On Monday, the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Hon. Dawda A.A. Jallow, presented the constitution of The Gambia (Promulgation) Bill 2024 to the National Assembly.
The bill was presented in accordance with standing Order 65, which specified that “the Justice Minister will introduce the first reading of the constitution of the Republic of the Gambia (Promulgation) Bill, 2024.”
The Justice Minister was set to present the bill for its first reading on Wednesday, 27 November 2024, but was unable to do so due to unforeseen circumstances.
This legislation aims to establish the Constitution of the Republic of The Gambia, 2024, while simultaneously repealing the Constitution of the Republic of The Gambia, 1997.
Following the Justice Minister’s reading and submission of the bill to the clerk, Speaker Fabakary Tombong Jatta announced that ‘the next stage of the constitution of The Gambia (promulgation) bill 2024 will be scheduled for the upcoming ordinary session, where the individual responsible for the bill will present a motion for the second reading in line with standing order 662’.
The order states: “At the end of the proceedings in the first reading or at any later stage of a bill, the next stage may be taken either immediately or on a specified day, provided that the second reading occurs no sooner than one working day after the first reading.”
On Monday, 31 March 2020, the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) presented the final draft constitution to President Adama Barrow at the State House in Banjul.
The Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) was created by the Constitutional Review Commission Act, which was passed by the National Assembly on 13 December 2017 and received presidential assent on 13 January 2018.
