The Fiji Law Society is the official body that registers and regulates the activity of all

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

s in

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

. Historically, the President of the Fiji Law Society was a member ''

ex officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by right ...

'' of the Judicial Service Commission. The Fiji Law Society condemned the

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such ...

which deposed the government of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Laisenia Qarase Laisenia Qarase (pronounced ; 4 February 1941 – 21 April 2020) was a Fijian politician. He served as the sixth Prime Minister of Fiji from 2000 to 2006. After the military quashed the coup that led to the removal of Mahendra Chaudhry, Qarase ...

on 5 December 2006.

Fiji Times ''The Fiji Times'' is a daily English-language newspaper published in Suva, Fiji. Established in Levuka on 4 September 1869 by George Littleton Griffiths, it is Fiji's oldest newspaper still operating. ''The Fiji Times'' is owned by Motibhai G ...

and

Fiji Village ''Fiji Village'' (stylised ''Fijivillage'') is an online news website in Fiji which is fully owned and operated by Communications Fiji Limited. It covers local, political, business, sporting, cultural, and other news items. ''Fiji Village'' is ...

reported on 9 December that the society had barred seven military lawyers from practicing, and warned any lawyers against accepting the positions of

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

or Solicitor-General in the interim government. After an interim government was announced on 5–9 January 2007, the Society recognized its reality, but not its legality. The Society condemned what it saw as interference in the

Judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

by the military-backed government, after Chief Justice

Daniel Fatiaki Taniela (Daniel) Vafo'ou Fatiaki CF (born 1954 in Upu, Motusa District, Rotuma) was the Chief Justice of Fiji from 1 August 2002, when he succeeded Sir Timoci Tuivaga, till 5 December 2008. As Chief Justice, he presided over both the High Co ...

and

Chief Magistrate Chief magistrate is a public official, executive or judicial, whose office is the highest in its class. Historically, the two different meanings of magistrate have often overlapped and refer to, as the case may be, to a major political and admini ...

Naomi Matanitobua were sent on forced leave on 3 January 2007, and

Anthony Gates Anthony Harold Cumberland Thomas Gates was the chief justice of Fiji from 2008 to 2019. Justice Gates is best known for his decision in ''Chandrika Prasad v. Att-Gen of Fiji'' 0002 FLR 89; ''Prasad v. Republic of Fiji & Another'' 0011 LRC 66 ...

sworn in as Acting Chief Justice on 16 January. Not all members of the Society supported its stance against the interim government. Rajendra Chaudhry, son of former

Mahendra Chaudhry Mahendra Pal Chaudhry ( hif, महेन्द्र पाल चौधरी; born 9 February 1942) is a Fijian politician and the leader of the Fiji Labour Party. Following a historic election in which he defeated the long-time former lead ...

, a former

and the first Minister for Finance in the interim administration, spoke out on 24 January 2007, objecting to what he saw as personal opinions held by Sharma and Draunidalo being presented as official positions of the Fiji Law Society - without consulting its members, many of whom shared his concerns, he claimed. He called for a special meeting to deal with the issue, and threatened to join a breakaway body if his grievances were not addressed. The next day, Draunidalo announced that Sharma had ordered such a meeting, in order to "crush" internal opposition to its anti-coup stance. The

Fiji Human Rights Commission The Fiji Human Rights Commission (FHRC) was created by presidential decree in 2009, succeeding the entity of the same name established as an independent statutory body under the 1997 Constitution of the Republic of the Fiji Islands. The 1997 Co ...

(FHRC) announced on 26 January 2007 that it had commenced legal proceedings against the FLS for suspending the practicing certificates of five Military lawyers on 7 December 2006. The FHRC was seeing an injunction to allow

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Mohammed Aziz Mohammed Aziz (born as Sayeed Mohammed Aziz-Un-Nabi; 2 July 1954 – 27 November 2018), also known as Munna (Name Given By Legendary Music Composer Akshaya Mohanty, was an Indian multilingual playback singer who primarily sang for the Bollywood ...

, the Military's Director of Legal Services, and one other Military lawyer to resume practice. Aziz said the suspension made it impossible for him and his fellow-military lawyers to represent their clients, and that the decision was biased because he and the FLS President were opposing counsel in an upcoming trial. Devanesh Sharma was elected to replace

Graeme Leung Graham Everett Leung is a Fijian lawyer and former president of the Fiji Law Society. He was also chairman of the Electoral Commission (Fiji), Electoral Commission, and was named as judge advocate of a Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit Court Mar ...

as President of the Fiji Law Society on 9 September 2006, with

Tupou Draunidalo Roko (title), Roko Tupou Takaiwai Senirewa Draunidalo is a Fijian lawyer and politician. She is a former member of the Parliament of Fiji and from 2018 to 2022 was the president of the HOPE (Fijian political party), HOPE party. Background Drauni ...

as Vice-President. On 28 September 2007, at the Annual General Meeting, Suva lawyer Isireli Fa, was elected president of the Fiji Law Society. On 27 September 2008, Fa was succeeded as President by

Dorsami Naidu Dorsami Naidu is a Fijian lawyer and former politician. On 29 July 2005, he announced his intention to resign as President of the National Federation Party (NFP) at the party conference on 31 July. Naidu took over the leadership of the NFP, onc ...

, who held the position continuously until 14 June 2014, when he was succeeded by Peter Knight.{{Cite web, last=Fijivillage, title=30 more people receive Fiji 50 Independence Commemorative medals, url=https://www.fijivillage.com/news/30-more-people-receive-Fiji-50-Independence-Commemorative-medals-8fx45r/, access-date=2020-10-08, website=www.fijivillage.com, language=en

References

Law of Fiji Organisations based in Fiji Law societies