Lawyers are the first ones who should respect the rule of law, said International Human Rights lawyer Imrana Jalal on the issue of acting Director of Public Prosecutions John Rabuku refusing to relinquish the post after a Supreme Court opinion said he wasn’t eligible to hold that office.

Ms Jalal said this refusal was a “complete violation of the rule of law”.

“I would have been packing my bags on the day of the opinion by the Supreme Court, preserving my dignity and shaking the hands of my lawyer colleagues at the ODPP,” she said.

“That is a dignified exit. This is not a dignified exit.

“The Supreme Court is the highest authority in Fiji, higher than the Judicial and Legal Services Commission, higher than any government official or tribunal or commission, including the Prime Minister.

“There is nothing beyond the Supreme Court.”

Ms Jalal said any time a lawyer refuses to act in accordance with a legal opinion, ruling, declaration, directive, whatever the form, he or she is doing more damage to the rule of law.

“It is frittering away at the apparatus and mechanics that provide the framework for us lawyers to function.

“How can we lawyers expect the public to respect the rule of law if we don’t respect it?

“As if the 16 years of the previous government did not do enough damage to the rule of law, more is being done to destroy it now.

“I weep for the rule of law in Fiji.”

Mr Rabuku said Attorney-General Graham Leung and the Fiji Law Society president Wylie Clarke had no authority to call for his resignation.