Noa Niubalavu Nawalowalo made history by becoming the first Fijian to be admitted to practice as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Fiji.
And this historic ceremony before Chief Justice Mills-Owens was recorded in The Fiji Times on December 18, 1964.
“He enters upon a profession to which tradition means a great deal, but then he springs from a people among whose many qualities is a high regard for tradition,” Justice Mills-Owens said while congratulating Mr Nawalowalo on his achievement.
The motion to admit Mr Nawalowalo to practice was moved by AD Leys of Munro, Warren, Leys, and Kermode, with whom he was engaged as an assistant. Others present at the ceremony were DMN McFarlane, vice president of the Fiji Law Society, AC Reid, secretary for Fijian Affairs and Local Government and the new barrister’s former headmaster at Queen Victoria School, and the Crown Counsel, BA Palmer. Also, in court were some of Mr Nawalowalo’s relatives.
After taking the oaths and signing the book of admission, he stood while Justice Mills-Owens extended to him a welcome and good wishes.
“It gives me great pleasure”, said the Chief Justice, “to approve, admit and enrol Mr Nawalowalo to practice as barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court.
“It is entirely fitting that this occasion should be marked with some ceremony as Mr Nawalowalo is the first Fijian to seek admission as a legal practitioner in the country of his birth.
“The late Sir Lala Sukuna was, of course, a member of the English Bar, but he in fact never actually entered upon practice in Fiji, so that in respect of actual admission to practice, Mr Nawalowalo is the first Fijian and the first, I trust, of many”.
Mr Nawalowalo was from Kadavu, where his close relative was the Roko of Kadavu. In his earlier years, he attended QVS at the time when the secretary for Fijian Affairs then, Mr Reld, was the headmaster.
Then, after some years in Government service in Fiji, he went to New Zealand, first to engage in Government service there and then to study law. After gaining his qualifications in New Zealand, he was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of New Zealand in February of 1963.
“He now has the advantage of being engaged as assistant in offices of very experienced members of the profession here.”
“He enters upon the practice of a profession which presents not only an intellectual challenge, but also, on occasions, a moral or ethical challenge.
“In this connection, let me say how glad I am to know the profession itself is now engaged in seeking means to improve its organisation and to undertake greater responsibility in the matter of the maintenance of the standards and discipline in the profession”.
The Chief Justice said a lawyer had an important role to play in the modern world and not least in stimulating confidence in business affairs.
“The courts must always be very largely dependent upon the level of integrity and competence of the profession, and here perhaps, I may mention it is not always fully appreciated, the extent to which the court depends upon that.
“Mr Nawalowalo will, I am sure, fully measure up to the responsibilities of his profession. I extend to him a warm welcome and wish him every success, not just material success, although that has its place of course, but that success which comes in the personal satisfaction of duties well done”.
