Worlds Mp’s insist for Parliamentary Immunities for better oversight!

The  Tanzania attending the panel session of the 127 Inter-Parliamentary Union Conference (IPU) during the discussion on Parliamentary Immunity: Benefit or Burden?. From Left is Hon. Suzan Lyimo (Mp), Mr. James Warbag, Assistant Director – Table Office and Hon. Hamad Rashid Mohamed (Mp). 

Speaker of the National Assembly of Tanzania Hon. Anne Makinda poses for a group photo after the evening session of the conference with the delegation of Tanzania to the 127 Inter-Parliamentary Union Conference (IPU) in Quebec, Canada. From right is Hon. David Kafulila (Mp), Hon. Suzan Lyimo (Mp), Tanzania High Commissioner to Canada Hon. Alex Masinda, EALA Mp from Tanzania Hon. Dr. Perpetua  Nderakindo Kessy, and Mr. Joseph Sokoine, Minister Plenipotentiary at the Tanzania High Commission in Canada. 

Photos and story by Owen Mwandumbya in Quebec, Canada

Members of Parliament have spoken out in support of having immunities while performing the work as people’s representatives in parliaments and other works related to that. 

This was during the Panel Session under the topic: Parliamentary Immunity: Benefit Or Burden? At the 127 inter- parliamentary Union (IPU) Conference which is taking place here in Quebec City, Canada since 21 to 26 October, 2012.

They said freedom of expression is the working tool of the Member of Parliament. It enabled them to do their jobs as representatives of people and to speak out criticize the government and denounce abuses. 

Parliamentary immunities are designed to ensure that parliamentarians can freely express themselves without hindrance and fear of prosecution.

During the debate, the Mps said there is a tendency of the Citizen generally to perceive immunity as a negative concept; they tend to see it as a way of politicians themselves to place above the law, thing that are very untrue.

This is particularly true in countries where parliamentary immunity, in the form of inviobility offers protections to Mps against legal proceedings for acts they carry it outside the confines of parliamentary duties.

The public reasoning they may be partly due to the lack of understanding of the purpose of parliamentary immunities. It may also reflect a more widely held belief that excessive parliamentary immunity offers protections to those who should be prosecuted and inversely failed to protect those who have done nothing wrong.

The panel discussion took place at the rationale and effectiveness of parliamentary immunity in today’s world in particular in  the light of public insistence on over greater accountability.

The main questions here were, should MPs enjoy parliamentary immunity, including from the legal proceeding for acts unrelated to parliamentary duties in order to effectively do their work? Should such immunity exist everywhere as a matter of principle or only in fragile democracies?

A parts from majority saying that immunities for Mps are inevitable, they also debate more on how can one ensure that application of parliamentary immunity indeed protects those subjected to political motivated charges – often members from the opposition and that inversely, the majority in parliament cannon block, for purely political reasons the prosecution of one of theirs.

Earlier, making his highlights, Mr. John Williams (Canada) CEO of the global organization of parliamentarians against corruption (GOPAC), urging that parliamentary immunity it is counter productive and outdated, drawing the recent decision by Slovak parliament to do away with the requirement of parliamentary authorization before a member a member of parliament can be prosecuted the point which was strongly opposed by many Mps and saying this is an irrelevant and does not freely gave the right of Mps to exercise the duties freely.

Sharing the experience from Tanzania, an Mp from Tanzania Hon. Hamad Rashid Mohamed said in Tanzania, statutory provisions covering parliamentary privilege is defined in Article 100 of the constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania, which covers the privilege of freedom of speech and debate in the Assembly and the parliamentary immunities, powers and privileges Act, 1988 (No.3 of 1988). 

The parliament and parliamentarians have the Immunity from legal proceedings which is clearly stated in the parliamentary immunities, powers and privileges Act, 1988 (No.3 of 1988) Section 5 which is provides as follows:- “No civil or criminal proceeding may be instituted against any member for words spoken before the Assembly or any of its Committees, or by reason of any matter or thing brought by him therein by petition, bill or motion or otherwise, or for words spoken or act done bonafide in pursuance of a decision or proceeding of the Assembly or a committee.’’

Hon. Hamada also said that the law also provides the Immunity from arrest for civil debts which also the law in Section 6 of Act no. 3 of 1988 states as follows:- “No member shall be liable for arrest for any civil debt except for a debt the contraction of which constitutes a criminal offence.” One among the significant power the House has is the power of control over its own affairs and proceedings. This is one of the significant attributes of any independent Legislature.