DOCTORS FOR LIFE have filed a suit in the Constitutional Court against the Speaker of Parliament and the Chairman of the National Council of  Provinces alleging that Parliament failed to comply with two sections of the Constitution when it passed four Health Bills at the end of 2004.

The four Bills challenged are:

The Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Amendment Bill
The Traditional Health Practitioners Bill
The Sterilisation Amendment Bill
The Dental Technicians Amendment Bill

DFL allege that Parliament fell foul of two sections in the Constitution ( 72(1)a and 118(1)a ) because they failed to provide any opportunity for the public to make submissions in respect of the Bills when they were considered by the Provinces and in the lower House of Parliament, the NCOP.

DFL have laid before the Court abundant material taken from the Parliamentary Monitoring Group web-site and other sources which show that over and over again members of Parliament and provincial secretaries complained about the lack of opportunity to involve the public because the Bills were placed on a strict four-week cycle so that they could be finalised by the end of the year. DFL have written to the NCOP acting chairman and received no satisfactory response.

DFL seeks a declaration that the Constitution was not complied with and further appropriate orders preventing the Bills becoming law until the proper procedures are complied with. In the event of the Bills, or any of them, being signed into law before the court hearing, DFL will ask for an order that the Acts are null and void. The court has made it clear in a previous case that the Constitution is supreme and it is not merely a question of Parliament acting in good faith.