The Limits of the Presidential Portfolio and its Implications for the Office on Missing Persons

Abstract

The Nineteenth Amendment (19A) to the Constitution placed limitations on the powers of the Executive President. This briefing note will examine these limitations in the context of the President’s powers to assign subjects and functions to ministers. The briefing note will also discuss the implications of these limitations on the operationalisation of the Office on Missing Persons (Establishment, Administration and Discharge of Functions) (OMP) Act, No. 14 of 2016. The briefing note argues that the Constitution and the 19A Act prohibit the President from assigning the subject of the OMP Act to himself, and consequently from appointing the date on which the provisions of the OMP Act comes into operation