King Tupou VI has appointed Lawyer Laki Niu as a Supreme and Land Courts judge on June 21.
Niu will start working at the Courts on July 2.
As Kaniva News reported this morning, the New Zealand government has granted funding to pay for the first Tongan Supreme court judge.
The funding was part of three agreements worth NZ$8 million which were signed in Nuku’alofa today between New Zealand and Tonga.
The two countries agreed to strengthen Tonga’s education and justice systems, and public sector management through policy reform.
The appointment of Lawyer Niu came after the Minister of Justice Sione Vuna Fā’otusia told us in a previous report the government was working on a scheme to have an all-Tongan Supreme Court bench by 2020.
“This is a wonderful thing for our Judiciary and for us Tongans to have faith in the integrity and capability of our very own people,” Hon. Fā’otusia said.
The Minister told Kaniva News the scheme also included the government being able to pay the Supreme Court Judges.
Lawyer Niu was a former Member of Parliament and former President of the Tonga Law Society.
For further information:
Gov’t wants all-Tongan Supreme Court bench and government control of salaries by 2020
