13 Mar 2014

Nauru chief justice resigns

12:00 pm on 13 March 2014

Nauru's chief justice Geoffrey Eames has resigned, saying he's done everything possible to draw attention to serious breaches of the rule of law in the country.

Mr Eames, who's based in Australia, has been prevented from returning to Nauru after the government withdrew his visa - one of a series of controversial moves by the Nauru government.

It also deported the resident magistrate and other expatriate officials and made allegations of cronyism.

Mr Eames says if the government wanted to get rid of him they should have followed the correct procedure but he says he's done nothing wrong and there's no reason why he should have had to resign.

"There was really nothing being achieved by me remaining as a chief justice in exile, that was obviously a situation which couldn't go on forever. I decided it was appropriate to draw my involvement to an end. The government will have to now deal with the question of what happens to the case work that's in Nauru and no doubt they'll have to make appointments."

Mr Eames says he has had no response from the Nauru government.