Privy Council of Tonga

Tonga
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Constitution King Tupou VI Prime Minister ʻAkilisi Pohiva Cabinet Legislative Assembly (current) Speaker: Lord Fakafanua Privy Council Recent elections General: 2005 2008 2010 2014 Political parties Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands (DPFI) People's Democratic Party (PDP) Foreign relations
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The Privy Council of Tonga is the highest ranking council to advise the Monarch in the Kingdom of Tonga. It is empowered to advise the King in his capacity as Head of State and Fountain of Justice under the provisions of Clause 50 ( 1 ) of the Constitution of Tonga:

" Clause 50 (1) The King shall appoint a Privy Council to provide him with advice. The Privy Council shall be composed of such people whom the King shall see fit to call to his Council."^[1]

Membership

Members of the Privy Council are appointed by the King of Tonga who is its Chairmen. The Council has 3 types of members:

• Regular Members-these are the majority.
• Members who hold their position by virtue of an office they occupy^[2]
• The Law Lords

The Lord Chancellor, the Lord President of the Supreme Court and the Attorney General are automatically members of the Privy Council. The constitution doesn't set a limit on the number of members who sit on the Council and this is left to the decision of the Monarch.

Judicial functions

The King in Privy Council has the authority to make appointments to most posts in the judicial branch of government.^[1][2] These include:

• The Lord Chancellor
• The Lord President of the Court of Appeal
• The Judges of the Court of Appeal
• The Lord Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
• The Judges of the Supreme Court
• The Lord President of the Land Court
• The Judges of the Land Court

The Council also contains a Judicial Committee, composed of the Lord Chancellor, The Attorney General, the Lord Chief Justice and five Law Lords, and called the Judicial Appointments and Discipline Panel.^[2] The Judicial Committee advi[ses] the King on the exercise of his judicial powers" and "investigate[s] complaints against judges".^[3]

The King in Privy Council is the final court of appeal for cases dealing with hereditary estates and titles.

Legislative functions

The Privy Council is empowered to make laws, "subject to parliamentary confirmation".^[4] As a law-making body, it is thus legally subordinate to the Legislative Assembly of Tonga.

External links

• "Privy Council", Tongan government website (page under construction)
• Tonga Privy Council rulings as a court of appeal, Pacific Islands Legal Information Institute
• A proposed reform of the Privy Council by the Tongan Human Rights and Democracy Movement

References