The Committee of Ministers of Justice/Attorneys-General was convened in Ezulwini, Kingdom of Swaziland, on 27 – 28 July 2017, to consider a plethora of Legal Instruments. The meeting attended by the Republics of Botswana; Malawi; Mauritius; Mozambique; Namibia; South Africa; Zambia and Zimbabwe; the United Republic of Tanzania and the Kingdoms of Lesotho and Swaziland, was officially opened by Dr. B. Sibusiso Dlamini, the Right Honourable Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Swaziland.
The Right Honourable Prime Minister welcomed all Ministers to the Kingdom of Swaziland and also reminded them that, the measure of success in meetings is a visible consensus, combined with evidence of delivery, or commitment to imminent delivery in the identified key result areas. In this regard the Right Honourable Prime Minister, emphasised that, cooperation framework of SADC relies on the existence of legal instruments that capture all dimensions of an international working partnership.
In her opening remarks to the Committee, the SADC Executive Secretary: Dr. Stergomena Lawrence Tax, remarked that, the region is experiencing a number of challenges such as: Money laundering and financing of terrorism; and Child Abduction. In order to address some of the cited challenges, she highlighted that a number of Legal Instruments which include the Draft Amendments to the Protocols on Extradition and on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters; Coordination of the SADC Common Legal Position in International Fora will be presented to the Ministers for consideration. The Executive Secretary concluded her remarks by thanking the government of Swaziland for her continued support and guidance, since her assumption of Chairmanship.
The Committee of Ministers of Justice/Attorneys-General endorsed among others the following: the Draft Agreement Amending the Protocol on Extradition; Draft Agreement Amending the Protocol on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters; Draft Amendment to Article V (1) of the SADCAT Statute; Draft Charter for the Establishment of the Fisheries Monitoring Control and Surveillance Coordination Centre (MCSCC); Draft Protocol for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants and Charter Establishing the SADC seed Centre and Draft SADC Charter on Women in Science, Engineering and Technology Organisation.
