Authorities To Meet Over Draft Police Bill, Seruiratu Apologises

The Ministry of Defence, Fiji Police Force and the Office of the Solicitor General will meet on Monday to discuss on what should go into the draft Police Bill.

And the Minister for Defence, National Security and Policing Inia Seruiratu has admitted that proper procedures were not followed before the draft Police Bill was put forward for public consultation.

He said this was wrong.

Mr Seruiratu said the Cabinet had endorsed the review of the 1965 Act, and not the draft proposed Bill.

He apologised to Fijians for the panic caused after the proposed Bill copped heavy criticism.

The minister said the focus now was getting an important piece of legislation that would effectively help the Police when dealing with crimes that have transcended what is prescribed in the Police Act of 1965.

He said the Ministry of Defence would conduct its own investigations on why the draft Bill was not vetted by the Office of the Solicitor General’s Office. He said he expected a report on this by Monday.

Mr Seruiratu said people should refrain from politicising the issue. He said the change in the law was needed because the criminal landscape had evolved since 1965.

The changes in the law he said would help the Fiji Police Force deal with issues such as extremism and terrorism.

Mr Seruiratu said relevant and futuristic laws were needed to address the growing scope of crime. He added that the public would be given a chance once the draft Bill is ready. He said they were not looking at a long turnaround time, but this time the proper procedure would be followed.

He said the proposed Bill would need to be presented to Cabinet and then submissions would be called from the public. He added they would be deciding on future dates for consultation.

Last week, Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama said the text of the draft Police Bill did not represent the Government’s policy and would not be presented to Parliament in its current form.

He highlighted that the Bill was drafted and released unilaterally by the Fiji Police Force.

Edited by Caroline Ratucadra

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