The Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPC) has issued a new Circular outlining Agencies’ responsibility to ensure that a proposed Bill’s impacts on personal rights and liberties are made clear.
In Circular C2021-18 Bills impacting on personal rights and liberties, Secretary of DPC, Michael Coutts-Trotter said that in November 2018, the Legislation Review Committee made recommendations aimed at improving its ability to review whether a Bill or Regulation trespassed unduly on personal rights and liberties or made rights, liberties or obligations unduly dependent upon insufficiently defined administrative powers or non-reviewable decisions.
Mr Coutts-Trotter said Government supported in principle a practice of addressing a Bill’s trespasses on personal rights and liberties that the Committee referred to Parliament for further consideration.
“In the case of urgent Bills, where the Committee may not have the opportunity to refer a Bill’s trespasses on personal rights and liberties to the Parliament for further consideration, the Government supported in principle a practice of making a Bill’s key impacts on personal rights and liberties clear during the second reading speech or debate on the Bill,” Mr Coutts-Trotter said.
“Agencies responsible for assisting a Minister or Government member with carriage of a Bill in Parliament should support this practice by ensuring that a Bill’s impacts on personal rights and liberties are, where necessary, identified and the rationale for them explained in the speeches, debate points and other material prepared by the Agency.
“In preparing this material, Agencies should refer to any list of personal rights and liberties that the Committee may publish from time to time to assist with the rights scrutiny process.”
Mr Coutts-Trotter said Agencies assisting a Minister or Government member by preparing second reading speeches, debate points or other material should ensure the Bill’s impacts on personal rights and liberties were addressed and the rationale for them was explained.
DPC’s Circular C2021-18 can be accessed at this PS News link.
