Ninety-nine per cent of all Bills passed in 2023 were done under Standing Order 51.
And the Standing Committee on Justice, Law and Human Rights has now recommended that the Standing Orders be amended to further review the use of Standing Order 51, by referring it to a specific sub-committee.
This was one of six recommendations outlined in the Review Report – Parliament of the Republic of Fiji 2018-2019 Annual Report, tabled in Parliament this week.
Standing Committee on Justice, Law, and Human Rights chair Ratu Rakuita Vakalalabure said the committee had noted six key findings from its review.
These include a high staff turnover in comparison from 2018-2019 to date, low budget allocation for the reported year, which constrained parliamentary work and a lack of awareness of the powers and authority of Parliament and its committees by civil servants.
The committee also noted the challenges Parliament faced with the lack of full digitisation of its committees, a significant number of Bills stated for the reported year (88.5 per cent) enacted under Standing Order 51, and inclusive participation of communities at all levels through the medium of broadcasting.
Ratu Rakuita said the committee had unanimously agreed upon the following recommendations.
“The committee recommends the timely submission of the annual reports,” he said.
“The committee recommends that a Job Evaluation Exercise (JEE) be conducted for the department given that the last JEE was conducted in the reported year. The committee recommends the upgrading of IT systems and full digitisation of committee sittings.”
He said the committee also recommended the amendment of Standing Orders to review the use of Standing Order 51, and recommended a formal SDG compliant component in all future reports.
