The High Court of Fiji is one of three courts that was established by Chapter 9 of the 1997 Constitution of Fiji — the others being the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. The Constitution empowered

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

to create other courts; these were to be subordinate to the High Court, which was authorized to oversee all proceedings of such courts. The High Court had unlimited

original jurisdiction In common law legal systems original jurisdiction of a court is the power to hear a case for the first time, as opposed to appellate jurisdiction, when a higher court has the power to review a lower court's decision. India In India, the S ...

to hear and determine any civil or criminal proceedings under any law and such other original jurisdiction as is conferred on it under the Constitution. The High Court consists of the Chief Justice and at least ten (and no more than eighteen) puisne judges. Parliament may also allow for junior judges, called Masters of the High Court, to sit on the High 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 High Court overlaps to a large extent with that of the Appeal Court and the Supreme Court, this clause is inserted to prevent a conflict of interest. In 2007, following the military coup, six Australian and

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 ...

judges resigned from the court. They were replaced by two

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

n judges, "with more appointments from

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

expected to follow soon". Until July 2007, under the ''High Court Act'', foreign judges appointed to the High Court had to be nationals of one of the following countries: Australia,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

, Sri Lanka,

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 ...

, or the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. In practice, appointees were almost exclusively nationals of Australia and New Zealand. In July 2007, President

Ratu ''Ratu'' () is an Austronesian title used by male Fijians of chiefly rank. An equivalent title, ''adi'' (pronounced ), is used by females of chiefly rank. In the Malay language, the title ''ratu'' is also the traditional honorific title to re ...

Josefa Iloilovatu Uluivuda issued the ''High Court Act (Amendment) Promulgation'', which extended the list to "any country which is at the time of the appointment a member of the

Commonwealth of nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the ...

". The Promulgation particularly highlighted

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

as potential sources for the appointment of new judges. Hong Kong was specifically cited as an authorised source for judges despite not being a member of the Commonwealth. The Promulgation was approved by the Cabinet led by interim

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 ...

Voreqe Bainimarama."High Court promulgation 2007"
, Fiji government press release, July 17, 2007

References

External links

High court caselaw
on PacLII {{Authority control Law of Fiji 1997 establishments in Fiji Courts and tribunals established in 1997

See also

References

External links