FIJI: Interim Government must resolve Chief Justice suspension
Updated
A number of Fiji's senior lawyers have criticised the interim goverment for causing further division within the judiciary. Former Vice President Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi, also a former High Court judge, says Chief Justice Daniel Fatiaki's removal by the interim regime "violated the independence of the judiciary and the sanctity of the courts".
Presenter: Geraldine Coutts
Speakers: Tupou Draunidalo, Vice President, Fiji Law Society
DRAUNIDALO: The main point was that the Chief Justice needs to be reinstated number one, because the first thing if the rule of law should mean anything the independence of the judiciary is sacred. So the reinstatement of the Chief Justice should be done first, then a judicial commission because even a judge of the High Court has recently admitted that there is division in the judiciary and there was division when he arrived here from Australia in 2000. And also the Law Asia Report stated that there is this division and it doesn't augur well for the independence of the judiciary. Now those are the main points that he made and he said that compromises will have to be made by both sides and a real and life issue as well is the issue of immunity to soldiers and civil servants who have taken part in what's occurred. I mean that's in his view something that both sides need to sit down and knuckle down on if we are to have any peaceful resolution, and really move forward.
COUTTS: Can I just come back to that point of the division within the judiciary; what are the principle points? Is it simply over Justice Fatiaki's suspension?
DRAUNIDALO: No the commentators, including the Law Asia Report and the High Court judge who's about to leave Fiji and return to Australia, they talked about the division that was here after 2000 when George Speight tried to take over and remove a government.
COUTTS: So has it come down to those who supported the coup and then those who didn't? Is that the division?
DRAUNIDALO: Yes. The problems stem from that time, and they continue.
COUTTS: And so there's a similar division following the December coup then?
DRAUNIDALO: Same division that was there the commentators are saying, the same divisions that were there then have been exacerbated or reopened or whatever now after this latest coup.
COUTTS: Well what are some of the practical solutions to this?
DRAUNIDALO: Well Ratu Joni suggested that there be a judicial commission setup and that's similar to what Law Asia had recommended. We've had Law Asia recommend that something similar be setup to investigate the four or five judges that may be implicated. He didn't talk of the entire judiciary but the four or five who had this strong views against each other.
COUTTS: And the issue of this suspension of Chief Justice Daniel Fatiaki, where is that at the moment? Have charges been laid and is it being investigated or is he still on suspension?
DRAUNIDALO: This is why I mean common criminals are treated better than the Chief Justice. You can't detain criminals in this country, I mean alleged offenders, you can't just detain them for investigations or whatever for more than 48 hours under the constitution. In this case the Chief Justice has been suspended, which is in itself a penalty, he's been suspended for six and a half months going onto seven months without particulars of charges.
COUTTS: Now Devenesh Sharma who is the current President said during the convention that he would not be standing again when the next elections would take place, and he recommended that the Law Society break with convention and elect an indigenous lawyer as its president this time around. What does he mean by that?
DRAUNIDALO: Yes I found that comment unhelpful in the current times. The last thing we need to do in the current crisis is start talking about race, and many indigenous lawyers spoke with me and they said to me that they found this quite condescending that it had to be put in that manner. They felt that if one of us merits the position that person will get it. It doesn't need special treatment or special attention.
