A draft Bill that seeks to end Kenya’s membership of - TopicsExpress



          

A draft Bill that seeks to end Kenya’s membership of the International Criminal Court is ready, says National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale. Mr Duale said the Bill would be fast-tracked for introduction in Parliament “by the third week of this month.” “I expect the AG to forward it latest Friday. We will publish it and reduce the publication period from 14 to four days,” he told The Standard Sunday. However, Attorney General Githu Muigai Sunday said he had not received the bill, but indicated it may have been sent to the Chief Parliamentary Draftsman. It was clear Jubilee leaders are working overdrive as the 30-day period within which they had said the bill would be brought to the House to end Kenya’s membership of the ICC lapsed at the weekend. During an emergency session on September 5, the MPs had also pressed the government to urgently undertake measures to immediately withdraw from the Rome Statute that established the ICC. MPs from the opposition Coalition for Reform and Democracy walked out of the House in protest but the motion was passed in Jubilee-controlled National Assembly and Senate. The International Crimes Act, which the bill seeks to repeal, is the law that would guide the Kenyan courts in processing the warrant of arrest issued by the ICC last week against journalist Walter Barasa, who is accused of interfering with prosecution witnesses in the case against Deputy President William Ruto. Muigai declined to discuss the apparent dilemma should the Act be repealed before the proceedings against Barasa are completed. “I will not speculate because that issue hasn’t arisen yet,” he told The Standard. Formal warrant Duale downplayed fears of conflict, saying law-making was a lengthy process and predicted the Barasa issue would have been settled by the time the Act is repealed.
Posted on: Sun, 06 Oct 2013 21:09:01 +0000

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