Shania Shayal Prasad 
Acting Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Siromi Turaga. [Photo: FILE]
High workloads and limited drafting capacity across government continues to hinder timely legal reform and delivery of legal services.
Acting Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Siromi Turaga states that the AG’s Office at times handles massive volume of legal work, including up to 500 requests for legal opinions in a single week.
He adds this is contributing to delays when detailed supporting information is lacking.
Turaga says the focus is not only on drafting laws but on improving the entire legal process.
“And we expect that come 2026, there will be more bills to be stable. Because the whole process is, the laws need to be constantly reviewed, so that there is efficiency in the way government manages things. Sometimes the ministries are stuck, we can’t do this because the law says this.”
Turaga stresses the importance of improving collaboration and understanding.
Solicitor-General Ropate Green has also warned that the system remains under strain, with just nine legislative drafters serving 29 ministries.
“We are overstretched. We have junior drafters handling complex financial bills, complex health-related bills, infrastructure bills.”
Green says improving coordination, clarity of instructions and long-term investment in drafting capacity will be key to ensuring laws are efficient.
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