Rethink plan to amend the Official Secrets Act

The National Assembly has published the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendment) Bill 2020 that seeks to amend several statutes to align them with the constitution and contemporary realities. Examples include changes in technical definitions such as ‘photograph’ to include those generated via electronic means, an expansion from the traditional definition that only recognised film-based photos to enrich the Evidence Act; and, other housekeeping provisions substituting words such as Minister, Attorney General or Commissioner of Police with Cabinet Secretary, Director of Public Prosecutions and Inspector General of Police respectively.