AUSTRALIA HAS 1120 ASYLUM SEEKERS DETAINED IN NAURU WHOSE FATE NOW HUNG IN BALANCE AS CHIEF JUSTICE FOR THE PAST THREE YEARS RESIGNED ALLEGING NAURU GOVT INTERFERENCE IN JUDICIARY Published: March 13, 2014 - 1:56AM Geoffrey Eames, who has been Naurus chief justice for the past three years, has resigned, saying he cannot be assured that the Nauruan government will respect the judiciarys independence. The move raises questions about the future of the justice system of the island nation, where 1120 asylum seekers are detained. Sixty-one of the asylum seekers appeared at the District Court last week facing charges in relation to a riot at Naurus detention centre last year. Ten asylum seekers who argue their detention is illegal have also applied to be heard at the Supreme Court. Mr Eames, a former Victorian Supreme Court judge, said he tendered his resignation to Nauruan President Baron Waqa on Wednesday night. He delivered a withering assessment of Naurus justice system in a wide-ranging statement critical of the governments treatment of ousted Resident Magistrate Peter Law and what he says is its breach of the rule of law. Mr Eames said the governments announcement that it would review future judges contracts every six months was designed to interfere with judicial independence. He told Fairfax Media the Australian government had at most only expressed concern about the rule of law, but there was no indication that any sort of pressure was put on the Nauruan government that it had broken the rule of law and it was a serious breach. The Australian government lost all possibility of pressure with [Immigration Minister] Scott Morrison and [Foreign Minister] Julie Bishop making statements at the outset that it was a purely domestic dispute. Mr Eames assumed all future judges on Nauru would meet their oaths, but said: There will be a distinct lack of confidence as to the degree of independence they will be given and that will be a dilemma for them. The resignation marks the end of a three-month stalemate between Mr Eames and the Nauruan government. In January, it sacked and deported its Australian Resident Magistrate Peter Law, defying Mr Eames injunction from Melbourne, and cancelled his visa. Given the governments failure to concede that its actions . . . constituted breaches of the rule of law, it is clear that my relationship with [the Nauruan] government is such that I could no longer perform the duties of chief justice even if my visa was restored, he said. It is expected an acting judge will be appointed to head the Supreme Court, due to resume next week.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 04:23:21 +0000
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