Minister for Foreign Affairs Sakiasi Ditoka says Chapter 10 of the 2013 Constitution, which deals with immunity, sits outside the constitutional amendment process following the Supreme Court’s advisory opinion.
In a social media statement, Mr Ditoka said while 11 of the Constitution’s 12 chapters were now open to reform, immunity remained an exception.
“On Chapter 10, immunity, the Court’s opinion is that it sits outside the amendment process,” Mr Ditoka said.
He said the Constitution Review Commission had heard from Fijians around the country and had also made its position on immunity known.
“The Constitution Review Commission has listened to Fijians across the country and made its views on immunity known,” he said.
Mr Ditoka said the Cabinet Special Committee on the Constitution was now considering the Commission’s recommendations.
“The Cabinet Special Committee on the Constitution is now carefully weighing every recommendation, guided by the mandate the people have given us.”
The Supreme Court’s 2025 advisory opinion found that Chapter 10, including the immunity provisions, was not subject to the amendment procedure the Court reformulated for other constitutional provisions.
Mr Ditoka said the wider amendment pathway now required at least two-thirds support from all MPs, followed by approval from a majority of those voting in a national referendum.
He stressed that the process did not give Government unrestricted power to alter the Constitution.
“This is not a blank cheque for any government. The bar is still high, and so it should be,” he said.
“Real change will need consensus across parties and the trust of the people.”
Mr Ditoka said Fijians would be consulted again before any referendum.
“Parliament first. Then the people. Our Constitution, our choice, our future.”
