Swaziland criticising or questioning those in authority, especially the King. Although, in theory, the Constitution is supreme over all other laws, unwritten customary law wields enormous power in practice and because Swazi Law and Custom is not codified, it cannot yet be tested against the Constitution. Section 268 of the Constitution states that the Constitution is to prevail when in conflict with existing legislation. However, this does not mean all laws that contradict the Constitution are automatically nullified. There is a raft of laws restricting media freedom and freedom of expression that remain on the statute books (see 1.3). Only when these laws are challenged in court, repealed or amended will they cease to have an impact. As long as these laws remain unchallenged, “we are at sea.” For example, the Constitution protects freedom of association and assembly, but the 1973 Proclamation banning political parties has not been declared unconstitutional, so there is much reservation and uncertainty about registering political parties. The prevailing feeling is that there has been little real progress with regard to protecting and guaranteeing freedom of expression and media freedom because of the onerous list of limitations in Section 24 (3) of the Constitution, the failure to repeal or amend the laws that inhibit these freedoms, the power of customary law and the ruling elite’s reluctance to see the constitutional guarantees in action. It should be noted that the Ministry of Public Service and Information is attempting to introduce new media laws, including freedom of information legislation, aimed at reforming the media landscape. Consultations on the draft bills are ongoing. 4 African Media Barometer - Swaziland 2007