THE Government will not rush to repeal laws affecting iTaukei rights and institutions, warning that wholesale changes without proper consultation and transitional arrangements could create fresh legal uncertainty and harm the very communities the reforms seek to protect.
Acting Attorney-General Siromi Turaga told Parliament yesterday that Government was taking a cautious approach while constitutional reform and reviews of iTaukei-related laws continued.
He said the Constitutional Reform Commission had completed nationwide consultations on July 10 and is finalising its report for submission to the President by August 31.
“The work of the Constitutional Reform Commission is, therefore, not a delay to reform,” Mr Turaga said.
“It is part of the process through which that national consensus can be built.”
He said laws targeted for repeal or amendment were connected to land tenure, trusts, leases, licensing and commercial arrangements that people and institutions had relied on for years.
“A wholesale repeal without appropriate transitional arrangements could create legal uncertainty.”
He warned that sudden changes could ultimately affect landowners, families and communities.
“This Government will, therefore, not trade one injustice for another.”
Mr Turaga said the Government also had a responsibility to avoid repeating the lack of consultation that contributed to grievances over previous laws.
“If legislation affecting the rights, interests and institutions of the iTaukei was previously introduced without sufficient consultation, then it would be inconsistent for this Government to respond by imposing new reforms without meaningful or prior consultation.”
He said the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Bill, Traditional Knowledge and Cultural Expressions Bill and future legislation concerning the Great Council of Chiefs were being developed through engagement with the Ministry of iTaukei Affairs, landowning units and the vanua.
“We are not simply seeking to change laws. We are seeking to build confidence in the laws that replace them.”
