New Zealand Bar Association | Ngā Ahorangi Motuhake o te Ture endorses serious concerns about the resignation of Nauru Chief Justice Eames
The Victorian Bar issued a media release in which it expressed concern that the Chief Justice of Nauru, the Honourable Geoffrey Eames AM QC, had resigned from his post over the issue of judicial independence in Nauru.
The President of the New Zealand Bar Association | Ngā Ahorangi Motuhake o te Ture, Stephen Mills QC, has endorsed the position the Victorian Bar Association has taken.
The background to the resignation of the Chief Justice involves the deportation of Resident Magistrate Peter Law, in defiance of court orders made by Chief Justice Eames to stop this, and the subsequent cancellation of the Chief Justice’s own visa.
These events call into question Nauru’s commitment to judicial independence as the cornerstone of the rule of law. The New Zealand Government provides a significant amount in annual funding to support the Nauru justice system. The responsibility that goes with this makes the events in Nauru a matter of even greater concern to the New Zealand Bar Association | Ngā Ahorangi Motuhake o te Ture.
