Electoral Court throws out IPC case about legal opinion

The Electoral Court on Friday threw out a case in which the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) wanted the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) to be ordered to provide it with a legal opinion.

The IPC’s application against the ECN was not about an electoral issue, with the result that the Electoral Court does not have the jurisdiction to decide the matter, deputy judge president Hosea Angula concluded in the court’s judgement.

The IPC asked the court to order the ECN to disclose a legal opinion on the legality of dual election candidates – when a candidate in a presidential election is also a candidate in a National Assembly election in Namibia – to the party.

The ECN refused to disclose the legal opinion, which it received from the Office of the Attorney General, saying the opinion was covered by attorney/client privilege, in terms of which advice given by a lawyer to a client can be kept confidential.

Angula noted in his judgement that in terms of the Electoral Act, the Electoral Court was created as a specialised court to deal with electoral issues.

The court also deals with appeals coming from electoral tribunals about matters that arise before an election, Angula said.

The question whether the ECN should be ordered to disclose the legal opinion that the IPC wants to see is not an electoral issue, Angula reasoned, before ordering that the IPC’s application is struck from the court’s roll.

He also indicated that if the IPC was correct that the issue before the court was about dual candidacy rather than the disclosure of a legal opinion, an electoral tribunal, rather than the Electoral Court, would have been the correct forum where such a pre-election matter should be taken first.

Judges Thomas Masuku and Hannelie Prinsloo agreed with Angula’s judgement.

The IPC was represented by lawyer Dirk Conradie.

Sakeus Akweenda, instructed by the Office of the Government Attorney, represented the ECN.