Salutations
Na Vanua o’ Nawaiviluri vua na Momo na Tui Ba;
Hon. Acting Chief Justice;
Judicial Officers;
Ladies and Gentlemen & Distinguished Guests.
Ni sa Bula Vina’a and a very good morning to you all. It is my pleasure to be here this morning to
open this new ‘state of the art’ Court Complex to serve the township of Ba and the surrounding communities.
At the outset, please allow me to extend my gratitude and pay my respects to the Chiefs and people of the Vanua o’ Nawaiviluri, vua na Turaga na Tui Ba for graciously allowing us to gather here today.
I pay my respects to their Chiefs past and present, as well as to emerging leaders and members of the Vanua who are present here this morning. Vinaka saka Vakalevu!
Ladies and Gentlemen, two years have passed since you entrusted the future of our beloved nation to your Coalition Government.
We are determined that our term in office will be defined by three words: freedom, unity and progress in rebuilding Fiji together.
Ladies & Gentlemen, the rule of law is a fundamental tenet of our parliamentary democracy.
For the development of a peaceful and prosperous Fiji, the Coalition Government is committed to upholding fundamental human rights and individual freedoms. Your Coalition Government is committed to enhancing respect for the rule of law, improving access to justice and ensuring meaningful access to justice.
All citizens have, under the law, the right to seek justice. However, this right doesn’t count for much if it cannot be exercised.
To safeguard the rule of law and democratic processes and improve access to legal services, Government has been increasing funding to key law and order and justice institutions.
Today’s celebration for the new State of the Art Court facility for Ba is another milestone achievement.
The jurisdiction of the Ba Court Facility originally covered the three towns of Ba, Tavua and Rakiraki, and extended right up the interior to Bukuya, Magodro, Nadarivatu and the interior of the Ra Province.
As the population grew with the increasing demand for Court Services, the Tavua and Rakiraki Court was then established to decentralize Court Services from Ba. This eased the workload of the Ba Court. The previous Ba Court was located close to the Ba river.
Over the years, during heavy rain, the Court House would be inundated. Given this challenge, it was decided that a new Ba Court Facility should be constructed away from the flood prone zone.
The new Court House is a State of the Art Facility equipped with modern facilities. This new facility cost $29,000,000.00. Court operations commenced from this new fully fledged Court Facility in May this year. I also commend the visionary leadership of the Acting Chief Justice (Honorable Justice Salesi Temo) for the establishment of a High Court in this Facility.
This means litigants will not have to travel to Lautoka for High Court matters.
The new Ba High Court can also preside on appeals for the Central Agricultural Tribunal, Civil, Criminal Matters and Family Court appeals.
Two Resident Magistrates will preside over Family, Criminal and Civil matters in this new facility.
In opening this new facility today, I recognise the many other improvements in our Judiciary that improve access to justice for our people, with consequential improvement for our
investment climate and economy.
For the past 22 months, the backlog of cases in the Judiciary has vastly decreased.
This has been possible due to the increase in the number of Judicial Officers.
The number of Puisne Judges increased to 25 with 3 new positions established while the number of Magistrates has increased to 43.
Fiji now also has two Resident Judges of Appeal with a new position established in the last financial year.
Please join me in acknowledging the great progress made by the Acting Chief Justice
and the Judicial Services Commission in this regard.
Over the past year, since 2023, we now have four (4) Supreme Court sittings and five (5) Court of Appeal sittings in a year. This has had a tremendously positive effect in the disposal of pending cases.
This has been made possible with the appointment of Ad-hoc sitting Judges from NZ, Australia and UK.
The restoration of diplomatic relations has been an urgent priority in the last 20 months and it is bearing fruit for our nation.
In addition, to streamline court procedure and reduce delays in civil disputes, the High Court Rules Review was approved by Cabinet last
year.
The Rules Review Committee have deliberated and their proposal for the drafting of new High Court and Magistrates Court Rules has been handed to the Attorney General. It is anticipated that a reference will then be made to the Fiji Law Reform Commission.
The Acting Chief Justice has introduced a manual Case Management System to monitor the progress of disposal of pending decisions from the Tribunals, Magistrate Court and High Court.
The Acting Chief Justice visits the three divisions twice a year conducting Case Management Meetings Judicial Officers to urge disposal of pending cases.
There recent expansion of court facilities is also to be commended.
In closing ladies and gentlemen, let me again acknowledge the Judiciary for the progressive improvements being made in carrying out its constitutional mandate.
Please join me in acknowledging the Acting Chief Justice and all Judicial Officers for your often unrecognised toil in the Judicial Arm of Government in delivering justice for our people.
It is only through our united efforts that we will drive sustainable development forward and realize the prosperous Fiji we aspire to achieve. Together, let us commit to building a more sustainable and resilient future for generations to come.
May God Bless Fiji
May God Bless us all
Thank you, Vinaka Vakalevu, Dhanyavaad