Acts of Parliament Act
Chapter 2
An Act to provide for the form and commencement of Acts of Parliament, for the procedure following the passing of bills and for other related matters.
Part I — Interpretation
1. Interpretation
In this Act unless the context otherwise requires—(a)"Act" means a law made by Parliament;(b)"assent" means the assent of the President signifying his or her approval of a bill passed by Parliament under article 91 or 262 of the Constitution;(c)"bill" means the draft of an Act of Parliament and includes both a private member’s bill and a Government bill;(d)"certificate" means a certificate referred to in section 16;(e)"clerk" means the clerk to Parliament or a deputy clerk or any other person performing the duties of the clerk by direction of the Speaker;(f)"Electoral Commission" means the Electoral Commission established by article 60 of the Constitution;(g)"Government printer" means the printer authorised generally to print and publish written laws and other publications of the Government;(h)"original copies" means original copies prepared in accordance with sections 8 and 12;(i)"Parliament" means the Parliament of Uganda;(j)"session" means a series of meetings of Parliament within a period of twelve months;(k)"Speaker" means the Speaker of Parliament and Deputy Speaker shall be construed accordingly.
Part III — Procedure following passing of bills
8. Preparation of presentation copies
(1)As soon as possible after a bill has been passed by Parliament, the clerk shall cause the text of the bill as passed to be sent to the Government printer who shall print ten copies of the bill on vellum or on paper of enduring quality and send the copies as printed to the clerk.
(2)On receiving the copies, the clerk shall—
(a)cause to be made in the copies such corrections as relate to misprints, typographical errors and wrong references, if any, as are necessary;
(b)carefully compare the copies with the text of the bill as passed;
(c)if the copies are found to be correct sign on each copy a statement in the form set out in Part I of the Second Schedule to this Act; and
(d)cause the copies to be presented to the President for assent.
9. Assent by the President
(1)The President shall, subject to article 91 or 262 of the Constitution, assent to the bill presented to him or her under section 8 by signing on each copy of the bill a statement in the form set out in Part II of the Second Schedule to this Act.
(2)A bill shall become an Act of Parliament on the signature by the President of the first of the copies referred to in subsection (1).
(3)A bill which becomes law under article 91 or 262 of the Constitution without the assent of the President shall be deemed to have become law on the day on which the Speaker of Parliament causes a copy of the bill to be laid before Parliament under article 91 or 262 of the Constitution.
(4)On the day on which a bill is stated to become law under subsection (3), that bill shall be deemed to become an Act of Parliament.
10. Presentation of the bill for assent under article 91
Where the bill has been returned to Parliament under article 91(3)(b) or (c) of the Constitution and Parliament has reconsidered the bill and passed it again, the clerk shall present the bill for the second time to the President for assent; and sections 8 and 9 shall apply with necessary modifications.
11. Numbering
(1)Acts shall be numbered consecutively in the order in which they become Acts and the numbering shall begin afresh at the commencement of a calendar year.
(2)As soon as the President has signed a copy of an Act under section 9 or 10 or a bill becomes an Act under article 91 or 262 of the Constitution without the assent of the President, the clerk shall cause the number of the Act to be entered on a copy of the Act signed or which has become law without the assent of the President, as the case may be.
12. Original copies of Acts assented to by the President or becoming law without the assent of the President
(1)Subject to subsection (2) or (3), where the procedure prescribed in sections 8, 9, 10 and 11 purports to have been followed in relation to copies of an Act, the copies shall be deemed to be original copies of the Act and shall be conclusive evidence of the terms of the Act, its number and date of assent or the date on which it became law without the assent of the President.
(2)Where a bill becomes law under article 91 of the Constitution without the President’s assent, the clerk shall prepare four copies of the Act and shall certify on each copy a statement in the appropriate form set out in Part III of the Second Schedule to this Act to the effect that the bill became law without the assent of the President.
(3)Where a bill has become law without the assent of the President under article 262 of the Constitution, the clerk to Parliament shall prepare four copies of the Act and shall certify on each copy a statement in the form set out in Part IV of the Second Schedule to this Act to the effect that the bill became law without the assent of the President.
(4)The copies of an Act certified by the clerk under subsection (2) or (3) shall be deemed to be the original copies of the Act; and subsection (1) shall apply to them.
(5)Two of the original copies of each Act under this section shall be retained by the President in the case of an Act assented to by the President or, as the case may be, given to the President where the bill has become law without the assent of the President; and one each of the other two shall be deposited with the Chief Justice and the Speaker.
13. Publication
(1)Every Act shall be published by the Government printer as soon as possible after the President’s assent has been signified or the bill has otherwise become law without the President’s assent under article 91 or 262 of the Constitution, and shall be published—
(a)with the omission of the statements contained in the original copies by virtue of sections 8, 9, 10 and 12;
(b)with the insertion of a statement of the date on which the President’s assent was signified or, as the case may be, the date on which the bill became law without the assent of the President under article 91 or 262 of the Constitution and the date of commencement if known.
(2)A copy of any Act other than an original copy purported to have been printed or published by the Government Printer shall be prima facie evidence of the terms of the Act, its number and the date of assent.
Part IV — Commencement of Acts
14. Commencement of Acts
(1)Subject to this section, the commencement of an Act shall be such date as is provided in or under the Act, or where no date is provided, the date of its publication as notified in the Gazette.
(2)Every Act shall be deemed to come into force at the first moment of the day of commencement.
(3)A provision in an Act regulating the coming into force of the Act or any part of the Act shall have effect notwithstanding that the part of the Act containing the provision has not come into operation.
(4)Where an Act is made with retrospective effect, the commencement of the Act shall be the date from which it is given or deemed to be given that effect.
(5)Subsection (4) shall not apply to an Act until there is notification in the Gazette as to the date of its publication; and until that date is specified, the Act shall be without effect.
15. Citation
The citation of the short title to an Act shall be sufficient to identify the Act.
Part V — Certificates relating to bills amending the Constitution
16. Bills amending the Constitution
(1)A certificate required to be made by the Speaker of Parliament in respect of a bill passed in accordance with article 261 of the Constitution shall be in the form specified in Part V of the Second Schedule to this Act.
(2)A certificate required to be made by the Speaker of Parliament by article 262 of the Constitution in respect of a bill passed in accordance with article 259 of the Constitution shall be in the form specified in Part VI of the Second Schedule to this Act.
(3)A certificate required to be made by the Speaker of Parliament by article 262 of the Constitution in respect of a bill passed in accordance with article 260 of the Constitution shall be in the form specified in Part VII of the Second Schedule to this Act.
(4)A certificate of the Electoral Commission required by article 262 of the Constitution in respect of a bill passed in accordance with article 259 of the Constitution shall be in the form specified in Part VIII of the Second Schedule to this Act.
(5)A certificate of the Electoral Commission required by article 262 of the Constitution in respect of a bill passed in accordance with article 260 of the Constitution shall be in the form specified in Part IX of the Second Schedule to this Act.
(6)The speaker of each district council shall, where a bill seeking to amend the Constitution has been ratified by the council for the purposes of article 260 of the Constitution, issue a certificate in the form specified in Part X of the Second Schedule to this Act.
(7)A certificate under this section signed by the Speaker or the chairperson of the Electoral Commission, as the case may be, shall be prima facie evidence of the facts stated in the certificate.
Part VI — Miscellaneous
17. Amendment and repeal in same session
An Act passed in any session of Parliament may be amended or repealed in the same session.
18. Reprint and revised edition
(1)An Act which has been amended may, with the authority of the Attorney General, be reprinted with all the necessary additions, omissions, substitutions and amendments effected by the amending Act.
(2)The Attorney General may, by statutory order, approve the Act reprinted under subsection (1) and shall, in that order appoint a day from which every copy of the Act reprinted shall be judicially noticed as an authentic copy of the Act as amended.
(3)The Attorney General may, by statutory instrument, order a revised edition of the written law or any part of it to be printed subject to such conditions as may be specified in the instrument.
(4)An instrument made under subsection (3) shall be laid before Parliament and shall be subject to annulment by Parliament by resolution passed within forty sitting days after it has been laid and shall cease to have effect when so annulled but without prejudice to the making of a further instrument.
19. Date of passing of Act
(1)The date on which an Act is passed is the day on which the President signifies on the bill for the Act the giving of the President’s assent to the bill as provided for under this Act or the date on which it became an Act without the President’s assent under article 91 or 262 of the Constitution.
(2)Where the date appearing on an Act printed or purporting to be printed by the Government printer purports as the case may be to be—
(a)the day on which the President assented to it; or
(b)the date on which it otherwise became law, the apparent date shall be received as evidence that it was the date that it purports to be and shall be judicially noticed accordingly.
First Schedule (Section 4)
Words of enactment
Be it enacted by Parliament as follows:
Second Schedule (Section 8)
Forms
Part I – Form of authentication statement
This printed impression has been carefully compared by me with the bill which was passed by Parliament and found by me to be a true copy of the bill.Clerk to ParliamentDate of authentication:
Part II – Form of statement of the President’s assent (Section 9)
I signify my assent to the bill.PresidentDate of assent:
Part III – Forms of statement of the clerk to Parliament for a bill enacted without the assent of the President under article 91 of the Constitution (Section 12)
Part IV – Form of statement of the Clerk for a bill passed without the assent of the President under article 262 of the Constitution (Section 12)
Whereas the________ (name of bill) bill________ (year) seeking to amend article(s)________(indicate the article(s) sought to be amended) of the Constitution was on the________ day of________ (month and year) passed by Parliament;And whereas the bill was submitted to the President for assent on the________ day of________ (month and year);And whereas the President has refused to assent to the bill/failed to assent to the bill within thirty days after the bill was submitted as provided for in article 262(4) of the Constitution:And whereas the Speaker on the________ day of________ (month and year) caused a copy of the bill to be laid before Parliament in accordance with article 262 of the Constitution;Now therefore I certify that the________ (name of bill) bill________ (year) has become law without the assent of the President under article 262 of the Constitution on the________ day of________ (month and year).Dated this________ day of________, 20 ________.Clerk to Parliament
Part V – Form of Certificate of Compliance with article 261 of the Constitution required to be made by the Speaker of Parliament (Section 16(1))
I certify that the________ (name of bill) bill,________ (year) seeking to amend article(s)________ (indicate the article(s) sought to be amended) of the Constitution has been supported by________ (number of members in support) members of Parliament at the second reading and supported by________ (number of members in support) members of Parliament at the third reading in Parliament, being in each case not less than two-thirds of all the members of Parliament, the total membership of Parliament at the time, being________ (state total membership of Parliament); and that the provisions of article 261 of the Constitution have been complied with in relation to the bill.Dated this________ day of________, 20________.Speaker of Parliament
Part VI – Form of Certificate of Compliance with Articles 259 and 262 of the Constitution required to be made by the Speaker of Parliament (Section 16(2))
I certify that the________ (name of bill) bill, ________ (year) seeking to amend article(s)________ (indicate the article(s) sought to be amended) of the Constitution being an article (or articles) referred to in article 259 of the Constitution was on the________ day of________ (month and year) supported by ________ (number of members in support) members of Parliament at the second reading and on the________ day of________ (month and year) supported by________ (number of members in support) members of Parliament at the third reading in Parliament, at a time when the total membership of Parliament was (state total membership of Parliament) and that the provisions of Chapter Eighteen of the Constitution have been complied with in relation to the bill.Dated this________ day of________, 20 ________.Speaker of Parliament
Part VII – Form of certificate of compliance with articles 260 and 262 of the Constitution required to be made by the Speaker of Parliament (Section 16(3))
I certify that the________ (name of bill) bill, ________(year) seeking to amend article(s)________ (indicate the article(s) sought to be amended) of the Constitution, being an article (or articles) referred to in article 260 of the Constitution, was on the________ day of________ (month and year) supported by________ (number of members in support) members of Parliament at the second reading and on the________ day of________ (month and year) supported by________ (number of members in support) members of Parliament at the third reading in Parliament, at a time when the total membership of Parliament was________ (state total membership of Parliament) and that the provisions of Chapter Eighteen of the Constitution have been complied with in relation to the bill.Dated this________ day of________, 20________.Speaker of Parliament
Part VIII – Form of Certificate by the Electoral Commission in Compliance with Articles 259 and 262 of the Constitution (Section 16(4))
I certify that in compliance with article 259 of the Constitution a referendum was held on the________ (date of referendum) regarding the________ (name of bill) bill, (year) and the amendment of article(s)________ (indicate the article(s) sought to be amended) of the Constitution was in accordance with Chapter Eighteen of the Constitution, referred to and approved by the people in the referendum held on the________ day of________ (month and year).Dated this________ day of________, 20 ________.Chairperson, Electoral Commission
Part IX – Form of Certificate by the Electoral Commission Compliance with Articles 260 and 262 of the Constitution (Section 16(5))
I certify that in accordance with article 260 of the Constitution at least two-thirds of the members of the district council in each of at least two-thirds of all the districts in Uganda, namely, the districts specified in the Schedule to this certificate, have, in accordance with Chapter Eighteen of the Constitution, ratified the________ (name of bill) bill, ________ (year) seeking to amend article(s)________ (indicate the article(s) sought to be amended) of the Constitution.
Schedule
District councils supporting ratification of bill.Dated this________ day of________, 20________Chairperson, Electoral Commission
Part X – Form of Certificate by the Speaker of a District Council that a Bill Seeking to amend the Constitution has been ratified (Section 16(6))
Whereas the Constitution (Amendment) Bill,________ (year) certified as passed by Parliament was ratified by the________ (state name of council) district council;Now therefore I certify that in accordance with article 260 of the Constitution, the Constitution (Amendment) Bill,________ (year) was ratified by the________ (state number of members ratifying) district council on the________ day of________ (month and year).The following members supported the ratification—________________________________________________________________________________________________TotalThere was at that time________ (state total membership of council) members of the council.Speaker, District Council