By Staff Writer
The Parliamentary Select Committee had to call for an adjournment after a solid three hours of meeting with the Samoa Law Society Friday, on the three new bills under review to amend the Constitution.
The Law Society presented a 40-page submission and also answered a host of questions raised by the Select Committee before the session was called off for a date to be re-scheduled.
The session started late after the Select Committee members were called in unexpectedly to attend to a protest march on the same bills the Law Society members were there to see them about.
“We were called in at 10.30am and we went without break all the way to 1.30pm before we had to adjourn,” Mauga Ms Precious Chang, a member of the Law Society Executive disclosed.
Mauga was unable to divulge the contents of the confidential exchange.
“There were a lot of back and forth discussions and we were not even close to half way with our submission before it was decided we should continue it to another time.”
Doubts about the fairness of the committee findings and their political loyalties were raised whether it was a concern for the Society.
Mauaga said the society believes in the process of consultation and is hopeful that the Select Committee will be independent in their findings.
She added that the invitation for more members of the public to make submission on the bills give the lawyers more faith as well in the democratic process.
The Samoa Law Society is in a royal tussle with the Government proposed changes to the Constitution to establish outright independence for the Lands and Titles Court.
The Constitutional Amendment Bill 2020, Lands and Titles Bill 2020 and the Judicature Bill 2020, are at the centre of the controversy with changes they will make in the Constitution if passed into law.
The lawyers were alarmed when the bills ended up in Parliament for preliminary readings before they were given a chance to go over first for their advice, which is normal procedure.
The President of the Samoa Law Society, Leiataualesa Komisi Koria was an excited man as he and his team of lawyers waited patiently to appear before the Parliament Select Committee of Friday morning.
“We look forward to the opportunity to make our presentation and to ask or answer any questions,” Leiataualesa said while outside the waiting lounge of the Tofilau Eti Alesana Building.
He acknowledged the build up of public interest and was happy with the public awareness created from the different opinions both in support and in opposition to their legal concerns.
“This wide public awareness is a positive for us,” he agreed after concerns that the Government was trying to sneak in the controversial bills while the attention was on the coronavirus pandemic.
Law Societies from New Zealand and Australia are already in full support of the local society concerns with the proposed new Constitutional changes.
The Parliament Select Committee is planning already planning to invite the villages to make submission to the bills.
Government is pushing for changes in the Lands and Titles Court to allow for equal recognition to the collective rights of the village culture to the individual rights guaranteed by the Constitution.
The Select Committee Report will be tabled in Parliament for the third and final readings of the bills before they are put to the vote.
No date has been made public yet of when the report is due to be tabled in the House.