Draft Sexual Offenders Registry Bill Opened to Public Input

  • Hefty fines for sexual offenders
  • The deadline for submissions is 10th of November, 2020.

Sylviah Disele

The Sexual Offenders Registry Bill which is set to draft a law which provides for registration of sexual offenders has been opened up to the public for comments. The draft bill was published in The Government Gazette on September 16, 2020.

The law will include provisions for the supervision of sexual offenders, their monitoring and psychological counselling. It further provides for the court to declare a person a dangerous sexual offender and a report on sexual offenders by an authorized officer. The court may order that a dangerous sexual offender be monitored by any locating means or device, including global positioning system technology or active electronic monitoring.
A person who has been convicted of a sexual offence in or outside Botswana shall disclose such conviction to a prospective or existing employer in an institution, entity or trade that has vulnerable persons in its care or that provides service to such persons upon applying for employment or within a reasonable time after his or her application for employment. “Vulnerable persons” means a child or a person who has attained the age of 60 and above.

Those who have been declared dangerous sexual offenders and who do not comply with supervision orders will be found guilty of an offence and are liable to a fine not exceeding P100 000 or a prison term not exceeding five years or both.

The law will define sexual offenders and provide for disclosure of convictions of sexual offences and registration of sexual offenders entering Botswana. A person who contravenes the law commits an offence and is liable to a fine not exceeding P200 000 or to an imprisonment term not exceeding three years or both.

The bill will provide for establishment of a sexual offenders register, its contents, employment or otherwise, as well as obligations of employers and other authorized officers. It also provides for the removal of a sexual offender’s particulars from the register.

A person who fails to comply with provisions of this law commits an offence and is liable to a fine not exceeding P50 000 or a prison term not exceeding a year or both.

The deadline for submissions from the public is set for the 10th of November, 2020.