Fiji’s Parliament has been urged to establish a dedicated Parliamentary Counsel Office to provide independent legal advice, legislative drafting services and procedural support to Members of Parliament.
The recommendation is contained in the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence’s review of Parliament’s 2023–2024 Annual Report that was tabled in Parliament yesterday.
The committee found that Parliament currently does not have a dedicated Parliamentary Counsel or specialised legal drafting unit to assist MPs in carrying out their legislative responsibilities.
It recommended that establishing such an office be prioritised to strengthen Parliament’s institutional independence and legislative capacity.
“The Parliament prioritise the establishment of a dedicated Parliamentary Counsel Office to provide independent legal advice, legislative drafting services and procedural support to Members of Parliament, thereby strengthening Parliament’s institutional independence and legislative capacity,” the report stated.
The committee acknowledged that Parliament had made significant progress towards greater administrative and institutional independence.
These developments included amendments to Standing Orders to strengthen committee scrutiny, approximately $4 million invested in independent information and communications technology infrastructure, and the adoption of digital platforms such as Microsoft Teams and SharePoint.
However, several major reforms remain outstanding.
These include the enactment of a Parliamentary Bill, procurement of an independent accounting system and development of a stand-alone parliamentary precinct.
The committee also noted that the Parliamentary Secretariat was continuing efforts to establish a specialised legal support function, consistent with practices in other parliamentary jurisdictions.
It further found that while progress had been made in implementing recommendations arising from the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association’s Democratic Legislature Benchmarks assessment, important reforms remained incomplete.
These included reviewing legislation governing parliamentary powers and privileges, developing training frameworks for MPs, strengthening parliamentary legal support and addressing long-term office-space requirements.
