House moves to pass new bills before legislative year ends
December 31, 2006
Two far-reaching pieces of legislation are on the parliamentary agenda for debate and passage before Parliament prorogues in March, signaling an end to the legislative year.
The Charter of Rights Bill and the Proceeds of Crime Bill top the list of measures to be debated in early 2007.
After a lengthy process, involving intense debates and deliberation on a bill to amend the Constitution providing for a Charter of Rights, a joint select committee of Parliament completed its examination of the bill in July and presented a report, which was tabled in the House of Representatives in September.
Leader of Government Business in the House, Dr. Peter Phillips, told The Sunday Gleaner that he was confident that the Report of the Joint Select Committee of Parliament on the Charter of Rights Bill would be debated and passed early in the new year.
Dr. Phillips pointed out that although the committee signed off on its report, there were still areas on which the members failed to reach consensus.
"We still need to have discussion with the Opposition as to how we are going to dispose of it, and I am hopeful that we will be able to dispose of it successfully before the end of the legislative year," he said.
The Charter of Rights will, among other things, provide for protection of the rights and freedoms of Jamaicans. The protected rights and freedoms include:
# Life, liberty and the security of the person;
# Freedom of thought, conscience, belief and observance of religious and political doctrines;
# Freedom of expression;
# Freedom of peaceful assembly and association;
# Freedom of movement;
# Due process of law;
# Equality before the law;
# Freedom from discrimination on the grounds of race, social class, colour, religion, sex, place of origin or political preference....
Author: Dionne Rose and Edmond Campbell
Source: Jamaica Gleaner
