The virtual Meeting of the Committee of Ministers of Justice / Attorneys General of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) was held on the 14th June 2024, to review progress made on decisions taken at its previous meeting and consider draft SADC legal instruments to be recommended to SADC Council of Ministers and Summit of Heads of State and Government for consideration, approval, adoption, and signature.
In his keynote address, Honourable Dr. Marcy Cláudio Lopes, Minister of Justice and Human Rights of the Republic of Angola and Chairperson of the SADC Committee of Ministers of Justice/ Attorneys General, noted that the draft SADC legal instruments under consideration seek to promote one of the central objectives of SADC, which is to promote sustainable and equitable economic growth and socioeconomic development, factors that will ensure poverty alleviation with the ultimate objective of its eradication, improving the conditions and quality of life of the people of Southern Africa and supporting socially disadvantaged groups, through regional integration.
The Honourable Minister Dr. Lopes outlined that the Committee would also review the results of the study carried out on the reasons and implications of the slowness observed in the process of signing, ratifying and adhering to the Protocols and other SADC legal instruments, noting that the recommendations formulated by the study will make a valuable contribution to accelerating the entry into force of SADC legal instruments, which are a catalytic tool for the achievement of the SADC Regional Integration Agenda.
For his part, the SADC Executive Secretary, His Excellency Mr. Elias M. Magosi reminded the Committee that since their last meeting in the Democratic Republic of Congo in July 2023, Council and other SADC Sectoral Ministerial Committees convened and deliberated on matters concerning their strategic areas of focus in their respective sectors in pursuit to fast-tracking the SADC Regional Integration Agenda. Some of the outcomes emanating from these various institutions of SADC require legal review, guidance, and clearance from the Committee of Ministers of Justice and Attorneys General.
The SADC Executive Secretary highlighted that the agenda items for the meeting were aligned to the objectives of SADC and instrumental to the realisation of the outputs in the SADC Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) 2020-2030. H.E Magosi underscored the critical role played by the Committee of Ministers of Justice and Attorneys General within the structures of SADC as provided for in the Protocol on Legal Affairs towards the attainment of the objectives of SADC.
However, the Executive Secretary noted the concern regarding the slow pace in which the Member States take to sign, ratify and accede to SADC's legal instruments and urged the Committee support all other sectors of the region to move with speed to ensure that the legal instruments enter into force timeously.
During the meeting, the Ministers of Justice and Attorneys General discussed, among other issues, the Selection of a Judge for the SADC Administrative Tribunal, Draft Report on the Reasons and Implications of the Slow Pace in the signing of, ratification of, and accession to, SADC Protocols and Other SADC Legal Instruments and the Re-Operationalization of the SADC Tribunal
During the meeting, the Ministers of Justice and Attorneys Generals considered a number of SADC Draft Legal Instruments, amongst which is the Draft SADC Declaration on the Protection of Persons with Albinism through which Member States undertake to take effective preventative, protective, accountability, equality, and non-discriminatory measures, in partnership with all stakeholders, to ensure amongst others, the security and safety of people with albinism and accountability for crimes committed against people with albinism. The meeting also considered the Draft Agreement Amending the SADC Treaty to make provision in the Treaty for the establishment of a structure constituting double membership comprising Troikas of SADC Institutions for purpose of making timely and collective decisions on urgent matters, facilitating the implementation of decisions, and providing policy directions in between the meetings of the SADC Institutions
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The meeting was attended by Ministers of Justice and Attorneys General or their representatives from the Republic of Angola, the Republic of Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Kingdom of Eswatini, the Kingdom of Lesotho, the Republic of Mauritius, the Republic of Namibia, the Republic of South Africa, the United Republic of Tanzania, the Republic of Zambia and the Republic of Zimbabwe
The mandate of the SADC Committee of Ministers of Justice and Attorneys General is to, amongst others, provide legal guidance and clearance to all SADC legal instruments that emanate from matters that promote the objectives of SADC as set out in Article 5 of the SADC Treaty and as mandated by the SADC Protocol on Legal Affairs.
