Secrecy Bill Committee
Ad Hoc Committee on the Protection of State Information Bill
Chair: Cecil BurgessEst: 1 January 2012National Assembly Rule 253
The government wanted a new law that would make it a crime to share certain government secrets — even if those secrets showed the government was doing something wrong. Journalists, civil society organisations and opposition parties were very worried this law…
The government wanted a new law that would make it a crime to share certain government secrets — even if those secrets showed the government was doing something wrong. Journalists, civil society organisations and opposition parties were very worried this law would be used to hide corruption. This committee debated and processed the bill.
To process the Protection of State Information Bill, widely known as the 'Secrecy Bill', which proposed to classify state information and criminalise its disclosure — raising serious concerns about press freedom and the right of access to information.
Mandate
To process the Protection of State Information Bill, widely known as the 'Secrecy Bill', which proposed to classify state information and criminalise its disclosure — raising serious concerns about press freedom and the right of access to information.
Processing or creating a new law.
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Outcome
What happened
The bill was passed by the National Assembly in April 2013 but was referred back by the NCOP. It was never signed into law and remained unsigned at the end of the 4th Parliament. It lapsed and was never enacted.
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