An official from Fiji's High Court issued a decree Thursday to prevent legal challenges to decisions made by the South Pacific nation's president or other leaders since a December 2006 military coup.
Notices posted at court entrances in the capital, Suva, said the court would not accept any complaints relating to the abrogation of Fiji's constitution on April 10 or any other government actions since the coup that ousted the democratic government.
Notices issued by Ana Rokomokoti, the High Court's acting registrar, said litigants whose proceedings had been discontinued were being notified. She did not specify how many cases were affected.
The move comes eight days before a deadline for Fiji to set a date for democratic elections or become the first country to be suspended from the 16-nation Pacific Islands Forum regional grouping.
On April 9, Fiji's Court of Appeal ruled that the 2006 coup by military leader Commodore Frank Bainimarama was illegal, as were all decisions made by his military-led government.
President Ratu Josefa Iloilo responded by abolishing the constitution, firing the nation's judges, imposing emergency rule and reinstating Bainimarama and his Cabinet. He ordered censors into newsrooms and has since ruled by decree on the advice of Bainimarama, a situation foreign critics have condemned as a military dictatorship.
Although the High Court stands empty, unconfirmed media reports suggest that Iloilo will appoint new senior court judges within days.
Iloilo also issued a decree setting up the framework for a new court system and the appointment of judges, which would require Iloilo's approval, and sought to put Bainimarama's rule beyond the threat of any further legal challenge.
"No court shall have the jurisdiction to accept, hear and determine, or in any other way entertain, any challenges whatsoever by any person to the validity or legality of any decrees made by the president from 10 April 2009," the decree said.
Rokomokoti's notice said among cases the High Court will refuse to accept are those that challenge any actions by the government since the Dec. 5, 2006 coup, including deportations from Fiji.
Suva lawyer Niko Nawaikula, a lawmaker in the deposed government of former Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, said he had three cases that would not be heard under the new decree.
There was no immediate comment from the Fiji Law Society, whose president, Dorsami Naidu, was taken in by security forces and held for two days last week. Up to a dozen journalists have also been questioned by security forces, and three foreign journalists have been expelled from the country.
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