c. Government is in the process of establishing an open prison for females. d. Constitutional awareness programmes are being carried out to sensitise grass root communities on provisions of the Constitution vis a vis the need to respect the enjoyment of fundamental rights by every citizen of the country. 7. Article 7: The right to have one’s cause heard; Presumption of innocence until proven guilty; Prohibition of retrospective penal law and punishment Constitutional and Legislative Measures 7.1. The Constitution provides for the right to a fair and speedy criminal and civil trial within a reasonable time before an independent and impartial tribunal and the right to be presumed innocent on the basis of the principle that a person cannot be convicted of an act or omission that was not an offence when it took place35. These provisions have since been incorporated into the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act36 as amended to give effect to the above constitutional provisions. The Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act37 was amended by the insertion of Part 14A to provide for the protection of vulnerable witnesses. 7.2. The Constitution also mandates the State to take all practical measures, within the limits of the resources available to it, to provide legal representation in civil and criminal cases for people who need it and are unable to afford legal practitioners of their 35 Section 69 and 70 of the Constitution 36 Section 167 A of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act 37 Chapter 9:07 Page | 23