Major changes expected in our judicial system as two bills tabled in parliament

Parliament will debate two important bills this Thursday and if passed will see major changes in our judicial system.

The High Court Amendment Bill seeks to create a specialised division within the Fijian judicial system that will solely deal with anti-corruption cases.

Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says by having specialised courts, the prosecutors and those that get prosecuted will get a particular level of certainty and this will further reinforce the rule of law.

He says the idea is to ensure that they get consistency in anti-corruption cases.

The Criminal Procedure Amendment Bill 2021 seeks to remove the assessor system during trials and have the judges make the decisions themselves.

Sayed-Khaiyum says they are seeing a lot that the assessors have limited ability to comprehend sophisticated matters and come up with rulings.

He adds there are a handful of assessors that are being used and are well known to registry clerks and lawyers.