The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) is progressing well with its project to revise and consolidate all the laws of Seychelles, with the aim of making the law accessible to all.
The project, approved by the President and cabinet, officially commenced in January 2021, and will come to an end by December 31, 2022.
As explained by state counsel Stefan Knights, the project comprises three main components; the consolidation of all the laws of Seychelles, revision of the laws, and law reforms.
He explained that consolidation was last conducted in 2010, but with the amendments made over the years by the National Assembly renders it difficult for persons to understand the current state of the law. It is particularly difficult to understand the laws pertaining to the financial sector, with the sheer amount of amendments over time, Mr Knights noted.
With revision of the laws, errors are to be corrected and other outdated legislation repealed, such as the Civil Status Act, dating back to 1891. Law reforms refer to substantial amendments, although government does not plan on much substantial amendments.
“The primary objective of this project is to make the laws accessible to people. As you know, ignorance of the law is no excuse, but it is unfair to those who try to preserve the rule of law if they cannot even find the rule of law itself. And also it is important for investors, foreign investors in particular to have certain knowledge as to what the current state of the law is. So far we have looked at 116 Acts and there are about 434 Acts that we will be reviewing,”
“The good thing about the project is that it looks at those issues that may not necessarily be a political priority, so issues that may not be addressed immediately, the project is trying to address as well,” Mr Knights stated.
Thus far, the project is progressing well with the passing of legislation and proposals submitted to government for consideration. It was earlier this month that President Wavel Ramkalawan assented to the Penal Code Amendment Act (2021) which makes provisions for increasing the age of criminal responsibility from seven to ten, the removal of criminal defamation from the law, and bomb hoaxes.
The OAG has also, as part of the project, submitted proposals for the testing of prisoners for communicable diseases such as Covid-19, tuberculosis and HIV/Aids. Additionally, a proposal imposes on government the obligation to give more rights to persons who are living with disabilities, in terms of access to the courts, by making professional interpretations services and Braille technology available.
A proposal has also been forwarded to have police officers issue some form of documentation in instances whereby they stop or arrest the person and seize property or items found in their possession, rendering the police more accountable in returning the property at some point, unless the seized materials are vital to the case.
Recently, the OAG dealt with legal issues relating to the Seychelles People’s Defence Forces (SPDF). In the near future, revenue laws, health and land laws are to be reviewed. At present, the office is in consultation with the Seychelles Revenue Commission (SRC) about revising their laws, towards improving the ease of doing business, and to ensure that taxes are collected and can be used for development purposes.
Among other issues that will be looked into are adoption outside of marriage and the Legal Practitioners Act to give recognition to Bachelor of Law degree offered by the University of Seychelles (UniSey).
“At the end of the project we intend to have a website where the laws of Seychelles will be free for any person to access, so you will get up to date version of the laws, and we also intend to establish a law commission that will be updating the laws regularly as we go,” Mr Knights added.
Mr Knights himself is head of the technical committee established for the project, while the steering committee comprises Attorney General Frank Ally as chairperson, along with other legal practitioners. The technical committee is tasked with reviewing each individual law with oversight from the Attorney General. Once the steering committee approves the work of the technical committee, it then goes to cabinet for approval before it is tabled to the National Assembly for consideration.
The intention in establishing a law commission, Mr Knights explained, is to have a dedicated body for law revision, consolidation and law reforms. Although it remains to be approved by the cabinet and National Assembly, it is proposed that the commission comprises legal professional, civil society, youths, and the private sector.
Another proposal is for the commission to play a part in consolidating court judgments, and for the public to be allowed to make propositions to the commission.
The project is expected to amount to US $450,000, with current costs presently at US $390,000. Funding was secured from the savings made on the official gazette project.
Source: Seychelles Nation
