THE High Court has ruled that the Magistrate’s Court has jurisdiction to try offences under the Online Safety Act 2018 (OSA), resolving a major legal question that had temporarily halted three separate criminal cases.
On May 22, Justice Thushara Rajasinghe delivered a ruling on a jurisdictional issue concerning three separate OSA cases.
The central matter was determining whether the Magistrate’s Court of Fiji has the jurisdiction to hear and try criminal offences created under the OSA 2018, or if such jurisdiction is vested exclusively in the High Court.
The core of the State’s argument relies on Section 2 of the Online Safety Act (OSA) 2018, with the prosecution contending that because the word “court” is defined to mean the High Court of Fiji, only the High Court has jurisdiction to hear and try offences created under the Act.
However, Justice Rajasinghe said that if the law creating an offence has not prescribed a specific court with jurisdiction to hear it, and the offence is not expressly classified as an indictable-only or a summary offence, the lower court may hear and try such an offence.
He further noted that it was clear that Section 2 of the OSA did not explicitly state that only the High Court had exclusive jurisdiction to hear and try the offences created under the Act.
Justice Rajasinghe concluded that because the OSA 2018 does not vest exclusive jurisdiction in the High Court, nor classify its offences as indictable-only, the Magistrates’ Court has full authority to try them under Section 5(2) of the Criminal Procedure Act. Accordingly, he ordered all three cases remitted back to the lower court.
