Fijian laws have been consolidated by Government, assisted by world renowned legal publishing company LexisNexis.
Such consolidation has not been done since 1985.
Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum was joined by Anupama Bhattacharya, LexisNexis Asia Pacific’s executive director- editorial operations, at a press conference yesterday to announce the details of the consolidation.
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum also explained that the form in which Fijian laws were now available, in the event of any amendment, it could be easily inserted in the three ring binder folder.
Previously, Fijian laws were printed as books in several volumes.
“As announced in the last session of Parliament, we had been working on the consolidation of all the laws in Fiji, which has not been done since 1985.
“We have engaged LexisNexis to help us consolidate all laws in Fiji since 1985,” Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said.
“We have a very strict deadline to meet which is to present all laws in Parliament in April. For those of you who are not aware, the consolidation basically means all laws since 1985 will be consolidated in a batch which will be readily available.”
The Fijian laws will also be available online on the LexisNexis portal which will be made accessible upon the payment of a fee.
Ms Bhattacharya said the consolidation would mean that every person had full access to the rule of law.
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said: “The consolidation contributes in a very tangible sense of helping build the rule of law.
“A lot of people in Fiji mention the rule of law without understanding what it means. The rule of law is a very practical application of how people are treated under the law.
“People need to be treated equally before the law and under the law. If people for example, do not get access to legal aid, or if they do not get access to justice, you can say that in a way, the rule of law is being undermined.
“If they do not have access to law in its most current version, then you can say there is a very practical non application of the law.”
The entire exercise will cost around $1.6million and has been underway for about a year.
The LexisNexis team will work through Easter to ensure the consolidation is done before the April sitting of Parliament.
http://fijisun.com.fj/2016/03/18/fijian-laws-consolidated-for-ease-of-reference/