A petition trying to oust the chief justice from his post because he is gay is still circulating around Tonga.
Welshman Malcolm Bishop took on the role this month.
Tonga’s law criminalises ‘acts of sodomy’.
RNZ’s Tongan correspondent Kalafi Moala told Caleb Fotheringham of Pacific Radio New Zealand a few thousand people are expected to sign the petition.
He says there will be a march to present the petition to the palace office.
As Kaniva News reported last week, Senior Tongan lawyer Clive Edwards Snr alleged that advocates for LGBTQ+ rights, such as Mr Bishop, may be breaching Tonga’s laws prohibiting sodomy.
Mr Edwards also expressed concerns about Mr Bishop’s ability to remain impartial in court cases involving sodomy over which he would preside.
In 2021, Tonga’s then Chief Justice, Mr Michael Whitten, sentenced an 18-year-old teenager to 42 months imprisonment after sodomising a 14-year-old boy.
CEDAW
The controversy surrounding the appointment of the new Chief Judge arises about a decade after protests had been staged against the Akilisi Pōhiva government’s decision to ratify CEDAW.
ABC Radio reported that the King of Tonga finally decided to withdraw the government’s ratification of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
“There has been a strong reaction from churches and members of the public against CEDAW, over fears it could lead to abortion and same sex marriage in the conservative kingdom”, it said.
The king also said the government’s move to ratify CEDAW was “unconstitutional”.
RNZ reported at the time that the King, in a statement, said he wanted to acknowledge the concerns of 13,048 of his subjects, who had sent eight petitions to him.
Tonga is one of only seven countries, including the United States, which have not ratified the convention.
LGBTQ+ lifestyle
As we recently reported, a petition was currently being organised to urge the king to revoke his appointment of Mr Bishop as the new Chief Judge after it was revealed that his LGBTQ+ lifestyle might violate Tonga’s law, which prohibits sodomy.
The petition stems from the revelation that Mr Bishop and his late partner, Anthony Vander Woerd, another man, lived together as a gay couple for 51 years.
The Legal Futures website reported earlier this month that Mr Bishop is an LGBTQ barrister, and he is open about his sexual orientation and gender identity.
The online legal news source also reported Barrister and TV personality Rob Rinder as saying that he had previously named Mr Bishop as his LGBTQ hero.
Same-sex marriages have been legal in England and Wales since March 29, 2014.
Churches and legal stakeholders in the kingdom were planning petitions and marches to the king, urging His Majesty to rescind Mr Bishop’s appointment.
Christian life
After attending Ruabon Grammar School near Wrexham in Wales, Mr Bishop pursued theology studies at Oxford University.
More recently, he started translating the New Testament into modern English, much of which was done during Covid, and had recently published The Gospels – a lawyer’s translation from the original Greek. He said his translation of the whole of the New Testament would be published by the end of the year.
He was called to the Bar in 1968 and is now a King’s Counsel.
He served as a Deputy High Court Judge, Recorder of the Crown Court, Chairman of the Isle of Man Legal Services Commission, Bencher of the Inner Temple, and member of the Family Law Bar Association Committee. He was formerly a member of the Bar Council.
By rnz.co.nz and is republished with permission. Additional information by Kaniva News
