By Tupou Vaipulu Jr.

A new Supreme Court Judge, Hon. Justice Paul Garlick KC, was welcomed by members of the Tonga Law Society and law practitioners today, 1 May, at the Supreme Court in Nuku’alofa. He comes to Tonga from the United Kingdom and Europe.

The LCJ, Hon. Malcolm Bishop KC, congratulated Justice Garlick on his appointment. He said Mr. Justice Garlick has enormous experience in Criminal Law and in the International Jurisprudence.

“So, we are very fortunate indeed to have someone of the experience and the integrity.”

The Attorney General, Hon. Linda Folaumoetu’i, and the Vice President of the Tonga Law Society, Mr. Ralph Stephenson, welcomed the new judge.

“Today’s occasion provides an opportunity to reflect upon your Honour’s distinguished career, as a lawyer and a member of the judiciary,” Linda said. “And upon the particular values you bring to the role of Supreme Court judge in the Kingdom of Tonga.”

She said that the Supreme Court demands much of the holder of that role. “I am confident that you will exercise this important role with flair, good judgement and distinction.”

Justice KC was sworn in this morning by the Cabinet at the Prime Minister's Office.

Justice Garlick said, “I am deeply committed to the Rule of Law and the administration of justice, and I will make a real contribution to the judiciary in the Kingdom of Tonga. I will be honored to bring my experience as an advocate, judge and judicial trainer to the Office of the Supreme Court justice in the Kingdom of Tonga.”

Justice Paul Garlick KC thanked the members of the Law Society in Tonga for his welcoming ceremony and said, that he will do his best in his new role as a Supreme Court Judge.

Background

Justice Garlick KC was called to the Bar in 1974 and was appointed as a QC in 1996. In the UK he was a Recorder of the Crown Court, having jurisdiction to sit as a judge and deal with serious criminal offences and jury trials on indictment.

As a judge, he has been trained to specially deal with cases involving charges of serious sexual offences, cases involving internet tecnology (IT) and social media. This also extends to fraud and corruption cases, especially cases involving IT and cross border jurisdictions.

Justice KC practiced at the junior Bar in both criminal and civil cases. In 1992, he was appointed by the Attorney General of England and Wales as standing counsel to Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise. He has prosecuted the most serious and complicated cases of fraud, money laundering and international drugs smuggling cases.

As a QC and later KC, Justice Garlick represented countries in the western world in connection with extradition requests and appeals to the Privy Council. This gave him extensive knowledge and experience of judicial review.

He was also a Master and a Grade A advocacy trainer of the Bench of The Honorable Society Middle Temple and he is currently the Director of the Pupils’ Advocacy Training Course.

Justice Garlick spent the last 23 years working with international organisations. These include the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Co- operation in Europe (OSCE), the UK Foreign, Commonwealth; Development Office (FCDO), the National Centre for State Courts (USA) and the United Nations (UN).

He worked with each one of these organisations, to promote the rule of law and education judges, Law Officers, advocates, and law enforcement officers around the World.

In particular, he had designed and delivered advocacy training programmes in numerous Commonwealth countries and member states of the Council of Europe.

Justice Garlick has worked in foreign jurisdictions such as Azerbaijan, Iraq, and Afghanistan, advising on rule of law matters. He qualified as an advocacy trainer in 1994 and was one of the instigators of advocacy training for the Bar of England and Wales, and is passionate about training pupils and new practitioners at Middle Temple.

Justice Garlick was a lecturer at The Hague University of Applied Sciences, in the Netherlands, where he taught Criminal Law, Rights of the Accused and Anti-money laundering practice from 2015-2020.

During his residency at the university, he introduced and delivered an advocacy training module to the curriculum. In addition, he participated in several advocacy training programmes for advocates at the International Criminal Court.