Day Four of the Judicial Review challenging the Amendment of Clause 7 of the Constitution last year, concluded the submissions made by the legal counsel Dr Rodney Harrison for the 173 plaintiffs, and Paul Radich for the defendant, the Kingdom of Tonga.

Radich further stressed the sovereign right of parliament to amend the Constitution, and that he thought it was "over written" to say that "no law shall ever be enacted to restrict this Liberty."

He went on to emphasise one of the fundamental points of his submission, that an individual right is subject to the overall right of the community and "that society defines Freedom".

He said that culture is not universal and that Tonga has its own values and its own form of democracy and freedom, and that because the Constitution is a living document its interpretation would be based on current circumstances, which differed from that in 1875.

Plaintiffs respond

Dr Harrison responded to the submission of the defendant and concluded his submission on the case. He said that one thing he agreed with was that Clause 7 is not absolute, but he disagreed with parliaments sovereignty because he said that notion conflicted with the structure of the Tongan government where parliamentary sovereignty does not co-exist. He also pointed out that the UN Declaration of human rights is irrelevant for Tonga.

He rebutted the claim by the defendant that society defines freedom, by pointing out that a majority of the population are commoners, and that the defining of freedom is reserved to a minority.

Harrison concluded his submission by saying that for Freedom to be defined by the society is irrelevant, and that "the defining of freedom is entrusted to this court."

Chief Justice Webster told the court that he would make his written decision available in four weeks time.