last look at the definitions, checking that each

carries the correct verb ("means" or "includes");

(d) if there is a schedule of mainly technical matter, check any

notes and headings in it; and

(e) satisfy oneself about any statutory instruments which may be

required to be expressly revoked as not being necessary to be continued in force under section 12 of the Interpretation Decree, 1976.

Recommended Order of Arrangement of Acts.

Thornton in his book on Legislative Drafting recommends (on page 147) the following order of arrangement of provisions of an Act which fortunately corresponds broadly to the order employed in Uganda-

Preliminary (i) Long title

(ii) Preamble

(iii) Enacting Provision;

(iv) Short title

(v) Commencement.

(vi) Interpretation

(vii) Application provisions

Principal (viii) Substantive provisions

(ix) Administrative provisions

Miscellaneous (x) Offences and penalties;

(xi) Miscellaneous and supplementary provisions (including provisions as

to the making of subsidiary

legislation, indemnities, service of notices, powers of entry, search, seizure and arrest);

Final (xii) Savings

(xiii) Transitional provisions

(xiv) Repeals and Consequential amendments.

(xiv) Schedules.

An acceptable variation from the above is for savings and transitional provisions to be placed in a schedule. Similarly, according to Thornton, numerous repeals and consequential amendments, particularly if they can conveniently be presented in a tabular form, may also be placed in a schedule. The purpose of putting such matters in a schedule according to Thornton, is to present the Act in a form where matters of temporary concern are separated from the major provisions and objects of the Act.

Structure of a Bill

The draftsperson should familiarise himself or herself with the structure or parts of a Bill or an Act and the significance of each with the assistance of the recommended drafting books.

Explanatory Memorandum

As a matter of practice each Bill drafted in Uganda is accompanied by a memorandum at the front and this is signed by the relevant Minister when the Bill is being published. This memorandum is not part of the Bill and cannot be used for interpretation of the Act when passed. However in Ghana under section 19 of the Interpretation Act, 1960 a court may have regard to this explanatory memorandum for the purpose of ascertaining the mischief and defect which the enactment was intended to cure and as an aid to construction. Additionally Order 116 of the Standing Orders (1995) of the Parliament of Ghana requires every Bill to be published in the Gazette "accompanied by an explanatory memorandum setting out in detail the policy and principles of the Bill, the defects of the existing law, if any, the remedies proposed to deal with those defects and the necessity for its introduction. The memorandum shall be signed by the Minister or the member introducing the Bill".

Parts of a Bill

Briefly the structure of a Bill consists of-

The long title, the short title, the Preamble, the Enacting formula, clauses (sections), subclauses (subsections) side notes, or marginal notes, Parts (each headed by an appropriate cross heading)-Fasciculus-(a group of clauses (sections) etc which deal with a particular subject-matter and while not sufficiently distinct to constitute a separate Part, fall naturally under one cross-reading) and Schedules.

Side notes or marginal notes are normally not treated as part of an Act since they are normally inserted as the draftsperson thinks appropriate. Indeed in the Ghana Interpretation Act, 1960 they are expressly stated not to form part of the Act and to be for ease of reference only.

Punctuation

While the Uganda Interpretation Decree, 1976 is silent on the question of punctuation certain other Interpretation Acts such as the Ghana Interpretation Act of 1960 -(section 3) state clearly that punctuation forms part of a Bill or Act and may be used as an aid to its construction.

Preamble

A preamble is a set of introductory words to an Act or a statutory instrument which begins "whereas ..." and go on to state the circumstances which made the enactment necessary or the powers under which it was made or otherwise give relevant information. It is often used to introduce Bills of great constitutional import or a Bill to give effect in the municipal law to an international agreement, convention or treaty.(See Bennion`s Constitutional Law of Ghana page 354). According to Thornton, in his book on Legislative Drafting, page 153 , a preamble is part of an Act and may be used as an aid to construction and cites in support, Viscount Simonds in AG v Prince Ernest Augustus of Hanover (1957) AC 436 at p.463). An example of a Bill to implement a treaty is the Common Market for Eastern and Southern African Treaty ( Implementation) Bill, 1996 intended to give effect in Uganda to the COMESA Treaty and which recites the Treaty in a preamble. The construction of a preamble may have effect either to extend or restrict general language used in the body of an enactment. Whereas the Ugandan Interpretation Decree is silent on the status of a preamble, the Interpretation Act of Ghana in section 2, states expressly that a preamble forms "part of an Act intended to assist in explaining the purpose and object of the Act".

Definitions

General

The functions of a definition are to avoid ambiguity and, by giving a word or term occurring frequently either its usual or a special meaning to avoid repetition. A draftsperson should avoid definitions he or she does not need. For a word or term to need to be defined it must occur more than once.

Not to define word not used

A word not used in the Bill should not be defined. This can often occur when a word used and defined in the Bill at an earlier stage of the Bill is subsequently dropped.

Not to define the obvious

The following is an example of defining the obvious-

"A form is a piece of paper containing blank spaces, boxes or lines for the entry of dates, names, descriptive details or other items" (See Dickerson`s Fundamentals of Legal Drafting, page 108).

Another example is to define the "Bank of Uganda" as "the body corporate known as the Bank of Uganda established by the Bank of Uganda Statute, 1993." It is obvious what the Bank of Uganda is.

Avoid Humpty Dumpty definitions

A Humpty Dumpty definition is one in which well accepted and clearly delineated terms are twisted to extend or restrict their coverage e.g. to state that "for the purposes of this Act "September 16th, 1940" means "June 27th, 1950 or to say that "wherever "cows" occurs in this Act it shall be construed to include "horses, mules, asses, sheep and goats" (See Dickerson's Fundamentals of Legal Drafting, pg.102). One should never define words or expressions in a sense significantly different from their normal sense. (See Dickerson, pages 103 - 104).

Definitions not to include substantive matters or provisions.

A draftsperson should not include substantive provisions in a definition. For, this hidden legal statement is likely to be overlooked. For instance one should not define say an omnibus as "a four -wheeled motor vehicle of such weight as may be prescribed by the Minister by statutory instrument" and just leave the Minister to prescribe the weight under the definition. The draftsperson should actually empower the Minister by a substantive provision in the Bill to make the statutory instrument.

Definitions not to include references to other legislation

Unless unavoidable, a definition should not include references to other legislation so not to trouble the reader to have to look at several Acts together. In other words, a definition must be self-contained.

Technical expressions

Where technical expressions or words are used in a Bill their technical meanings should be made clear in a definition.

Miscellaneous

Active voice preferred

In legislative drafting the active voice is preferred to the passive voice . In other words it is necessary to be direct. (See page 52 of Thornton`s Legislative Drafting). For example-

" The transferor shall give notice to the Registrar of the sale or disposal of a licensed printing press within fourteen days" is preferred to -

" Notice of the sale or disposal of a licensed printing press shall be given to the Registrar within fourteen days".

It should be clear on whom the duty lies to give notice.

Advisability of typing or writing each section on one page

For ease of making any necessary corrections, it is advisable to keep each section or subsection on one page. For the same reason one should not write on both sides of the paper.

Amendments to refer to section amended.

Each amending section should begin by referring to the section which is to be amended. For example-

" Section 8 of the principal Act is amended by repealing "where it shall be collected by the Commissioner".

According to Thornton in his " Legislative Drafting " p 342 ,this enables the reader to access the section more readily than an amendment such as - " The principal Act is amended, in section 8, by repealing "where it shall be collected by the Commissioner".

It would appear however that when the principal Act is being mentioned for the first time or if there is only one amendment, it may be excusable to say "The Judicature Statute, 1996 is amended , in section 6, by repealing subsection (2)".

Extent of amending section

It is preferable that the amending section should not amend more than one section of the principal Act at a time. But it is permissible to include in one section a series of amendments to the same section. For example-

"Section 9 of the principal Act is amended-

(a) in subsection (5), by substituting for " five representatives of persons with disability" "seven representatives of persons with disability.";

(b) by repealing subsection (6);

(c) in subsection (8), by repealing " qualified to be a member of Parliament";

(d) in subsection (11)-

(i) by repealing paragraph (d);

(ii) by inserting in paragraph (q) at the end "twelve votes".

Repeal and revoke

Repeal is used for principal legislation (Acts, Decrees and Statutes) and revoke is used for subordinate legislation or statutory instruments to denote putting the legislation out of existence. In law however both words constitute a repeal. In drafting a repeal section the repeal should be direct ( rather than broad or relying on implication) and specify the provision to be repealed, eg"Section 6 of the principal Act is repealed." The use of "delete " in place of "repeal " is discouraged by Thornton (See Thornton`s Legislative Drafting page 350). It should however be in order to employ "delete" in drafting amendments to Bills in their passage through the Legislature for removing provisions from the Bill since one cannot talk of "repealing" clauses in a Bill.

In countries such as Uganda where the technique of direct or textual amendment method is followed it is necessary only to repeal the principal Statute. This is in line with section 11 of the Interpretation Decree, 1976 which reads as follows-

" Repeal to 11. Where any Act or Decree which has been amended by any other Act include or Decree is itself repealed .such repeal shall include the repeal of all amendments. those Acts and repeal of Decrees by which such first -mentioned Act or Decree has been amended."

Where there are several repeals in an Act they should be placed in one section or in a Schedule.

Caution against the use of words and phrases to describe what is being amended

The use of "the words", " the passage" " the expression" " the words and figures or symbols and full stop or comma or semicolon" etc to describe the provisions being amended, deleted or inserted is to be discouraged as being verbose and not serving any useful purpose. For example in place of-

" Section 7 of the principal Act is amended by repealing the words, (or expression) , figures and semicolon " two kilograms of fish at the price of 2,500 shillings per kilogramme; " one should say-

"Section 7 of the principal Act is amended by repealing " two killogrammes of fish at the price of 2,500 shillings per kilogramme;".

Caution against renumbering

Where a paragraph, subsection or section is inserted or repealed, subsequent paragraphs, subsections or sections should normally not be re-lettered or re- numbered since this can lead to misunderstandings particularly in relation to existing cross- references. The correct step to take to is number the new sections inserted as say 3A, 3B, 3C if they are sections coming immediately after section 3 or if they are subsections to number them as (2a), (2b), (2c) if say they come immediately after subsection (2) in the section amended.

Caution against use of line numbers.

A draftsperson amending an Act should not refer to line numbers in the Act to be amended as this will cause confusion in case of reprints. References to lines are only permitted during the passage of a Bill and when the Bill is being amended at Committee Stage. Even so this is only justifiable in countries like Ghana where the Government Printer numbers the lines of Bills.

Place of signature

The place of the signature of the legislative authority

e.g a Minister making the legislation is at the foot of the legislation and where the legislation contains schedules the signature should come after all the schedules.

It shall be the duty of

For this expression one can simply say "shall";

It shall be lawful for

"May" can replace this expression

As soon as may be/forthwith

These are archaic expressions which can be replaced with "as soon as possible" or "as soon as practicable "or" without unreasonable/undue delay"

Declaratory or Purpose Clauses

Some common law draftspersons include an opening section containing an express statement of the purpose or purposes of the Bill. A purpose clause usually relates to the purpose of the whole Act, but it may be more limited and refer only to the purpose of a Part or a section. Dreidger is against purpose clauses.

Purpose clauses are often used in Australia. An example is the following-

'The purposes of this Act are the preservation and protection from injury or desecration of areas and objects in Australia and in Australian waters, being areas and objects that are of particular significance to Aboriginals in accordance with Aboriginal tradition" (See Thornton`s Legislative Drafting page 180).

In Uganda a purpose clause was used in section 3 of the Public Enterprises Reform and Divestiture Statute, 1995 (Statute No.9 of 1993) subsection (1) of which reads as follows-

"(1) The main objective of this Statute is to give effect to the Government policy for Public Enterprise Reform and Divestiture published in Gazette No 48 of 1st November.1991 and also the Action Plan for Public Enterprise Reform and Divestiture."

Notwithstanding

When one provision is inconsistent with another in the same Bill or section , it is necessary for the draftsperson to make clear which provision prevails by "notwithstanding" or "subject to". However it is necessary to be careful not to use these qualifications in both provisions in such a manner as to cause confusion.

In Australia "inspite of" or "despite " is employed in place of "notwithstanding" to be modern but this has not caught on in other places.

Use of precedents

Precedents are often useful since they constitute a source of ideas and aid uniformity and consistency in approach. It is important however to use precedents judiciously and, with precedents from another jurisdiction, to ensure that they are adapted suitably to the conditions of Uganda , Legal, political, social etc. A draftsperson before using a precedent should check whether it has been amended and also check if there is any case law relevant to it.

Repeals

Before finally disposing of the draft Bill the draftsperson should have a last look at the sections of the Interpretation Decree, 1976 relating to repeals i.e. section 2, definition of "amend"; and sections 10 to 13.

Shall" and "may"

Although " shall" and "may" are not defined in the Interpretation Decree, 1976 of Uganda as it is in certain other interpretation Acts such as in the Ghana Interpretation Act, 1960 (C.A.4), section 27, "shall" denotes an obligation to do a thing and "may" denotes a "discretion" to do a thing. This accords with the definition of these words in the Ghana Interpretation Act

If a right privilege, or power is conferred, the draftsperson should use "may" but where an intended right might be construed as merely an unenforceable privilege, he or she should use "is entitled"; if the right or privilege is being abridged he or she should use "may not". If an obligation is imposed to do something, the draftsperson should use "shall"; if an obligation is imposed NOT to act, the draftsperson should use "shall not"; when a power conferred on an a public authority is liable to be construed by the courts a duty, the word "may" should be followed by words such as "in his discretion" unless "may" has expressly been defined as being only permissive. For example, where a person is entitled to receive an allowance, one should not say " he shall receive an allowance of 20,000/= per year" but rather "he is entitled to an allowance of 20,000/= per year".

(See Dickerson`s Fundamentals of Legal Drafting page 130; also Coode, on Legislative Expression reprinted in Dreidger. The composition of Legislation Second Edition pages 328-332).

The need for careful checking of related enactments

(a) When drafting an amending Bill

It is essential when drafting an amendment Bill to study the principal enactment thoroughly together with all previous amendments to it in case there is any provision in them that affects the amendment being introduced into the enactment;

(b) When drafting a statutory instrument

It is also necessary before drafting a statutory instrument, to study the enabling Act, Decree, or Statute under which it is being made together with all its amendments, to enable the draftsperson to know the full powers or limitations relevant to the statutory instrument to be prepared. One should also constantly bear in mind the provisions of the Interpretation of Decree, 1976 (Decree No.18 of 1976) relating to statutory instruments namely, sections 14 to 20.

(c) When amending statutory instruments

In the case of amending statutory instruments it is necessary to read the enabling enactment as above recommended and also to study carefully the principal instrument to be amended together with all previous amendments;

(d) General

It is essential that the regime recommended in (a)(b) and (c) above should be followed on each occasion even though on a previous occasion one has read the relevant legislation. For, it is possible for one to misread a provision or for a particular provision to escape one when reading an enactment especially when the drafting is heavy or if the provision was drafted by oneself.

Drafting Bills to consolidate existing enactments

Where a Bill consolidates with or without amendments any existing enactments, it is prudent and very useful that the draftsperson writes against the clauses of a copy of the Bill the corresponding sections of the enactments being consolidated and files this copy on the Bill file. This not only assists the draftsperson concerned to ascertain whether he or she has incorporated in the consolidation Bill all the previous provisions being consolidated but also enables other colleagues who may take over the work to know exactly what one has set out to do. This recommendation applies with necessary modifications, to the consolidation of statutory instruments.

"SUCH"

It is worth bringing to the attention of draftspersons the following, which two prominent authors on legislative drafting have to say about the use of "such" which is often used unnecessarily in legislation and in other forms of drafting-

(a) Chapter 9, paragraph 9. 6 of Reed Dickerson's Fundamentals of Legal Drafting-

9.6 "Such". Although the word "such" is commonly used by lawyers as a demonstrative adjective (i.e., as a word pointing at a particular person, object, or entity already referred to), this use is undesirable because:

(1) it is contrary to general writing usage.

(2) it is a stilted way of saying something better expressed by "that", "the", "those", "it", "them" etc., and

(3) it is easily confused with the more appropriate uses of the word (e.g. as a synonym, when followed by "a" or "as", for "that kind of".

... Don't say Say

... to pay to such child the ... to pay to that child the

income and such amounts of income and such amounts of

the principal as my trustee the principal as my trustee

considers appropriate for the considers appropriate for the

welfare of such child. child's welfare.

(b) Page 140 of Composition of Legislation- Legislative Forms and Precedents by Elmer A. Driedger.

"Such" - Carelessly used, such can cause trouble. In "a person over the age of sixteen who resides in Canada and has made an application is eligible, but such person, does `such' carry with it all the modifiers of "person" - who is such person? "Such" is not a satisfactory demonstrative where the noun to which it refers has modifiers.

Frequently "such" adds nothing and can be omitted or replaced by "that" or "the". The conjunctive use "such ... as" is usually not objectionable - "such rules as are prescribed".

"Such" should not be used to refer to something outside the section. The following examples are taken from actual Statutes -

"The neglect or refusal by any such officer to pay over any public moneys aforesaid in his hands, or to transfer or disburse any such moneys promptly, on the requirement of the Postmaster General, shall be prima facie evidence of such conversion to his own use of so much of such public moneys as is so in the hands of such officer."

"Where a municipal by-law of a city or town prohibits such sounding of the whistle or such ringing of bell in respect of any such crossing or crossing within the limits of such city or town, such by-law shall, if approved by an order of the Board, to the extent of such prohibition relieve the company and its employees from the duty imposed by this section".

"Such" is not inherently bad, but it should be used only in circumstances that leave no doubt as to its meaning. And too many suches make the sentences sound too legalistic".

Comment

Where it is intended to refer to say an authority described in another section one should NOT say" such authority" but rather "the authority described in section 5."

Words and Expressions to Avoid

Certain words often used in old drafting should be avoided in preference for words commonly used in speech. This is because they constitute unnecessary lawyer's jargon and are stiff, verbose, archaic, imprecise and often hide the intention. These include "hereby", "aforesaid", "herein", "hereinbefore", "henceforward", "hereinafter", "thereat", "wherever", "whereof", "heretofore", "wherefore

" etc.

For example, "whereby" could simply be "by which", "wherein" to be "in which". (See Thornton`s Legislative Drafting, 3rd Ed. Pg.80).

Also to be avoided is the use of the archaic word "save" instead of the modern word "except" and the use of "said " in say "the said Registrar".

"Same"

"Same" or "the same" should not be used to denote the pronouns "it" or "them". For instance in the following sentence the words "the same" can be dispensed with.

"The agreement shall be in writing and the parties shall sign two copies of the same.

Herein - hereinafter - hereinbefore

These words used in legislation are not only archaic but are also imprecise and vague. It is not being clear when one is referring to a sentence, subsection, the part in the section or the whole statute. It is preferable to refer specifically to the particular provision e.g. section 2 or subsection (5) of section 6 or Part V (See Thornton`s: Legislative Drafting, pg 80).

Preceding - foregoing- succeeding- following

These words used in referring to provisions are imprecise and it is preferable to use specific references e.g. section 10, subsection (8) of section 22 or sections 10 to 25.

Proviso - Provided that -provided

The use of provisos should be avoided. Often a proviso is employed where what is being stated is a condition in which case the use of "if" would be preferable. Otherwise a provision is to introduce an exception to a general statement made or rule stated. In that case the use of "except that" is preferable to introduce the exception. Alternatively what is put in a proviso can be made a subsection.

PART XIV- PROOFREADING OF LEGISLATION BY DRAFTSPERSONStc \l1 "PART XIV- PROOFREADING OF LEGISLATION BY DRAFTSPERSONS

One cannot over-emphasise the need for Parliamentary draftspersons personally to proofread meticulously all Bills and statutory instruments which they are called upon to proofread whether for further processing by the Government Printer or otherwise and whether they have personally drafted them or not. This is particularly important when proofreading Bills passed by the Legislature which are being prepared for final printing for making the necessary copies for presentation to the President for his or her assent. As is obvious it is very embarrassing for the need to arise that an Act or a statutory instrument be amended just because of careless proofreading. It is bad enough to have to issue corrigenda notices as this office has sometimes been compelled to do after Acts or statutory instruments have already been published in the Gazette and become law.

In making this statement I am not oblivious of the very serious constraints faced by the Drafting Section in sending drafts and proofs to the Government Printer at Entebbe or collecting processed work from the Government Printer.

I attach as Appendix V a list of printers` correction marks which are recommended for use by draftspersons when checking proofs.

APPENDIX I

INTERNAL RULES OF PROCEDUREtc \l1 "APPENDIX I INTERNAL RULES OF PROCEDURE

1. Chapter 1 of the Uganda Government Standing Orders, in Parts Y-a and Y-b headed "LEGAL ADVICE" and "LEGISLATION".

2. Rules of Procedure of National Resistance Council of Uganda.

APPENDIX II

BOOKS, REPORTS, MANUALS AND MODEL DRAFTStc \l1 "APPENDIX II BOOKS, REPORTS, MANUALS AND MODEL DRAFTS

PART I BOOKS

1. Constitutional Law of Ghana, Chapters 8 and 9 by F. A. R. Bennion.

2. Statute Law: A radical simplification, 1974: Second Report of the Committee appointed by the Statute Law Society of the UK to propose solutions to deficiencies of the Statute Law System of the UK.

3. Legislative Drafting Manual and Bibliography 1978, issued by the Commonwealth Secretariat.

4. A Model Interpretation Bill, 1983 prepared by G C Thornton and issued by the Commonwealth Secretariat.

5. Parliamentary Dictionary by Abraham and Hautrey.

6. Winch, G and Blaxell, G, The Primary Grammar Handbook (1994, Horwitz Publications, Cammeray, Australia).

Legislative Drafting

7. Crabbe, V.R.A.C, Legislative Drafting (1993, Cavendish Publishing, London).

8. Dickerson R, The Fundamentals of Legal Drafting (2nd ed, 1986, Little, Brown and Co, Boston).

9. Driedger, Elmer A, The Composition of Legislation; Legislative Forms and Precedents (1976, Dept of Justice, Ottawa).

10. Legislature Expression by G Coode published as Appendix to 9 (Driedger`s book) above.

11. Office of Parliamentary Counsel, Canberra, Plain English Manual (1994, Commonwealth of Australia).

12. Thornton, Garth C, Legislative Drafting (3rd ed, 1987, Butterworths, London).

13. Victoria Law Reform Commission, Drafting Manual (1986, Law Reform Commission, Victoria).

Legislation process

14. Department of Justice, Legislative Services Sector, A Guide to the Making of Federal Acts and Regulations (1995, Dept of Justice, Ottawa).

15. Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Legislation Handbook (1988, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra).

16. Legislation Advisory Committee, Legislative Change, Guidelines on Process and Content (Revised ed, Wellington, New Zealand).

Statutory Interpretation

17. Cross, R (ed, Bell, J and Engle, G), Statutory Interpretation (2nd ed, 1987, Butterworths, London).

18. Dickerson, R, The Interpretation and Application of Statutes (1975, Little, Brown and Co, Boston).

19. Driedger, Elemer A, Construction of Statutes (2nd ed, 1983, Butterworths, Toronto).

20. Pearce, DC and Geddes, RS, Statutory Interpretation in Australia (3rd ed, 1998, Butterworths, Australia).

21. A major work of reference is:

22. Bennion, FAR, Statutory Interpretation (2nd ed, 1992, Butterworths, London).

General commentaries

23. Bennion, FAR, Statute Law (3rd ed, 1990, Longman, London).

24. Dale, W, Legislative drafting: a New Approach, (1977, Butterworths, London).

25. Hansard Society Commission, Report on the Legislative Process, (1992, Hansard Society, London).

26. Miers, DR and Page, AC, Legislation, (2nd ed, 1990, Sweet and Maxwell, London).

27. The Loophole - Newsletter of the Commonwealth Association of Legislative Counsel (CALC) as issued from time to time.

28. Parliamentary Procedure by Griffiths and Reed.

PART II

ARTICLES ETC.

1. State of Sierra Leone: a Juristic person in Municipal Law. Commonwealth Law Bulletin Vol. 3, No.2 April, 1977, p.319.

2. A Bill of Rights for Britain.

C L B Vol.3 No. 3 July, 1977.

3. Presidential Government for Sri Lanka.

C L B Vol.4 No.1 January, 1978 p.128.

4. Four New African Constitutions: Part I Ghana and Nigeria.

C L B Vol. 6 No.1 January, 1980 p.262.

5. Four New African Constitutions: Part II, Sierra Leone and Tanzania.

C L B Vol.6 No.2 April, 1980 p.693.

6. Commonwealth Survey of Terms and Conditions of Service of Legislative Draftsmen.

C L B Vol.10 No.3 July, 1984 p.1357.

7. Canadian Draftsmanship and the French Connection.

C L B Vol. 10 No.4 October, 1984 p.1865.

8. The Draftsman's Role in the Preparation of Quebec Statutes.

C L B Vol. 10 No.4 October, 1984 p.1875.

9. Ten years of CFTC Drafting Training Programme.

C L B Vol.II No.1 January, 1985 p.226.

10. Hong Kong to have Legislation both in English and Chinese.

C L B Vol.II No l. 4th October, 1985, p.1458.

11. Drafting Laws in plain, English can the Draftsman win?

C L B Vol.12 No.2 April, 1986 p.560.

12. African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights.

C L B Vol.13 No.1 p.1605.

13. New Zealand Office of the Attorney-General.

C L B Vol.13 No. 1 January, 1987 p.268.

14. The Role of the Attorney-General and Canadian Charter of Rights.

C L B Vol.13 No.1 January, 1987 p.252.

15. Revising Statutes with Computer Support.

C L B Vol. 13 No.1 January, 1987 p.260.

16. The Role of Law in the Development Process (by Professor Keith Patchet).

C L B Vol.13 No.2 April, 1987 p.662.

17. Codifying the Law Reformer.

C L B Vol.13 No.4 October, 1987 p.2711.

18. UK Drug Trafficking Offences Act, 1986.

C L B Vol. 13 No.4 October, 1987 p.1628.

19. Course for Government Legal Advisers (By Sir William Dale, Director of Studies).

C L B Vol. 13 No.2 April, 1987 p.693.

20. Evaluation of CFTC Legislative Drafting Programme 1978 - 1984

C L B Vol.13 No.2 April, 1987 p.694.

21. Codification of Law: Ghana Experience (by P N K Archer Chairman of Law Reform Commission, Ghana).

C L B Vol.13 No.3 July, 1987 p.1064.

22. The avoidance of Sexist Language (by G C Thornton).

C L B Vol.14 No.1 January, 1988 p.415.

23. The Commonwealth Response to International Crime.

C L B Vol.2 July, 1988, p.1193.

24. Executive Confirmation of Findings by Quasi-Judicial Bodies: the Ghana Experience C L B Vol.14 No.4 October, 1988 p.1463.

25. Legal Profession of Britain the 1992 Conundrum.

C L B Vol.15, No.1 January, 1989 p.293.

26. Changing the Law in the Changing Society by The Hon Sir Anthony Mason Chief Justice of Australia.

C L B Vol.18 No.3 July, 1992 p.1166.

27. A Fresh Start: Zambia's Third Republican Constitution. By Richard Nzerem, Assistant Director, Legal Director, Commonwealth Secretariat, London.

C L B, Vol.18, No.3, July, 1992 p.1188.

28. The Making and Remaking of Commonwealth Constitutions, CLB Vol.19 No.2, April, 1993, p.765.

29. The Legislative Draftsman in a Small Jurisdiction, CLB Vol.19 No.3, July 1993, p.1237.

30. The Lawyers - The Key to Sound Public Administration, CLB Vol. 19, No.3, July 1993, p.1227.

31. Public Accountability - Who Judges the Judges? CLB Vol.19, No.3, July 1993, p.1231.

32. Courts and Policy: The Exciting Australian Scene, CLB Vol.19 No.4 October, 1993.

33. Commonwealth Law Bulletin

Note: On Jamaican Fundamental rights and freedoms - constitutional protection - mandatory death penalty for murder - delay in carrying out death penalty - whether amounting to inhuman or degrading punishment. Commonwealth Law Bulletin Vol.20 No.1 of January, 1994 Page 40 also page 62.

34. Constitutional Law and Human Rights

Australia: Equality before the law equality before the law for women. CLB Vol 20 No.1 January, 1994 Page 128.

35. Statutes and Interpretation. New Zealand: Legislation format and design CLB Vol 20 No.1 January, 1994 Page 20.

36. Round Table 7 on Transition to multi-party democracy in Malawi by the Hon Mr Justice M.D. Kirby, President of Court of Appeal of New South Wales CLB Vol. 20 No.1 January, 1994 Page 293.

37. A question of Humanity: Delay and the Death Penalty in Commonwealth Courts by John Hatchard CLB Vol.20 No.1 January, 1994 Page 309.

38. The Peoples' Representation in the Courts of Law in Tanzania. The need to retain assessors. By Hon Mr Justice LA Kyando; Judge of High Court of Tanzania and Dr Chris Maine Peter, Head CLB Vol 20 No.1 January, 1994 Page 317.

39. Organisational and Institutional Mechanisms for Ensuring Accountability in Africa: A Review by Dele Olowu , Department of Public Administration Obafemi Awolwo University Ile - Ife, Nigeria, CLB Vol.20 No.1 January, 1994 Page 329.

40. Multi-cultural Act, of 1993 of British Columbia Canada CLB Vol 20 No.3 July, 1994 Page 774.

41. Equal Opportunities Bill, 1993 Hong Kong Vol 20 No.3 July, 1996 Page 775.

42. Legislative Drafting Assistance

CLB Vol.20 No.3 July 1994 Page 1026.

43. Guide to some Legal Aspects Connected to the Ratification and Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by Prof. Philip Alston. CLB Vol 20 No.3 July, 1996 Page 1190.

44. NOTES Africa Regional Judicial Colloquium for Senior Judges in Domestic Application of International Laws on Gender Issues CLB, Vol 20 No.4 October, 1994 page 1474.

NOTES

45. Judge backs call for plain English Laws (United Kingdom) CLB Vol 20 No.4 October, 1994 Page 1483.

46. Independence of the Judiciary in Commonwealth Countries: Problems and Provisions by Professor Anthony Allott, Emeritus Professor, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London Vol 20 No.4 December, 1994 page 1428.

47. Aids and the law - A New Challenge for Human Rights by Hon. Mr Justice Michael Kirby CLB Vol 20 No.4 October, 1994 Page 1457.

APPENDIX III

ACTS/DECREES/STATUTES/STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS/LEGAL NOTICEStc \l1 " APPENDIX IIIACTS/DECREES/STATUTES/STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS/LEGAL NOTICES WHICH RELATE TO THE WORK OF A PARLIAMENTARY DRAFTSPERSON OR THE STUDY OF WHICH IS RECOMMENDED AS USEFUL FOR THE WORK OR BENEFICIAL AS PRECEDENTS OR OTHERWISE.

Legislation relating to Government, Law making, Elections, Judicial, Public Service.

1. 1995 Constitution of Uganda;

2. Legal Notice No.1 of 1986;

3. Interpretation Decree, 1976 (Decree No.18 of 1996);

4. Parliament (Remuneration of Members) Act, 1982 (Act No.1 of 1982);

5. Local Government (Resistance Councils) Statute, 1993 Statute No.15 of 1993;

6. Urban Authorities Act (Cap 27) (and see Urban Authorities (Classification of Towns) (Amendment) Order 1989 S.1. No.4 of 1989). Cap 27 repeated by section 48 of Statute No.15 of 1993. And see article 276 of the Constitution.

7. Acts of Parliament Act, (Cap.15) (amended by S1 135 of 1968). Note in a particular section 2 relating to the requirement of a short title and long title for Bills and also section 4 which requires Acts containing more than one enactment to be divided into sections and subsections. The latter provision in my opinion renders it unnecessary to number as section 1 the section contained in one section Bills as there will be no section 2. In its passage through the Assembly the provision will be simply referred to as "the Clause".

8. Constituent Assembly Statute, 1994 (Statute No.6 of 1993).

9. Transfer of Powers and Duties Act (Cap.20). which empowers the President where necessary to amend Acts by statutory order to transfer powers of duties to Ministers or public officers.

10. Public Service (Delegation of the Powers of the President under Article 104 of the 1967 Constitution), Directive, (Legal Notice No.2 of 1988) (See now article 172 of 1995 Constitution).

11. Emergency Powers Act, (Cap.307).

12. Official Secrets Act (Cap.311).

13. Public Service Act, 1969 (Act No.18 of 1969).

14. Public Seal Act, (Cap.255) (Amended by Act 36 of 1969) Note Public Seal continued in existence by article 8 of 1995 Constitution.

15. Appointment of Tribunal by President under article 85(5) of 1967 Constitution for inquiring into the question of removing a Judge - see Legal Notice No.4 of 1989 and see now article 144 of 1995 Constitution.

16. Oaths Act (Cap.52)

17. Inspector-General of Government Statute, 1988 (Statute 2 of 1988).

18. Laws (Revised Edition) Statute, 1994 (Statute No.12 of 1994).

19. Uganda Law Reform Commission Statute, 1990 (Statute No.7 of 1990).

20. Parliamentary Elections (Interim Provisions) Statute, 1996 (Statute No.4 of 1996).

21. Presidential Elections (Interim Provisions) Statute, 1996 (Statute No.3 of 1996).

22. Civil Procedure and Limitation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1969 (Act No.20 of 1969).

23. Judicature Statute, 1996 (Statute No.13 of 1996).

24. Constitution (Consequential Provisions) Statute 1996 (Statute No. 12 of 1996)

25. Resistance Committees (Judicial powers) Statute, 1988 (Statute No.1 of 1988).

26. Government Proceedings Act (Cap.69)

27. Evidence Act (Cap.43) (Amended by Decree No.25 of 1971 and by Act No.2 of 1985).

28. Trial on Indictment Decree, 1971 (Decree No.26 of 1971)

29. Prevention of Corruption Act, 1970 (Act No.8 of 1970)

30. Magistrates' Courts Act, 1970 (Act 13 of 1970). Note in particular the following: section 8, how jurisdiction is exercised. Section 9, Civil Customary law and its application. Section 10, Law and equity.

Finance/Taxation/Budget/Development/Investment.

1. Income Tax Decree, 1974 (Decree No.1 of 1974).

2. Customs and Exercise Decree, 1977 (Decree No.13 of 1977)

3. Customs Tariff Act, 1970 (Act No.17 of 1970)

4. Contingencies Fund Act (Cap 150).Amended by Decree No.35 of 1973.

5. Capital Markets Authority Statute 1996, (Statute No.1 of 1996).

6. Non-Performing Assets Recovery Trust Statute, 1994 (Statute No.11 of 1994).

7. Investment Code, 1991 (Statute No.1 of 1991).

8. Uganda Revenue Authority Statute, 1991 (Statute No.6 of 1991).

9. Excise Tariff Act, (Cap.174)

10. Sales Tax Act, 1970 (Act No.18 of 1970).

11. Taxes and Duties (Provisional Collection) Act, (Cap.177) and see Taxes and Duties (Provisional Collection) Order, 1986 (S.1. No.12 of 1986). This Act permits the collection of taxes and duties under tax bills introduced into the Legislature before they are passed into law.

12. Airport Service Charges Act, 1965 (Act No.6 of 1965) (and see Airport Service Charges Variation of (Charges) Instrument), 1988 (S.1. No.26 of 1988).

13. East African Excise Management Act (E.A. Cap.26)

14. East African Customs and Transfer Tax Management Act,

(E.A, Cap.27)

15. Tax Revenue Certificate Act, (Cap.170)

16. Transfer Tax Act, 1967 (Act No. 29 of 1967)

17. Pool Betting (Control and Taxation) Act 1968 (Act No.3 of 1968)

18. Appropriation Act, 1990 (Statute No.8 of 1990).

19. Supplementary Appropriation Act, 1969 (Act No.26 of 1969)

20. Public Finance Act (Cap.149) (Amended by Act No.26 of 1968 and Act No.7 of 1970). Note in particular section 10 issues from Consolidated Fund, section 11 Advances from Consolidated Fund section 12 Approval of issues from Consolidated Fund Account, section 13 provision if Appropriation Act not in force, section 17 Establishment of Funds-Note in particular sub-section (2) which requires receipts, earnings and accruals of funds established or deemed to have been established under section 17 and balances of those funds at the close of each financial year, to be retained for the purpose of those funds and not to be paid into the Consolidated Fund.

21. Exchange Control Act (Cap.158)

22. Currency Notes Act (Cap.158)

23. Currency Reform Statute, 1989 (Statute NO.2 of 1987).

24. Companies (Government and Public Bodies participation) Act, 1970 (Act No.3 of 1970). (Amended by Act No.4 of 1970 and Decree No.18 of 1970).

25. External Assistance (Protection of Funds) Act (Cap.103).

26. External Trade Act, Cap. 103 (Amended by Act No.24 of 1974).

27. Development Loans Fund Act, (Act NO.8 of 1967).

28. Treasury Bills Act, 1969 (Act NO.33 of 1969).

29. Local Loans Act, (Cap.154).

30. External Loans Act (Cap.156) (Amended by Ordinance No.5 of 1989).

31. Breton Woods Agreements Act (Cap.161) (amended by Act No.25 of 1969).

32. International Development Association Act (Cap.168).

33. Loan (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development) Act. (Cap.185).

34. Bank of Uganda Statute, 1993 (Statute No.5 of 1993).

35. Land Acquisition Act, 1965 (Act No.14 of 1965)(See new articles 237 to 239 of Constitution).

36. Land Reform Decree, 1975 (Decree No.3 of 1975)

37. Local Government (Rating) Decree 1979 (Decree No.3 of 1979).

38. Karamoja Development Agency Statute 1987 (Statute No.4 of 1979).

39. Customs Tariff (Import Duty rates for Commodities originating from the Preferential Trade Area for Eastern and Southern African States) Order 1988 (S.1. No.32 of 1988).

40. Industrial Licensing Act, 1969 (Act No.15 of 1969).

41. Financial Institutions Statute, 1993 (Statute No.4 of 1993).

42. Land Transfer Act, (Cap.202) (amended by Act No.33 of 1970)

43. Mining Act (Cap.248).

44. National parks Act, (Cap.227).

45. Uganda Planning Commission Act (Cap 147).

46. Uganda Development Bank Decree, 1972 (Decree No.23 of 1972 (amended by Statute No.10 of 1990).

47. Trustees Incorporation Act (Cap.147).

48. Distribution and Prices of Goods Decree, 1972 (Decree No.3 of 1972).

49. National Social Security Act 1985 (Act No.8 of 1985).

50. Public Enterprises Reform and Divesture Statute 1993, (Statute No.9 of 1993.)

Commissions of Inquiry and Similar Commissions

1. Commission of Inquiry Act (Cap.56).

2. Commission of Inquiry into violation of human rights, breaches of the rule of law and excessive abuse of power in contravention of the Constitution - Legal Notice No.5 of 1986.

3. Commission of Inquiry into the structure and responsibilities of Local Administration system for purposes of their reform - Legal Notice No.7 of 1986.

4. Appointment of Public Service Review and Reorganisation Commission under subsections (1) and (2) of section 23 of the Public Service Act, 1969 (Act No.18 of 1969).

5. Uganda Constitutional Commission Statute, 1988 (Statute No.5 of 1988).

Enactments giving effect to Conventions, Treaties and Agreements.

1. Diplomatic Privileges Act 1965 (Act No.2 of 1965).

2. Geneva Conventions Act (Cap.323).

3. East African Community Act 1967 (Act No.28 of 1867) (Amended by Act No.35 of 1970).

4. East African Community Mediation Agreement Bill, 1988.

5. East and Southern African Management Institute Statute, 1988 (Statute No.12 of 1988).

6. Eastern and Southern African Statute, Trade and Development Bank Statute, 1992 (Statute No. 7 of Statute 1992.)

7. Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa Treaty (Implementation) Bill 1996

Enactments establishing statutory corporations and other statutory bodies

1. Uganda Railways Corporation Statute 1992 (Decree No.13 of 1992).

2. New Vision Printing and Publishing Corporation Statute, 1987 (Statute No.8 of 1987).

3. Law Development Centre Act, 1970 (Act No.21 of 1970).

4. Medical Stores Statute, 1993 (Statute No.12 of 1993)

5. Security Organisations Statute, 1987 (Statute No.10 of 1987).

Note that the two organisations established under this Statute are not bodies corporate but Government Departments.

6. Uganda Trypanosomiasis Control Council Statute, 1992 (Statute No. 16 of 1992.)

Statutory Instruments

1. The Inspector General of Government Statute (Commencement) Instrument, 1988 (S.I. No.21 of 1988) which appoints 18th September, 1987 as the commencement date of the Inspector General of Government Statute, 1988, (Statute No.2 of 1988).

2. Motor Vehicle Insurance (Third Party Risks) Statute (Commencement) Order, 1989 S.1. No.16 of 1989) which appointed two different days for the coming into force of different provisions of Statute No.11 of 1988.

3. Laws (Revised Edition) Act (Appointment of Commissioner) Instrument 1986 (S.1. No.13 of 1986) which appoints Justice Nyamuchonco (Rtd) as Commissioner of Law Revision for the purpose of the Laws (Revised Edition) Act, 1982 (Act No.3 of 1982) to prepare a revised edition of the laws of Uganda under that Act.

4. Magistrates Courts (Amendment of Schedule 3) Instrument, 1987 (S1 51 of 1987) which amended Schedule 3 to the Magistrates Courts Act, 1970 (Act No.13 of 1970).

5. Constituent Assembly (Rules of Procedure) Instrument 1994 (Serial No. 174 of 1994).

6. Acts of Parliament (Reprint of the Constituent Assembly Statute, 1993) Order, 1994 S.1. No.197 of 1994 (made under section 14 (2) of Acts of Parliament Act, Cap 15) to bring into force updated Statute.

7. Constituent Assembly (Appointment of Date of Promulgation of New Constitution of the Republic of Uganda) Instrument, 1995 (S.1. No. 354 of 1994)

General

1. Advocates Act, 1964 (Cap. 258) (Amended by Act No.22 of 1970, and Decree No. 32 of 1977.

2. Uganda Law Society Act. (Cap. 259).

3. Contract Act (Cap. 75).

4. Copyright Act (Cap. 81)

5. Chattels Transfer Decree, 1976 (Decree No.4 of 1976)

6. Bills of Sale Act, (Cap.76).

7. Public Holidays Act (Cap.256) (Amended by Public Holidays,

(Amendment) Decree, 1978 (Decree No.10 of 1978).

8. Penal Code Act, (Cap.106).

9. Criminal Procedure Code Act (Cap.107).

10. Companies At (Cap. 85)

11. Bills of Exchange Act (Cap.76).

12. Statutory Declarations Act, 1835.

13. Patents Statute, 1991 (Statute No. 10 of 1991).

14. National Environment Statute, 1995 (Statute No.5 of 1995).

15. Police Statute, 1994 (Statute No. 13 of 1994).

16. Amnesty Statute, 1987 (Statue No.6 of 1987).

17. Citizenship of Uganda Act (Cap 56).

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