A court order has suspended Tonga's Minister of Police, lawyer Siosifa Tu’utafaiva, from practising law for one year.

Chief Justice Hon. Michael Dishington Scott made the order effective from July 10, based on the recommendation from a disciplinary committee of the Tonga Law Society in June this year.

Laki Niu the President of the Tonga Law Society told Matangi Tonga this morning he had received the written order from the Chief Justice to suspend Tu’utafaiva’s license for 12 months.

He said the disciplinary committee on 6 June 2013 held a hearing with Tu’utafaiva present. He had made his mitigation and submitted a written plea, which the disciplinary committee took into consideration before making its recommendation to the Chief Justice.

Complaint

This suspension is in relation to a complaint made by two of his former clients ‘Aisea Vaitaki and Sione Vao who stated they paid him fees to file their claims in court, which he did not do.

The same disciplinary committee had initially recommended to the Chief Justice to suspend Tu'utafaiva's law practicing license for three-years for alleged professional misconduct regarding the complaint.

Tu’utafaiva then appealed and the Chief Justice in a judgment on 4 December 2012, quashed the recommendation and returned it to the disciplinary committee for the matter of penalty to be reconsidered according to law. The committee then made its second recommendation.

Tu’utafaiva who is a member of Parliament became the new Minister of Police, Prisons and Fire Services and Revenue on 2 February 2013.