THE ANTICIPATED debate on the Charter of Rights bill during this legislative year will not materialise, but has been put forward to the next parliamentary year.

Leader of government business in the House, Dorothy Lightbourne, said on Friday that the bill was ready for debate. However, she said the prime minister had advised not to proceed with the debate at this time, as it would not be completed before Parliament prorogues in March.

Long wait

The implication of this move is that the bill will fall off the order paper and will have to be retabled in the new legislative year.

Further, debate on the bill in the new parliamentary year will not begin until after the end of the first quarter, because the measure, being a constitutional provision, has to remain on the order paper for a period of three months.

The Charter of Rights bill is intended to replace the existing chapter three of the Constitution with a chapter that provides more comprehensive protection for the fundamental rights and freedoms of persons.

Making her contribution to the State of the Nation debate in Gordon House Friday, the attorney general also said that the parliamentary committee set up to deliberate on a bill to amend the defamation law would meet before the end of March.

The proposed defamation law would facilitate the exposure of corrupt officials who could no longer use the law as a shield, Lightbourne added.

Other critical bills

Three other critical pieces of legislation to be introduced during the next parliamentary year were highlighted.

Drafting of the Evidence Amendment bill, the Cyber Crime bill, the Child Pornography bill and regulations to allow for the introduction of the plea bargaining legislation is at an advanced stage.

The Child Pornography bill is intended to make the production, possession, exportation, importa-tion and distribution of child pornography a criminal offence.

edmond.campbell@gleanerjm.com

Charter of Rights - protected rights and freedoms include:

Life, liberty and the security of the person;

Freedom of thought, conscience, belief and observance of religious and political doctrines;

Freedom of expression;

Freedom of peaceful assembly and association;

Freedom of movement;

Due process of law;

Equality before the law;

Freedom from discrimination on the grounds of race, social class, colour, religion, sex, place of origin or political preference.