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{
    "id": 550127,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/550127/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 269,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, in a nutshell, this Bill enshrines in our law the often quoted principles of natural justice. Natural justice must apply when institutions and public officers are making decisions. The principles of natural justice are two. So, this Bill is about two principles which collapse together to constitute the principle of natural justice. The first leg of the principle of natural justice is that everyone has a right to be heard. In other words, if you are applying for employment, you must be given an opportunity to say why you want the job. If you are being sacked from a job, you must be told why. If a disciplinary action is being taken against you by the county government or the national Government, you are public servant and you must be afforded an opportunity to explain yourself before the decision to discipline you has been taken. Madam Temporary Speaker, the next leg of the principle of natural justice is the principle that no man or woman may be a judge in their own cause. If you like, it is the rule against bias. This is the legal principle that says that if I am a public official and I have certain discretion to make certain administrative decisions, I should not sit in that capacity of making a decision if in doing so, there would be conflict of interest between my personal interest and the public interest. In other words, if, for example, if I am a chief executive officer of a public institution and we are hiring people and my daughter is one of the applicants, I should not sit in that panel that is hiring those people due to conflict of interest. Other than the right to be heard, there is the doctrine that no person may be a judge in their own cause in a matter where they have an interest in. Madam Temporary Speaker, I want to summarize the principles that stem out of this general principle of natural justice. First, when there is an administrative action that is imminent and this action might affect a person’s human rights, the person being affected by the administrative action must get prior and adequate notice that they have an opportunity to be heard. The notice must also be given that in case they are dissatisfied by the administrative action, they can appeal. The timeline for such an appeal must be provided for. In the event that the decision does not favour the person, he is entitled to reasons why the decision is not in their favour. You cannot say we have not given you this tender but we will not tell you why. You must be told that you did not meet certain technical or financial requirements for the tender. Other than that, there must be a notice that you can bring an expert like a legal representative especially in quasi-judicial matters like disciplinary proceedings. The other thing is that you must be informed about the evidence against you; where there is an adversarial administrative action or a disciplinary process, you must be told what you are accused of so that you can prepare your own defence ahead of the right to be heard. You do not give somebody a right to be heard but you have not told them what they are accused of, you have not given them adequate time to prepare against those accusations. There must also be an opportunity to be represented by an expert and, in particular cases, a legal representative. If the administrative action is going to affect the general public, there must be a public notice of the action and the invitation for the public to give views on what they think about that action. The views must be considered before the action is taken. The reasons for the decision which has been taken must be given. The notice of any existing The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}