Oral public submissions on the Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Bill start this afternoon as concerns continue to be raised on the section regarding defamation of parliament.
Section 24 of the proposed law says that any person whose words or actions defame, demean or undermine the sanctity of parliament, the Speaker or a committee commits an offence and is liable upon conviction in the case of a natural person, to a fine not exceeding $30,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or to both.
If a body corporate is found guilty of doing the same, they can be fined upto $100,000 or face prison terms for each director and manager not exceeding 5 years, or face both penalties.
Some lawyers have told Fijivillage that this section deals with malicious and defamatory comments and does not stop people from criticizing parliament or government.
However Suva lawyer Richard Naidu of Munro Leys has reportedly said it was unthinkable in any democracy that there should be a law which prevented people from criticising Parliament.
Naidu says the bill is so vaguely worded that a person could be prosecuted for saying virtually anything about Parliament.
Fijivillage has also gone through the current Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Act which has been in place since the 1970s.
Section 20 of the law says that anyone who utters or publishes any false or scandalous slander or libel on Parliament or upon any member in his capacity as such; shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $400 or, in default of payment thereof, to imprisonment not exceeding two years or to such imprisonment without the option of a fine or to both such fine and imprisonment.
This law is in place as submissions are taken on the bill before the recommendations go back to parliament.
The case of parliamentary privileges and making derogatory comments about the Speaker came to light two years ago.
That case was in relation to the foul language and derogatory comments made by Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu in a SODELPA public meeting in Makoi in May 2015 when he was asked about the Speaker’s decisions.
He was suspended for two years from parliament after a vote was taken in parliament on the Parliamentary Privileges Committee’s recommendation.
The committee said that in Fiji, there is a pressing need to strengthen institutions and in particular Parliament or the Legislature which was directly and physically attacked in the coups of 1987 and 2000.
It says it is also critical that our children and younger population are not exposed to this type of denigration as the norm or see that Parliament is condoning such behaviour by a senior Member of Parliament and someone who holds a particular social status.
The Citizens Constitutional Forum will be the first organization to make its oral submission on the bill in the next hour.
