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'Akau'ola v Attorney-General [1997] TongaLawRp 1; [1997] Tonga LR 36 (20 June 1997)

[1997] Tonga LR 36

IN THE APPEAL COURT OF TONGA
CIVIL JURISDICTION
NUKU'ALOFA REGISTRY

APP. NO. 3/97.

BETWEEN

FILOKALAFI 'AKAU'OLA
Appellant;

AND

THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
Respondent.

CORAM: Morling J Burchett J Tompkins J

Counsel for the appellant: Mr Tu'utafaiva
Counsel for the respondent: Mr Cauch'i

Date of Hearing: 12 June 1997
Date of Judgment: 20 June 1997

JUDGMENT

This is an appeal against a conviction for contempt of court, and the imposition accordingly of a fine of T$500.

The circumstances have achieved some notoriety in Tonga, the background to the case being an order of the Supreme Court made 14 October 1996 for the release of three persons from imprisonment under a warrant issued by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. It was the Chief Justice who made that order, which is also the subject of an appeal to this Court. Following the release of the three persons, one of them, the appellant, who is a journalist and assistant editor of a newspaper circulating in Tonga, on 14 November 1996 interviewed the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, seeking his reaction to the judgment of the Chief Justice. An article written by the appellant then appeared in an issue of the newspaper dated 27 November 1996. The appellant explained that publication of the article had been delayed, pending the lodgement of an appeal against the Chief Justice's decision, at the request of the Speaker.

Two of the three men released were the editor and assistant editor (the appellant) of the newspaper, the third being a member of Parliament named 'Akilisi Pohiva who had given them information for a "scoop", so the article could hardly have been supposed by any reader to be an attack on the Chief Justice. However, it reported the events at some length, and that the Government was lodging an appeal. One paragraph was alleged, however, to amount to a contempt of Court. It had to the following effect:

"In a statement by Fusitu'a [i.e. the Speaker], he said that he was dissatisfied with the judgment of the Hon Chief Justice and he also said: if there is an appeal and the Legislative Assembly is right, may be it is correct to do work [sic] to the Hon. Chief Justice to impeach."

Unfortunately, on 25 November 1996, a trial had commenced before the Chief Justice and a jury, in which Mr Pohiva was accused of criminally libelling the King; and on 29 November 1996, the Chief Justice disqualified himself from continuing to preside over that trial.