The Commonwealth Latimer House Principles

1 The Commonwealth Latimer House PrinciplesPractitioner s HandbookThe Commonwealth Latimer House Principles Practitioner s 107/07/2017 11:43:52 Commissioned by the Commonwealth Secretariat. Drafted by Dr Karen Brewer,Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Magistrates and Judges Association(CMJA) and CMJA Editorial Board members Dr Peter Slinn, Chairperson, andH H Judge Keith Hollis, assisted by the Latimer House Working of case law examples are reproduced with the kind permission of Reed Elsevier (UK) Limited trading as LexisNexis, publishers of Law Reports of the Commonwealth .

2 Commonwealth SecretariatMarlborough HousePall MallLondon SW1Y 5 HXUnited Kingdom Commonwealth Secretariat 2017 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or otherwise without the permission of the publisher. Published by the Commonwealth SecretariatEdited by Joan Ross FranksonTypeset by Cenveo Publishing ServicesIllustration and cover design by Rory Seaford DesignPrinted by xxViews and opinions expressed in this publication are the responsibility of the authors and should in no way be attributed to the institutions to which they are affiliated or to the Commonwealth possible.

3 The Commonwealth Secretariat uses paper sourced from sustainable forests or from sources that minimise a destructive impact on the SectionCommonwealth SecretariatMarlborough HousePall MallLondon SW1Y 5 HXUnited KingdomTel: +44 (0) 20 7747 6500 Fax: +44 (0) 20 7839 9081 Email: A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British (paperback): 207/07/2017 11:43:52 The Commonwealth Latimer House PrinciplesPractitioner s Handbook Each Commonwealth country s Parliament, Executive and Judiciary are the guarantors in their respective spheres of the rule of law, the promotion and protection of fundamental human rights and the entrenchment of good governance based on the highest standards of honesty, probity and accountability.

4 Principle I: The Three Branches of Government 307/07/2017 11:43 407/07/2017 11:43:52 vForewordThis Practitioner s Handbook is designed as a manual to deepen understanding of the Principles of good governance among government officials, members of parliament and judges, and to be used by them to build capacity and promote application of Commonwealth best practice in their respective adds to the resources made available by the Commonwealth Secretariat, which also include the guides, templates and model laws which are offered by the Commonwealth Office of Civil and Criminal Justice Reform and provide the focus for its Commonwealth Principles on the Three Branches of Government, generally known as the Latimer House Principles , are fundamental to the wider values and Principles of the Commonwealth Charter.

5 By making training materials and action points available in readily accessible format, our aim is to facilitate wider implementation of the Latimer House Principles and broader adherence to recommending this Handbook for study and use, I encourage all who draw on it for guidance and support to be mindful of the need to build and continually reinforce integrity and impartiality in public life, and to maintain the delicate balance of independence and interdependence between the institutions that combine to deliver accountable and responsive democratic governance and Right Hon Patricia Scotland QCThe Secretary-General of the 507/07/2017 11:43 607/07/2017 11:43:52 viiPrefaceThe Governance and Peace Directorate of the Commonwealth Secretariat supports the promotion of democracy and good governance in the Commonwealth .

6 Its work includes monitoring and analysing political developments, observing elections, providing technical assistance to strengthen democratic institutions and supporting the Secretary-General s good offices to promote and protect Commonwealth values and in 2003, the Commonwealth ( Latimer House ) Principles delineate the relationship between the three branches of government (Executive, Legislature and Judiciary) and provide guidance on the separation of and governance challenges in Commonwealth countries, often arise from imbalances in, or an absence of, separation between the three branches of government, whether deliberate or unintentional.

7 Addressing these challenges requires a unique methodological tool to foster dialogue and understanding between the three branches of 2012, the Secretariat commissioned partner organisations of the Latimer House Working Group, comprised of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association, Commonwealth Legal Education Association, Commonwealth Magistrates and Judges Association, Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and the Commonwealth Secretariat, to develop such a unique tool in the form of two training modules a comprehensive module to examine all aspects of the Principles , and an abridged version to introduce the concepts.

8 The modules were conceived as a Commonwealth tool to promote awareness and dialogue among stakeholders within member countries on political and governance issues related to accountability, transparency and the separation of powers between the three branches of Toolkit s methodology goes beyond training and learning. It aims to utilise dialogue, mediation and consensus building skills to promote active facilitated discussion and problem solving. This methodology creates an environment of mutual respect 707/07/2017 11:43:52viii Prefaceand knowledge sharing that enables practitioners to identify challenges and find mutually acceptable ways of resolving them.

9 The Toolkit therefore constitutes a strong foundation on which to build the governance capacity of and enhance the functional relations between Commonwealth Executives, Legislatures and am confident that it will be effective in expanding understanding and implementation of the Commonwealth ( Latimer House ) the legal concepts of the Principles into a learning tool involved complex challenges, a significant amount of time and a great deal of patience on the part of all who were Secretariat is grateful to the following staff of the 2014- 2015 Good Offices Section, Nita Yawanarajah and Dr Tres-Ann Kremer, and from the Rule of Law Division, Jarvis Matiya and Mark Guthrie, for initiating and steering the Toolkit to completion.

10 We are also grateful to the Commonwealth Magistrates and Judges Association (CMJA) and its Editorial Board for co-ordinating and consolidating the contributions from the Latimer House Working Group to produce the first thanks go to members of the Latimer House Working Group for sharing their knowledge and expertise in this SapoluDirector, Governance and Peace DirectorateCommonwealth 807/07/2017 11:43:52 ixContentsForeword vPreface vii1.