The State has submitted a detailed six-volume summary of Fiji’s constitutional history to the Supreme Court, following a directive from Chief Justice Salesi Temo.
On June 6, the Chief Justice ordered the State to provide the documents as part of ongoing proceedings relating to the validity and interpretation of the 2013 Constitution.
Deputy Solicitor-General Eliesa Tuiloma told the court the State had amended both the reference and original motion in line with the court’s instructions.
“In pursuant to the court’s direction, the State has gone ahead to amend the amended reference and also amend the original motion as per the court’s direction,” Mr Tuiloma told the court.
The submission includes a “Statement of Constitutional Facts” with a tabulated appendix of supporting documents spread across six volumes.
The documents were served to all intervening parties, including political parties, the Fiji Law Society, and representatives of the State.
“This statement highlights the different constitutional making process that we used for the successive constitutional 1970, 1990, 1997 and 2008 constitutions.
“They also contain an overview of different amendment processes under those constitutions and an overview of the structure of the legislative authority or parliament under the different constitutions.
“As well as electoral processes that were under those constitutions.”
Mr Tuiloma said the State also ensured the inclusion of an overview of the general elections and voter turnouts under each of those constitutions.
However, he noted the chronology ends at the 2018 election, as data for earlier elections could not be located.
He indicated the submissions drew from a range of historical and legal sources.
