Tonga's attorney-general quits over government interference
Updated
Tonga's attorney-general has quit in protest at what he says is government interference in the country's legal system. John Cauchi, an Australian citizen, blames the Tongan government for directly appointing a judge, not supporting the appointment of special prosecutors to look at further charges against those involved in the Princess Ashika ferry disaster, and the abolition of the Judicial Services Commission.
He says the government has criticised the commission of inquiry into the ferry disaster and made no active response to its report, and attempted to have its terms of reference modified before its final report was released.
Presenter: Bruce Hill
Speaker: Tonga's former attorney-general John Cauchi
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CAUCHI: There are many reasons why I decided to resign, but I just used three of the triggers and the final triggers if you like, and they are that the government has directly appointed a judge without the usual recommendation under the constitution from the attorney or the Judicial Services Commission, and they've taken steps further to alter the constitution to abolish the Judicial Services Commission. And the third reason is that the Cabinet has decided not to support the appointment of a Special Prosecutor, who were going to help us in relation to charges arising from the sinking of the MV Princess Ashika.
HILL: What effect has this had on your opinion of the way the law is handled in Tonga?
CAUCHI: Look ordinarily and left to itself it works well and it works it well independently. However we can't continue to do that, while ever there's this level of interference from the executive government. This is unprecedented in Tonga, and to threaten the constitution, which is one of the oldest in the world, the constitution given by George the First, who I've decided to call George the Great. The people will be very upset about government making these kind of moves against the judiciary and against the constitution.
HILL: Are you saying these moves are against the judiciary and against the constitution, isn't it up to the government of Tonga to decide how the law will proceed in Tonga, isn't it up to them to decide to either have a Lord Chancellor or a Judicial Services Commission? What's the problem with having either of these?
CAUCHI: Well it doesn't meet the international or acceptable standards, because it offends against what's called the Separation of Powers doctrine, which exists in many constitutions, and this one. This government is behaving as if there is no constitution, and the parts of the constitution that they don't like, which doesn't suit them, they've decided they'll change it for short term gain only. They have to remembers they're overseeing a constitutional reform process in Tonga which has got to last it for the next 50 or 100 years, not just until the election in November this year.
HILL: You obviously have some concerns about the general application of the law in Tonga as a result of this. Why are these moves, the appointment of a judge by the Executive, the abolition of the Judicial Services Commission; why are these such a problem for you?
CAUCHI: What happens is that you end up with a tame judiciary, not independent, and they're beholding to the people who appointed them. If you don't have an independent system of appointment of judiciary, you won't attract decent judges to come here. This is a judiciary which is a judiciary looking like Fiji-style appointments. Fiji got rid of their constitution, and this government in Tonga's behaving as if it doesn't have one, and that's what's of great concern, and that's what will be of great concern to international bodies looking at what's happening in this country.
HILL: Now you've also said that one of the reasons for your resignation is the Cabinet you say has decided not to support the appointment of independent special prosecutors; one from New Zealand and one from Australia to investigate the matters surrounding the sinking of the Princess Ashika. I've spoken to a couple of cabinet ministers and senior people in the Prime Minister's office, and none of them know anything about such a decision?
CAUCHI: The decision which we're told about hasn't been issued, been confirmed that it's been made, but other decisions made by the Cabinet are sometimes not circulated to me and concern things that the Attorney General should be concerned with. And this decision not to support, I don't know what it means, I don't know whether it's related simply to the funding, or whether it's left to have this double meaning that the government doesn't want to do anything about it. Maybe it's some effort on the part of the government to avoid friends being prosecuted, I don't know that, I can't answer it.
HILL: To avoid friends being prosecuted, could you expand on that?
CAUCHI: Well to avoid, there are members of the present Cabinet who are under investigation and they know they're under investigation. They're trying either to select a tame judiciary, because by the time these cases go through the non-renewal of the Chief Justice will mean that there will be someone else, probably hand-picked again by the government, or picked in a way which does not accord with the constitution as it presently is. But it might be changed, I don't know those things.
HILL: Have you raised these concerns with the people in the Tongan government?
CAUCHI: I've had a series of letters in the last week or so where I was told that Justice Shuster, who's a judge provided by the Commonwealth Secretariat, has been renewed, and he was renewed without the usual procedure. And my responses to that say that the government is attempting to make a precedent of his appointment so that it can appoint others in the same way.
HILL: And I understand that particular judge actually approached the Tongan government independently and actually asked for more salary and it comes directly from the Tongan government, is that right?
CAUCHI: That's correct, that's what happened eventually. He was advised by the Commonwealth Secretariat to proceed in a certain way, that is to make a submission to them through the head of jurisdiction here. He didn't do that and he made it known to the government, either directly or indirectly that he was unhappy about his salary, and the government decided to quadruple the amount of money he was receiving.
HILL: Quadruple?
CAUCHI: Quadruple yes, nearly quadruple, maybe three-thousand pounds short of a quadrupling of his salary.
HILL: And obviously you'd have a problem with the judges' funding coming directly from a government which might bring cases that he would subsequently hear?
CAUCHI: That's correct, and the other thing the government has made it quite well known that they like this judge because he makes the sorts of decisions that they like.
HILL: What kind of an effect do you think your resignation in this kind of blaze of publicity is going to have, is it going to have an effect on Tonga, will it just simply make them dig their heels in or will it have an effect internationally on Tonga's reputation?
CAUCHI: I don't know what sort of effect it will have, I mean there will certainly be an effort made to discredit me once I leave, there's no doubt about that. There will be some effort probably to defame me, to say that I'm lying about what the government is saying. But unfortunately for them I have most of what I say I have said I can back up by documents either issued by the government or letters sent by the government to me.
