10 Jul 2012

Fiji snubs fresh foreign Law Society approach

1:37 pm on 10 July 2012

Fiji's director of public prosecutions says the country has more important things to do than organise a visit for the Law Society of England and Wales.

The Society last week said it believed the Fiji regime was hesitant about any investigation into the country's rule of law, because it had not responded to an offer to visit.

Megan Whelan reports.

"The Director of Public Prosecutions, Christopher Pryde, says an invitation was extended to Nigel Dodds of the Law Society Charity, who wrote report on Fiji's judiciary, and not to the Society. He says that invitation was in response to a number of errors in the report, which was criticised for being hastily assembled and inadequately researched. Mr Pryde says it is unfortunate that the Law Society resolved to uncritically accept the Dodds report, and cannot claim to be open-minded about the situation in Fiji. He says Fiji has more important issues to deal with in the run-up to elections in 2014 than to be organising yet another visit for prominent international organisations such as the Law Society. He says he looks forward to receiving Mr Dodds' response to the many correspondences critical of his report and look forward to his return visit to Fiji."