The Tongan law practitioner licence granted to a disgraced Auckland lawyer Christopher Harder is being reviewed by the Tongan judiciary, after his admission to the Tongan bar caused an uproar among legal profession in New Zealand.

Harder who was struck off from the legal profession in New Zealand last year, was issued by the Tongan Registrar with a licence on May 1 to represent 'Akilisi Pohiva and 'Uliti Uata in court on May 14.

Pohiva and Uata are facing charges of sedition, abetment to a riotous assembly and abetment to the damage of buildings, relating to the events of November 16, 2006, that destroyed about 80% of the Nuku'alofa business centre.

The process of how Christopher was granted a Tongan license appeared to be straightforward.

He applied to be a law practitioner in Tonga in April 2007. His application was referred to the President of the Tonga Law Society, Laki Niu, on April 23. Laki recommended a restricted licence, and the Chief Justice Anthony Ford approved Christopher's enrollment on April 30 and the Registrar issued a licence on May 1.

However, when queried about Harder's status a spokesperson for the Tongan Judiciary this week stated that, "certain information was not clearly disclosed when the application was processed."

According to the spokesperson today, Harder's licence is currently being reviewed.

Struck off

The issue of Harder's licence to practice in Tonga resurfaced last month after the New Zealand Press Association reported how he was struck off in New Zealand and the uncertain procedure of how he was given a Tongan licence.

According to the NZPA report, the legal profession in both New Zealand and Tonga are infuriated by Tonga issuing a certificate for Harder to practice in Tonga, a move that New Zealand lawyers believed would make Tonga an international laughing stock.

It was reported that the Auckland District Law Society was very concerned by the fact that the Tongan legal authorities had not asked New Zealand for a certificate of standing - "essentially an endorsement of a lawyer's good standing."

Auckland Law Society president, Andrew Gilchrist, who is also a board member of the New Zealand Law Society, told NZPA that it was unusual for Tonga not to ask for the certificate. He said that New Zealand would insist on a certificate for any lawyer arriving in the country and would expect to provide one for any lawyer leaving New Zealand to practice overseas.

He said that the Tongan authorities were given a copy of the New Zealand Law Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal's decision to strike Harder off, but that was after he was admitted to the Tongan bar.