Sir John Neil Falvey, K.B.E., Q.C. was a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

-born lawyer, who served as Attorney General of Fiji from 1970 to 1977. Previously, he had served as legal adviser to the

Fijian Affairs Board Fijian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Fiji * The Fijians, persons from Fiji, or of Fijian descent. For more information about the Fijian people, see: ** Demographics of Fiji ** Culture of Fiji * The Fijian langua ...

Early political career

Falvey served as a member of the

Legislative Council of Fiji The Legislative Council of Fiji was the colonial precursor to the present-day Parliament, which came into existence when Fiji became independent on 10 October 1970. The first Legislative Council Immediately after Fiji was ceded to the Unite ...

in the 1960s. In January 1963, Falvey signed what became known as the Wakaya letter, a document drawn up by the

Great Council of Chiefs The Great Council of Chiefs ''(Bose Levu Vakaturaga'' in Fijian) was a constitutional body in Fiji from 1876 to March 2012. In April 2007, the council was suspended, due to an unworkable relationship with Frank Bainimarama, leader of an "interi ...

, which asserted the principle of ethnic Fijian paramountcy. This became the basic negotiating document of the Alliance Party (supported predominantly by ethnic Fijians and by Europeans) in the 1960s. Following the 1963 elections, the first-ever held by universal suffrage,

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Sir Derek Jakeway introduced the member system as a first step towards responsible government, which followed four years later. Three members of the Legislative Council ( Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, Dr A. D. Patel, and Falvey himself) were made members of the Executive Council of Fiji and appointed to oversee government departments. They were not "ministers" in the modern cabinet sense: they were a minority within the Executive Council, and although responsible to the Legislature, they were merely advisers to the Governor, who retained complete executive power. Falvey was appointed Member for Communication and Works, with responsibility covering

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civil aviation Civil aviation is one of two major categories of flying, representing all non-military and non-state aviation, both private and commercial. Most of the countries in the world are members of the International Civil Aviation Organization and work ...

, tourism, transport and

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He served until 1966. With the introduction of responsible government on 20 September 1967, Falvey was made a Minister without portfolio, meaning that he had no fixed responsibilities, but had a vote in the Cabinet and was assigned ad hoc tasks from time to time by Ratu Mara, who was now the

Chief Minister of Fiji The office of Chief Minister of Fiji was established by the British colonial authorities on 20 September 1967, along with the Cabinet system of government. This was part of an ongoing move to forge modern political institutions to prepare Fiji f ...

. He held this office until 1970

Attorney General

In 1970, when Fiji became an independent

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, Falvey was appointed Attorney-General by the Prime Minister, Ratu Mara. In the 1972 elections, the first since independence in 1970, the number of

General electors "General Electors" is the term formerly used in Fiji to identify citizens of voting age who belonged, in most cases, to ethnic minorities. The 1997 Constitution defined General Electors as all Fiji citizens who were not registered as being of ...

's representatives (representing ethnic minorities) in the

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was reduced from the ten they had been allocated in the former Legislative Council to eight; of these, only three were elected on a closed communal roll. Falvey did not contest this election, but was appointed to the Senate of Fiji as one of six nominees of the

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 i ...

. After retiring as Attorney General, Falvey remained in the Senate until 1979, and chaired several Senate committees.

1987 constitutional review commission

Following the first of two military coups, Governor-General Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau appointed Falvey to chair a constitutional review commission. The commission was to begin hearings on 6 July, and deliver its recommendations to the Governor General by 31 July. Its terms of reference were to "strengthen the representation of indigenous

Fijians Fijians ( fj, iTaukei, lit=Owners (of the land)) are a nation and ethnic group native to Fiji, who speak Fijian and share a common history and culture. Fijians, or ''iTaukei'', are the major indigenous people of the Fiji Islands, and live ...

, and in so doing bear in mind the best interests of other peoples in Fiji." The Commission received 860 written and 120 oral submissions, and produced a report recommending a new

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multi ...

legislature comprising 36

(28 elected and 8 appointed by the

), 22

Indo-Fijians Indo-Fijians or Indian-Fijians (also known as Fiji Indians) are Fijian citizens of Indian descent, and include people who trace their ancestry to various regions of the Indian subcontinent.Girmit by Suresh Prasad Although Indo-Fijians constitu ...

, 8

, 1 Rotuman, and up to four nominees of the Prime Minister.

National constituencies {{Politics of Fiji National constituencies were a former feature of the Fijian electoral system. They were created as a compromise between demands for universal suffrage on a common voters' roll, and for a strictly communal franchise, with Par ...

, ethnically allocated by elected by universal suffrage, were to be abolished, and all voting was to be communal. The Prime Minister's post was to be reserved for an indigenous Fijian. After a second military coup on 25 September that year, and the appointment of Ganilau as first

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of a newly proclaimed republic, the government submitted the recommendations of the Falvey Commission to a review committee chaired by Paul Manueli, a former Commander of the Fijian military. Some adjustments were made, and the outcome was the 1990 Constitution, which entrenched indigenous Fijian dominance.

Personal life

Falvey was a

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. He had six children. His interests included golf, and in 1978 he was President of the Fiji Golf Association.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Falvey, John 1918 deaths 1990 deaths Attorneys-general of Fiji New Zealand emigrants to Fiji Ethnic minority members of the Legislative Council of Fiji Ethnic minority members of the Senate (Fiji) Fijian Queen's Counsel New Zealand King's Counsel Fijian Roman Catholics New Zealand Roman Catholics Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Fijian knights New Zealand knights