FIJI: Tribunal hearing for Chief Justice
Updated
In Fijii, a tribunal will begin hearing allegations of mishbehaviour against suspended Chief Justice Daniel Fatiaki on Monday. Three international judges have been appointed to hear the case. Justice Fatiaki was suspended on full pay following last year's coup.
Presenter: Geraldine Coutts
Speakers: Dr Brij Lal, Professor of Asian and Pacific studies at the Australian National Unviersity.
LAL: Well this is the first time in our history that the Chief Justice has been sacked by an interim administration following a military coup, and so the interim administration was obliged to investigate it and they promised very early on that they will be setting up a tribunal to investigate all kinds of allegations made against the Chief Justice. And it has taken a long time but the announcement was made last night, and I think that on the fact of it it's a very competent tribunal with a judge from Australia, one from Hong Kong and one from Malaysia. So while there was a lot of criticism of the Attorney General in particular about the delay we are now moving on, and I think the first hearing or first session of the tribunal will take place on Monday.
COUTTS: I'm still unclear as to why there was a preference shown for a tribunal rather than the court system itself?
LAL: Well I think the reason is this, because the court system itself was implicated in the crisis. There was division in the judiciary, there was one in 2000, and the effect of that has continued. So I think if it were a judicial inquiry, and you're talking about the Chief Justice who was part of the system, the perception would have been that it would be set in some form, in some way tainted or compromised. And of course you cannot have the judiciary investigating one of its own. In a sense if you want to create this air of impartiality and for that reason therefore a tribunal was the right way to go.
COUTTS: Do we know anything about the process of the tribunal? Will it conduct itself in the same way a court would?
LAL: Very much so, very much so, the same rules of evidence will apply; the tribunal has a Queen's Counsel assisting it, the proper format. I mean it's the usual rules of evidence, of testimony, of cross examination and what the tribunal will do of course is make a series of recommendations after the investigation. These may not be judicially binding, but it is then for the government and for the courts to take the matter up if they so wish.
COUTTS: I mean that's an interesting point that they might not be binding. Does that mean it can be interpreted in whatever way and who would the judgements and recommendations go to in the first place?
LAL: Well I think if the tribunal is set-up by the president, whoever is appointing authority will be the recipient of the report of this tribunal, and they can make all kinds of recommendations but then that will have to be prosecuted in the courts for the Chief Justice and whoever else is to be tried.
COUTTS: And what about sentencing?
LAL: That'll be up to the courts depending once you have the evidence, recommendations are made that prosecution will take place in the courts and the courts will then adjudicate what the sentence ought to be.
