Tonga's Chief Justice designate, Justice Anthony Ford, says he is honoured by his new appointment and hopes to reduce the backlog of cases.
To be a Justice of one's own country, he says, is an honour in itself but to be made Chief Justice of another country is the ultimate in his career.
Justice Ford has been working in Tonga for the past six years.
He says Tonga has always had a strong judicial system based on English Law.
Justice Ford says at the moment there is a wait of about 12 months for a case and his aim will be to try to get that down to about thre to four months.
Justice Ford will replace Chief Justice Webster in September.
