By Dennie Quill, ContributorWITH THE spate of punitive legislation being promulgated by Parliament it is conceivable that one could be prosecuted for one of these new offences and brought before the court.
The accused person painstakingly explains to the Judge that long before the offence was committed he went to the Government Printing Service, the monopoly printers for the Government, to buy copies of the recently passed law and they had run out of copies. He throws himself at the mercy of the court with the explanation that despite his best efforts he was not able to find out what the law said.
A moral upright judge, sensitive to the predicament of the Jamaican public in the 21st century, may find that although promulgated, the law was not published and therefore ought not to have any effect on the individual.
A hypothetical argument for sure and although it may sound curious, if things continue in the same vein, this reality will inevitably come to pass in the near future.
In 1992, the Government divested itself of what we knew then as the Government Printing Office to the employees, ostensibly because it was not making money. Prior to divestment one could go to that office on Duke Street and purchase most if not all Acts of Parliament.
The notion that the former employees could resuscitate the organisation and turn it around was pure folly. Today the service appears to be at its worst. A cursory look around the facilities communicates a picture of a drowning man clutching at straw.
Just this week a friend of mine reported an experience which would have been comical if it didn't have serious constitutional implications. He went to purchase a copy of a recently passed Act of Parliament and was told that it was out of print. His attempt to find out when they would become available was met with the most casual response "we don't know."
And this was not his first ordeal with the office. He recounted another occasion when the clerk there told him that a piece of legislation which he wanted could not be found. He was told to go to the office of the Chief Parliamentary Counsel to get a reference number because they did not know the reference number of the relevant law. This is unacceptable and a most inefficient way to conduct business.
One cannot blame the employees of that office because if truth be told, they have given clear signals that they do not understand the constitutional significance of the role that the Government Printers ought to play in a democracy.
The maxim "ignorance of the law is no excuse" is based on the presumption of ready access to the laws of the land. This means laws and regulations should be readily available to the public and at reasonable cost. Sadly, that is not what obtains at that office.
Government has a responsibility to ensure that all laws are available to those who seek them out at the official printers and it is not acceptable to be told that a law cannot be found or is out of print.
In divesting itself of this office, Government abrogated its responsibility to the Jamaican public. A law which is kept secret ought not to take effect.
Attorney General A. J. Nicholson announced with great aplomb plans to make the laws of Jamaica available on the Internet. I applaud this effort as one way of keeping pace in the Information Age. However, I would love to hear from the legal luminaries whether having the laws in Cyberspace constitutes publication. Of course there are thousands of Jamaicans who have no access to the Internet.
To complicate matters, the availability of the laws on the Internet may further undermine the viability of the Government Printers because one anticipates that the people who use their services most are also likely to have Internet access. So those who wish to see the laws in black and white may be in for further frustration as the service will surely deteriorate if demand falls.
Indeed, the writing is on the wall and one doubts whether this organisation can survive for much longer. The Government printers play a very vital role in our society and it cannot be allowed to wither away. Someone needs to take it in hand, make it into a commercial organisation offering a variety of services like printing primary school textbooks. Branches of the Government Printers should be in major towns so that there is access to as many people as possible.
Passing laws is one thing publishing them is something else.
Dennie Quill is a veteran journalist who may be reached at denniequill@hotmail.com.
