Plateau Assembly passes law reform commission bill

The Plateau State House of Assembly has passed into law a bill seeking to establish a Law Reform Commission in the state .

The Deputy Speaker, Fom Gwottson, who disclosed this on Sunday, in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media, Precious Kaneng Yohanna, noted that the lawmakers equally passed the state’s Mediation Centre Bill into law.

The statement read in part “The bills for a law to establish the Plateau State Law Reform Commission and Plateau State Mediation Center, have both been passed into law by the Plateau State House of Assembly during plenary on Tuesday 18th July, 2023, and Tuesday 25th July 2023 respectively.

“Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee in charge of both bills, Rt. Hon. Gwottson Dalyop Fom submitted the committee’s reports on both occasions to the floor of the House having subjected them to the prudent scrutiny of relevant stakeholders in the Justice Sector, relevant government institutions, civil society organisations, and other well-meaning citizens.

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“After the Third Reading of the bills by the clerk of the House, the Speaker, Suleman Moses, threw the question of acceptance and rejection of the bills to the floor. Thereafter the bills were passed into law having secured affirmative majority votes of the lawmakers”

The PUNCH reports that the Law Reform Commission will be saddled with the responsibility, among other things, to “generally research, take and keep under review all state laws and Local Government bye-laws with a view to their systematic and progressive development and reform in consonance with the prevailing norms in the State, nation and international community including, in particular, the codification of such laws and bye-laws”

The Mediation Centre Commission, on the other hand, will be saddled with the responsibility to mediate between parties on disputes such as Landlord and tenant matters, Contracts of employment, Family matters, debt related matters.

The Centre shall also provide free legal services and advice, particularly to the indigent citizens of the state.

The Plateau state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Philemon Daffi described the passage of the two laws as critical to the state’s advancement

The state statement quoted him as saying, “With an inherited debt of N307 billion, the onus is on the new administration to get busy and creative by establishing platforms that attract resources to the Ministry of Justice from around the globe”