Author - LAC

30 Years of Gender Research and Advocacy

30 YEARS OF GENDER RESEARCH & ADVOCACY by Dianne Hubbard Having passed the retirement age for the Legal Assistance Centre (LAC), I will be ending my 30-year stint as the coordinator of the Gender Research & Advocacy Project (GR&AP) at the end of February. This makes it a fitting time to look back...

Read more...

What did Parliament do in 2022

January is always a good time to reflect on the past year. What laws were passed by Parliament in 2022? Here is an overview. Parliament passed 16 statutes in 2022, with only three of these introducing new laws. The remainder were amendments or repeals of existing laws. APPROPRIATIONS Every year, parliament passes an “Appropriation...

Read more...

Expungement of Criminal Records

Expungement of Criminal Records Should criminal convictions follow you forever? When applying for a job or a visa to work or study abroad, a person may have to submit a Certificate of Conduct (also known as a police clearance certificate) to show that they have no criminal history. This certificate is issued...

Read more...

Namlex Appendix update

Namibia is one of the few countries in the world that makes international agreements automatically part of its law (Art 144 of the Namibian Constitution). This makes it important to know what treaties are binding on Namibia. The NAMLEX APPENDIX includes the following multilateral agreements: International agreements binding on Namibia: These...

Read more...

The mission of the Legal Assistance Centre

Recently, some posts on social media have complained that the Legal Assistance Centre (LAC) is not taking on some of the issues brought to it by members of the public. To clarify the situation, this column will explain the LAC’s mission, and what it can and cannot do. The origins and...

Read more...

Sex Offender Register needed?

A Sex Offender Register For Namibia? Right Idea, Wrong Solution In 2017, hundreds of people gathered outside a house in Katutura in reaction to reports that the occupants were abducting and dismembering children. According to news reports, police deployed 20 police vehicles and a helicopter, and ended up having to use...

Read more...

Right to Peaceful Protest

PRESS STATEMENT As a member of the Action Coalition, the Legal Assistance Centre wishes to acknowledge the statement published on 16 May 2022. The excessive use of force in police action can never be condoned in a democratic society. The Legal Assistance Centre records its concern with the actions of the...

Read more...

Divorce Bill Analysis

The Divorce Bill: What is good and what not? The latest draft of the Divorce Bill was recently circulated for public comment.  Much of the Bill is a very welcome change to Namibia’s antiquated fault-based divorce law. The current outdated law requires a guilty spouse and an innocent spouse, and necessitates a...

Read more...

Urban Land Reform

What is Namibia doing about Urban Land Reform? Background For the best part of the first two decades after Namibia’s independence, the Namibian government has focused on commercial agricultural land reform. The Agricultural (Commercial) Land Reform Act was enacted in 1995, five years after Namibia gained independence. Against the political rhetoric that the...

Read more...

Deprecated: Directive 'allow_url_include' is deprecated in Unknown on line 0