Editor,

From the Office of the Lord Privy Seal, Nuku'alofa.

I refer to the story [2] which your website recently published with regard to the non-renewal of the Police Commissioner's contract. His Majesty in Council was at no time consulted by either the Police Minister or the Prime Minister with regard to their decision to act independently of the provisions of the law by not renewing the contract of the Police Commissioner Commander Kelley. It may or may not be a surprise to those with even the slightest interest in facts, as opposed to mere speculation, that the Law Lords-in-Waiting are Privy Councillors in their own right to whom the Privy Councillors' Oath has been duly administered. They constitute the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. This special consideration does not diminish their status as Privy Councillors.

It should be pointed out that in a Constitutional Monarchy which supports the Unity of Power, the King shall act on the advice of his Ministers and this assumes that there is consultation by the Government of King. So far, no member of the cabinet has sought an audience for this purpose and so there are no grounds for passing new legislation to amend the Police Act. Such a proposal will deprive the King in Council of powers of appointment to certain arms of state. The reasons behind these appointments should be founded upon merit and performance. Instead, it is now proposed that the King in Council's powers be given over to the Cabinet and by extension the whim of a particular Minister. This is precisely the reason for depositing these powers with the King in Council in the first place. That the King has not yet appointed additional Privy Councillors because it is inadvisable to appoint Councillors who are members either of the Civil Service, subject to the Civil Service Regulations or who sit in Parliament. The natural succession by the Cabinet to the Privy Council's former executive powers should then be transparently clear.

Therefore, the claim that the King has not yet appointed a Privy Council is wholly untrue and misleading. It follows therefore that the appointment of an interim Police Commissioner by the Cabinet is illegal, and the Minister's personal disagreement with the appointment of Commissioner Kelley and his personal popularity with the Policemen of similar opinion irrelevant.

Yours sincerely.

V. V. Tone
Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal

See also: Cabinet reverses Police reform [3] Matangi Tonga Online, 3 Aug 2011.