PEOPLES COALITION GOVERNMENT, FIJI
Issue No: 88; 6 October 2000
Another Judge Resigns
Another judge has resigned from the bench effective today.
Justice Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi had resigned at the same time as Justice Jai Ram Reddy had resigned from the Presidency of
the Fiji Court of Appeal. Justice Reddy's resignation was effective end of August. Justice Madraiwiwi's resignation is
effective today. Reddy is setting up private practice while Madraiwiwi is joining the private law firm of Howards.
Madraiwiwi resigned for the same reasons as Reddy - that they did not approve of the attempted abrogation of the 1997
Constitution. Earlier, magistrate Makereta Waqavonovono had also resigned for the same reason.
The judiciary in Fiji has been significantly weakened by these resignations.
Already the public has lost a lot of confidence in the judiciary. The Chief Justice and two other judges (Justice Scott
and Justice Fatiaki) were involved in drafting decrees when the military captured power on 29 May. By writing "law", the
Chief Justice and the two judges departed from their traditional function of interpreting and giving effect to law.
Recently, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative criticised the Chief Justice and other judges for this. The Fiji Law
Society has also taken this matter up and is currently discussing ways to deal with this. It is understood that at least
one of the three justices has been taking out his vendetta against those lawyers whom he believes raised this matter up
initially.
The directive from the Chief Justice for the transfer of a constitutional case filed by the Peoples Coalition from
Lautoka to Suva is also seen as an attempt to subvert the cause of justice. The High Court will decide next week whether
the case should be transferred to Suva and to another judge.
The series of bungling in the Magistrates Court has seen the Magistrates Court lose its total credibility. First the
Chief Magistrate Salesi Temo freed an ex-soldier from attempted murder and carrying illegal weapons charge because he
thought he was covered under the Immunity Decree. The High Court overturned this ruling last week.
The Chief Magistrate came under added fire when he did not declare that one of those charged with terrorist George
Speight was related to him. He stepped aside only when the prosecution raised objections to him hearing the case. But
while he stepped aside from hearing one charge which related to the said accused, Temo continues to hear other related
Magistrates Court charges against the Speight Group.
Magistrates' Courts around the country have been giving extremely lenient bail terms for those charged with crimes
associated with the terrorist take-over of the Parliament and the government. In many cases, the bails have been in the
range $50-$100.
END
6 October 2000.