ATC150804: Report of the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs on the Refugees Amendment Bill [B19 - 2015], dated 4 August 2015.

Home Affairs

Report of the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs on the Refugees Amendment Bill [B19 - 2015], dated 4 August 2015.
 

  1. The Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs (“the Committee”) resolved to initiate the Refugees Amendment Bill [B19 - 2015], (“the draft Bill”), that seeks to amend the Refugees Act, 1998 (Act No. 130 of 1998) (‘the Act”), in order to comply with the Constitutional Court judgment in the Mail and Guardian Media Limited and Others v MJ Chipu and others CCT 136/12 [2013]. The purpose of the draft Bill is to amend section 21(5) of the Act so as to confer a discretion upon the Refugee Appeals Authority to allow members of the public and the media access to its proceedings in appropriate cases.  

 

  1. The Committee complied with NA Rule 238(1) by tabling a memorandum in the National Assembly on 20 May 2015 in order to obtain permission to proceed with the legislative proposal.

 

  1. The Committee was granted permission by the House to proceed with the legislative proposal to amend the Act. (See National Assembly House Minutes No. 19-2015 dated 4 June 2015, page 2132).

 

  1. Prior notice of the introduction of the Bill, together with an explanatory summary of the draft Bill as well as the draft Bill, was published in the Government Gazette No. 38893, dated 19 June 2015. The notice also contained an invitation to interested persons and institutions to submit written representations on the draft Bill by 17 July 2015. The same invitation was also published in City Press in English, uMamqobhozi in IsiZulu and Free State News in Sesotho. The Committee also consulted the Joint Tagging Mechanism (JTM) in terms of NA Rule 239(1)(b) for advice on the classification of the draft Bill.

 

  1. The Committee received seven submissions in total from the following organisations: Agency for Refugee Education, Skills Training & Advocacy (ARESTA), Mail and Guardian Newspaper, Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) Parliamentary Office, Law Society of South Africa (LSSA), Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR), Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office (CPLO) and Jo’burg Child Welfare.  These submissions were considered and deliberated upon by the Committee on 28 July 2015. The Department of Home Affairs and the Chairperson of the Refugee Appeal Board responded to the submissions on the same date. After consideration of the responses, it was agreed that some of the recommendations would be included in the rules of the Refugee Appeals Authority.

 

  1. The Committee further deliberated and adopted the draft Bill on 4 August 2015.

 

  1. The Committee, in accordance with NA Rule 243, introduces the Refugees Amendment Bill [B19 - 2015] (National Assembly - proposed section 75).

 

 

Report to be considered.

 

 

 

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