Constitution_Of_Botswana.TXT
First Schedule - Election of Specially Elected Members of the
National Assembly
Second Schedule - Division of Districts into regions for the purpose
of selecting Members of Ntlo ya Dikgosi
L.N. 83, 1966,
Act 30, 1969,
Act 43, 1969,
Act 25, 1970,
Act 28, 1972,
Act 24, 1973,
Act 28, 1978,
S.I. 25, 1980,
Act 32, 1982,
Act 1, 1983,
Act 22, 1987,
S.I. 37, 1991,
Act 27, 1992,
S.I. 51, 1993,
S.I. 119, 1993,
Act 16, 1997,
Act 18, 1997,
Act 1, 1999,
Act 2, 2002,
Act 12, 2002,
Act 9, 2005,
S.I. 51, 2005,
S.I. 91, 2006.
[Date of Commencement: 30th September, 1966]
CHAPTER I
The Republic (ss 1-2)
[Ch0000s1] 1.
Declaration of Republic
Botswana is a sovereign Republic.
[Ch0000s2] 2.
Public Seal
The Public Seal of the Republic shall be such device as may be prescribed by
or under an Act of Parliament.
CHAPTER II
Protection of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms of the Individual (ss 3-19)
[Ch0000s3] 3.
Fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual
Whereas every person in Botswana is entitled to the fundamental rights and
freedoms of the individual, that is to say, the right, whatever his or her race,
place of origin, political opinions, colour, creed or sex, but subject to respect
for the rights and freedoms of others and for the public interest to each and all of
the following, namely(a)
life, liberty, security of the person and the protection of the law;
(b)
freedom of conscience, of expression and of assembly and
association; and
(c)
protection for the privacy of his or her home and other property and
from deprivation of property without compensation,
the provisions of this Chapter shall have effect for the purpose of affording
protection to those rights and freedoms subject to such limitations of that
protection as are contained in those provisions, being limitations designed to
ensure that the enjoyment of the said rights and freedoms by any individual does not
prejudice the rights and freedoms of others or the public interest.
[Ch0000s4] 4.
Protection of right to life
(1) No person shall be deprived of his or her life intentionally save in
execution of the sentence of a court in respect of an offence under the law in force
in Botswana of which he or she has been convicted.
(2) A person shall not be regarded as having been deprived of his or her
life in contravention of subsection (1) of this section if he or she dies as the
result of the use, to such extent and in such circumstances as are permitted by law,
of such force as is reasonably justifiable(a)
for the defence of any person from violence or for the defence of
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