FORMER Tonga Chief Justice Michael Scott has raised serious questions over the financial viability and overall usefulness of public commissions of inquiry, arguing that the primary beneficiaries of such proceedings are frequently the legal professionals involved rather than the general public.
Speaking at the Fiji Law Society Annual Convention at the Sheraton Fiji Golf Resort and Spa in Nadi, Mr Scott provided a detailed critique of the mechanics surrounding public inquiries.
“Some commission of inquiry reports also are so thorough, so detailed, so comprehensive that almost like a first-year law student desperate to impress his professor, they go into so much detail that they produce such a long report, but so overwhelming that it just knocks the wind right out of the whole subject,” he said.
“It’s almost as though all the work that’s gone into producing this report has sucked out the whole energy of the project for reform, and I’m afraid that was largely the case with the Beatty report. I’m going to come back to that had 262 excellent recommendations.
“Perhaps a handful of those were implemented, and the result is that the report itself is largely forgotten.”
While these processes are often launched with great fanfare to address issues framed as matters of national significance, he said the ultimate return on investment remains questionable.
Mr Scott suggested that simpler, less sensational methods could achieve better administrative and legal results without incurring astronomical legal expenses.
He urged legal practitioners and policymakers to evaluate whether the vast financial resources funnelled into formal inquiries actually served the broader public interest.
“There are a number of drawbacks about commissions of inquiry, which I think affect most of them. One is that they’re usually very expensive indeed, which is good for lawyers but not for anybody else very much.”
