Nauru appoints replacements for sacked chief justice and magistrate
|
Version 0 of 1. Nine months after sacking its Australian chief justice and only magistrate, Nauru has appointed their replacements. President Baron Waqa has sworn in former Fiji high court justice Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi as Nauru’s supreme court chief justice. Solomon Islander Emma Garo is the new resident magistrate. Australian Elizabeth Hamilton-White and Fijian barrister Mohammed Shafiullah Khan have also been appointed as judges. It is the first time women have occupied the magistrate and supreme court judge roles. In January, Nauru’s government sacked Peter Law as magistrate and then cancelled the visa of the then chief justice, Geoffrey Eames. At the time they claimed their treatment was politically motivated, but Nauru’s government denied the allegation. Madraiwiwi said his first order of business would be to triage urgent criminal cases in which accused people had been in custody for a prolonged period. The court also has a backlog of 63 asylum seekers facing criminal charges over riots at the Australian-run detention centre in July last year. Rampaging asylum seekers allegedly torched the centre, causing $60m in damage. Madraiwiwi’s other priority is building two court houses and judicial chambers. |