Court of Appeal (Fiji)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Judiciary of Fiji

Judicial officers
Chief Justice
Appeal Court President
Chief Magistrate
Justice of Appeal
Puisne judges
High Court Masters

Institutions
Supreme Court
Court of Appeal
High Court
Magistrates Courts
Judicial Service Commission

The Court of Appeal of Fiji is one of three courts established by Chapter 9 of the Constitution, the others being the High Court and the Supreme Court. The Court of Appeal was a new institution established when the 1997 Constitution came into effect; the other two courts predated it. The Constitution authorizes the Court of Appeal "to hear and determine appeals" from all judgements of the High Court. From time to time, other powers may be assigned to this court by law.

The Court of Appeal is chaired by the President of the Court of Appeal. The Chief Justice is not permitted to hold this position; the Court of Appeal is the only court from which the Chief Justice is constitutionally barred from membership. This is to give the Court of Appeal a measure of independence from the other courts. The current President of the Appeal Court is Gordon Ward. Also members of the Court of Appeal are the puisne judges, at least ten in number (who also sit on the High Court), and persons specifically appointed as Justice of Appeal.

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.

These constitutional arrangements were temporarily upset by the Fiji coup of 2000. On the advice of then-Chief Justice Sir Timoci Tuivaga, the Interim Military Government of Commodore Frank Bainimarama promulgated three decrees suspending the Constitution and reforming the Judiciary. The Supreme Court was abolished, and the Chief Justice was made President of the Appeal Court. Following a High Court order on 15 November 2000 to restore the Constitution, upheld by the Court of Appeal on 2 March 2001, the former judicial order was restored.