CHAN LAW

22/06/2025

Shortage of labour? How about hiring prisoners? In 1872, even Polynesians were in short supply to work on plantations. This is one of the early regulations we saw of regulations made under the 1871 Constitution. This carbon copy 3 of 4 is transcribed notes of handwriting of the Colonial Secretary's office from 1872-1876, and is bound volume in one of the State Libraries in Australia. Where the copytaker was not able to decipher the handwriting, she left elipses. Ostensibly, the original is kept at the National Archives, Suva, but one volume we've seen contains original typewriter page and 3 carbon copies, so there may even be pages missing from the National Archives' collection. The 1903 edition of revised laws omits any law pre 1 January 1875. Clean slate. You wouldn't even know they made laws before 1875. There is a letter referencing laws made in 1871 and 1872, but the attachment, the actual laws, is not there. Pity.

14/06/2025

What does it mean in a 2 judge appeal panel when one judge signs the judgment and the other doesn't? The other judge dissented? Didn't approve? Approved but was absent at the time for signing, before delivery?

08/06/2025

Diving into the Chief Secretary's letters from 1872-1876, found at the National Archives, Suva and selected state libraries in Australia, we find mention of an 1865 and 1867 Constitution, apparently drafted by the ruling British, and seemingly with consent from the chiefs, most of whom agreeing may have been loyal to then King Cakobau's reign from 1852. Mind you, the chiefs were still warring at that time. Ratu Cakobau offered to cede Fiji to Great Britain in 1859, but it was not accepted! The 1865 document shows the administrative arm of government was well functioning. We found the text of the 1865 Constitution (shown in the text) but not the 1867 one, nor an 1869 amendment. The 1871 constitution, which we earlier found, is one which was drafted with King Cakobau's consent, and on which many laws and regulations were formed. Prior to this, laws seem to have been made by the Colonial Secretary and council. So it seems that the beginnings of the legislative and judicial arms of government derived legitimacy from the 1871 constitution. One of the first Fijian Justices is Ratu Marika, who was a judge in 1873-1875, but we cannot find his name mentioned in one history text or on an online search.

"CONSTITUTION OF THE NEW FIJIAN CONFEDERACY
AGREED TO AT OVALAU.
THE undersigned Chiefs of Fiji, having assembled together on the 8th and 9th of May, 1865, unanimously agreed to the following resolutions :-
1 That the present condition of Fiji is such as to require a firmer and Stronger form of government than it at present possesses in order that the cause of union, justice, and progress may be promoted.
That this subject can be best effected by modelling a Constitution adapted to the wants of the people, and to the forms of government hitherto in use among them.
We, therefore, the undersigned Chiefs, agree that :
I. We, the principal chiefs of Fiji, shall meet together at least once a year, and deliberate on measures connected with the general welfare of Fiji.
II. The Chiefs of the Assembly will, on their arrival at the place of meeting, proceed to elect one of their number to be the President of Fiji, until the next general meeting. He will be elected by the majority of votes, and his commands will be implicitly obeyed, so far as they are in accordance with the laws, by every Chief in Fiji; during his tenure of office.
III, One code of laws will be adapted for the entire group of Fiji, and all changes or additions thereto can only be made in the General Assembly of the Chiefs.
IV. The internal government of each state; will be left in the hands of its proper chief, who will be responsible, for the conduct of its inhabitants. He alone has the power of levying taxes in his dominions.
V. In order that no part of Fiji shall remain unrepresented, the boundaries of each state shall be strickly defined. The seven independent chiefs, viz of Bau, Rewa, Lakeba, Cakaudrove, Bua, Macuata and Naduri, are collectively the representatives of the entire group of Fiji.
VI Every separate State shall be self-supporting and no chief shall have power or authority to levy taxes, imposts or contributions of any kind out of the territory which he represents.
A small contribution, however, will be paid by the assembled Chiefs to the President during his tenure of office to cover the additional expenses arising therefrom.
VII. No wars will be permitted, unless with the general consent of the Assembly, and the Chiefs will unite to punish any rebel or traitor to this Constitution.
VIII. A national flag to be adopted, in order to distinguish the Fijians from their neighbours.
In accordance with the agreements mutually entered into, the Assembly proceeded to elect one amongst them to be President of the Confederation, until the next general meeting and the Chief of Bau was unanimously chosen as President.
The day specified for the next general meeting will be the 1st May, 1866. The amount to be contributed by the Assembly towards defraying the necessary expenses of the President is not yet determined, but about one tun of oil (or £20) is suggested as a fair amount to be required annually from each Chief. The flag selected and adopted is a white star of eight points on a dark blue ground.
The Chiefs who voted were :-The Vunivalu (Cakobau), of Bau ; Roko Tui Dreketi, of Rewa ; Tui Cakau (Golea of Cakaudrove ; Tui Bua of Bua ; Retova of Macuata and Bonaveidongo of Naduri, Macuata. Tui Nayau of Lakeba, was absent but on the summons of the President, he afterwards sent his nephew to Bau, who received with approval copy of the resolutions adopted.
Peace was made, with good prospects of being permanent, between Retova and his opponents on the Macuata coast.
Such of the Tongan laws as were considered applicable to Fiji were agreed upon, and several matters calculated to promote the interests of the group were suggested ; and these suggestions (a copy of which I enclose), were forwarded to each state for consideration during the year.
The following subjects require immediate consideration ; and the attention of the assembled Chiefs should be devoted to this purpose as speedily as possible.
1. The abolition of the Vasu throughout the territories they govern, and that the fullest publicity be given to this resolution.
2. The definite boundaries of their respective jurisdictions to be accurately established and fully understood.
3. A poll-tax to be levied on all males over sixteen years, and no further tax to be imposed on them. One dollar and a half is suggested as the maximum poll-tax for the present year, of which at least half-a-dollar should be paid in cash. Equivalent in kind one dollar is equal to 30 lbs. of raw cotton in seed ; 12lbs. cleaned cotton ; 10 days labour at eight hours a day; 5 gallons of oil ; 100 yams.
4. The laws require their immediate consideration ; those of the first importance are marked ('A').
5. A body of police are required to execute the laws. They should be distinguished in some manner by their dress (as in Tonga, by wearing a red shirt). .. There should be one or two in every village, and receive a salary from the Government.
6. The extent of the unclaimed lands should be marked, and become the property of the Government.
7. As soon as possible, roads should be constructed, as distances by their means become less irksome, and the communication between remote points is rendered more rapid.
8. The civilised system of planting in large tracts should be adopted, and the Government should show an example, to the people in this respect. A knowledge of the use of implements to facilitate cultivation is much to be desired, and the Chiefs have it in their power to acquire this. Unless the Chiefs bestow their attention on this important point, their revenues will never reach more than half their proper amount.
9. It is much to be desired that the settlers wishing to purchase land should know to whom it belongs, and who is authorised to give him a good title. This matter will not admit of delay, but requires to be decided immediately.
10. All rivers must, be free throughout their entire course, and all (whether chiefs or commoners) arresting navigation must be punished.
ll. A sum is to be subscribed by the following states towards defraying the President's expenses, and it is suggested that from £20 to £25 each, in half-yearly instalment, ought to suffice for this purpose :-1, Bau ; 2, Rewa ; 3, Bua ; 4, Lakeba 5, Mathuata ; 6, Nanduri ; 7, Cakaundrovy. "

16/05/2025

16 May - This day in history. It was on this day 30 years ago -16 May 1995 that Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, President, instituted the 18 charters of medal awards: from Order of Fiji to civilian bravery awards to awards to Fiji Military Forces, Fiji Police, Fiji Prisons, Fiji Fire Service officers to the civil service for meritorious or distinguished service. Medals for Order of Fiji are awarded in the general division or military division. Appointees to the Fiji College of Honour determined who would receive the medals. the first medals were awarded in September 1995, with the next round around the anniversary in 1996, but from 1998 to 2000 were awarded in December. From 2001 to 2013, they were awarded around the time of independence day. Since then, there's no rhyme or rhythm.

01/05/2025

Happened upon the end of an inter-faith church service in the Parliament foyer just before Easter. This is the second one, apparently, the previous one being in 2017! So much for the 2013 Constitution's separation of church and State. There are photos of previous speakers of the Legislative Council, the House of Representatives and Parliament, before one enters the gallery. The earliest is of Sir Josefa Lalabalavu Vana’aliali Sukuna, from 14 September 1956-May 1958, which is not right, because the Legislative Council existed in 1875. In fact, this year is the 150th anniversary of the legislative arm of Government and the High Court Act. It is the 151st anniversary of the judicial and administrative arms (correction to an earlier post). It would have lovely if the church service was for that purpose.

25/03/2025

How to be the first law, alphabetically in the General Index? Start the law with 'A'. No rocket science there. The previous title holder was the 'Accident Compensation Act 2017'. Now, 8 years later, it has been taken down by 'Access to Business Funding Act 2025'. Previously, the title belonged to the only law since 1985 to start with a year - '2003 South Pacific Games (Indicia And Images) Protection Act 2002'.
Fascinating.
You can find interesting coffee points and legal history in the General Index Laws of Fiji, available from Chan Law.

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16/02/2025

Met a judge a few months ago, who said he would recommend Legal Aid get the annotated criminal texts. He said he found the annotated laws useful. Well, thank you. And thanks to his fervent prayers, Legal Aid now has some criminal, family and civil annotated texts. Judge, I hope they have shown some improvement in their submissions, if not, hope they better them when they appear in your Court next.

18/01/2025

Thought to let a new minister know of a ministerial assignment in a legal notice. The answer wasn't too pleasing. The powers that be spelt her name wrong in the list! Oh dear. Well, it's correct in the legal notice. Asked the minister to take up the misspelling with the PM. Too much trouble, is the reply. Can the powers that be attend to the error, please.

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12/01/2025

A wonderful find and moment in history, accidentally. Beautiful words from the late Justice Suresh Chandra, to coincide with the launch of 2002 FLR, 8 August 2017. Bless him for his contribution to the jurisprudence of Fiji, and may he rest in eternal peace. Better to find now than never.

A report from Justice Suresh Chandra, Chairman, Fiji Law Reports Committee
The stability of the legal system of a State is usually assessed by the availability of its laws and their application. This is made possible through the availability of the statutes of that State and law reports which show how the laws are interpreted and applied in the courts of that State. Thus law reports form an integral part of the legal system of a State and the availability of such shows the stability of that State.

Transcription of judgments on a website though being useful do not serve the same usefulness of law reports. Law reports provide a host of valuable information in the form of catchwords, which give an indication what the judgment is involved with, the head note which is a summary of the judgment and a useful guide. In addition a law report would provide a digest of topics dealt with by the cases included in that law report, an index of other decisions that are referred to in the judgments in that report, an index of statutes referred to in the judgments etc. In a sense a law report serves as a ready reckoner for lay persons, students, academics, lawyers and judges.

In Fiji law reports had been published since 1876 and had come to a halt in 2001. Since then no law reports were published. However, the judgments pronounced in the courts were published on PACLII and were made available.

The Hon. Chief Justice appointed a Law Reports Committee in 2013 and tasked the Committee with the revival of the Fiji Law Reports. The first task was to get the judgments from 2002 to date, towards which PACLII assisted in a great way by providing all the judgments published on their website. The next task was to get a team to do head notes once the judgments were selected for purposes of including in a law report. Attempts at establishing a team was not successful. It was noticed that negotiations had commenced with LexisNexis regarding the publishing of law reports but no headway had been made. Since finding resource persons to do head notes was not successful, fresh negotiations took place with LexisNexis and after getting the agreements vetted and approved by the Solicitor General’s Office, agreement was reached with LexisNexis to revive and publish the Fiji Law Reports.

Negotiations with LexisNexis were finalized after the middle of 2014 and the process of selection of cases to be included in the Law Reports commenced. The judgments that were most accessible at that stage were the cases in 2012 and it was decided to commence with that year. The judgments were selected and sent to LexisNexis for preparation of head notes, Indexing etc and in February 2015 the revived Fiji Law Reports were launched with the publication of the 2012 Fiji Law Reports in two bound volumes.

It was decided to go back to 2002 judgments and the subsequent years thereafter. In 2016 the Fiji Law Reports for the years 2002 and 2003 were completed and published. The Judicial Department had to bear the cost of the publication of these reports.

With the Access to Justice Project by the European Union and facilitated by UNDP launched in 2016, a further ray of hope for publication of the other Fiji Law Reports dawned. Under the project it was possible to have the further volumes processed and the publication of the Fiji Law Reports for the years 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 have been agreed upon and targeted to be published before the end of 2017.

Marie Chan of Chan Law in Fiji has been a major resource person in the publication of legal material in Fiji having published annotated statutes which serve as useful guides. She had also been tasked with the formulation of Fiji Law Reports prior to the establishing of the Law Reports Committee and she had completed doing the head notes for the year 2008. The Access to Justice Project has undertaken to have the 2008 cases printed and published and should be available in 2018.

We are in the process of compiling the remainder of the judgments for the years 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and hopefully through the Access to Justice Project would be able to fast track the publication of the Law Reports of those years.

In the process of revival of the Fiji Law Reports, I am grateful for the assistance provided by the Hon. Chief Justice, my colleagues in the judiciary, Her Excellency Madam Shameem, Marie Chan, Amelia Tukuwasa, Ana Cobona (my PA) and PACLII in the process of publication of the Law Reports. I am also grateful for the assistance of Ms Christine Fowler of the UNDP for collaborating the processes on the Access to Justice Project and Myfanwy Wallwork and her LexisNexis Team for the excellent support given in reviving the Fiji Law Reports.

I am hopeful that the revived Fiji Law Reports would be a valuable source of legal literature for Fiji and the rest of the world.

Justice Suresh Chandra
Chairman – Fiji Law Reports Committee

19/12/2024

Seeing this photo in Thursday's Fiji Times (19 Dec 2024) of the Assistant DPP holding an annotated criminal laws (Crimes, Criminal Procedure, and Sentencing and Penalties Acts) reminds us that the DPP's office was the first subscriber, who purchased B5 size criminal laws, sight unseen, in faith. Later, we found out the DPP required all prosecutors to take the "bible" to court. Now, the laws are specially supplied in A4 size, to order. Thank you, ODPP and librarians.

12/12/2024

Friday 13th. The powers that be saw fit to introduce a new law and repeal parts of an older law. They repealed Parts 1-5 and 13-16. Well, in so doing they repealed the short title of the law. Now the law only has a long title occupying some 4 lines. It's back to the beginnings of the legislature in Fiji where a lot of laws didn't have short titles, inserted by law revision commissioners along the way. How far have we come to celebrate our progress?
And that's just the start. Then, another law says repeal Parts 6-12. Well, there's nothing left but the schedules, and subsidiary, which can't stand without the parent law. Or can they?

21/10/2024

Scene 1 drinking party, Rakiraki, 2020: D1: anyone still thirsty? Let's go and get more alcohol.
D2: but it's curfew time! Where we gonna go?
D3: how about to the church home up the road?
D4: fire. Let's go.
Scene 2: inside church home.
D1: Let's search her house, D2: you hold this lady.
Robbery in progress.
Scene 3 (a few minutes later): D1: Right, I've got the stash. D3 and D4, tie her up.
D3: with what? We didn't bring any rope. Oh, here's some cellotape.
They cellotape her mouth and hands.
Scene 4 High Court, Lautoka, 2024. Judge: D3 and D4 have pleaded guilty and been convicted by another Judge. For you D1: 5 years 4 months 26 days with a non-parole 3 years 7 months, concurrent to existing prison term. For you, D2: you've already served 20 months in remand, you can go.
Cellotape? Really?