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Clarification
about the Criminal Law (Codification And Reform) Bill [H.B. 10, 2003]
Veritas
Extracted from BILLWATCH
42 of 5.12.2004
December 05, 2004
Read
the Parliamentary Legal Committee's adverse report on the Criminal Law [Codification and Reform] Bill
Clauses 31
and 33 of this Bill do not introduce new crimes. They
have replaced Sections 15 and 16 of the Public Order and Security
Act [POSA]. Those sections of POSA replaced by clauses in this
Bill will be repealed. [See extracts from these clauses of the Bill and
from POSA below]
Clause 31
of the Criminal Law [Codification and Reform] Bill - Publishing
or communicating false statements prejudicial to the State is an
almost word for word replacement of Section 15 of POSA. There are slight
differences in paragraphing and there is a more severe level of punishment.
Clause 33 of the Criminal Law [Codification and Reform] Bill
- Undermining authority of or insulting President is an almost
word for word replacement of Section 16 of POSA.
The Criminal Law [Codification and Reform] Bill seeks to "codify"
that part of the common law of Zimbabwe, which concerns non-statutory
crimes [for instance treason, murder, culpable homicide, theft, fraud,
assault, arson, malicious injury to property, criminal defamation, etc].
In addition many existing statutory crimes will be incorporated. [This
will include the whole of the Sexual Offences Act, the whole of the Witchcraft
Suppression Act, sections of the Dangerous Drugs Act, sections of POSA,
etc.] The inclusion of these crimes will involve either the repeal or
the amendment of the Acts concerned. Note that other sections from POSA
are also being replaced in this Bill.
The Criminal Law [Codification
and Reform] Bill had an adverse
report from the Parliamentary Legal Committee [PLC]. The adverse report
had noted that Clause 33 violated sections of the Constitution.
Parliament voted
to reject the PLC report. The Bill then passed through its Second Reading
and Committee stages and amendments were made and referred back to the
PLC. The PLC has to report back to Parliament before the Bill can proceed
to its third reading - which is a formality before it is passed.
The codification of Criminal Law is an extremely important and major piece
of legislation. It could have provided the opportunity of informed public
debate about a major section of the law governing the lives of the people.
As the Bill was being fast tracked [contrary to Parliament's own adopted
reforms] the
Bill was not referred to Parliamentary Portfolio Committees. Parliament
did not call for public hearings or for evidence and inputs from sectoral
representatives of society. The House ignored the advice of its own legal
committee on the Bill's constitutionality and MP's had little time to
debate such a complex and lengthy piece of legislation.
Criminal Law
[Codification] & POSA Extracts
| CRIMINAL
LAW [CODIFICATION & REFORM] BILL CLAUSE 31 |
PUBLIC
ORDER AND SECURITY ACT [CHAPTER 11:17] SECTION 15 |
|
31 Publishing
or communicating false statements prejudicial to the State
Any person
who, whether inside or outside Zimbabwe—
(a) publishes
or communicates to any other person a statement which is wholly
or materially false with the intention or realising that there is
a real risk or possibility of—
(i) inciting
or promoting public disorder or public violence or endangering public
safety; or
(ii) adversely
affecting the defence or economic interests of Zimbabwe; or
(iii) undermining
public confidence in a law enforcement agency, the Prison Service
or the Defence Forces of Zimbabwe; or
(iv) interfering
with, disrupting or interrupting any essential service;
shall, whether
or not the publication or communication results in a consequence
referred to in subparagraph (i), (ii), (iii) or (iv);
or
(b) with or without the intention or realisation referred to
in paragraph (a), publishes or communicates to any other person
a statement which is wholly or materially false and which—
(i) he or
she knows to be false; or (ii) he or she does not have reasonable
grounds for believing to be true;
shall, if the
publication or communication of the statement—
A. promotes
public disorder or public violence or endangers public safety; or
B. adversely
affects the defence or economic interests of Zimbabwe; or
C. undermines
public confidence in a law enforcement agency, the Prison Service
or the Defence Forces of Zimbabwe; or
D. interferes
with, disrupts or interrupts any essential service;
be guilty of publishing or communicating a false statement prejudicial
to the State and liable to a fine up to
or exceeding level fourteen or imprisonment for a period not exceeding
twenty years or both.
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15 Publishing
or communicating false statements prejudicial to the State
(1) Any
person who, whether inside or outside Zimbabwe,
publishes or
communicates to any other person a statement which is wholly or
materially false with the intention or realising that there is a
risk or possibility of—
(a) inciting
or promoting public disorder or public violence or endangering public
safety; or
(b) adversely
affecting the defence or economic interests of Zimbabwe; or
(c) undermining
public confidence in a law enforcement agency, the Prison Service
or the Defence Forces of Zimbabwe; or
(d) interfering
with, disrupting or interrupting any essential service;
shall, whether
or not the publication or communication results in a consequence
referred to in paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (d), be guilty of an offence
and liable to a fine not exceeding one
hundred thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding
five years or to both such fine and such imprisonment.
(2) Any
person who, whether inside or outside Zimbabwe and whether with
or without the intention or realisation referred to in subsection
(1), publishes or communicates to any other person a statement which
is wholly or materially false and which—
(a) he
knows to be false; or
(b) he
does not have reasonable grounds for believing to be true;
shall, if the
publication or communication of the statement—
(i) promotes
or incites public disorder or public violence or endangers public
safety; or
(ii) adversely
affects the defence or economic interests of Zimbabwe; or
(iii) undermines
public confidence in a law enforcement agency, the Prison Service
or the Defence Forces of Zimbabwe; or
(iv) interferes
with, disrupts or interrupts any essential service;
be guilty of
an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding
one hundred thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a period not
exceeding five years or to both such fine and such imprisonment. |
| CRIMINAL
LAW [CODIFICATION & REFORM] BILL CLAUSE
3 |
PUBLIC
ORDER AND SECURITY ACT [CHAPTER 11:17] SECTION 16 |
|
33 Undermining
authority of or insulting President
(1) In
this section—
"publicly",
in relation to making a statement, means—
(a) making
the statement in a public place or any place to which the public
or any section of the public have access;
(b) publishing
it in any printed or electronic medium for reception by the public;
"statement"
includes any act or gesture.
(2) Any
person who publicly, unlawfully and intentionally—
(a) makes
any statement about or concerning the President or an acting President
with the knowledge or realising that there is a real risk or possibility
that the statement is false and that it may—
(i) engender
feelings of hostility towards; or
(ii) cause
hatred, contempt or ridicule of;
the
President or an acting President, whether in person or in respect
of the President’s office; or
(b) makes
any abusive, indecent or obscene statement about or concerning the
President or an acting President, whether in respect of the President
personally or the President’s office;
shall be guilty
of undermining the authority of or insulting the President and
liable to a fine not exceeding level six or imprisonment for a period
not exceeding one year or both. |
16 Undermining
authority of or insulting President
(1) In
this section—
"publicly",
in relation to making a statement, means—
(a) making
the statement in a public place or any place to which the public
or any section of the public have access;
(b) publishing
it in any printed or electronic medium for reception by the public;
"statement"
includes any act or gesture.
(2) Any
person who publicly and intentionally—
(a) makes
any false statement about or concerning the President or an acting
President knowing or realising that there is a risk or possibility
of—
(i) engendering
feelings of hostility towards; or
(ii) causing
hatred, contempt or ridicule of;
the
President or an acting President, whether in person or in respect
of his office; or
(b) makes
any abusive, indecent, obscene or false statement about or concerning
the President or an acting President, whether in respect of his
person or his office;
shall be guilty
of an offence and liable to a fine not
exceeding twenty thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a period
not exceeding one year or to both such fine and such imprisonment.
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