THERE are a whole lot of issues the Constitution Commission needs to address for the kinds of decisions it is required to make.
And the commission has called on academics to utilise their expertise because their contributions would be extremely important.
Commission chairman Prof Yash Ghai said the role academics could play was not only making suggestions about what could be in the constitution but how the problems that Fiji faced could be resolved.
"That is a very important role," Prof Ghai said.
He said the commission felt the contribution of academics would be important in providing good structures of the State, the relationship between the State and civil society and the role of human rights relating to different communities not only between the State and its citizens. He said it was also building some kind of consensus.
"Inevitably when we go, people talk about their own problems and quite rightly that's why we go and talk to them because we want an understanding of everyday problems," Prof Ghai said.
He said constitutions today were different types of instruments compared to 30 or 40 years ago when the primary function of constitutions was to set up the structures of government. He said constitutions were deeply concerned with social justice, civil society, and in a way concerned the values and justice within civil society as per the structure and mandate of the State.
Prof Ghai added the scope of constitutions had expanded a great deal.