The Tongan noble, Hon. Fielakepa has been appointed as the new Attorney General and Minister of Justice.

The Tonga government announced yesterday that King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV had made the appointments with effect from 24 August.

Hon. Fielakepa takes up the portfolios of the former minister 'Aisea Taumoepeau, who was one of three ministers dismissed by the Prime Minister on 27 August.

Hon. Fielakepa also retains his portfolio as Minister of Lands, Survey and Natural Resources. He joined Privy Council and Cabinet in 1998 as the Governor of Ha'apai, a position he relinquished when in 2001 he was appointed Minister of Lands, Survey and Natural Resources.

He holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Auckland University (1984) and the following year was admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand. He joined the Tongan civil service in 1986. In 1996 he graduated with a Master of Laws degree with distinction from the United Nations International Law Institute, Malta.

He holds the hereditary Noble Title of Fielakepa whose estates include Haveluloto in Tongatapu. He is also the Lord Chamberlain for the Tongan Royal Palace.