The Right to Move a Private Member’s Bill in Uganda

Abstract

Abstract Under Article 94(4)(b) of the Constitution, ‘a member of Parliament has the right to move a private member’s bill [PMB]’. Under Article 94(4)(d), ‘the office of the Attorney-General shall afford the member moving the private member’s bill professional assistance in the drafting of the bill’. Article 93 prohibits Parliament from proceeding with a PMB that, inter alia, imposes a charge on the Consolidated Fund. Rule 121(3) of the Rules of Parliament provides ‘[t]he Clerk to Parliament shall, where necessary, afford the Member moving the’ PMB ‘professional assistance in the drafting of the Bill’. Under Rule 122(1), a PMB has to be introduced by way of motion which has to be carried for it to be passed. The right under Article 94(4)(b) is not one of the fundamental rights. The author relies on the drafting history of Articles 93 and 94 to demonstrate the nature of this right. He relies on the Hansard (2016–2024) to highlight how this right has been protected. He argues that Rules 121(3) and 122(2) are unconstitutional and that the Constitutional Court’s interpretation of Article 93(a)(ii) in one of its decisions is contrary to the drafting history of that provision.