A very good afternoon to all of you. I am very pleased to
welcome you all to this small function to launch the Revised
Written Laws of Nauru. TheRevised Written Laws Act 2021comes into
effect today and could not be a better day to hold this event.
You have all received a programme for today and each speaker has
something to say on the project. As the Secretary for Justice and
also being given the responsibility for this project, I have my bit
to share with you today. I am no stranger to law reform and law
revision projects. I have been part of this back in my home
country. However, the dreams were never achieved. Today, I am
delighted to see in my legal career that a dream project such as
the law revision and consolidation of a country has been
completed.
Ladies and gentlemen, we share the fruits of our work with the
legal fraternity and the people of Nauru at large. Heading a
project of this nature and with the diversity of people, was indeed
an experience for me. COVID-19 obstacles did not deter the spirit
and determination of my dedicated team of staff. I saw a resurgence
of energy and vitality in all the staff. The Nauruan staff
sacrificed their family time, the meals and not forgetting their
small children to ensure that the project was completed. Thanks to
virtual technology and also Microsoft for having text to speech
readers with the famous recorded voices of Susan and Zira which
saved me from changing my glasses. Nevertheless, the Department of
Justice is a great believer in delivering its services with our
motto,'Serving the Republic with care and pride'.
I must apologise for being very harsh and aggressive from time
to time with all those people involved. Please, accept that as part
of your bonus pay because your product is on display today and I am
sure you work acknowledgment will remain in the books for many
years to come. A memory to be treasured even when expatriate staff
will leave Nauru. Your legacy is left forever in Nauru. For the
young Nauruan staff, your experience in the project is not only
acknowledged but you will be continuing the project on regular
updating and improving on it. I assure you that I will not be there
so be at peace.
To the Law Revision Commissioner and LexisNexis team, after the
completion of the project, I certainly found a boring lull period
for every hour on a Monday afternoon from 4pm to 5pm. The
charismatic face of Katherine Pearson, ever encouraging jovial face
of Jennifer Williams and ever asking for administrative and
financial details, Myfanwy Wallwork and always the behind the
blocked video of Adele Mcatee, are all memories hidden in these
books. The subparagraphs, the commas, conjunctions, alignments,
fullstops, page numbers, the crest, captions, and so forth, no
doubt will become a template for future law revision projects. You
were all great. LexisNexis, your print quality and final product
stood to the standard which was promised.
Members of the legal fraternity, I came here in 2015 and I
remember talking to Mr Vinci Clodumar and other senior legal
practitioners that we need to do something about our laws scattered
all over the place. This is a small beginning. Please bear with us
if there are some oversights or errors generally. The team at
LexisNexis are ready to help us correct it. However, this creates a
foundation for us to now build upon. Law reporting of judgments is
essential and with the revised written laws, annotations will be
the icing on the cake. A vision I leave to the next generation of
legal practitioners to take on. I thank you all for your
cooperation and please feel free to discuss any issues you may have
with this with my staff.
Honourable Minister for Justice was the pillar of strength for
this project. The Minister and I had a vision for this project and
today, it has been delivered. Minister, thank you very much for
standing with, by and for us in Cabinet and also in Parliament.
This is your milestone and legacy to the legal fraternity and
people of Nauru.
Last but not the least, I thank the Government of Australia for
its assistance which I will leave to the Honourable Minister to
address.
Again, thank you very much for your attention and I hand over to
the Master of Ceremony for the continuation of the programme.