• Call on : +265 884157173/999286951
  • Open Hours : Mon-Fri 08:00 - 16:30
Contact Us

Our Work

Home
Our Work

Law Reform

LAW REFORM AND DEVELOPMENT

Law reform is the process of examining existing laws, or developing new legislation with an aim of implementing change in the laws and system of laws. Law reform contributes to the shaping of democracies to suit changing political economic, social, technological and legal environments. Most importantly, laws need to be reformed to adapt to societal changes while adhering to constitutional norms and principles. Section 132 of the Constitution gives the Commission a broad mandate to review and make recommendations relating to the repeal and amendment of the laws. The Commission has the additional function of reviewing the laws of Malawi with a view to the systematic development and reform of the law.

 The Law Commission embarks on law reform or law development through submissions from Government or other interest groups or through its own initiative. The process of law reform and law development requires extensive consultations with various stakeholders or representatives of various interest groups. This ensures that those affected by the law have made the necessary input and that the outcome of the legislative process reflects aspirations of the people. The process of law reform and development concludes into recommendations to Government in the form of proposed legislation or policies. The Minister of Justice is then required by law to publish Law Commission Reports and lay them before National Assembly within 60 days. Further, the Minister is obligated to refer the proposed legislation to Cabinet for its consideration and, once Cabinet has approved the proposals to publish the Bill. Thereafter, the Minister responsible for the matter in question introduces the Bill in the National Assembly as a Government Bill.

Legal session with community members

A legal literacy session with community members on child and gender-related laws in Salima

LAW RESEARCH 

Law review and development requires a robust research system for a well-established legislation. To necessitate a robust research system, it is pertinent that the officers conducting the research should be well conversant with, where to find the law, how to find the law and most importantly how to apply the law. It should therefore be understood that law research is a relevant skill. This skill to be perfected, there is need for special training. The commission develops staff research skills by conducting trainings. The trainings equips the officer with the ability to effectively make use of the library as to where to find the law and gives the overall perspective of both regional and international law. The commission has also improved the library collection to align with law reform program needs and stock relevant research materials for on-going law reform programs.

Summary of the law reform
1
First
Identification of a law reform area
  • Through external submission
  • By the Commission
  • Requested by the Attorney General
2
Second
Investigation
  • Preliminary research by Programme Officers
  • Development of working papers
3
Third
Appointment of commissioners
  • Individuals with expertise are considered and appointed as members of a special Law Commission
4
Fourth
Commission meetings
  • Commissioners meet and deliberate in plenary
5
Fifth
Consultations
  • Presentation of working papers for comments
  • Workshops
  • Focus group discussions
  • Field research
6
Sixth
Commission meetings

Commissioners meet and deliberate in plenary

7
Seventh
Report and draft bill
  • Report includes narrative and proposed legislation
  • Report submitted to the Minister responsible for Justice

What we do

We provide expert advise on law development and reform

COMPLETED LAW REFORM PROGRAMMES

The law reform programme has published thirty-nine (39) reports and all of them contained proposed legislation. Some of the proposals have been endorsed and enacted into legislation while others are pending before either the Cabinet or the National Assembly. The following are completed programs in the last 5 years:

The special Law Commission on the Review of the Public Health Act completed its work in September 2022. The Review of the Public Health Act (the Act) commenced following a submission by the Ministry of Health requesting the Commission to review the Act which was first enacted into law in 1948.

During the course of the review, the Commission held a number of Commission meetings and three Regional Consultative Workshops. The Commission also consulted the policyholder of the Act, which is the Ministry of Health and the College of Medicine. Other consultations took the form of focus group discussions in selected districts the districts are Karonga, Mzimba, Salima, Kasungu, Ntchisi, Blantyre, and Mwanza. The Commission also undertook comparative study visits to Zambia, Namibia and Mozambique, respectively, to draw lessons from comparable institutions on public health issues. A National Validation Workshop involving various key stakeholders in the area of public health in Malawi was held on 24th March 2022. Following the workshop, the Commission concluded the consideration of the Draft Report on the review of the Act. On 21st September 2022, the Commission held a Press Briefing where it announced to the public through the media, its final findings and recommendations on the review of the Act.

The progress on the review process was delayed, primarily, due to unavailability of financial resources. Currently, the secretariat is proofreading the Draft Report on the review of the Act to ensure that it is ready for publication and dissemination.

The Chairperson for the Special Law Commission on the Review of the Public Health Act is Honourable Justice Dingiswayo Madise and Dr. Ann Phoya is the Deputy Chairperson. The Programme Officers are: Mr. Chizaso Nyirongo, Senior Deputy Director of Law Reform; Ms. Eddah Edayi Ngwira, Deputy Director of Law Reform; Mrs. Rose Nayeja, Principal Law Reform Officer; and Ms. Chigomezgo Kamanga, Principal Law Reform Officer.

ON GOING LAW REFORM PROGRAMMES

The Commission commenced the review process of the Refugees Act of 1989 (the Act). The Act was enacted, in part, as a tool of managing the influx of refugees into Malawi due to the civil unrest and instability that prevailed in Mozambique in the 1980s. The Act primarily provides for administrative matters and is silent on other aspects of refugee management that are prevalent in Malawi. In turn, there persists restricted and inefficient response of the law to refugee management in present-day Malawi. The purpose of the review process is to align the Act with international best practice and standards in refugee management and to provide for incidental matters thereto

Call to submission

Submit here