Naurus Legal Information Access Project LIAP Katy Le

Nauru’s Legal Information Access Project - ‘LIAP’ Katy Le Roy Parliamentary Counsel Workshop on Pac. LII and the future of online legal publishing in the Pacific Islands; Port Vila, 1 October 2010

Intro and overview p Historical problems with access to law p Legal Information Access Project p n What is it? n Why are we doing it? n How are we doing it? n Challenges and tips n Relation to Pac. LII Conclusion

Access to law in Nauru p Historical problems have included: n Inadequate storage, filing and security n Destruction of records by fire n Lack of staff continuity and capacity n Poor planning, coordination and allocation of responsibilities n No consolidation since 1937 n No Government Printer

Legal Information Access Project p The solution: LIAP n Proposed by Justice Department in 2007 n Revised and progressed in 2009 n Funded by NZAID n Commenced March 2010 n Expected completion February 2011

LIAP – what is it about? p The Legal Information Access Project is about making all of Nauru’s legal information accessible online p The relevant legal information consists of: n n n Legislation p Bills p Acts p Subordinate legislation Court decisions p Nauru Supreme Court p Decisions of the HCA on appeal from NSC Gazettes

LIAP – why are we doing it? p Currently it is impossible to find or access a complete and accurate collection of the laws of Nauru p It is essential for people to be able to access the laws that apply to them p It is especially important for the people who administer or apply the law to have a complete and accurate picture of what the law is p It is important that legal information should be accessible for free

Project goal p The primary goal of the project is to significantly improve the rule of law and the functioning of democratic governance in Nauru, by making accessible all the laws of Nauru and establishing a system for the ongoing management, accuracy and accessibility of all Nauruan legal information.

LIAP – what are we doing? p The end results of the project will be: n Consolidated electronic reprints of all laws in force n An online searchable database that contains a complete and accurate collection of legislation, court decisions and Gazettes n A Legal Publication Unit that is responsible for maintaining the database (and which does other publishing tasks)

Legal Information Access Project - Governance Framework *Office of Parliamentary Counsel has daily interaction with the project team while also chairing the PCC.

How are we doing it? p 2 specialist consultants recruited p Missing documents gathered in Australia p Prioritisation of material for capture and consolidation p Recruitment and training of LPU staff (who are doing an OUTSTANDING job!) p Technical and functional specifications for system design p Scanning > OCR > formatting p Consolidation of all amended legislation p Electronic reprint of all legislation p Enabling and related legislation required to give effect

Legislation collections p Database will include legislation in force and legislation as passed p Each Act will have its own homepage p Users will be encouraged to browse Acts in force p In the Acts as passed collection, information about amendments and repeals will be prominently displayed p Historical material will be marked with warnings

Enabling and related legislation p Correction of errors and related tidying up in the course of consolidation (prior to reprints) including repeals: n p To provide for authorised electronic reprints: n p Statute Law Revision Bill Acts Publication Bill To make provision for the administration of legislation: n Administrative Arrangements Bill

Challenges and tips p Securing donor support or domestic budget provision p Maintaining adequate control over the process so that it reflects the needs of users (including local involvement in selection of consultants) p There are different ways of doing consolidation and reprint – make sure you do it the way that is right for your jurisdiction p Prioritising (you can’t do everything within the life of a short term donor funded project) p Sustainability

Relation to Pac. LII p LIAP is a complement to Pac. LII, not a substitute for it p LIAP will ensure that Nauru can provide complete and accurate legal information to Pac. LII p Pac. LII’s collection of Nauru law will be available to users when Nauru system is unavailable p Nauru will continue to rely upon Pac. LII’s collections from other jurisdictions

Project outputs p Audit of existing collections of laws, and of all laws in force in Nauru p Consolidation and authorised reprint of all laws in force in Nauru p Electronic database of legislation, subordinate legislation, case law and Gazettes developed and maintained p Coordinated system for ongoing management of legal information developed and implemented p Cooperative relationship with Pac. LII developed and maintained

Conclusion p Nauru has made free access to legal information a policy priority p LIAP will improve the rule of law and the administration of government and justice p Donor funded projects of this kind require local commitment, local control and local capacity p National projects of this kind can help to make Pac. LII more effective, but do not provide a substitute for Pac. LII