Judges set deadline for ‘conflict of interest’ law

For three decades, Lesotho’s National Assembly has neglected an important duty required by the Constitution – to pass a law on ‘conflicts of interest’ by MPs and senators in relation to government contracts. Now, though, the country’s Constitutional Court has delivered a judgment holding that this neglect amounts to disobeying the Constitution, and the judges have set a deadline for such a law to be passed. As Carmel Rickard explains in her A Matter of Justice column on the Legalbrief site, until now, the ongoing lack of such a legal framework has added to the difficulties of prosecuting cases involving graft and unfair procurement practices by members of government, and has weakened public confidence in Lesotho’s political institutions.