OPPOSITION Leader Mark Golding has suggested that the legal reform department of the Ministry of Legal and Constitutional Affairs be transformed into a law reform commission, which he said could strengthen and fast-track the country’s legislative reform process.

A full-fledged law commission, said Golding, could focus on the laws that exist, where they are updated, where they need updating, as well as implement a mechanism for automatically updating laws.

Golding, who was responding to a statement made by Minister of Legal and Constitutional Affairs Marlene Malahoo Forte in Parliament on Tuesday, argued that some of the legislation that are experimental, for instance, have provisions that require Parliament to review them within three to five years, but that period of time normally elapses and the reviews are not done.

He cited, for example, the security interests in personal property legislation and the insolvency legislation which he said are difficult but critical legislation which ought to have been reviewed but were not.

“The law revision commission [could be] responsible for making sure that the laws of Jamaica are properly compiled and that amendments that have been made are put into the laws in a timely basis and are accurately reflective that the consolidated Act with the amendments in them have been properly done,” he said.

He said, too, that there was a structural deficiency in the process for developing policy documents and drafting instructions for legislation.

“The drafters in the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel will tell you that their work is made much more efficient and simpler in a sense if they get fulsome but well-constructed, well-thought out, thorough drafting instructions. What happens too often is that the difficult and thorny issues are avoided by the policymakers and left to the drafters to think through the gaps in the instructions they are given and this often [results in] delay because it requires further input on whatever ultimate approach is taken in the draft to these issues and you find legislation that remains in the pipeline of development sometimes for years on end,” he said.

Golding suggested that the number of drafters in the public service also needs to be increased to ensure a more effective legislative process. “I think if you were to compare professional drafters in the pubic service, per capita of the population, Jamaica is quite significantly underserved relative to other Commonwealth countries, for example, Botswana,” he said.

“I remember visiting Botswana for a law ministers’ conference and their chief parliamentary counsel indicated to me that she had over 30 drafters in her department. At the time, we had less than 20 and we are a much bigger population than Botswana,” he said.

Drafters, said the Opposition leader, are important to the legal process, noting that it is not just Acts of Parliament that require professional drafting.

“There is subsidiary legislation — the regulations and other orders and there are all sorts of other aspects, numerous tax-related instruments that have to be prepared and gazetted and which need to be properly done. If they are not properly done, you end up collecting tax which is not properly authorised, you have to bring legislation here to validate that area which is a waste of parliamentary time, waste drafters time, and waste everybody’s time,”.

In the meantime, Golding welcomed Malahoo Forte’s statement where she outlined several new approaches the Government will now be taking to improve the efficiency of the legislative process.

“Anything that can be done to make this area of Government more efficient and effective is to be welcomed. I hope that these announcements will bear some fruit. The Government’s record I think in this area leaves much to be desired and I believe they need to step up their game… and I look forward to seeing the output to match what we have been told here,” he said.