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
  1. "Tonga's Justice Minister welcomes historic court appointment". RNZ. 28 June 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  2. "Tongan Prime Minister visits Law School". Auckland Law School. 4 August 2016. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  3. "Election brings new members". Vol. 58, no. 4. Pacific Islands Monthly. 1 April 1987. Retrieved 20 June 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. Kerry James (Spring 1993). "The Kingdom of Tonga" (PDF). Vol. 6, no. 1. The Contemporary Pacific. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  5. 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.
  6. "Tonga to hold inquiry into judiciary". New Zealand Herald. 12 August 2010. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  7. "Tonga lashing sentence for teenagers sparks anger". BBC News. 18 February 2010. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  8. Laura Roberts (17 February 2010). "British judge sentences two men to six lashes each in Tongan Supreme Court". Telegraph Travel. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  9. "Petunia Tupou appointed new Supreme Court judge". Matangi Tonga. 27 July 2022. Archived from the original on 28 July 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  10. Kalino Latu (18 August 2022). "Concerns mount after claims judge's contract was renewed before being axed". Kaniva Tonga. Retrieved 19 August 2022.


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