CHAN LAW

18/04/2026

Sharing this, which appeared on newsfeed, about critera for a just war, in light of USA's claims it and Israel's bombing of Iran (February 28, 2026) is with the hand of god. Does it fit the criteria? Talks between USA and Iran were still continuing when the first bombs obliterated a school! Hoping for peace, common sense to prevail.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church on Just War Doctrine.

11/04/2026

Waited anxiously the last 3 days, not because an American President threatens to wipe out one civilisation of Iran, or the consequences that follow from that, but whether and how the local social media will remember the 17th anniversary of that fateful "Black Friday" day 10 April 2009, which changed our lives forever: the abrogation of Fiji's 1997 Constitution. Nothing. Anti-climax!
Instead, there were reassuring stories of getting on with consultations for review of the 2013 Constitution. Yes, seems they are moving on. Got a call from a subscriber asking which law allows the team to go out to do this? Wasn't there a law passed recently? Looked at laws of Fiji page. Nothing passed in 2026. Looked at Parliament page. Yes, 3 Acts passed, but nothing to do with constitution review. There was a national referendum bill. No, not yet an Act, still a Bill. Subscriber suggested just a cabinet approval, then. Prove our subscriber wrong.
The last Yash Ghai task was presented as a process of law. The 1996 Reeves, Vakatora, Lal exercise didn't seem to require a law, neither did the 1990 Ravuvu exercise. What we have is lots of reports. Bit like the review of liquor laws reports. They piled up.
Armageddon didn't happen on the 17th anniversary. Still live to tell the tale. Waited the whole day of 10th, night, next day for a sentence!
Instead, Pope Leo XIV called for prayers for peace. 🕊️ The world watched anxiously whether 4 astronauts would return to Earth safely after circumnavigating the moon. 🌛
What will the 18th anniversary look like? Here, let's have ice cream while we ponder. 🍦

04/03/2026

Across the carpark, spotted this giant of a High Court judge, Justice Penijamini Lomaloma. How often does one get a chance meeting? Ran towards him, whipped out the phone. Turns out he's the poster judge for May in the Judiciary's 2026 calendar (I want one!), setting a first for a High Court sitting in Rabi last year. Yes, still using the High Court Act and Rules he purchased in private practice. "I refer to it all the time", he says. Thanks, your Lordship.

15/02/2026

新年快乐. 祝你身体健康.

06/02/2026

When are the amendments to Employment Relations Act going to pass Parliament? As if we know. Bumped into the Minister in October, and he said December 2025. Still waiting. Some told us they would pause a purchase until amendments come out, but one law firm is brave. It waited too long. It needs to give proper advice to its clients. The new look annotated Employment Relations Act contains references to cases from the tribunal not yet made public. The e-copy links case references to PacLii. PacLii gave permission to link. The wait is over. 995 pages packed with precedents, history and judicial comments. Yours to own.

05/01/2026

Where were you on this day on 5 January 2007? What event in Fiji's history does it remind you of? Is this event worth recording in history? Will it be written as a coup or will revisionist historians write it as re-righting a wrong? When we asked this question several years ago, some Gen-Z didn't even know it had happened! And in their lifetime! So, let you be the judge of history. Here's a snippet from Interim Government of the Republic of the Fiji Islands Immunity (Fiji Military Government Intervention) Promulgation 2007 (Interim Government Promulgation No. 3) to remind you:
"AND WHEREAS the Commander of the Republic of the Fiji Military Forces reluctantly intervened by a Declaration of a State of Emergency on 5th December 2006 and other acts subsequently including as holding the office of Acting President of the republic of the Fiji Islands between 5th December 2006 and 4th January 2007, to return the governance of the Nation to an honest path.
AND WHEREAS the Commander as Head of the Interim Military Government of Fiji assumed and exercised the executive and legislative power of the State up until 4th January 2007.".
Leave a comment about where you were when you heard the news. If enough people put their collective will to it, it will be people telling their own history and owning the day. We don't expect profiles with half a nose, half a mouth or half an eye to respond, neither do we expect profiles with landscapes or animals, or pen pushers, or those who haven't posted since 2018 or even 2023. Probably ghost or fake accounts. Let's take back history.

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31/12/2025

And the winner of the most productive day in 2025 goes to 25 July! 🏆 In fact, most productive day of all time when 29 judgments/decisions/rulings were released in a single day. Take that, stats nerds. And a happy new year to you too. 🎇 Here, have some cheese and crackers.

10/12/2025

Finally, we have proof in black and white that nobody in that august house proofreads the drafter's bill thoroughly before it is passed, with "with this Act and it’s regulations," glaringly obvious. In the same law, they were keen to change "Chief Executive of" from "general manager for" but left "iTaukei land trust board" alone (the last 3 words were capitalised before the folks from the red books department arrived). The red books department managed to do away with capital letters in reference to the permanent secretary here and there, but smartly left it in the definition section capitalised. This amending Act doesn't fuss with that anomaly. Another bill to correct other errors, or a Corrigendum? The smart money is on Corrigenda when they eventually find more.

02/12/2025

Never a better opportunity for a photo opp with various heads of legal registries in one frame than at a Justice Summit on October 29: Sanaila Nukutaumaki, Official Receiver; Torika Goneca, Registrar of Titles; Makereta Sotutu, Deputy Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages; Ana Mataitini, communications Officer and speech writer; Abel Caine, who with Marie Chan represented Chinese Association of Fiji. It was a one time event in the history of Fiji where all stakeholders in justice -donors, Government Ministries, statutory organisations, judiciary, Fiji Law Society, non-governmental organisations- were allowed opportunity to update a stocktake of their sectors, and to chart a roadmap to provide better justice. Now, the real work begins. Thank you Ministry of Justice.

17/11/2025

Next question: how does one reference a precis note, quotation or paraphrased summary, sourced from Marie Chan's annotated laws?
The simple answer is attribution/acknowledgement as you would with a textbook: "[quotation]", Chan, M, Annotated High Court Act & Rules, 17 November 2025 ed., Suva, p5; or Marie Chan, in her seminal commentary of the Bail Act, points out at page 6 .... (Chan, M, Annotated Bail Act, 17 November 2025 ed., Suva, p6).
Here's one we found in Practice Direction 1/11: [see CPC annotated by Marie Chan 2008 at p 400].
Note: If a note is in quotation marks" " it is quoted directly from a court case. If there are no " ", then M Chan has paraphrased it. Please discern and attribute appropriately. Many a time, we find users do not attribute properly to M Chan, state in their submissions a particular principle is from a case, when it is in fact M Chan's paraphrasing. A judicial officer may just copy that submission onto a judgment, with the result that we field complaints about where in the court case the quotation comes from.
Please help reduce plagiarism, and intellectual dishonesty. Let's preserve copyright ©️.
Thank you for privately messaging us, and raising these frequently asked questions. Although we answered privately, it seems there's a need to say it publicly, as others may also have niggling questions. Glad to be of help. Thank you for using the Annotated Laws to better your understanding of the law.

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27/10/2025

Came across a Court of Appeal Ruling which refers to a case name, no citation, no date, and if already referenced, a supra. None of these helpful hints, so it became difficult to track. Searched for it on paclii- non existent! Either the judge or one of the parties got the name wrong.
When referring to a case it is most helpful if you can give the full names of parties, not just surname, court awarded number, not just an electronic citation, and date. Names of judicial officers would also help. If referring to a specific location where a quotation is extracted, give the location. Here are examples: Bal Sting v Ab Bo Can HBC 100/25B FJHC 9/25, 1 November 2025, George, AJ at [7]; Dr Eo Frill v State AAU 652/25 (an appeal from HAA 2/25L) FJCA 3/25, 2 December 2025, Qetaki, JA with Winter & Prematilaka, JJA at n 3.

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