Committee agrees to extend General Regulations Act

Parliament committee has today agreed to extend the General Regulations Act until April 2015.

The General Regulations Act was introduced as an interim legislation prior to the enactment of the new constitution in August 2008, to govern certain regulations lacking statutory basis. The law was initially established for a two-year term.

The parliament hastily extended the regulation for a third time in August last year, after fears that the country might fall into a "legal void" if the deadline was not met. The law was set to expire on 30 April 2014.

The parliament committee also agreed to exclude two regulations from General Regulations Act today, bringing the number of regulations governed by the law to 42. The two excluded regulations were transferred to the Prisons and Parole Act, ratified in December last year.

The committee's decision will be debated on the floor and decided by the parliament in its sitting tomorrow.