Fiji’s Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum says that while there have been significant changes in law in the last three years, more are expected in the next couple of years.
The acting head of government who officially opened the 13th Attorney General’s Conference at Shangri La Fijian Resort this morning said these changes recognize the changing dynamics in society, the need to modernize and the demographic changes in society.
“Many of these changes should have been brought about many years ago but were not because of political expediency or because of patriarchal notions of society of which the Domestic Violence Decree is a classic example,” Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said.
Khaiyum also highlighted how the domestic violence decree has been modernized to make it relevant to the Fijian society.
He reiterated today that the next two years will have a greater focus on the constitution and the electoral laws as articulated in the Strategic Framework for Change adding that this will create ‘true access to substantive justice’.
“However, the question that must be asked is, is it simply a question of having a constitution or simply having an electoral system in place? Many politicians, civil society organizations and individuals are imprisoned by the façade of these principles. They do not necessarily believe in this principle or some of them if they do, believe in the simple adherence of these principles are good enough", he told partipants today.
"In practical terms it means having more legal aid centres, more funding for these centres, creating tribunals which give non-lawyers access.”
The Attorney General also highlighted the importance of constitutionalism and adhering to the principles of it.
“If we have a constitution that has universally accepted principles and values, then perhaps it is the demarcation between the executives, the judiciary and the legislature. However, if a government of the day seeks to introduce laws that would in fact undermine or erode those demarcations, then we do not have constitutionalism,” Mr Sayed-Khaiyum added.
He pressed that it is not good enough to have a constitution if the Government of the day believes that it is not bound by it.
“The Public Office Accountability session today will have an input in the current drafting of the law governing code of conduct for public office holders. This law is expected to be introduced before the constitution consultations commence. It will cover the Office of the President, the Prime Minister, the ministers and all civil servants down to the director level where they will all need to make available to the members of the public their assets, their liabilities of themselves, of their spouses and any dependent children. They will need to update this information every six months. The members of the public will have access to this information,” the Attorney-General said.
The conference with the theme ‘Legal issues in accountability and rights’ will end tomorrow.
Ends…