The Supreme Court of

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 ...

is one of three courts established by the now-defunct Chapter 9 of the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

, the others being the High Court and the

Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

. The Supreme Court is declared to be ''"the final appellate court of the State"'' – in other words, there is no judicial authority higher than the Supreme Court. In this respect, the Supreme Court takes over the appellate functions formerly performed by the United Kingdom's

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 Augus ...

before Fiji became a republic in 1987. The Constitution gave the Supreme Court exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine appeals from all final judgements of the Court of Appeal. Cases could not be brought before the Supreme Court by individuals; only the Court of Appeal could decide to refer a case to it, or the Supreme Court could, in its own judgement, decide to hear an appeal. This court has the power to review, vary, affirm, or discard decisions of the Court of Appeal, may order retrials, and may award costs to defendants and plaintiffs. Decisions of the Supreme Court are binding on all subordinate courts. At its own discretion, the Supreme Court may review any judgement or decision that it has previously rendered. Section 123 authorised the

President of Fiji The president of Fiji is the head of state of the Republic of Fiji. The president is appointed by the Parliament for a three-year term under the terms of the 2013 Constitution of Fiji. Although not entirely a figurehead, the role of president ...

, on the advice of the

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, to ask the Supreme Court to rule on actual or potential disagreements pertaining to the Constitution. The Supreme Court is required to pronounce its opinion in open court. The Supreme Court consists of the Chief Justice, who is also the President of the Supreme Court, all Justices of Appeal (who are also members of the Court of Appeal), and others specifically appointed as Supreme Court judges. The puisne judges, who sit on the High Court and the Court of Appeal, are not members of the Supreme Court. Section 129 of the Constitution declares that ''"A judge who has sat in a trial of a matter that is the subject of appeal to a higher court must not sit in the appeal."'' As the membership of the Supreme Court overlaps to a large extent with that of the Appeal Court and the High Court, this clause is inserted to prevent a conflict of interest.

External links

Jurist Legal Intelligence – Fiji Islands
Law of Fiji

1997 establishments in Fiji Courts and tribunals established in 1997 {{Fiji-stub

See also

External links