The
Fiji Police Force Bill has been passed unanimously
by Parliament which proposes arrest
without warrant, use
of force by Police officers in exercising powers, provides
that any person may make a complaint against a member of Police
staff to the Commissioner and others.
Minister for Policing and Communications Ioane Naivalurua says the Bill strengthens the operational capabilities of the Force, while introducing clearer safeguards, stronger accountability mechanisms and a statutory framework for community policing.
He says the Police Bill is more than a legislative update, it is a fundamental modernisation of Fiji's policing framework to meet the security challenges of the 21st century.
The Bill proposes the use of force by Police officers in exercising powers under the Bill or any other Act.
It permits the use of reasonable and necessary force, subject to proportionality requirements and restrictions against force likely to cause death or grievous bodily harm except where necessary to prevent death or serious injury.
The Bill provides for arrest without warrant.
It empowers Police officers to arrest persons committing or about to commit offences, or reasonably suspected of doing so.
The clause further provides that arrest is only permissible where the officer reasonably believes it is necessary for specified purposes, including establishing identity, preventing harm or obstruction, protecting vulnerable persons, ensuring effective investigation, or preventing disappearance.
The Bill empowers a Police officer to enter and search a place or conveyance without a warrant where the officer reasonably suspects evidence may be concealed or destroyed, or where an urgent search offence involves conveyance safety.
The clause provides that the search may be conducted as if authorised by warrant and restricts the use of force in relation to structural damage or forced entry into conveyances.
The Bill empowers the Commissioner to require a candidate to provide a body sample and to allow biometric information to be taken for the purposes of establishing a DNA profile.
Clause 23 restricts the use of biometric information relating to a candidate.
The clause provides that such information may be used only for verifying that the candidate is not an illicit drug user, determining whether the candidate has been convicted of an offence, investigating and prosecuting offences where the candidate is linked through matching, or eliminating the candidate from suspicion if later recruited.
It proposes that any person may make a complaint against a member of Police staff to the Commissioner in the prescribed form and manner.
The clause further requires the Commissioner to establish a complaints receiving and response platform that enables anonymous and user-friendly lodgement of complaints.
The Bill empowers a Police officer to take identifying particulars of a person in lawful Police custody who is detained for committing an offence.
The clause provides that identifying particulars must be taken in a reasonable manner and permits the use of force, subject to clause 42.
The clause also creates an offence for failure to comply with a lawful direction after caution with the penalty of a fine not exceeding $5,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or both.
The Bill empowers a Police officer to detain a person briefly for the purpose of taking identifying particulars where the officer reasonably suspects the person of committing an offence and intends to proceed by summons.
The clause limits detention to the period necessary to obtain the particulars allows reasonable force to be used to secure them and creates an offence for failure to comply after caution.
The Minister says the Bill provides the legislative foundation for these essential standards.
Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka says the proposed Police Bill must ensure that police powers relating to arrests, searches, surveillance, digital investigations and forensic procedures are exercised with clear legal limits and appropriate judicial oversight.
While speaking during the debate on the Bill in Parliament, Rabuka says these powers must be guided by the principles of necessity and proportionality to ensure the rights and freedoms of every Fijian are protected.
He says the country needs a modern legislative framework that allows police officers to tackle increasingly complex crimes, including organised crime, drug trafficking, cybercrime, transnational criminal networks and technology-enabled offences.
Rabuka says the police cannot be expected to confront modern criminal networks using a legislative framework established more than 60 years ago.
The Prime Minister stresses that the strength of our policing system is measured not only by the powers available to the police officers, but by the integrity with which those powers are exercised.
Rabuka says public confidence is the foundation of effective policing, and people must have confidence that complaints will be heard, misconduct investigated and officers held accountable when they act outside the law.
He says the establishment of the Fiji Police Force Disciplinary Tribunal and a formal appeals process are important steps towards strengthening fairness and accountability within the force.
The Prime Minister says the success of the legislation will depend on its implementation, including adequate resources, skilled personnel, modern technology, training and clear procedures.
Rabuka says they support strong policing, but not policing without accountability, adding they support modern investigative powers, but not powers without safeguards.
Opposition MP Faiyaz Koya has raised concerns over the delegation of the Commissioner's powers to police officers, the storage and destruction of forensic evidence, the keeping of people's fingerprints and photographs, and police access to digital devices under the proposed Fiji Police Bill.
Koya says Section 11, which allows the Commissioner of Police to delegate any of the commissioner's powers, duties or functions to the Deputy Commissioner or a police officer, is concerning as the provision does not specify the rank or level of the police officer who can receive these powers.
He says the objection is specifically about allowing these powers to be delegated to a police officer, adding that the provision becomes dangerous when dealing with legal powers that have been abused in the past.
Koya also raises concerns about Section 46, which deals with the storage and database of identifying information, including photographs, fingerprints, palm prints and footprints.
He questions why police should continue keeping a person's photograph or other identifying information if that person is discharged without conviction.
He says this needs to be looked at again, as such information should be removed if a person is acquitted or if the case is no longer being prosecuted.
On search warrants, Koya says the removal of the provision allowing Justices of the Peace to issue search warrants is a positive step, adding that only judges and magistrates should be allowed to issue them.
He says search warrants are not small issues, as they give police officers a lot of power.
The Opposition MP also raises concerns over the independence of the forensic department, saying convictions are now very largely dependent on forensic evidence rather than the old methods of gathering evidence.
He says it is important to ensure that the department handling forensic evidence is completely independent of the Police Force.
He says even a minuscule amount of evidence showing that forensic evidence has been compromised could mean the difference between innocence or guilt.
Koya welcomes the proposed amendment requiring the Minister to take steps within three years to establish an independent forensic science entity to carry out forensic functions.
He says the forensic department must eventually move out of the Police Force to ensure its independence and avoid any possible interference.
He says when police seize a phone or computer, there must be clear limits on how much information they can access.
Koya says digital devices contain personal, private and financial information, and there must be safeguards to prevent police from accessing information they should not be looking at.
Attorney-General Sevuloni Valenitabua says the Bill addresses several constitutional requirements, including the rights of arrested and detained persons, protection of privacy, freedom of expression and the use of force by police officers.
On search and privacy, Valenitabua says the Bill provides that general or urgent search warrants may only be issued by a magistrate, while covert surveillance and covert entry warrants can only be issued by a High Court judge.
He says Justices of the Peace, who previously had some of these powers, have been removed from that process.
Valenitabua says Clauses 59 and 65 also require judges to consider the seriousness of an offence, the extent to which a person's privacy would be affected and whether there are other ways to obtain evidence before issuing surveillance or tracking warrants.
He says the Bill also removes the old offence of causing disaffection among police officers, with Clause 148 now making it an offence to induce a member of police staff to withhold their services or commit a breach of discipline.
He says the Bill gives police officers modern powers while assuring citizens that those powers are bounded by the Constitution and international standards Fiji has freely accepted.
Valenitabua has commended the Minister for Policing, the Commissioner of Police, the Ministry, the Standing Committee on Justice, Law and Human Rights and members of the public who made submissions towards the development of the Bill.
Minister for Immigration Viliame Naupoto says the Police Bill 2026 represents a significant step towards developing a modern, professional and accountable Fiji Police Force that is equipped to respond to increasingly sophisticated criminal activities.
Naupoto says the Bill seeks to strengthen governance, improve accountability, modernise operational capabilities and build stronger relationships between the Police Force and the communities it serves.
Naupoto says when police officers and communities work together, trust and cooperation are strengthened, allowing emerging issues to be addressed before they develop into more serious problems.
He says supporting the Bill also reaffirms the nation's commitment to the men and women of the Fiji Police Force and the families who stand behind them.
Opposition
MP Jone Usamate says the proposed Police Force Bill must strike a
balance between giving Police officers the powers they need to tackle
increasingly complex crimes and protecting the rights and privacy of
individuals.
Usamate,
who was a member of the parliamentary committee that took the Bill
around the country for consultations, says two major concerns were
raised during the consultations.
He
says one group called for Police to be given all the necessary powers
and resources to deal with the increasingly complex nature of crime,
while another emphasised the need to protect individual rights,
including privacy, security and personal protection.
Usamate
says the challenge was to balance these two requirements and ensure
that whenever Police powers affect individual rights, adequate
safeguards and clear criteria are in place.
He
further raises concerns about privacy and the protection of personal
data, particularly Police access to information stored on mobile
phones.
He
says the Opposition will support the Bill, but with reservations.
Leader of the Opposition Inia Seruiratu says modern policing cannot be measured simply by how many additional powers Parliament gives the Police, but the rights and the interests of citizens must remain at the centre of this bill.
He says they support the Bill but have reservations and hope these reservations will be addressed.
Seruiratu says every Fijian is entitled to personal safety, dignity, privacy, fair treatment and protection from arbitrary interference.
Minister for Women, Children, Social Protection and Cohesion Sashi Kiran says police officers will be required to undergo training in gender sensitivity, addressing gender-based violence and handling cases involving women and children under the proposed Fiji Police Bill 2026.
She says the Bill introduces a mandatory training framework covering gender-based violence, the proper handling of cases involving women and the implementation of the no-drop policy.
Kiran says this is significant as women experiencing violence are often discouraged from reporting abuse because of fear, stigma and previous negative experiences.
The Minister says embedding gender-responsive policing into legislation will help ensure survivors are treated with dignity, sensitivity and professionalism.
She says the Bill also introduces specific safeguards for children during forensic procedures, including requiring police to explain procedures and inform children of their rights in language they can understand.
Opposition MP Virendra Lal is questioning who will compensate innocent families, if their homes or businesses are damaged during Police investigations under the Police Bill.
Lal says the proposed legislation gives Police wider powers without sufficient safeguards for ordinary citizens.
He says the Bill allows Police officers to dig up land, remove floorboards and dismantle property under a court-approved crime scene order.
However, Lal says the Bill does not clearly provide compensation for innocent property owners whose homes or businesses are damaged during such operations.
He stresses that he supports modernising the Force to tackle serious crimes, including drug trafficking and human trafficking.
However, he says stronger police powers must be accompanied by proper safeguards to protect people's rights.
Lal says he does not fully support the Bill in its current form.
Government MP Siromi Turaga says Fiji is no longer the safe haven it used to be, with people being attacked in their homes, phones being hacked, people stealing from machines and unresolved murders.
Speaking during the debate on the proposed Fiji Police Bill in Parliament, Turaga says the country is at a crossroads and police must be given the necessary tools to deal with the current situation.
He says if he had a good collection of unresolved murder cases, it would probably be more than 40 or 50.
He says a married man ran through a Lau village naked in broad daylight last Saturday after villagers apparently found some powder and used or sniffed it without reporting the matter to police
Turaga says this is the reality of today and questions how police are expected to solve these issues when they are constantly criticised but not given the necessary tools.
Speaking in his capacity as a Principal Legal Officer in the Fiji Police Force, a lawyer who has defended the Police Force in legal actions and a former magistrate, Turaga says he fully supports the Bill.
He says says Section 5 clearly outlines the functions of the police and provides clarity for officers to know exactly what they can and cannot do.
On Section 8, which deals with the role of the Force during a state of emergency, Turaga says the Bill clearly explains the arrangements and makes it clear that the Commissioner of Police does not have to give away his powers.
He says if there is a state of emergency, full control rests with the police and not the military.
Turaga also fully supports Division 5, which deals with covert operations, saying police will not be able to do their work efficiently if they are not given these powers in this age of technology and information technology.
On stop-departure orders, Turaga says the new requirement is that a person affected must be served with a notice.
He recalls people being stopped at Nadi Airport only to find out that their names were on a stop-departure list, which could be held by different authorities.
He says there were many other people who were stopped simply because someone did not want them to travel, breaching their fundamental right of movement.
He questions what kind of democracy was being practised at the time, saying the proposed Bill covers the basic principles of natural justice.
On crime scenes, Turaga says Sections 83, 84 and 85 clearly outline what an officer should do when there is a crime scene.
He recalls an incident in August 2003 in Wailada, Lami, where an employee of an investor was shot and the matter remains unresolved.
Turaga says police cordoned off the area and stopped all businesses from operating before leaving, but the keys to the offices were never returned even after one year.
He says a sum of $163,000 was paid to the investor because there were no clear processes or procedures for police to follow when dealing with a crime scene.
Turaga says the proposed Bill now provides those procedures.
On digital devices, he says there have been cases where accused persons were acquitted because police obtained a search warrant for the phone but not for the information in the phone.
He says under the proposed Bill, the search warrant covers both the phone and the information inside it.
Turaga also highlights the changes to police disciplinary procedures, saying there is now a clear framework on how officers should be disciplined and terminated.
He says under the current system, some police officers have probably been checked six or seven times because the power is always with the Commissioner.
He says the proposed Bill provides clear guidelines on how a person should be terminated and a framework that will be useful for future days and years to come.
Turaga says anyone who supports crime, promotes peace and is concerned about security should support the Bill, adding that he fully supports it.
