Public kept in the dark by outdated laws website, claims Democracy group

The Ministry of Justice is under scrutiny over claims that its Laws of Fiji website has not been updated for two years, with recent Bills, including the Referendum Bill relating to the 2026 Constitution Amendment, reportedly missing.

Centre for Democracy and Dialogue (CDD) executive director Nilesh Lal questioned the lack of updated information, saying it made it difficult for the public to access, understand and debate proposed legislation before expressing their views.

“I hope they (ministry) update its website for the sake of the public,” he said.

Mr Lal said a director of a local news media outlet had sought his assistance in locating the Referendum Bill on a Government website because of confusion over the ministry’s outdated uploads.

“I told him where he could look for it,” Mr Lal said.

Bill buried

Mr Lal claimed the Referendum Bill was available on the Parliament of Fiji website under the Standing Committee on Law, Justice and Human Rights, rather than being readily accessible through the Ministry of Justice’s Laws of Fiji website.

He demonstrated how to access the Bill during a Misereor-funded Election Candidate Preparatory training session in Labasa yesterday. The training was supported through the CDD.

Fiji Labour Party politician Surendra Lal said he was surprised to learn that the Referendum Bill was not available on the ministry’s website.

He said difficulty accessing the Bill could limit the public’s ability to make meaningful contributions and informed voting decisions.

“If people are not able to read the specifics of the Referendum Bill because of their difficulty to locate this resource, an uninformed public will create an ineffective decision on voting,” he said.

Mr Lal said the process of formulating the 2026 Constitution Amendment Bill had taken only nine months, which he described as one of the shortest periods for a constitutional amendment bill to be developed.

He said the 1,220 submissions received on the Constitution Amendment Bill represented only a fraction of the population’s input.

Concerns over the Constitution

Mr Lal described the 2013 Constitution as one of the most dangerous documents governing Fiji.

He claimed it gave the previous and current governments extensive powers over independent commissions.

“Almost independent commission members are appointed by the Prime Minister on his advise,” he said, expressing concern that the appointment process could be biased.

Mr Lal said similar provisions allowing the Prime Minister to appoint members of independent commissions were being proposed in the 2026 Constitution Amendment Bill.

He added that while the Government had said the 2013 Constitution needed to be replaced because it lacked public consent, he believed the proposed amendments retained some of the same provisions relating to the exercise of power.