The three private members’ bills presented by the Opposition in Parliament in 2024 show the Government’s failure to address critical legal anomalies affecting people, says Tina Browne.

Browne, who is the Leader of the Opposition, made the comments while criticising the lower number of days Parliament sat in 2024. The Parliament sat for 14 days of the 42 it had planned.

The leader of the Democratic Party said that the lower sitting days were a result of the Government’s consistent failure to prioritise meaningful legislative action.

“While the Government failed to act, the Opposition took the initiative to address critical legal anomalies that directly affected our people,” Browne said.

“My private members’ bills were introduced to resolve outstanding legal issues that had been identified by the High Court as requiring legislative clarification. These matters were left unaddressed by the Government for years, despite the Judiciary’s clear calls for action.”

Browne, who is a lawyer by profession, said her private members’ bills were developed in response to numerous appeals from citizens who were directly impacted by these legal ambiguities.

She said these bills included:

1. “Legislation to resolve High Court legal anomalies – Addressing unresolved legal issues highlighted by High Court decisions, where the existing laws were found to be unclear, incomplete, or contradictory.”
2. “Clarifications to protect citizens’ rights – Ensuring fair and equitable treatment of individuals affected by these gaps in legislation, as identified by the Judiciary.”
3. “Modernisation and alignment of legal frameworks – Updating laws to reflect the realities of modern governance and ensuring alignment with the principles of justice as articulated by the Judiciary.”

Browne said these bills were not only necessary but overdue.

“They represent solutions to problems the Government neglected to address, leaving citizens vulnerable to inconsistencies in the law,” she said.

“The Government’s inaction forced private citizens to turn to the Opposition for help. This lack of responsiveness demonstrates a failure of leadership and a disregard for the Judiciary’s role as the third arm of government.”

Prime Minister Mark Brown earlier said that the issue of fewer Parliament sitting days could be easily addressed through a constitutional amendment currently being sought by the Government. This amendment would allow MPs to cast proxy votes on behalf of their colleagues

“I’ve always said that one of the biggest things that is restricting the number of days that we can sit is the requirement that we have to be there to maintain a quorum, which means everybody is going to be on board if your members are very close in Parliament,” Brown said.

“What generally takes precedence and priority is government business, so government doing its business at the expense of parliament convening or sitting for more days. And the way to overcome that is one of the things that we are proposing in the constitutional amendment is to allow proxy votes to be counted.”

However, Opposition leader Browne said the Prime Minister’s focus on proxy voting as a solution “sidesteps the real issue: Government’s unwillingness to engage in meaningful legislative reform”.

“As we move into 2025, I urge the Government to focus on delivering substantive, people-centered legislation rather than deflecting responsibility,” she said.

“The Opposition remains committed to collaborating on policies that address the real concerns of our citizens, but this requires genuine leadership and a commitment to action from the Government.”