Sixteenth Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 1996

Polling at the referendum took place on Thursday 28 November 1996 between the hours of 9:00am and 9:00pm. The subject matter of the referendum was described as follows in the official polling card sent to each elector:

The Sixteenth Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 1996, proposes to add the following subsection to section 4 of Article 40 of the Constitution:

7° Provision may be made by law for the refusal of bail by a court to a person charged with a serious offence where it is reasonably considered necessary to prevent the commission of a serious offence by that person.

The total number of votes recorded in favour of the proposal was 579,740 and the total number of votes recorded against the proposal was 194,968. As the proposal was duly approved by the people, the Bill was signed by the President on 12 December 1996 and promulgated as a law.