Fiji Judiciary Received SI National Judiciary and MJLA Delegation

On the 9^th of May 2025, through the Office of the Chief Registrar of Fiji Mr. Tomasi Bainivalu, delegates from the Solomon Islands’ Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs plus the National Judiciary, were fortunate to pay visits to various departments and sections of the Fiji Judiciary. The Solomon Islands (SI) delegation included senior staff from the Judiciary, Law Reform Commission, Registrar General’s Office, Legal Policy Unit and the Ministry’s Head Quarters. With ‘above-standard’ receptive treat, supervisors and staff representatives of the Fiji Judiciary courteously welcomed the visiting team.  Departments and sections visited included Judiciary Training Centre, Legal Practitioner’s Unit, Information Technology, Human Resources, the High Court, Finance and Accounts and Asset Management teams.

The SI delegates took advantage of the opportunity provided, to hear about what each of the departments and sections of the Fiji Judiciary are doing while acknowledging that there are some commonalities in terms of challenges faced. As the Chief Executive Officer of the National Judiciary expressed, ‘’There are differences in the way operations run given Fiji Judiciary is Autonomous of the Executive and Legislature but there are a lot Solomon Islands Judiciary can learn from in areas relating to functional operations and so, there is a lot to learn from Fiji”.

In terms of Trainings, the Deputy Chief Registrar (Legal) explained that Judiciary Training Centre runs all types of trainings for various functional teams, covering areas from governance to operations, with almost every function has either a statute or policy guiding the way things are done.

On Wednesday 7^th May 2025, delegation from SI National Judiciary met with the Chief Registrar and Deputy Chief Registrar (Legal) of the Fiji Judiciary at the High Court of Fiji. Led by Permanent Secretary Mr. George Hoa’au and flagged by Madam Registrar of the SI High Court and Court of Appeal and Chief Executive Officer, a very constructive dialogue was held. Areas of conversation include, the need for partnerships through secondment between the two Judiciaries so that exchanges of learning and experiences can be done. PS George affirmed, that relationship between Fiji and Solomon Islands started decades ago and had then manifested in the areas of civic duties, sports and even military service during the second world war. So, having a formal partnership where court staff from the two countries can work together via twinning will surely benefit two countries in terms of knowledge and experience exchanges.

Mr. George Hoa’au (PS MJLA (SI), Mr. Apolosi Bose (ASIPJ Team Leader), Mr. Bibiasi (CEO/NJ (SI), Mrs. Myonnie Tutuo (High court Registrar (SI) have a group photo with Mr. Tomasi Bainivalu (Fiji National Judiciary Chief Registrar and his Deputy Registrar).

Earlier that day, meetings were held first between the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice Fiji, her counterpart from Solomon Islands and follow up meetings were done between respective heads of Agencies and their counterparts.

The SI delegation, led by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs, Mr. George Hoa’au, are in Suva last week to have discussions with the Ministry of Justice Fiji on next steps in implementing the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which both Government Ministries have signed earlier this year on February 2025.

This Fiji visit is made possible through the Australia Solomon Islands Partnership for Justice (ASIPJ) and the Government of Solomon Islands.

While the delegation from Solomon Islands returned over the weekend, the partnership remains strong and to be further cemented by more exchanges of twining visits and correspondences between agencies of both countries especially in the Area of Justice and Legal Services.

[MJLA Press]