Tongan Laws on the web [1]
Wednesday, February 7, 2007 - 15:00. Updated on Sunday, March 16, 2014 - 11:39.
The accessibility of a whole version of the Tongan laws on the internet, and its availability on a CD, have been hailed as a major achievement by Tonga's Ministry of Justice.
The Attorney General Mrs 'Alisi Taumoepeau, in launching the website and the CD on Friday February 5 said that Tonga lead the way in utilising the new technology, the first "by any of the small states in the Commonwealth and in the island states of the Pacific."
'Alisi hosted a luncheon at the Black Pearl Suites to mark the event and in her welcoming speech she pointed out that it was a fundamental duty of any government to make its laws "available to the nation."
She said that right now it was almost impossible to find a complete set of the law of Tonga, "except may be for the Crown Law Office. There was no collection of all the Tongan laws anywhere. Even the court has trouble finding the laws." The situation was made worse by the events of November 16 "when most of the records and the laws of the Crown Law Office were destroyed by fire.
"Without the records of the CD and Website, Tonga would be in even greater trouble."
Tonga's Law Revision Commissioner, Neil Ansett who was presence at the launching said that the project was an initiative of the Task Force for the Implementation of Regulatory Reform for Private Sector Development.
Neil said that it took about six months to complete the project, "in fact we were going to launch it on November 20, then of course the 16/11 event."
"I came in in July. The main task was the indexing, because I have to read all the laws. That took me a couple of months. I gathered all the paper work. That was another two to three months."
With regards to the content of the website and he CD, Neil said that "all the amendments are there, but the repeal acts are not there.
"The website Tonga-law contains English and Tongan versions of the legislation of Tonga, in force as at the 31st December 2005. "
The project was funded by NZAID with the amount of NZD $100,000.