Africa-Press – Gambia. The National Assembly yesterday referred the Judicial Officers bill to the Assembly Business Committee (ABC) to decide whether it would be given to another committee or the committee of the whole house.
The decision followed Justice Minister Dawda Jallow’s plea for the bill to be treated with urgency.
Presenting the bill, the minister argued: “I want to make a special urge and plea for this bill to be taken straight to consideration. It is a very tiny bill, about 8 pages. We can go straight to the consideration stage with the revised schedule and we should be able to go through the clauses. This bill has been going back and forth for quite a long time and the judiciary is the only organ of the state that does not have this kind of legislation. The executive has it and you in the Assembly too have it. So we are trying to support them [judiciary] to get their own. I specifically make a plea that you commit it to the consideration stage today and the Assembly proceeds with it instead of committing it to a committee.”
The bill which was read for the second time yesterday was instead referred to the Assembly’s Business Committee (ABC) for referral to the relevant committee for scrutiny and consideration.
Background
Lawmakers rejected a similar bill in 2023 following a public outcry.
The government said this new bill is introduced in fulfillment of a provision of the 1997 Constitution which guarantees the independence of the judiciary as a co-equal branch of government and vests the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) with the responsibility of overseeing matters related to the terms and conditions of service of judicial officers
It aims to create a legal framework to provide adequate and secure conditions of service” including “fair and protected remuneration” for judicial officers.
The bill faced opposition from few lawmakers but the majority of them welcomed it. At least 28 members voted to support the bill to proceed beyond second reading, 4 voted against it and 2 abstained.
Many lawmakers who welcomed the bill recommended for it to be referred to the ABC for further assessment.
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