Parliament extends validity of General Regulations Act by one year

Parliament has decided to extend the validity of the General Regulations Act by a duration of one year.

The Parent Act on General Regulations came to force as an interim piece of legislature hold the statutory powers of a number of regulations that would have otherwise been invalidated when the current Constitution came into force in 2008.

The motion to extend the validity of the act was passed by 52 votes in favour at today’s parliament session.

Presenting the committee's report to the parliament floor, the chairman of the Parliament Committee on Secondary Legislation, Naifaru MP Ahmed Mohamed said that a majority of bills on the regulations required by the act have now finished the parliament debate, and as some are at the end of the committee reviews, he predicts that the laws governing these regulations can be passed by the parliament within the following year.

The regulations currently governed by the General Regulations Act include the regulation on criminal procedures, regulation on conducting trials, and the regulation on summoning persons to the courts, and a number of other regulations pertaining to the criminal justice system and the health sector.

Attorney General Aishath Bisham has said that her office is currently working on assembling certain regulations that will come into force after the General Regulations Act becomes redundant.