Victoria Falls hosts 7th Africa Colloquium of Legal Counsel to Parliament

THE 7th Africa Colloquium of Legal Counsel to Parliament kicks off in earnest in Victoria Falls today and will run until Wednesday under the theme, ‘Law Making, Oversight and Innovation: The Centrality of Legal Offices in Legislature.”

Deputy president of the Senate, Retired General Michael Nyambuya is expected to officially open the Colloquium on Sunday while other keynote speakers will be Speaker of Parliament Advocate Jacob Mudenda, Matabeleland North Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Richard Moyo, Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Ziyambi Ziyambi and Colloquium president Elizabeth Hove.

Over the years, more and more Parliaments in Africa have ceased to rely on the Offices of the Attorney-General or the ministries responsible for justice and legal affairs for the provision of legal services and have instead, engaged in-house counsel to provide independent legal services to Parliament. The Africa Colloquium of Legal Counsel to Parliaments was therefore established as a forum through which Legal Counsel serving in Parliaments would meet, share their experiences and learn from each other with the aim of enhancing their role in the delivery of sound, professional and independent legal advice to their respective Parliaments.

The overall purpose of the Africa Colloquium is networking and sharing of information among legal counsel serving in Parliaments across Africa.

It’s major objectives include promotion of the work of legal counsel, promotion of capacity building of legal counsel serving in Parliament, networking and co-operation with associations with similar objectives, examination of contemporary legal and parliamentary issues and questions sharing of modern trends and best-practices in the provision of legal services to Parliaments.

Other objectives of the Africa Colloquium involve examination and enhancement of the functions and roles of legal counsel serving in the Parliaments of Africa;Interaction, networking and inter-linkage between Legal Counsel serving the Parliaments of different jurisdictions in Africa; and examination of the functional inter-linkages of Legal Counsel and other officers serving in Parliaments, the other arms of Government, the legal fraternity and the public.