St Helena : ST HELENA REPORTS ON OPEN GOVERNMENT
Submitted by Saint Helena Herald (Public Relations Information Office) 28.07.2012 (Article Archived on 11.08.2012)
In his report of yesterday’s meeting of ExCo, HE Governor Capes signalled the public release of various pieces of business as follows:
ST HELENA REPORTS ON OPEN GOVERNMENT
In his report of yesterday’s meeting of ExCo, HE Governor Capes signalled the public release of various pieces of business as follows:
Draft Legislation (now placed on SHG website)
Revised Edition of the Laws (Amendment) Bill
The draft Revised Edition of the Laws (Amendment) Bill was today published on the SHG website, accompanied by a document showing the current law, with ‘tracked changes’.
Under the Revised Edition of the Laws Ordinance, revised texts of Ordinances and secondary legislation can be published on the authority of the Attorney General (or a specially-appointed Law Revision Commissioner). In 2001, a ‘Complete Revised Edition’ was prepared and published, containing complete texts of all the local laws in force on 1 January 2001.
The Ordinance allows the publication of Revised Editions of individual Ordinances; and a small number have been officially revised since 2001, but the resources required to keep this process up to date in paper form are considerable. The Legislative Draftsperson has, in fact, been maintaining updated electronic copies of Ordinances for some time and since 2011, these ‘unofficial’ texts have been available on the SHG website. They are typically updated within 14 to 21 days of every change. This has demonstrated that, using electronic texts rather than paper ones, it is possible to have up to date laws readily available to everyone without requiring additional resources. To do so is manifestly desirable in terms of good government, and as part of the open approach needed to support economic growth.
So the draft Bill proposes to allow official texts to be quickly updated and published electronically via the website. If the Bill is approved, it is hoped that a new ‘Complete Revised Edition’ of local laws will be uploaded before the end of the year, and thereafter be updated within a few days of any change. Arrangements will be made for those without internet to have access to printed copies and details will be published nearer the time.
Comments of the draft Bill may be submitted to the Clerk of Councils, or to any Councillor, by Friday 17 August. It is likely that the Bill (with or without revisions) will be presented to the Legislative Council on 10 September 2012.
Employment Rights (Amendment) Bill
The draft Employment Rights (Amendment) Bill was today published on the SHG website, accompanied by a document showing the current law with ‘tracked changes’.
The Employment Rights Ordinance 2010, is likely to come into force on or soon after 1 October 2012 and when it does, it will grant protection of certain basic employment rights for employees. They might not all be implemented at the same time, but they include the setting of a Minimum Wage, the right not to be unfairly dismissed, and the right to a written statement of Terms and Conditions of employment. Further publicity about individual rights will be published during August and September.
An employee who thinks that his rights have been breached will be able to complain to a Labour Regulating Authority (‘LRA’); and it has been decided to appoint the Chief Magistrate to this office in order to guarantee the independence of decision-making.
Currently, the Ordinance says that a person dissatisfied with a decision of the LRA may appeal to the Magistrates’ Court. Clearly, this cannot work if the Chief Magistrate is also the LRA, so the main purpose of the Bill is to amend the Ordinance so that any such appeal will go to the Supreme Court. During preparation of the Bill, it was also noticed that there were some minor inconsistencies in two sections, and that a section dealing with how penalties should be accounted for needed to be clarified. These two points are also covered in the draft Bill.
Comments on the draft Bill may be submitted to the Clerk of Councils, or to any Councillor, by Friday 17 August. It is likely that the Bill (with or without revisions) will be presented to the Legislative Council on 10 September 2012.
Infrastructure and Utilities
The Directorate of Infrastructure and Utilities will henceforth release a regular quarterly update of current infrastructure, utilities and construction projects, the first of which will issue this week. Individual projects and stories will continue to issue as press releases as and when appropriate.
Reminder: Special Meeting of ExCo – Tuesday 31 July 2012
A special meeting of Executive Council at 9.30am on Tuesday 31July, in the Council Chamber, will discuss the external finishes for the Airport Terminal Building and the Combined Building (housing Control Tower, Fire & Rescue, fuel management etc).
This will be an open agenda item to which the public and media are invited..
Persons wishing to view the proposed designs are welcome to do so at the Access Office in the Castle during normal working hours. For further information please contact the Access Office on telephone 2477 or email director.airport@sainthelena.gov.sh
SHG
25 July 2012
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