Protection from deprivation of property

(1) No property of any description shall be compulsorily taken possession of, and no interest in or right over property of any description shall be compulsorily acquired, except where the following conditions are satisfied, that is to say— ( a ) the taking of possession or acquisition is necessary or expedient— (i) in the interests of defence, public safety, public order, public morality, public health, town and country planning or land settlement; (ii) in order to secure the development or utilisation of that, or other, property for a purpose beneficial to the community; or (iii) in order to secure the development or utilisation of the mineral resources of Botswana; and ( b ) provision is made by a law applicable to that taking of possession or acquisition— (i) for the prompt payment of adequate compensation; and (ii) securing to any person having an interest in or right over the property a right of access to the High Court, either direct or on appeal from any other authority, for the determination of his or her interest or right, the legality of the taking of possession or acquisition of the property, interest or right, and the amount of any compensation to which he or she is entitled, and for the purpose of obtaining prompt payment of that compensation. (2) No person who is entitled to compensation under this section shall be prevented from remitting, within a reasonable time after he or she has received any amount of that compensation, the whole of that amount (free from any deduction, charge or tax made or levied in respect of its remission) to any country of his or her choice outside Botswana. (3) Subsection (1)( b )(i) of this section shall be deemed to be satisfied in relation to any Law (30 of 1969) applicable to the taking of possession of minerals or the acquisition of rights to minerals if that law makes provision for the payment at reasonable intervals of adequate royalties. (4) Nothing contained in or done under the authority of any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention of subsection (2) of this section to the extent that the law in question authorises— ( a ) the attachment, by order of a court, of any amount of compensation to which a person is entitled in satisfaction of the judgment of a court or pending the determination of civil proceedings to which he or she is a party; or ( b ) the imposition of reasonable restrictions on the manner in which any amount of compensation is to be remitted. (5) Nothing contained in or done under the authority of any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention of subsection (1) of this section— ( a ) to the extent that the law in question makes provision for the taking of possession or acquisition of any property— (i) in satisfaction of any tax, rate or due; (ii) by way of penalty for breach of the law whether under civil process or after conviction of a criminal offence under the law in force in Botswana; (iii) as an incident of a lease, tenancy, mortgage, charge, bill of sale, pledge or contract; (iv) in the execution of judgments or orders of a court in proceedings for the determination of civil rights or obligations; (v) in circumstances where it is reasonably necessary to do so because the property is in a dangerous state or injurious to the health of human beings, animals or plants; (vi) in consequence of any law with respect to the limitation of actions; or (vii) for so long only as may be necessary for the purposes of any examination, investigation, trial or inquiry or, in the case of land, for the purposes of the carrying out thereon of work of soil conservation or the conservation of other natural resources or work relating to agricultural development or improvement (being work relating to such development or improvement that the owner or occupier of the land has been required, and has without reasonable excuse refused or failed, to carry out), and except so far as that provision or, as the case may be, the thing done under the authority thereof is shown not to be reasonably justifiable in a democratic society; or ( b ) to the extent that the law in question makes provision for the taking of possession or acquisition of— (i) enemy property; (ii) property of a deceased person, a person of unsound mind, a person who has not attained the age of 21 years, a prodigal, or a person who is absent from Botswana, for the purpose of its administration for the benefit of the persons entitled to the beneficial interest therein; (iii) property of a person declared to be insolvent or a body corporate in liquidation, for the purpose of its administration for the benefit of the creditors of the insolvent or body corporate and, subject thereto, for the benefit of other persons entitled to the beneficial interest in the property; or (iv) property subject to a trust, for the purpose of vesting the property in persons appointed as trustees under the instrument creating the trust or by a court, or by order of a court, for the purpose of giving effect to the trust. (6) Nothing contained in or done under the authority of any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention of subsection (1) of this section to the extent that the law in question makes provision for the compulsory taking of possession in the public interest of any property, or the compulsory acquisition in the public interest in or right over property, where that property, interest or right is held by a body corporate established by law for public purposes in which no moneys have been invested other than moneys provided by Parliament.