National Assembly : Justice, Commerce Related Bills Tabled

Two bills have been tabled at the National Assembly for scrutiny by the legislators. The two legal instruments that are in relation to the justice and commerce sectors, were tabled during a plenary sitting chaired by the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Mary Meboka, on June 13, 2024. The two bills were judged admissible during a Chairman’s Conference chaired by the House Speaker, Cavaye Yeguie Djibril.
The first bill to be tabled seeks to authorise the President of the Republic to proceed with Cameroon’s accession to the United Nations Conventions relating to the status of Stateless persons and on the reduction of Statelessness, respectively adopted in New York, United States, on September 28, 1954 and on August 30, 1961.
The legal instrument which authorises the President of the Republic to proceed with Cameroon’s accession guarantees the security and dignity of Stateless persons, until their problem is resolved by establishing minimum standards for their treatment. An explanatory statement of the document notes that it seeks to reinforce and supplement the range of protection measures granted to these category of people through domestic laws in Cameroon, in particular, the June 11, 1968 law to institute the Cameroon Nationality Code. However, there are some persons excluded from the implementation scope and they include people suspected of committing a crime against peace, a war crime or other serious crimes outside their country of residence. Practically, it means that granting Cameroonian nationality to a Stateless person remains at the discretion of the State. Thus, as stated by the document, Cameroon’s accession to these Conventions would facilitate the incorporation of duly identified Stateless persons into the mass of Cameroonian citizens and significantly help reduce discrimination against persons who are often only victims of circumstances...