Qarase v Bainimarama: Fiji’s Constitution under fire
Author: George Williams
The unanimous Fiji High Court decision of Acting Chief Justice Gates and Judges Byrne and Pathik in Qarase v Bainimarama on 9 October 2008 was a major disappointment. The Court found that the President of Fiji, Ratu Josefa Iloilo Uluivuda, acted lawfully in ratifying the dismissal of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, in dissolving Parliament and in granting immunity to the leaders of December 2006 coup. It also found that the President could rule Fiji directly by decree without the need for a timetable for the holding of elections.
The Court held that all this could occur consistently with the 1997 Fiji Constitution. This was based on the giant legal fiction that the Constitution could accommodate such extraordinary undemocratic acts without itself being compromised.