Laki Niu
Laki Niu is a Tongan judge and former Member of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga. He was the first Tongan to sit on the Supreme Court of Tonga in over a hundred years.[1]
Niu is a lawyer and was educated at the University of Auckland in New Zealand.[2] In 1986 he challenged the government in court over improper parliamentary proceedings, and was subsequently elected as a People's Representative for Tongatapu in the 1987 Tongan general election.[3] He was re-elected in 1990, but lost his seat in 1993 after splitting with ʻAkilisi Pōhiva over the formalisation of the Human Rights and Democracy Movement into a political party.[4] and the type of democracy it advocated.[5] He subsequently served as President of the Tongan Law Society. In that role, he was an advocate for an independent judiciary[6] and opposed corporal punishment and the death penalty.[7][8]
In June 2018 Niu was appointed to the Supreme Court.[1] His contract ended on 30 June 2022, and he was replaced by Petunia Tupou.[9] Following his departure journalist Kalafi Moala alleged that Niu's contract had initially been extended for another two years before abruptly being cancelled.[10]
References[edit]
- ^ a b "Tonga's Justice Minister welcomes historic court appointment". RNZ. 28 June 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
- ^ "Tongan Prime Minister visits Law School". Auckland Law School. 4 August 2016. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
- ^ "Election brings new members". Vol. 58, no. 4. Pacific Islands Monthly. 1 April 1987. Retrieved 20 June 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Kerry James (Spring 1993). "The Kingdom of Tonga" (PDF). Vol. 6, no. 1. The Contemporary Pacific. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
- ^ Marie-Claire Bataille; Georges Benguigui (1 December 2008). "Identity at Stake in the Present-Day Kingdom of Tonga". In Serge Tcherkézoff; Françoise Douaire-Marsaudon (eds.). The Changing South Pacific: Identities and Transformations. Canberra: ANU E-Press. p. 236.
- ^ "Tonga to hold inquiry into judiciary". New Zealand Herald. 12 August 2010. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
- ^ "Tonga lashing sentence for teenagers sparks anger". BBC News. 18 February 2010. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
- ^ Laura Roberts (17 February 2010). "British judge sentences two men to six lashes each in Tongan Supreme Court". Telegraph Travel. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
- ^ "Petunia Tupou appointed new Supreme Court judge". Matangi Tonga. 27 July 2022. Archived from the original on 28 July 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
- ^ Kalino Latu (18 August 2022). "Concerns mount after claims judge's contract was renewed before being axed". Kaniva Tonga. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  | This article about a Tongan politician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |