Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Fiji appeal court judges quit as they are no longer wanted

Posted at 01:42 on 04 September, 2007 UTC

The remaining judges appointed to Fiji’s Court of Appeal say they have resigned as it was clear they were no longer wanted.

The group of 5 New Zealand judges and one Australian handed their resignations to President Ratu Josefa Iloilo.

The senior judge in the group, Justice Sir Thomas Eichelbaum, says the acting Chief Justice has stopped all communication:

“We had really been sidelined by the acting Chief Justice, Justice Gates. He had taken over the administration of the court. He had not consulted us about the sittings held last week, which were made up of High Court judges, and indeed he had not even had the courtesy to ask us whether we were available.”

Sir Thomas says New Zealand judges have been the mainstay of Fiji’s Court of Appeal for more than 50 years and the judges regret that connections should end this way.

Sir Thomas says while constitutionally High Court judges can sit in the Appeal Court he feels it is more satisfactory to have a separate court.