The debate on the National Identification and Registration (NIDS) Act, 2020 is scheduled to get underway on Tuesday in the House of Representatives.

At the very least, the debate on the report of the joint select committee [JSC] of the Parliament that considered the NIDS Bill should commence, as the Minister of Justice, Delroy Chuck, told last week’s sitting of the House of Representatives that the report would be tabled this week. He also indicated that he intends to open the debate on the Bill at this week’s sitting of the House and it is listed on the House agenda.

It has been a long road for the NIDS which was placed before the JSC in January. Prior to that, the law was struck down in the Constitutional Court in April 2019 after a three judge panel determined that it was unconstitutional.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness told the House last September that registration under the new legislation will be voluntary and it is less intrusive as far as biometric data such as fingerprint, facial image and manual signature are concerned.

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