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Botswana

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9
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Country
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1001

A Practical Approach to Evidence for Judicial Officers: Common Law Sources and African Applications

The manual for judges and judicial officers explains the common-law origins of evidence law, then offers contemporary country-specific analyses of thirteen southern and eastern African countries with a shared common-law colonial history: Botswana, Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Anti-Human Trafficking Act

This Act prohibits human trafficking and establishes protective measures for the victims of human trafficking. It establishes a Human Trafficking Prohibition Committee to oversee the implementation of the Act and calls for the establishment of centers for victims and the creation of a victims’ fund.

Attorney General of Botswana v. Rammoge

The Court of Appeal held here that the Department of Civil and National Registration’s refusal to register Lesbians, Gays and Bisexuals of Botswana (LEGABIBO) was an unjustifiable limitation of its members’ rights. The Court of Appeal held that the right to form associations to advocate for legal change is a fundamental component of the right to freedom of assembly and association, and it dismissed the Department of Civil and National Registration’s argument that LEGABIBO’s objectives were contrary to public morality and would encourage the commission of criminal offenses.

Attorney General v. Unity Dow

The respondent, Ms. Unity Dow, brought a case to the High Court of Botswana asserting that sections 4 and 5 of the Citizenship Act violated her right to equal protection of the law and protection from discrimination on the basis of sex because the sections of the Citizenship Act treated children differently depending on whether they were born to citizen mothers or to citizen fathers. The respondent had one child with an American man prior to their marriage and two children after.

Constitution of Botswana

Section 6 of the Constitution of Botswana adopted in 1966, and amended in 2006, prohibits sexual slavery or trafficking. It includes the following provisions: 1) No person shall be held in slavery or servitude. (2) No person shall be required to perform forced labour. Section 7 of the Constitution of Botswana adopted in 1966, and amended in 2006, prohibits sexual violence that constitutes torture. It includes the following provisions: (1) No person shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading punishment or other treatment.

Customary Law Act

The Customary Law Act aims to reconcile potential conflicts arising between customary Botswana law and Botswana’s common law. The Act pursues this aim by specifying that customary law is to be applied in customary courts only when it “is not incompatible with the provisions of any written law or contrary to morality, humanity or natural justice.” The Act thus makes presumptively invalid customary law that does not comply with common law legislation, leaves such law inapplicable in customary courts, and upholds the supremacy of the common law in Botswana.

Cybercrime and Computer Related Crimes Act, 2018

The Cybercrime and Computer Related Crimes Act defines and prohibits crimes perpetrated through computers and computer systems. The Act criminalizes online gender-based violence including cyber harassment and cyber stalking. Clause 16 of the Act prohibits cyber harassment—the making of any request, suggestion or proposal, which is obscene, lewd, lascivious or indecent; or threatening to inflict injury or physical harm to the person or property of any person. The penalty for cyber harassment is imprisonment for a term not to exceed six months, a fine not to exceed P10,000 or both.

Domestic Violence Act, 2008

The Domestic Violence Act (No. 10 of 2008) seeks to provide survivors of domestic violence with protection. The Act defines domestic violence as "any controlling or abusive behaviour that harms the health or safety of the applicant" and includes various forms of abuse, nonconsensual entry into applicant’s home, unlawful detainment, and stalking.

Employment (Amendment) Act of 2010

Sections 113-118 of the Employment (Amendment) Act pertain to the rights of women to maternity leave from their employers. The amendment compels employers to pay employees on maternity leave not less than 50% of their salary, establishes the right to maternity allowance unaffected by notice of termination of contract of employment, and prohibits serving notice of termination of contract of employment during maternity leave. It establishes in Section 117 that female employees are entitled to only one maternity allowance per woman.

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