Interim Report of the Ad Hoc Committee on Powers and Privileges of Parliament, dated 18 March 2002:

The Ad Hoc Committee on Powers and Privileges of Parliament reports as follows:

1. The Committee met on 12, 13, 15 and 19 February 2002 to consider the Fourth Draft of the Powers and Immunities of Parliament Bill. These deliberations led to several points being identified on which the Committee needed to make a final decision. The Committee requested the Parliamentary Law Advisers to prepare a fifth draft of the Bill, highlighting the clauses on which such decisions had to be made.

2. The fifth draft of the Bill was distributed to all the members of the Committee, to enable all political parties to consider its contents, and to generate some discussion on the subject. It is envisaged that the members will bring to the next Committee meeting the viewpoints of their respective parties.

3. The Ad Hoc Select Committee on Powers and Privileges of Parliament of the National Council of Provinces had to withdraw from the process at the request of its chairperson, due to the nature of the NCOP programming. The Bill was circulated to the provincial legislatures for comment, and to date only the following provinces have responded: Free State, Northern Province (Limpopo), Gauteng, Western Cape, Northern Cape and Eastern Cape. KwaZulu-Natal has not yet passed any legislation in this regard. The three provinces who have not responded, need to be urged to do so.

4. It is proposed that the Committee meets as follows:

* 26 April 2002, to consider the fifth draft of the Bill, to exercise options on clauses where there is still uncertainty; and

* 3 May 2002, to consider a sixth and final draft of the Bill.

5. The Ad Hoc Select Committee will be invited to attend these meetings.

6. It is hoped that the Committee will finalise and adopt the final draft of the Bill on 3 May 2002, for submission to the National Assembly.

Report to be considered.