Commonwealth Principles on the Accountability of and the Relationship Between the Three Branches of Government
| Author | Commonwealth Secretariat |
| Pages | 401-405 |
Page 401
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At their meeting in St Vincent and the Grenadines 2002, Commonwealth Law Ministers gave detailed discussion to the Latimer House Guidelines on Parliamentary Supremacy and Judicial Independence which was first discussed by them in Port of Spain in 1999. The Guidelines were on good practice governing relations between the Executive, Parliament and the Judiciary in the promotion of good governance, the rule of law and human rights.
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Law Ministers considered that the text required further work before an agreed statement of principles is submitted to the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). They then invited the Commonwealth Secretary-General to convene a small group of Law Ministers to work with the Commonwealth Secretariat to review and develop principles based on the Latimer House Guidelines and taking into account the discussions at the Law Ministers' Meeting.
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The resulting text from the Ministerial Group was circulated to all Law Ministers before it was submitted to the CHOGM held in Abuja in December, 2003.
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Heads of Government welcomed the contribution made by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), the Commonwealth Magistrates and Judges Association (CMJA), the Commonwealth Lawyers' Association (CLA) and the Commonwealth Legal Education Association (CLEA) to further the Commonwealth Harare Principles and adopted the Commonwealth Principles of the Accountability of and the Relationship Between the Three Branches of Government. (Annex).
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The Commonwealth (Latimer House) Principles on the Accountability of and the Relationship Between the Three Branches of Government were launched at a ceremony held at Marlborough House, London, in May 2004.
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The Commonwealth Secretariat commenced its programme on disseminating the Principles by holding a Pan-African Forum in Nairobi, Kenya in April 2005. Participants comprised of representatives from the Executive, Legislative, Judiciary, the Opposition and civil society from Commonwealth African countries.
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The Forum considered a wide range of issues including the relationship between the Judiciary and the Executive and their appropriate interaction; the independence of Parliamentarians; the proper exercise of Executive power; the role of national institutions and civil society; code of conduct for parliamentarians, and mechanisms for ethical conduct for the administration of justice; fighting corruption in the judiciary and parliament and the role of the media and freedom of information.
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It was resolved by the Forum that their deliberations should provide guidelines and a framework for the development of action plans to implement the Principles in Africa.
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The Principles will be disseminated in similar forums in the Asia, Caribbean and Pacific regions.
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