Justice Sector and the Rule of Law - AfriMAP

Attempts in 2006 to impeach the president and remove him from office have focused attentionupon the issue of respect for the law by both the executive and the legislative branches of governmentin Malawi. Since 1994, the legislative process in Parliament has generally respected internationaland constitutional standards. While government action has respected the Constitutionand legislation in the area of economic management, political expediency has often resulted inviolations of the law in other areas. In general, laws have been adopted by processes that are consistent with international, constitutionalor legal standards. The landmark case of a law that had been adopted by a process thatwas in violation of constitutional and other legal standards was the enactment of the Press TrustReconstruction Act, as discussed in the case study on the judicial review of the constitutionalityof legislation (page 50). Since 1994, government respect for the Constitution, legislation, as well as regulations andinternal procedures has been inconsistent. On the one hand, the trend from 2004 is increasedcompliance with the Constitution, legislation, regulations and procedures in the areas of fiscalmanagement. Most of the national budget of Malawi is financed by external grants and loans anddepends on the government fulfilling various conditionalities, particularly in the area of fiscalmanagement. According to the Ministry of Finance, ‘about 80 per cent of the capital budget is