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{
    "id": 596107,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/596107/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 136,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Kajuju",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 840,
        "legal_name": "Florence Kajuju",
        "slug": "florence-kajuju"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I rise to support the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill and state that I am a Member of the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs. As a Committee, we sat and went through this Bill and proposed very many amendments to what is contained in the amendments. We, as a Committee, thought about granting bail. We know that according to the Constitution, unless and until there are compelling reasons that have been given why an accused person should not be released on bail, it is automatic. It does not matter whether it is robbery with violence under Article 296(2), whether it is a capital offence or if it is murder. Any accused person who is taken before a court of law is entitled to bail. Those are some of the issues that we asked ourselves in the Committee. We were saying that it is upon the prosecution to prove that there are compelling reasons why an accused person should not be granted bail. So, that is one of the issues that we were saying. Otherwise, we said that you cannot stay the granting of bail. You are supposed to grant bail to any accused person who appears before a court unless and until the Chief Justice makes such regulations and rules that would define further the compelling reasons. However, as they are now in the Constitution, it is up to the prosecutor or the State Counsel to indicate to the court what in his wisdom he thinks the compelling reasons are. So, amendments will be brought to the provision that deals with the Criminal Procedure Court and Cap.75."
}