New Parliament website to offer access to laws, debates

Jamaica’s new Houses of Parliament website is slated for official launch in October.

The announcement was made by Speaker of the House of Representatives Juliet Holness, who said the platform is “in the very last stages of being overhauled”.

She was speaking at Monday’s opening ceremony for the 48th Regional Conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Caribbean, Americas and Atlantic (CAA) Region at Moon Palace Jamaica in St Ann.

Holness, who chairs the CPA-CAA Region, said the website represents an important step in efforts to make Parliament more accessible, responsive, and better equipped to meet the information needs of its stakeholders.

The revamped portal will include a national legislative repository, providing digital access to parliamentary records; enhanced accessibility features; and live streaming of parliamentary meetings, allowing citizens to follow proceedings remotely.

“You will have to look nowhere else for every single piece of legislation … every single debate, every single document that has ever existed in Parliament’s days gone by and currently,” Holness said.

She added that the site would feature a directory of all parliamentarians, making it easier for citizens and other stakeholders to identify their representatives and access information about their parliamentary roles.

The platform will also offer virtual tours of Parliament and tools designed to improve access for persons who are visually impaired.

“For those who have disabilities, for the first time, you will be able to log on to the Parliament of Jamaica and you can listen to whatever debate you would like to, whatever you would like to know, and, most importantly, be able to tour our Parliament and walk through it as if you are not in a rural space but physically in Kingston, Jamaica, walking through its Houses of Parliament,” she explained.

Holness said the website overhaul forms part of wider efforts to modernise parliamentary operations.

In her welcome address, she noted that the conference theme, ‘Strengthening Parliaments in the Digital Age’, is particularly relevant as the region undergoes rapid technological change.

She urged governments across the region to use digital transformation strategically to strengthen parliamentary operations, improve transparency, and deepen public engagement.

“Digital transformation is influencing the processes by which parliamentary business is undertaken. It is changing how information is created, managed, and disseminated. It changes us, and, therefore, challenges us to reconsider established approaches to parliamentary procedures, administration, public engagement, and service delivery,” she said.

The conference, which ends on Saturday, is expected to provide a forum for regional parliamentary leaders and stakeholders to share best practices and strengthen capacity-building initiatives across Commonwealth legislatures.