Results for From the Courts

A letter writer to the Kele'a and the newspaper, along with its publisher and editor, were ordered to pay a total of $249,442 in damages and costs in a civil defamation case that was brought by the Tongan Prime Minister, Lord Tu'ivakano and six Cabinet Ministers, including the Minister of Justice Hon. Clive Edwards.

Government payouts amounting to over $3 million pa'anga to three royal estate holders are being challenged by Sione Taione, a People's Representative to the Tonga Legislative Assembly, who filed an application with the Nuku'alofa Supreme Court on 29 May for a Judicial Review.

Tonga's Chief Justice has refused an application by a former Prime Minister Lord Sevele and a former Minister of Transport Paul Karalus, for a judicial review of a report of a special parliamentary committee, because he did not find that the Supreme Court had any jurisdiction to review the internal proceedings of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga. The applicants were claiming that their reputations were damaged by a report of the parliamentary committee.

A Nuku'alofa Magistrate has ruled there was no case to answer in accusations made against Tonga's Prime Minister Lord Tu'ivakano, the Minister of Justice Hon Clive Edwards, and a Tongan company Tongasat, headed by HRH Princess Pilolevu Tuita, who appeared before the court last week.

The Crown lodged an appeal last week against a decision by Nuku'alofa Magistrate Salesi Mafi to release three of the six men accused of manslaughter in relation to the death of New Zealand Police officer Kali Fungavaka.

The first sitting of Tonga's Court of Appeal ended at the Supreme in Nuku'alofa on April 17 and delivered judgements, that quashed a 13-years imprisonment sentence and replaced it with six-years for a man who was convicted of raping his sister-in-law while holding a knife to her neck.

Tonga's Court of Appeal Session began at the Nuku'alofa Supreme Court on 8 April with a new judge Hon. Sir Peter Blanchard, and will hear 10 cases, including appeals over sentencing in two rape cases.

A new Parliamentary Select Committee that was established to further consider the Nuku'alofa Development Corporation Report, met today for the second time.

The Preliminary Inquiry for Lord Tu'iha'ateiho, the current Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga, who is charged with one count of unlawful possession of a firearm, has been set for July 29-31.