�People power�

We have good laws in Botswana. They’re not perfect, some of them need updating and there are certainly some gaps but we do rather well.

We’re always quoting the Consumer Protection Regulations but also the regulations covering packaged goods, food hygiene, the marking of goods and standards. We’re also often consulting one of the most important pieces of law we have. The Penal Code.

In particular, I’m very fond of Section 195 of the Penal Code which, while discussing defamation, says that a defamatory publication is not unlawful if “the matter is true and it was for the public benefit that it should be published”. That’s helped us considerably when companies have threatened to take us to court for saying bad (but true) things about them. All we’ve needed to do was remind them, or their extremely expensive attorneys, that what we said was true and that clearly the public needed to know it. Every single time they’ve then left us alone.

Editor's Comment
Prosecutors deserve better

These legal professionals, who are entrusted with upholding the rule of law, face numerous challenges that compromise their ability to effectively carry out their duties.Elsewhere in this edition, we carry a story on the lamentations of the officers of court.The prosecutors have raised a number of concerns, calling for urgent attention from all relevant stakeholders, including the President, Minister of Justice and the Attorney General. Their...

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