Parliament abolishes roles of Lord Chancellor and judicial panel [1]
Monday, September 8, 2014 - 16:37. Updated on Monday, September 8, 2014 - 16:38.
From the House, by Pesi Fonua
The Tongan Parliament has abolished the responsibilities of the Lord Chancellor and the Judicial Appointments and Discipline Panel (JADP) when it passed bills for an Act to amend the Constitution, and for a Judicial and Legal Service Commission Act 2014 on August 28.
The role of the Lord Chancellor and the JADP (a committee of the Privy Council) has been to advise the King in Council on the appointment of judicial and legal officers.
The Acts have now gone to the King Tupou VI for his consent.
The decision by parliament to transfer the process of selecting judicial and legal officers from the JADP to a Judicial Services Commission, came after weeks of debate in the House over bills to amend the constitution and for a Judicial and Legal Service Commission Act that was tabled into parliament by the Minister of Justice, Hon. Clive Edwards.
The Minister told the House it was difficult to get Tonga's judicial system to function efficiently under the current structure where the Lord Chancellor and the JADP operated under the authority of His Majesty in Council.
The independence of the judiciary was a matter of great concern to members of the Tongan Parliament, but after weeks of debating over the issue, a majority of the Members of Parliament were convinced that the best solution would be to abolish the involvement of the Lord Chancellor and the Judicial Appointments and Discipline Panel in the selection of judicial and legal officers.
The decision by government to move the process of selecting judicial and legal officers away from the authority of the King in Privy Council so far is the only major change that government has made to the more democratic system of government that was introduced in 2010.
Under the Judicial Services Commission Act 2014 that was passed by parliament, the members of the Commission are to be appointed by the Minister of Justice with the consent of Cabinet. The Commission will make recommendation to the king on the appointment of judicial officers and legal officers. The members of the Commission are to be:
- Lord chief Justice (Chairperson)
- Chairman of the Public Service Commission
- President of the Tonga Law Society
- Two members of integrity appointed by the Minister of Justice from the Public who are persons of good character
- Chief Executive officer for Justice who shall be the secretariat and not be entitled to vote.
The amendment to the constitution spelled out that an Attorney General and a Director of Public Prosecutions would be appointed by the King on the recommendation of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission.
The Attorney General would be the principal legal advisor to Cabinet and the Government, but he would not be a member of Cabinet and the Legislative Assembly as it was first proposed.
Law Lords
Currently, the Lord Chancellor appointed [2] by the King is Harry Waalkens Esquire K.C.(Tonga), Q.C.(New Zealand)
The members of the Judicial Appointments and Discipline Panel currently are:
- The Lord Chancellor, who shall be the Chairman
- The Lord Chief Justice
- The Attorney General
- The Law Lords (legal experts that the King may appoint from time to time).
See also: Cabinet tries to take control of the judiciary [3]