LW 111 COURTS AND DSIPUTE RESOLUTION I

ASSIGNMENT TWO
SEMESTER ONE 2011

NAME: Samisoni Naba

Student I.D Number: S11066581

Assignment Number: Two

Course Coordinator: Carolyn Penfold

Due Date: 20th April 20, 2011

Email Address: S11066581@usp.ac.fj

LW 111- Assignment Two Page 1

Student Plagiarism Cover Sheet
LW111
Course name and code Courts and Dispute Resolution I LW 111
Name of teacher Carolyn Penfold
Student name Samisoni Naba
Student ID number S11066581
Assignment number Two
Actual date of submission 20th April 2011
Actual word count 1273
Campus at which student is enrolled Lautoka Campus
Student email address S11066581@usp.ac.fj
I have read and understood the University of the South Pacific, School of Law policy on
academic misconduct and plagiarism. I am aware of the following:
The view taken by the Head of the School of Law is that failure to acknowledge or
inadequate acknowledging the work of another will result in a student receiving an
official written warning and a mark of 0 for that piece of work.
If the plagiarism case is regarded by the Head of School as substantial (for example a
significant failure to acknowledge a source) it will be forwarded to the Student
Development Committee of Senate (the Discipline Committee).
The Law School has introduced a database of those students who have been reported to
the Head of School for plagiarism and the penalty that was imposed and that repeat
offenders (regardless as to the extent of the plagiarism) will be automatically referred to
the Discipline Committee.
I confirm that the work contained in the attached item of assessment is entirely my own work
except where I have specifically acknowledged another’s work and the source of that other’s
work.
Signature: Samisoni Naba
Please note submission of this declaration is a requirement for all pieces of written coursework
assessment and marks may be withheld for failure to submit a completed declaration

LW 111- Assignment Two Page 2

Question 4

Fiji has four level of court which is established byi Chapter 9 of the Constitution of the Fiji Island.
The four courts are namely, The Supreme Court, The Court of Appeal, High Court and the
Magistrate Court. These are the four courts in Fiji and it has different jurisdiction to hear and
deals with. The work of this four court is to enforce the laws of the country.

Firstly, Theii Supreme Court is the final appellant court of the State and there is no judicial
authority is higher than the Supreme Court.iiiIt replaces the British Privy Council before Fiji
became a republic in 1987’. It has the right toiv hear and determine appeals from all final
judgment from the lower tribunals or the lower court’. The Supreme Court has the right or
authority to vreview, vary, affirm or discard decisions of the court of appeal’.

Secondly, the Court of Appeal has thevi right and power to hear and determine appeals from the
judgment of the High Court and it is authorizes by the constitution’. The higher judicial
authority of the Court of Appeal is the Supreme Court.

Thirdly, the High Court which is the third level court established byvii Chapter 9 of the
Constitution and has the right or power to hear and determine civil and criminal proceedings
and it has unlimited jurisdiction’. In this court the Magistrate will sometimes or may refer to
some question of law.

Lastly, the Magistrate Court is the lower court and isviii divided into three classes. It was
established in 1945 in order to determine minor civil and criminal matters in urban areas have been
Continued since independence the ix resident magistrate, second class magistrate, and third class
magistrate all have different jurisdictions to hear and determine. It also hears civil and criminal
proceedings. Magistrates Courts have become the subordinate for all Fijians irrespective of race or
location

To conclude, the four levels of Court in Fiji are all established under the Chapter 9 of the
Constitution of the Fiji Island. In this court system the Supreme Court comes first followed by
the Court of Appeal and than the High Court lastly the Magistrate Court which is the lower
court of them all. It all works in different ways and their jurisdiction are very much different
from one another.

LW 111- Assignment Two Page 3

Question 5

All written constitution of the Pacific Island nation has ax principal court which is called the High
Court or the Supreme Court where judgers are appointed to exercise the power of that
particular court. The constitution of my country does provide for the court as it is stated in the
Constitution (Amendment) Act 1997 under Chapter 9 and its heading reads ‘JUDICIARY’ under
Judicial Power. It is stated in section 117 of this constitution where the Supreme Court provides
it for the court.

Question 6

The Chapter 9 of the Constitution of Fiji under the heading of the Jurisdiction of the Supreme
Court relates to the Supreme Court of Fiji. It can be sited as Constitution (Amendment) Act
1997.

Question 7

The court that I visited for completing this assignment is the High Court in Lautoka. The High
Court is one of the four level courts that were established by Chapter 9 of the Constitution of
Fiji. It deals with criminal and civil proceedings. The jurisdiction of this court is unlimited.

Question 8

It was in the afternoon that I went to the Lautoka Court Complex and wondering how big the
court room in Lautoka would be. When I entered the court room number 5, it was just a small
room as I was expecting to enter a bigger court room than what I saw at the Lautoka Court
Complex. The court than proceed after a while, it was a case about an American lady who had
an accident while on vocation at The Hideaway Resort in 2002. One of the lawyers began to ask
questions to the witness. The lawyers questioned the witness about her earlier injuries that
shed had from the States and further takes her back in 1997 about her educational background.
The lawyer also asked the witness about her qualification that she holds and also asks her about
how many property does she has back at the State. There were only nine of us at that court
room. The courts decision was not reported as the judger set another date of hearing.

LW 111- Assignment Two Page 4

Question 9

The name of the latest case that was decided in the High Court of Fiji is the case of xiState v
Lulu [2011] FJHC 210; HAC062.2010 (13 April 2011).

Question 10

Common law and equity refers to thexii system of legal principles which makes up the heart of
the Anglo- America legal system. It consists of legal principles or rules which are embodied in
the reasons for the decision of the courts. The body of laws that they made and they way that
they functioned was followed by the courts in the United States and the British Commonwealth
nations’. During the dependency period, the xiiiAnglo-America common law was adopted by all
the countries in the Pacific region, but subject to some limits’. After independence or self-
government, the courts in the Pacific Island Nation continue to rely on precedents from common
law cases to deal with disputes that they are dealing with. In Fiji xivSection 35 of the Supreme
Court Ordinance 1875 provides that; The Common Law the rules of Equity the statutes of the
general application which were in forced in England…..on the 2nd day of January 1875 shall be
in force in the colony.’

LW 111- Assignment Two Page 5

i
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Court_of_Fiji
ii
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_%28Fiji%29
iii
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_(Fiji)
iv
University of the South Pacific, Course Book LW111, P 6.17
v
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_%28Fiji%29
vi
University of the South Pacific, Course Book LW111, (2011), P 6.17
vii
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Court_of_Fiji
viii
University of the South Pacific, Course Book LW111 (2011), p 6.18
ix
University of the South Pacific, Course Book LW 111 (2011), P 6.18
x
University of the South Pacific, Course Book LA 207 (2003)
xi
http://www.paclii.org/fj/cases/FJHC/2011/
xii
University of the South Pacific, Course Book LW111, (2011), P 2.13
xiii
University of the South Pacific, Course Book LW111, (2011), P 2.13
xiv
Don Paterson, The Application of Common Law and equity in countries of the South Pacific, 1997

BIBLIOGRAPHY
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_(Fiji), (20th April 2011)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_%28Fiji%29, (20TH April, 2011)
http://www.paclii.org/fj/cases/FJHC/2011/, (20th April 21, 2011)
University of the South Pacific, Course Book LW111, 2011
University of the South Pacific, Course Book LA 207, 2003.
Paterson D, The application of the common law and
equity in countries of the South Pacific, http://www.usp.ac.fj/jps/Paterson.PDF (19th April 20, 2011)