Constitution Week 2018 – Celebrating the Silver Jubilee of the Constitution |14 June 2018

The Arms of State

The series of presentations to provide members of the public with a greater insight on the Constitution, the supreme law of the land, as part of the programme of activities organised by the National Celebrations Committee to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of the Constitution and the Third Republic continued for the third day yesterday afternoon.

On the second day, Tuesday, a group of distinguished personalities from the three arms of the State ‒ executive, legislative and judiciary ‒ made presentations on their roles as well as on different articles of the Constitution. The speakers were Chief Justice Mathilda Twomey, Speaker of the National Assembly Nicholas Prea, leader of government business Charles Decommarmond, leader of the opposition Wavel Ramkalawan, Secretary of State for Cabinet Affairs Mohammed Afif, Judge Bernardin Renaud and lawyer Bernard Georges.

In his opening remarks, jurist Daniel Belle, who chaired the session, said “the Arms of State rest on the separation of powers between the executive, legislative and the judiciary. The aim is for us to discuss and understand this doctrine and its application in our Constitution”.

Mr Belle noted that celebrating 25 years of the Constitution of the Third Republic is a milestone in the history of the sovereign democratic Republic of Seychelles that cannot be allowed to go unnoticed.

“In comparison to the previous two Constitutions, this present Constitution has stood the test of time -25 years. The First Republic lasted only 11 months, interrupted by the coup d’Etat, followed by the one party State of the Second Republic with concentration of powers lasting 16 years. Consequently, the Constitution of the Third Republic has rehabilitated, solidified and glorified the separation of powers,” he stated.

He noted that the Constitution is a living document that needs a regular check-up and update, so it needs to be revisited once in a while and corresponding laws reviewed whenever necessary.

The presentations started with judge Renaud, the chairperson of the Constitutional Commission who drafted the Constitution recounting the 1993 Constitutional process.

The audience included the president of the Court of Appeal judge Francis MacGregor, staff of the National Assembly, lawyers and secondary students. Unfortunately very few members of the public took part in the forum.