2006 parliamentary session to reopen June 20 [1]
Monday, June 19, 2006 - 19:29. Updated on Thursday, October 2, 2014 - 16:46.
Tonga's parliament will reopen tomorrow, June 20, following a Supreme Court decision by Chief Justice Robin Webster this morning that the opening of Parliament by the Princess Regent, Princess Pilolevu Tuita on June 1 was lawful.
In the Nuku'alofa Supreme Court Mr Justice Webster said that Clause 43 of the constitution read in part that, ...Should the king wish to travel abroad it shall be lawful for him to appoint a Prince Regent who shall administer the affairs of the kingdom during his absence.... He said that the clause gives the Prince or Princess Regent very wide powers to do what His Majesty the King would do if he was in Tonga.
...There is nothing in the Constitution to show that closing and opening of Parliament is out with the powers of the Regent, and while this may have been the first time Parliament was opened by a Regent in recent years, in practice the Regent has regularly exercised other weighty powers such as assenting to Acts
passed by Parliament..., said the Chief Justice.
He believed this was supported by the definition in section 2(1) of the Interpretation Act of ...His Majesty... or ...The King... as: His Majesty, the King, means His Majesty the King of Tonga or Sovereign reigning for the time being over Tonga.
"The use of the sovereign reigning for the time being must be seen referring to someone other than the King, and I accept that in this context the words meant the person exercising supreme jurisdiction or power and must include the Regent when acting at the time....
The Chief Justice also accepted that it would make no sense to apply a literal interpretation to section 17 to mean that the Regent could appoint 3 nobles as commissioners to open Parliament but could not do so himself or herself.
...The interpretation would produce an absurd result and cannot be supported in law..., he added.
On the question of whether the opening of parliament was a matter outside the jurisdiction of the Legislative Assembly, and therefore the court has the right to decide if its opening was in accordance with Clause 17 of the Legislative Assembly Act, Mr Justice Webster said that the formal ceremonial opening of the Legislative Assembly was actually a part of the internal proceedings of the Assembly, but he did not think it was crucial in this case whether or not the opening was a part of the internal proceedings, "because even if it is, the issue before the court is clearly a matter involving, the interpretation, and a possible breach of the Constitution."
He said that there was an authoritative decision of the Tongan Privy Council in 1997 in a case between Fotofili v Siale, which is binding and puts the issue in a Tongan context and a passage from that decision reads, ...there is no jurisdiction in the court to inquire into the validity of the Assembly...s internal proceedings where there has been no breach of the Constitution....
Therefore for all these reasons, Chief Justice Webster concluded by passing his decision in favor of the defendants, who are the Government, the Prime Minister and the Speaker. Costs are to be decided in a future hearing in which counsel will make their submissions.
The Plaintiffs, Noble Lasike, and People's Representatives, 'Akilisi Pohiva, 'Isileli Pulu, Wlliam Clive Edwards, 'Uliti Uata, Vili Kaufusi Helu, Sunia Fili, and Lepolo Taunisila applied for the Supreme Court to declare that the current session of parliament had not been legally opened and therefore the Legislative Assembly to cease sitting until a session of the Legislative Assembly has been opened in accordance with the laws of Tonga.
Counsel for the plaintiffs was Clive Edwards. The defendants were represented by Harry Waalkens for the Prime Minister, 'Aisea Taumoepeau and Samiu Vaipulu for the Speaker, and Linda Simiki for the Government.
Following the declaration by the Chief Justice that the opening of the Tongan Parliament on June 1 was legal, the Chief Clerk of the House, Tevita 'Ova confirmed that parliament will be re-opened tomorrow June 20, at 10.00 am.