MINISTER of legal and constitutional affairs Marlene Malahoo Forte has indicated that changes will be made to revamp the system that is in place to provide public access to revised laws, virtually and elsewhere.

She pointed out on Tuesday, in her presentation in the 2022/23 Sectoral Debate, that the current set-up does not involve the law commissioners in the daily running of the secretariat which carries out the work.

“The entire system must be redesigned and appropriately resourced to make it fit for purpose,” she stated.

Furthermore, she noted that the staff complement of the secretariat is not adequate to keep pace with the volume and scope of work.

“The reclassification of posts to reflect the knowledge, competence level and required skill set to properly revise the laws is still pending, even though a comprehensive strategic review was done,” she advised the House of Representatives.

The law reform secretariat is mandated to increase access to the laws through the annual publication of the revised pages of the laws of Jamaica volumes, and the facilitation of the publication of the laws online.

Malahoo Forte explained that the ongoing task of consolidating the Laws of Jamaica is usually done annually, with a review of all new legislation that are in force up to December 31 of each year. Under the Law Revision Act the functions of law revision are to be carried out by law commissioners.

The minister noted that in order to provide current and accurate legislative information virtually and otherwise the lag time between enactment and inclusion in the Revised Laws of Jamaica needs to be reviewed.

“Right now, ministries do not have a compilation of ministerial orders and legal officers do not know where to find the gazettes with them. The goal is to have a dedicated website, where all Acts passed by Parliament and subsidiary legislation can be published and circulated in a searchable database, which also includes sunset legislation and repealed Acts of Jamaica, as well as gazettes containing legal notices and other relevant matters,” she outlined.

She said the deficiencies identified in the work started by the Ministry of Justice, on law revision, will also be addressed.At the same time, Malahoo Forte announced that the ministry has entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) to introduce a comprehensive legal information portal, in 2023.

The World Bank-funded project is intended to resolve the extensive time spent on identifying gazette notices and laws.

“Once implemented, you will be able to get them right away,” she remarked, adding that the portal will inform both the public and the ministry about issues of concern that are to be considered in the development of law reform proposals.

The portal is to give the public access to revised laws of Jamaica from the 19th century to present; annual Acts of Jamaica from the 17th century to present; Jamaica Gazette publications, and proclamation rules and regulations; along with bills and Acts and the Gazette Extraordinary.

Additionally, she said the portal is to include judgements of the courts, and is complementary to the Government’s broader effort to modernise institutions and processes in the justice sector.