Since taking up his post as Tonga's new Chief Justice on September 27, Hon Michael Dishington Scott has been very busy catching up with cases in his chambers at the Nuku'alofa Supreme Court.

He told Matangi Tonga on October 4 that to date, he had held several civil hearings in chambers and anticipated that he may go into court next week.

He said he is dealing with a backlog of cases and had one before him that he had been reading up in the afternoon and would make an appointment for people to see and take the matter forward.

He said there was still a backlog of cases and the court facilities could be improved but there was always the problem with money.

"However, we will just have to try to become more efficient so as to dispose the cases more rapidly, because there is always room for modernisation and improvement," he said.

"But I think things have been working pretty well here at the moment, but we will try to make them work better."

With regards to when a replacement judge would be joining the Supreme Court, he said it was his hope that they would have one soon.

Chief Justice Scott, who is married to a Tongan, arrived in Tonga on September 25 from Fiji.

"I am settling in as it is little bit different from Fiji, where I have lived and worked for many years but there are many similarities as well. So it is just getting used to the set-up here and meeting some of the people and finding my way around", he added.

High Court

Hon Chief Justice Scott is a British national who has served in the Pacific Islands since 1978, serving as a Judge in Kiribati and the Solomon Islands.

He was also a judge of the High Court of Fiji for 14 years from 1990 to 2004 before being appointed as the Resident Justice of the Fiji Court of Appeal for three years from 2004 to 2007.

HM King George Tupou V in Privy Council appointed the new Chief Justice on August 27.