By Yankuba Jallow
The Honourable Attorney General held a short press conference at his Chambers yesterday 27th November 2017, regarding the Supreme Court’s decision on Lawyer Ousainou Darboe and 19 others’ appeal, delivered on the 23rd November 2017.
Lawyer Ousainou Darboe and co., sought for the Supreme Court to declare Sections 9 and 33 of the Public Order Act as unconstitutional, because they contravene Section 25 (4) of the Constitution. The Supreme Court in its judgement, held that those provisions of the law are constitutional because they are not in contravention with the provisions of Section 25 (4) of the Constitution because they provide reasonable restriction.
“As at now, the provisions of the Public Order Act remains in force in The Gambia”, the Attorney General said.
He said people must understand that when ‘we speak about the respect for the rule of law, it means accepting that our judiciary is independent and we are totally committed to this independence.’
“We have all complained bitterly in the past about how the previous regime did not respect the rule of law, how that had led to abuses at all levels of governance”, he said.
He said these are new times and “we must practice what we preach and if the Supreme Court has given a decision and interpreted our Constitution, we must respect that decision even if we disagree with it.”
He said the purpose of the press conference is geared towards reiterating Government’s commitment on the principles of rule law and democracy which includes separation of powers.
