Numerous bills kicked into the curb

The word in the dusty hallways of the legal world is that all of the Bills that were being proposed by certain factions in the Government have all been shelved, more or less.

The Companies Bill 2011, the Trusts Bill 2011 and the Corporate Service Providers Bill 2011 were all being presented by SIBA on their website and were being touted as modern pieces of legislation. But modern does not mean good, and just like Windows Vista, none of these Bills will be going any further in their present form. Thank God that trees didn't have to be cut down to produce paper to put these rubbish pieces of legislation on them. A lot of the opposition to these Bills, particularly the Companies Bill, from Civil Society groups like the Bar Association of Seychelles and the Association of Seychelles Accountants and some good sense from those higher up in power seems to have defeated these Bills, for now. Originally, the Bills' proponents hoped that these Bills could be passed prior to the upcoming Presidential Elections. It now appears that although there is political will to bring in new pieces of legislation in these areas of the law, any new pieces of legislation will be formulated through the institutions and bodies that have the real know how.

Then there is the Legal Practitioners Bill 2011. Re-surfacing like a dirty and maggot infested Phoenix from a garbage dump site after being put down by opposition from attorneys in mid 2009, this Bill, in its present form, has been put down once again. Although, there appears to be some political will to produce a new Legal Practitioners Act, it will not be based on the one being circulated, instead comments circulated by the Bar Association will be considered instead.

Another piece of legislation doing the rounds was the Bar Association of Seychelles Bill 2011. This one appears to have been rejected hands down by the powers that be, skipping the recycle bin and going straight into the incinerator, this Bill is obviously proposing unconstitutional laws, something that its proponents have no idea about.

The Robing Room is the official blog of the Seychelles Legal Environment Website (sites.google.com/site/theseychelleslegalenvironment), the only website about the Seychelles Legal Environment that is constantly updated.