Results for From the Courts

A 20-year-old man has been charged with the rape of a 26-year-old woman, which allegedly occured on Friday, 13 November at Fangaloto in Tongatapu.

Commercial retailing of Tonga's Rugby Union and World Cup apparel caused an argument between two Nuku'alofa traders that ended up in the Nuku'alofa Supreme Court - when one tried to stop the other from importing and selling apparel. However, Chief Justice Paulsen has discharged an initial order restraining a local broker from selling apparel that had the Tonga Rugby Union logo, Kukri brand name or IRB mark printed on it, and said the plaintiff's case was not strong.

Two stepbrothers who made a “brutal and ruthless” attack on a market gardener at Longolongo last year, were each sentenced to seven-years nine-months imprisonment. Mr Justice Cato said the sentence "must reflect the need to protect the public from this kind of offending."

An application by Hon. ‘Etuate Lavulavu to add a counterclaim against Viliami Uasike Latu was dismissed by Lord Chief Justice O. G. Paulsen in the Nuku‘alofa Supreme Court on 16 October. The Chief Justice stated that Lavulavu's counterclaim was "both irrelevant and useless".

The Prime Minister Hon ‘Akilisi Pohiva and the Public Service Association won their appeal against an initial court order to pay $20,000 each of security costs before their civil action against Tongasat can proceed.

An appeal by the Kele’a newspaper, its publisher and editor, against a Magistrate's Court decision was dismissed by Lord Chief Justice O. G. Paulsen in the Nuku’alofa Supreme Court on 1 September.

Saia Langi Naufahu (52) accused of a violent domestic assault after he allegedly threw boiling water on his wife in Sopu appeared at the Nuku’alofa Magistrate’s Court on Monday, 31 August.

Lord Tui’vakano and three others have filed a notice of appeal to the Supreme Court on Monday, 3 August against a judgment by the Lord Chief Justice in June this year ordering that legal costs amounting to $22,000 be returned to the Prime Minister Hon ‘Akilisi Pohiva.

Costs amounting to $22,000 that were paid to the courts by the Prime Minister 'Akilisi Pohiva should be paid back to him, the Chief Justice has ruled this week.