Bills, treaties for Parliament

The May Parliament Sitting will include the tabling of and debating on a number of Bills and the two important United Nations Treaties.

Much awaited are the Online Safety Bill and the Sex Offenders Registration Bill.

Over the past few weeks, there have been several submissions and support towards the two Bills.

However, there were also calls for the Committee to consider more time to scrutinise and engage more consultations on the Online Safety Bill. While there is a general consensus that something needs to be done, the details of what is considered unsafe ought to be highlighted and further discussed, critics claim.

Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights Chairman Ahsneel Sudhakar said the Committee was still drafting the reports for the two Bills and it would be debated on Monday or Tuesday.

He said they had received a lot of submissions and many wanted the Bill to be passed.

Other Bills to be presented are the Community-Based Corrections Bill, Information Bill and the possibility of another three Bills.

On the Ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) reports and submissions, Chairman of the parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence Netani Rika said overall submissions presented to the committee stood for the ratification without reservation.

Mr Rika said there were no reservations on the two treaties.

“They want the ratification, if there were reservations it would take the Government time because with the United Nations Human Rights, there are certain time frames to adhere to,” he said.