The Court of Appeal of Tonga is the supreme court in

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

for all criminal and most civil matters. It hears criminal and civil appeals from the Supreme Court and also hears appeals from the

Land Court Land court or land claims court is a type of court which is charged with dealings over cases involving land titles and for disputes between landlords and tenants relating to agricultural tenancies. The exact field of jurisdiction varies by country ...

Jurisdiction

An appeal from the Supreme Court to the Court of Appeal can be made as of by right unless it is a civil matter and the amount in dispute does not exceed T$1000. Orders made by consent, orders regarding

costs In production, research, retail, and accounting, a cost is the value of money that has been used up to produce something or deliver a service, and hence is not available for use anymore. In business, the cost may be one of acquisition, in which ...

, and

interlocutory Interlocutory is a legal term which can refer to an order, sentence, decree, or judgment, given in an intermediate stage between the commencement and conclusion of a cause of action, used to provide a temporary or provisional decision on an iss ...

decisions also cannot be heard by the Court of Appeal without leave of the Court. An appeal from the Land Court to the Court of Appeal can also be made as of by right. However, matters relating to the determination of hereditary estates and titles are appealed to the Privy Council of Tonga. The Court of Appeal can also deliver advisory opinions when specifically requested to do so by the

monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power i ...

, the Cabinet, or the Legislative Assembly.

Structure

The Court of Appeal is headed by the Chief Justice of Tonga. The Chief Justice and the other Justices of Appeal are appointed by the Privy Council and are foreign nationals, usually from other Commonwealth jurisdictions.

Chief Justices

*2019–present Michael Hargreaves Whitten *2015–2019 Owen Paulsen *2010–2015 Michael Dishington Scott *2006–2010 Anthony David Ford *2004–2006 Robin Maclean Webster *c.1998–2004 Sir Gordon Ward (2nd term) (Later Chief Justice of

Turks and Caicos Islands The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and n ...

, 2008} *1997–1998 Jack Lewis *1995–1997 Nigel Kenneth Hampton *1992–1995 Sir Gordon Ward (1st term) *1988–1991 Geoffrey William Martin *1985-1988 ? *1983–1985 Giles Harwood *1976-1983 ? *1973-1976 Henry Stead Roberts *1970-1973 ? *1968-1970 Ronald Knox-Mawer (jointly with Nauru) *1956–1968 Sir Clifford Hammett (jointly with Fiji) *1954-1956 David Blair Hunter *1953-1954 ? *1949–1953 James Beveridge Thomson (jointly with Fiji) (later Chief Justice of the Federation of Malaya, 1957) *1938-1949 ? *1936–1938 William Hemming Stuart *1936–1938 Ragnar Hyne *1930–1935 Charles Murray Murray-Aynsley *1925–1929 William Kenneth Horne *1917–1925 Sir Herbert Cecil Stronge *1905–? Robert Louis Skeen

References

*Jennifer Corrin-Care, Tess Newton and Don Paterson ''Introduction to South Pacific Law'' (Cavendish Publishing Ltd: London, 1999).

External links

Tonga Court System Information
paclii.org
The Tongan Judicial
Tonga Government Portal {{British dependencies chief justices, state = collapsed

Law of Tonga Government of Tonga