Judiciary of Kiribati

The Judiciary of Kiribati is the branch of the Government of Kiribati which interprets and applies the laws of the country.[1] In addition to the Constitution of Kiribati and the corpus of laws, the laws of Kiribati include customary law, which the courts must take into account when considering specified matters in criminal and civil proceedings.

Courts

Magistrates' courts

Twenty-four magistrates' courts, composed of magistrates and a clerk, deal with less-serious civil, criminal, and land cases on a district basis.[2] Magistrates courts are district courts of summary jurisdiction and were formally established by the Magistrates Courts Ordinance of 1977.[3] They are by default composed of three magistrates appointed by the Minister of Justice on recommendation of the Chief Justice of the High Court, however, the Chief Justice may establish single magistrate units of which there are currently eleven operating on the islands of South Tarawa and Kiritimati.[3][4]

High Court

The High Court hears more serious civil and criminal cases appealed to it by the magistrates' courts. It along with the Court of Appeal is constitutionally established as Kiribati's superior court of record. Appeals relating to land, divorce, and inheritance are dealt with by the High Court's Land Division. Prior to 2014 there was only the one High Court judge, but in that year a second puisne judge was appointed. The Chief Justice of Kiribati is the Head of the Judiciary in Kiribati and is appointed by the President of Kiribati on advice from the Cabinet in consultation with the Public Service Commission. Additional judges are appointed by the president on advice from the Chief Justice in consultation with the Public Service Commission. Only a person who has held office as a judge (in any country) or who has been qualified to practice law for at least five years are eligible to be appointed to the High Court.[5]

Court of Appeal

The Kiribati Court of Appeal hears appeals from the High Court. The court is composed of the Chief Justice and other judges of the High Court, and other such justices appointed by the president on advice of the Chief Justice of the High Court sitting with the Public Service Commission.[5] Judges appointed to the court in addition to the High Court judges may sit on the Court of Appeal for a specified term or for particular causes or matters.[5] The president chooses which judge shall sit as President of the Court of Appeals. A Court of Appeal judge may not sit for an appeal for a case in which they gave a decision on any court on which they were a member.[5]

Judges may only be removed if they are unable to carry out the functions of the office, or for "misbehavior" as decided by the president on resolution by the Maneaba ni Maungatabu after advice from a tribunal appointed by the president, one of whose members must be a person who has held "high judicial office".[5]

Chief Justices

From 1877 to 1962, the Chief Justice of Fiji was ex officio the Chief Judicial Commissioner for the Western Pacific including the Gilbert Islands (as Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony).

# Incumbent Portrait Tenure Head of State Notes
Took office Left office
Chief Judicial Commissioner for the Western Pacific and Chief Justice of Fiji (1877–1962)
1. Sir John Gorrie[6][7] 1877 1882 Victoria
Sir Fielding Clarke
Acting 		1882 1882 Victoria
2. Sir Henry Wrenfordsley[8][9][10] 1882 1885 Victoria
Sir Fielding Clarke
Acting for Wrenfordsley 		1884 1885 Victoria
3. Sir Fielding Clarke 1885 1889 Victoria
4. Sir Henry Berkeley[11][12][13][14] 1889 1902 Victoria
Edward VII
5. Sir Charles Major[15][16][17][18][19][20] 1902 1914 Edward VII
George V
Albert Ehrhardt[21]


Acting for Major

1910 21 February 1911 Edward VII
George V 		Ehrhardt, the then Attorney-General of Fiji, acted as Chief Judicial Commissioner while Major, the incumbent Chief Judicial Commissioner, was acting as High Commissioner for the Western Pacific.
6. Sir Charles Davson[22][23][24][25][26] 1914 1922 George V
Sir Kenneth Muir MacKenzie[27]
Acting 		1922 1923 George V
7. Sir Alfred Young, KC 1923 1929 George V
8. Sir Maxwell Anderson, CBE, KC, RN (retd.) 1929 1936 George V
Edward VIII
9. Sir Owen Corrie, MC[28] 1936 1945 Edward VIII
George VI
10. Sir Claud Seton, MC[29][30][31] 1945 22 November 1949 George V
11. Sir James Thomson 1949 1953 George VI
Elizabeth II
12. Sir Ragnar Hyne[32][33][34][35][36] 1953 1958 Elizabeth II
13. Sir Albert Lowe[37] 1958 1962 Elizabeth II
Chief Justice of the High Court of the Western Pacific (1962–1976)
14. Sir Geoffrey Briggs[38] 1962 1965 Elizabeth II

15.

Sir Jocelyn Bodilly 1965 1976

Gilbert Islands (from 1978)

Name Took office Left office Notes
James Aiden O'Brien Quinn 1977 1979 [39]

Kiribati (from 1979)

Name Took office Left office Notes
James Aiden O'Brien Quinn 1979 1981 [39]
Jeffrey R. Jones 1981 1985
Vincent Oluoma Maxwell 1985 1990
Faqir Muhammad 1990 1995 [40]
Stanley Cory 1995 1995 Acting
Richard Lussick 1995 2000
Robin Rhodes Millhouse 2000 2011 Also Chief Justice of Nauru 2006–2010[40]
Sir John Baptist Muria 2011 2020 [40]
Bill Hastings 2021[41] Incumbent Suspended since 30 June 2022 (see 2022 Kiribati constitutional crisis)
Tetiro Semilota 2022 Acting

References

  1. ^ "The Judicial System of Kiribati". Commonwealth Governance. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  2. ^ "About the Judiciary". Judiciary Kiribati.
  3. ^ a b "Magistrates Courts Ordinance, Chapter 52". PacLII. Pacific Islands Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  4. ^ "Single Magistrate Unit". Judiciary Kiribati, Te Botaki Ni Kabowi. Kiribati Ministry of Justice. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d e "The Constitution of Kiribati" (PDF). Constitutionne. The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA). Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  6. ^ Brereton 1997, p. 104.
  7. ^ Cooper, Charles Alfred (1896) An editor's retrospect; fifty years of newspaper work p. 147
  8. ^ "London Gazette, 19 June, 1883". london-gazette.co.uk.
  9. ^ Louch, T. S. Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University – via Australian Dictionary of Biography.
  10. ^ Bennett, John Michael. Sir Henry Wrenfordsley: Second Chief Justice of Western Australia, 1880–1883
  11. ^ Knighthood for Chief Justice of Fiji and Chief Judicial Commissioner for the Western Pacific Knighthood for Berkeley
  12. ^ 'The Times' 2 October 1918: 30 September 1918, death of Sir Henry Spencer Berkeley, 3rd son of Thomas Berkeley Hardtman-Berkeley
  13. ^ Dictionary of Australasian Biography
  14. ^ "Profile of LGG". www.rootschat.com.
  15. ^ "No. 27476". The London Gazette. 23 September 1902. p. 6075.
  16. ^ Replaced Berkeley in 1902 The Otago Witness, 13 August 1902
  17. ^ Knighted June 1911, still CJ, W. Pacific
  18. ^ Sir Charles Major biog. Chief Justice of Fiji and Chief Judicial Commissioner for the W. Pacific 1902–14 (maybe 1902-11) and M.E.C.(possibly HC=High Commissioner) of Fiji 1905–14
  19. ^ Announcement as CJ, British Guiana The Edinburgh Gazette, 29 September, 1914[permanent dead link]
  20. ^ This source says that Albert Ehrhardt, the Attorney-General, was acting as JCWP in October 1910 (p.148) and that Charles Major "had returned to his substantive position as JCWP" by August 1911 (p.153) (Lavaka 1981, pp. 148, 153)
  21. ^ Ehrhardt was also Attorney General 1903–1914; acting for Major while Major was Acting High Commissioner (1910–1911). (Lavaka 1981, pp. 148)
  22. ^ (1857–1933) Charles Davson: called to the Bar at the Middle Temple in 1881. Joined the Bar of British Guiana in 1882. Solicitor General, 1898. Appointed Puisne Judge of Mauritius in 1905; Chief Justice of Fiji and Chief Judicial Commissioner for Western Pacific in 1914. Knighted 1917.
  23. ^ "War Honours - Most Honourable Order of the Bath 1917". www.rootsweb.ancestry.com.
  24. ^ "Died 6 November 1933" (PDF). ancestry.com.
  25. ^ "Full text of "Stewart's hand book of the Pacific islands; a reliable guide to all the inhabited islands of the Pacific Ocean, for traders, tourists and settlers"". archive.org.
  26. ^ Daley 1996, p. 114.
  27. ^ His surname was Muir Mackenzie
  28. ^ He was appointed Chief Justice of Fiji and Chief Judicial Commissioner for the Western Pacific. Tuesday 25 February 1936 Corrie
  29. ^ Snow, Philip (15 November 1997). Years of Hope: Cambridge, Colonial Administrator in the South Seas, and Cricket. The Radcliffe Press. ISBN 9781860641473 – via Google Books.
  30. ^ "Biography" (PDF). oldframlinghamian.com.
  31. ^ By May 1950 Seton was chairing a judicial inquiry in Kenya Kenya Gazette, 9 May 1950
  32. ^ CJ Tonga & Solomon Islands, a Judicial Commissioner 1930 Burra Record 18 June 1930
  33. ^ Knighted 1956 London Gazette 10 February 1956 p. 825
  34. ^ V. brief biog.[permanent dead link] His father's surname was Hein.
  35. ^ "The Sydney Morning Herald - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
  36. ^ Picture of Hyne in judge's wig & robe[permanent dead link]
  37. ^ Christie's sale of medals with biog.
  38. ^ April 1962. The QUEEN has been pleased to give directions for the appointment of Geoffrey Gould Briggs, Esq., Puisne Judge, Unified Judiciary of Sarawak, North Borneo and Brunei, to be Chief Justice designate to the High Court of the Western Pacific.
  39. ^ a b The International Who's Who 2004
  40. ^ a b c Dziedzic, Anna (2021). Foreign Judges in the Pacific. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. ISBN 978-1-50994-288-6.
  41. ^ Kiribati Chief Justice Appointed, 10 August 2021
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judiciary_of_Kiribati