Apenisa Waqairadovu 
Minister for Justice and Acting Attorney General Siromi Turaga. [Photo: FILE]
The long-delayed Registration of Sex Offenders Act is expected to move closer to implementation, with regulations to be tabled in Parliament in the first quarter of this financial year.
Minister for Justice and Acting Attorney General Siromi Turaga says the register is urgently needed, given Fiji’s high rate of sexual offences.
He says the register, which will be maintained by Police, will contain the names of people convicted of sexual offences.
“At the moment, there is none. And this is troubling. Why is it troubling? Because we have a high rate of sexual offences.”
Turaga told Parliament there were 252 rape and sexual offence cases recorded by the Director of Public Prosecutions last year, the highest figure when compared with previous years.
He says the regulations will also allow Fiji to share information with overseas law enforcement agencies and help Immigration identify convicted sex offenders entering the country.
Turaga says a recent case involving a person wanted by authorities in the United States highlighted the gap in information sharing.
He says the person was only deported after U.S. officials provided the relevant information to Fiji.
Turaga says the Justice Ministry is now working with Police, Immigration and the Ministry of Women to finalise the requirements and forms needed for the register.
He says the same process is also being undertaken for the Child Justice Act and the Child Care and Protection Act.
