Bills not assented to by President will have to be resubmitted
-no explanation forthcoming despite constitutional requirement
By Andre Haynes
Stabroek News
February 4, 2007
President Bharrat Jagdeo's failure to give assent to 10 bills that were passed during the last parliamentary session will force the government to reintroduce the legislation.
Bills covering international cooperation in criminal matters, consumer protection and safeguards for young workers, among other things are invalid and will have to be tabled and passed by the National Assembly once more.
According to Clerk of the National Assembly Sherlock Isaacs, since the Parliament was dissolved on May 2, to provide for the holding of general elections, all the bills awaiting assent were quashed. "They are not valid," he explained, "No action can be taken, [so] they will have to be resubmitted." Isaacs also mentioned that he had not received any explanation from the President.
After the publication of a story about the unassented bills in the Sunday Stabroek of December 31, 2006, Speaker of the National Assembly Ralph Ramkarran told the newspaper that he had not received any official information about the unassented bills. However, he undertook to investigate the matter. Ramkarran has since gone on medical leave.
On January 16, Stabroek News wrote the acting Head of the Government Information Agency, Dr Prem Misir pointing out that the newspaper had been unable to ask the President to explain why he had not assented to the bills and seeking Misir's assistance in eliciting a response. There has been no reply from Misir. Dr Misir had been designated to perform the functions previously undertaken by media liaison to the President Robert Persaud but has not made himself available to Stabroek News.
The bills that have not been assented to are: the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Bill 2006 ; the Consumer Protection Bill 2006; the Municipal and District Councils Bill 2006; the Shops (Consolidation) (Amendment) Bill 2006; the Public Utility Undertaking and Public Health Services Arbitration (Amendment) Bill 2006; the Occupational Safety and Health (Amendment) Bill 2006; the Licensed Premises (Amendment) Bill 2006; the Labour (Conditions of Employment of Certain Workers) (Amendment) Bill 2006; the Holiday with Pay (Amendment) Bill 2006; and the Employment of Young Persons and Children (Amendment) Bill 2006. They are all government Bills passed without objection by the opposition. The first was passed by the National Assembly on March 16, 2006 the second on April 10, 2006 the third on April 20 and the remainder on April 27, 2006.
According to the constitution, the President may assent to or refuse to assent to a bill sent to him after being passed in Parliament. However, Article 170 stipulates that he shall signify that he assents or withholds assent, in which case the bill is sent back to the National Assembly for the members to reconsider it. He is required to return the bill to the Speaker within 21 days of the date when it was presented to him with a message stating his reasons for not giving his assent. The constitution provides that when a bill is returned in this manner, it shall not be presented to the President for assent unless within six months a two-thirds majority of elected members resolves that it should be assented to. The President must then assent to the bill within ninety days after receiving it for the second time. Previously, the head of state had the power to dissolve Parliament in such a situation, but it was removed after constitutional reform.
In the past, concerns about legislation have been one of the reasons for the President's withholding of his assent. His busy schedule has also been cited as a reason. President Jagdeo has been criticised for delaying his assent to bills. In the Sir Michael Davies assessment of the National Assembly, the delay was criticised as a negation of parliamentary government.
"If this is the case, it is a negation of parliamentary government for the stated will of the legislature to be delayed," he wrote last year. "Assent (or refusal of Assent) should be given immediately. If the Government does not wish legislation to come into force immediately, this should be stated in the bill by means of a Commencement clause." He recommended that the assembly be notified when assent is given to bills, and that it be an absolute requirement where there is a refusal to assent.
The Consumer Protection Bill is designed to promote and protect consumer interests in relation to the supply of goods and services and to establish a Consumer Affairs Commission and a Consumer Fair Trading Tribunal for related purposes. The Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Bill provides for cooperation between Guyana and other countries in criminal cases. It covered assistance in several areas, including obtaining evidence and information, locating and identifying persons or things by search and seizure, serving documents, transferring prisoners temporarily, and tracing, freezing, seizing or confiscating proceeds of crime, subject to the laws of Guyana. It was envisaged that the bill would give effect to the scheme relating to such matters within the Common-wealth, and to provide for mutual assistance between Guyana and countries with which it has a treaty concerning such issues.
The bill was crafted to give full effect to the Caribbean Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Serious Criminal Matters, meeting one of the mandatory requirements of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).
The Holidays With Pay (Amendment) Bill provided for the court to impose a fine on the employer and to order payment for the worker which "in the opinion of the court represents the wages due to that worker as payment for all outstanding holidays with pay." Additionally, the bill and those addressing overtime pay mandate that employers pay workers one and one-half times normal pay on holidays, after a worker would have worked seven and one-quarter of an hour in any one day, and after a worker would have worked forty and three-quarters of an hour in any one week. These were to have brought about a harmonisation of principal legislation. The principal acts only addressed overtime on a daily basis and some employers were also found to be reluctant to pay the legal rates for holidays.
The Employment of Young Persons and Children (Amendment) Bill would have provided for young people from the age of 15 to be employed subject to certain exceptions. (One example is nights in any industrial undertaking, where the circumstances in which the work is carried out compromise the health, safety, and morals of young persons.) The law would have also required the employer of any young person to keep a register of the person's name, date of birth, and the date of employment and the date the person leaves. The employer would have also been required to allow the Chief Labour Officer (CLO) or any one authorised by the CLO to inspect the register at any time.
The Licensed Premises (Amendment) Bill revoked several orders which would be redundant because of the amendments made in the bill. These are: Licensed Premises (Hours of Opening) (Special Provision) (Part of East Demerara); Licensed Premises (Hours of Opening) (Special Provision) (Mahaicony); and Licensed Premises (Application of (c) Part 1 (Kitty). The bill sets out too the following definition for urban areas: the city of Georgetown as described in the First Schedule to the Municipal and District Councils Act; the town of New Amsterdam as described in the act; and every town established under section 33 of the act. It also provided for new penalties under the principal act.