"..the
bylaws were part of life in villages from time immemorial and were a
form of common law for Fiji but that it still had to be encoded in the
form of a legislation."
Fiji Times News
 |
| Village life in Fiji |
VILLAGE bylaws are not legally binding at this stage, says the Ministry of iTaukei Affairs Board.
Responding to the concerns that were raised over the fairness of
village bylaws on iTaukei men and women in the north, iTaukei Affairs
Board Provincial Services division manager, Timoci Namotu said village
bylaws have not been legally gazetted and are not legally binding.
Mr
Namotu said since its proposal in 2009 there had been no decree or
legislation gazetted to recognise the legality of such bylaws. "At this point the village bylaws have not been legalised and it is not a legal instrument," said Mr Namotu. "There
have been bylaws that have been previously passed in villages by chiefs
as a means of assuring peace and order in their respective villages but
these were still under review and are still to be gazetted to make it a
legal instrument," he said.
Concerns were earlier raised by a
women's group in the north regarding the unfairness of village bylaws
that seem to concentrate on restricting iTaukei women on a lot of issues
while iTaukei men were free of these restrictions.
 |
| Life in a Fijian village |
Mr Namotu said village bylaws were not legally binding which meant the bylaws were null and void. "However
we must realise that villages have their own set of rules that govern
people that live within these settings and it is only wise and becoming
that villagers conform to these rules to create an order within our
iTaukei villages," Mr Namotu said. "The iTaukei Affairs Board is
yet to receive complaints of villagers being penalised under these
bylaws as they are ineffective and are not legally binding on the
citizens of Fiji including villagers in iTaukei villages."
 |
| Women in Fijian villages play a key role |
"In the
iTaukei village setting women are viewed and treasured as they are a
reflection of any village so therefore village bylaws are often more
concentrated on the welfare of iTaukei women."
Mr Namotu said the
bylaws were part of life in villages from time immemorial and were a
form of common law for Fiji but that it still had to be encoded in the
form of a legislation.
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