The Legislative Assembly of Tonga’s Standing Committee on Legislation will conduct a public consultation beginning Monday, May 6 on six Government Bills, that were tabled in Parliament in March 2019.

The Bills are listed as follows:

(i) Bill no. 15/2019 - Act of Constitution of Tonga (Amendment) Bill 2019
(ii) Bill no. 16/2019 - Act of Constitution of Tonga (Amendment) (No.2) Bill 2019
(iii) Bill no. 17/2019 - Tonga Police (Amendment) Bill 2019
(iv) Bill no. 18/2019 - Magistrate’s Courts (Amendment) Bill 2019
(v) Bill no. 19/2019 - Judicial and Legal Service Commission Bill 2019
(vi) Bill no. 20/2019 - National Spatial Planning and Management (Amendment) Bill

The purpose of the public consultation is to brief the public on the amendments proposed in the Bills, and to gather the public’s opinion on those proposed amendments, and invite written submission from the public. A public awareness programme focused on providing information and clarification of the Bills begin today in the lead up to the public meetings that will start next week.

The Members of the Standing Committee on Legislation will host public meetings to commence in Vava’u next Monday (May 6–10 ), followed by meetings in Ha’apai (May 13-14), Tongatapu from May 15-22, and ‘Eua on May 24.

The timetable of the consultation program can be obtained from the website www.parliament.gov.to, Facebook page “Fale Alea ‘o Tonga”, or telephone 27912. Radio announcements will also provide details on the dates and venues of upcoming public consultation meetings.