The Treaty Making and Ratification (Amendment) Bill, 2024
Status Timeline
Proposed
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Public Review
Pending
Debate
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Executive
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Final
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New Parliamentary Power to Propose Treaty Reservations
Under the new Section 8(3) and 8(4), the National Assembly is empowered to approve a draft treaty with reservations, specifying the affected provisions and proposing specific amendments, rather than being limited to a binary approval or rejection.
CS Required to Submit Comprehensive Impact Memorandums
When presenting a draft treaty to the National Assembly, the Cabinet Secretary must submit an accompanying memorandum detailing the treaty's financial implications, policy and legislative considerations, social and environmental impacts, and national interests.
Mandatory Public Participation in Treaty Reviews
The proposed Section 8(2) places a statutory obligation on the relevant National Assembly committee to ensure public participation is conducted during its review of any draft treaty in accordance with parliamentary procedures.
Stricter Voting Thresholds for Parliamentary Decisions
Section 8(5) introduces a requirement that any resolution on a draft treaty must be supported by a vote of at least one-half of the members of the National Assembly.
Bill No.
No. 5 of 2024
Gazette No.
Supplement No. 29 of 2024
Sponsor
Martha Wangari
Background
The Treaty Making and Ratification (Amendment) Bill, 2024 seeks to modify the Treaty Making and Ratification Act, 2012 (No. 45 of 2012). The main objective of the amendment is to grant the National Assembly the explicit authority to propose amendments and reservations to international treaties prior to their ratification, enhancing the legislature's foreign policy oversight capabilities.
Key Amendments
- Insertion of Draft Requirements in Section 7: Amends Section 7 of the principal Act to mandate that the Cabinet Secretary submits "draft" treaties to the Cabinet for approval, clarifying that treaties are still in draft stage prior to final executive action.
- Deletions and Substitutions (Section 8): Deletes the existing Section 8 in its entirety and substitutes it with a more comprehensive procedure for parliamentary review.
New Obligations
- Executive Disclosure Duties: The Cabinet Secretary is obligated to provide the National Assembly with a detailed memorandum on the draft treaty outlining:
- Rights affected or promoted by the treaty.
- National interests affected.
- Obligations imposed on Kenya.
- Implementation and legislative requirements.
- Financial, social, and environmental impacts.
- Evidence of public participation already conducted.
- Public Participation Mandate: The National Assembly committee reviewing the treaty is legally obligated to facilitate public participation in the ratification process.
- Clerk Notification Timeline: Following a House decision on a treaty, the Clerk of the National Assembly must notify the Cabinet Secretary of the decision within seven days by issuing a certificate of treaty to be entered in the register of treaties.
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Updates will be visible here once they are approved and applied to this bill.