Attorney-General of Fiji

The Attorney-General is a political and legal officer in Fiji.^[1] The attorney-general is the chief law officer of the State, and has responsibility for supervising Fijian law and advising the government on legal matters. Like other members of the Fijian Cabinet, the attorney-general is appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister.

Attorney-General of Fiji
Coat of arms of the Republic of Fiji
Incumbent Graham Leung since 5 June 2024
Style	The Honourable
Reports to	Prime Minister of Fiji
Appointer	President of Fiji
Formation	1872
First holder	Robert Wilson Hamilton

According to the 2013 Constitution of Fiji, the attorney-general is required to be a registered legal practitioner in Fiji, with not less than fifteen years' post-admission legal practice, either in Fiji or internationally.^[2] The attorney-general is a member of the Cabinet of Fiji,^[2] and is normally expected to be a Member of Parliament. The Prime Minister may, however, choose an attorney-general from outside Parliament after determining there is no suitably qualified Member of Parliament who supports the Government. An Attorney-General who is not a Member of Parliament may sit in Parliament, but may not vote.^[2]

The office of the attorney-general is the oldest surviving executive office in Fiji, having been established in the Kingdom of Fiji in 1872. It continued throughout Fiji's years as a British crown colony (1874–1970) and subsequently as the Dominion of Fiji (1970–1987) and republic (1987–present), with minimal modifications.

The attorney-general was the only Cabinet office, apart from that of the prime minister, specifically established by the 1997 Constitution, which required the attorney-general to be a member of either the House of Representatives or the Senate. A unique feature of the office was that except for voting rights (which could be exercised only in the chamber of which the attorney-general was officially a member), the attorney-general had the authority to participate in the business of both chambers of Parliament. This feature became redundant upon the adoption of the 2013 Constitution, which established a unicameral parliament.

Role of the Attorney-General's Office

The role of the attorney-general is defined as "providing essential legal expertise and support to the Government". More specific functions include "legislative drafting", "legal aid", "the prerogative of mercy" (advising the President), "liquor licensing" and "film censorship".^[3] Thus, the attorney-general is responsible for all legal needs of government departments, statutory bodies, and state-owned enterprises.

The office has three offices in Suva, Lautoka, and Labasa respectively. Government legal work in the country's Central and Eastern Divisions is undertaken by the central office in Suva, headed by the Solicitor-General, while the Lautoka office (headed by the Principal Legal Officer) is responsible for the Western Division. The Northern Division is covered by the Labasa office.

List of attorneys-general of Fiji

Note that some attorneys-general have held office in multiple consecutive administrations, particularly in the colonial era.

Kingdom of Viti (1871–1874)

No.	Name	Term of office	Appointed by (King):
1	Robert Wilson Hamilton	1872	Seru Epenisa Cakobau
2	Charles Rossiter Forwood	1872–1873
3	Sydney Charles Burt	1873–1874

Crown colony (1874–1970)

No.	Name	Term of office	Appointed by (Governor):
4	James Herman De Ricci	1875–1876	Sir Arthur Hamilton Gordon
5	Joseph Hector Garrick	1876–1882	Sir Arthur Hamilton Gordon
6	Fielding Clarke	1882–1886	Sir William Des Vœux
7	Henry Spencer Berkeley	1886–1889
8	John Symonds Udal	1889–1899	Sir John Bates Thurston
9	Henry Edward Pollock	1901–1903	William Lamond Allardyce
10	Albert Ehrhardt	1903–1914	Sir Henry Moore Jackson
11	Alfred Karney Young	1914–1922	Sir Ernest Bickham Sweet-Escott
12	Sir Kenneth MacKenzie	1922–1927	Sir Cecil Hunter Rodwell
13	Percy Alexander McElwaine	1927–1931	Sir Eyre Hutson
14	Charles Gough Howell	1931–1933	Sir Arthur George Murchison Fletcher
15	Ransley Samuel Thacker	1933–1938
16	Edward Enoch Jenkins	1938–1945	Sir Arthur Frederick Richards
17	John Henry Vaughan	1945–1949	Sir Alexander Grantham
18	Brian Andre Doyle	1949–1956	Sir Brian Freeston
19	Ashley Martin Greenwood	1956–1963	Sir Ronald Herbert Garvey
20	Henry Roger Justin Lewis	1963–1970	Sir Kenneth Phipson Maddocks

Dominion (1970–1987)

No.	Name	Term of office	Served under: [1]
			Governor-General	Prime Minister
21	John Neil Falvey	1970–1977	Ratu Sir George Cakobau	Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara
22	Sir Vijay R. Singh	1977–1979
23	Andrew Indar Narayan Deoki	1979–1981
24	Manikam Pillai	1981–1984
			Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau
25	Qoriniasi Babitu Bale	1984–1987
26	Jai Ram Reddy	1987		Timoci Bavadra
27	Alipate Qetaki	1987		vacant
[1] The Attorney-General in this period was formally appointed by the Governor-General, but on the advice of the Prime Minister.

Republic (1987–present)

No.	Name	Term of office	Served under: [1]
			President	Prime Minister
28	Sailosi Kepa	1987–1992	Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau	Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara
29	Apaitia Seru	1992		Major general (Rtd) Sitiveni Rabuka
30	Kelemedi Bulewa	1992–1996
			Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara
31	Etuate Tavai	1996–1999
32	Anand K. Singh	1999–2000		Mahendra Chaudhry
				Ratu Tevita Momoedonu
(27)	Alipate Qetaki	2000–2001	Ratu Josefa Iloilo	Laisenia Qarase
				Ratu Tevita Momoedonu
				Laisenia Qarase
(25)	Qoriniasi Babitu Bale	2001–2006		Laisenia Qarase
33	Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum	2007–2014		Rear admiral (Rtd) Frank Bainimarama
			Ratu Epeli Nailatikau
34	Faiyaz Koya	2014
(33)	Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum	2014–2022
			Jioji Konrote
			Wiliame Katonivere
35	Siromi Turaga	2022–2024	Wiliame Katonivere	Major general (Rtd) Sitiveni Rabuka
36	Graham Leung	2024 –present	Wiliame Katonivere	Major general (Rtd) Sitiveni Rabuka
[1] The Attorney-General in this period is formally appointed by the President, but on the advice of the Prime Minister.

See also

• Cabinet of Fiji

References

1. "Welcome to the website of the Office of the Attorney-General". Office of the Attorney-General. © Copyright 2005-2008, Office of the Attorney-General. Archived from the original on 24 October 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
2. "Constitution of the Republic of Fiji" (PDF). electionsfiji.gov.fj. p. 55. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
3. Office of the Attorney-General Archived October 24, 2015, at the Wayback Machine (Fiji), official website.

External links

• Website of the Office of the Attorney-General of Fiji