Two female judges and an indigenous Fijian have been named, for the first time, to sit on the Court of Appeal in a first for Fiji.
The first session of Fiji's Court of Appeal for this year is underway this week in Suva following the resignation of the entire panel late last year.
Their replacements are members of the Fiji High Court, including Justice Jocelyn Scutt from Australia, who was admitted to the court late last year.
The new panel include: Justices Nazhat Shameem, Jocelyn Scutt, John Byrnes, Daniel Gounder, Davendra Pathik and Isikeli Mataitoga, a former diplomat and CEO of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Interim Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said Mr Mataitoga was the first ever indigenous Fijian in the Court of Appeal.
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum has given an assurance to the bench that the interim Government will respect its rulings.
