Supreme Court of the Oan Isles
| Supreme Court of the Oan Isles | |
|---|---|
| Kooti Hupirimi o Nga Moutere Oa | |
 | |
| Established | 1921 |
| Jurisdiction | The Oan Isles |
| Motto | Ka tu te whakawa (Oan) Justice will prevail |
| Appeals to | Auroran Court of Justice |
| Appeals from | High Courts of the Oan Isles |
| Judge term length | At His Serene Majesty's Pleasure |
| Language | Oan |
| Chief Justice | |
| Currently | Edna Moutuara |
The Supreme Court of the Oan Isles (Oan: Kooti Hupirimu o Nga Motuere Oa) is the highest court in the judiciary of The Oan Isles. It consists of 12 justices including 1 Chief Justice. It is the final court of appeal in the Oan Isles on all cases and has the power to strike down unconstitutional laws.
Justices
The justices of the Supreme Court are appointed by the Emperor of Polynesia. However, the Emperor requires the advice of the Prime Minister of the Oan Isles to make appointments to the judiciary. Furthermore, the Emperor is required to abide by the advice of the Prime Minister when making judicial appointments including of justices of the Supreme Court. This means that the Prime Minister de facto wields the power to determine the composition of the Supreme Court. However, laws exist which protect the tenure of justices and which constrain the Prime Minister's freedom in determining candidates.
Role of the Judicial Appointments Commission
The Judiciary Act stipulates that the Prime Minister may only advise the Crown to appoint justices that have been recommended by the Judicial Appointments Commission. The Judicial Appointments Commission consists of 18 people. It consists of 3 teachers of law of an Oan university appointed by the Association of Law Schools of the Oan Isles, 3 advocates admitted to the Supreme Court elected by the Oan Bar Association, 3 attorneys elected by the Oan Law Society, 5 members of the National Assembly appointed by the Justice Committee of the House of the People including 1 member of the Opposition, and 4 justices of the Supreme Court including the Chief Justice as the chair.
The Judicial Appointments Commission has many duties ans powers governing not only the judiciary but also the legal profession but in the context of the Supreme Court it advertises vacancies, stipulates criteria for justices in accordance with the Judiciary Act, reviews resumes, conducts background checks and conducts interviews with candidates.
Appointments procedure
The process for Appointing a judge goes as follows:
- A vacancy is declared following the resignation, death or incapacitation of a sitting justice
- An advertisement is put out with required documents
- Résumés are reviewed and processed. This entails granting a score based on a variety of metrics and eliminating the lowest ranked candidates.
- Candidates are invited for a round of publicly accessible interviews by members of the Commission.
- The Chief Justice sends the final three candidates to the Prime Minister for his decision.
- The Prime Minister meets with the Emperor and gives him the name he wishes to appoint.
- The Emperor issues a commission to the candidate and the candidate is invited by the Chief Justice.
- In the event that a candidate changes their mind and declines to participate, the JAC is required to prepare another list of 3 candidates from the selection pool.
Justices must take an Oath of Office in which they vow to defend the Constitution, exercise their duties impartially, independently and without fear, favour or prejudice.
Tenure
Justices serves for life or until they resign. They are allowed to serve for as long as they are able and willing thus there are no restrictions to the length that a judge may serve. Thus, many members often serve on the Supreme Court for decades. This has allowed them to accumulate knowledge and experience and makes filling their spot very difficult especially given the vast amount of candidates who wish to become Supreme Court justices due to the prestige and power the position holds.
Criteria
Justices of the Supreme Court are required to meet the following criteria:
- They must be citizens of the Oan Isles
- They must be above the age of 35
- They must be practing advocates for over 10 years OR
- They must have been a judge in a High Court.
Impeachment
Justices are immune from prosecution in the exercise of their duties. Cases brought against justices in criminal or civil suits are brought against the Crown which bears the cost of defending the justice in question. This exists to insulate justices from arbitrary cases and executive interference. Complaints against justices are brought to the Judicial Disciplinary Commission m adjudicate cases against justices. The Commission consists of other judges and other officials. If a Justice is found guilt of various severe crimes, they must resign or be dismissed by the Crown.
List of present justices
- Chief Justice Edna Moutuara
- Deputy Chief Justice George Uye
- Justice Rebecca Iparoha
- Justice Richard Akea
- Justice Tiffany Ahua
- Justice Victoria Toroa-Williams
- Justice Pounamu Tohinga
- Justice Eric Rotorua
- Justice Gideon Wharenuioterohe
- Justice Magnus Korero
- Justice Xavier Putea
- Justice Ngahere Atake
Powers
Judicial review
The Supreme Court had the power to review laws that have already been passed by the National Assembly and granted royal assent by the Emperor for their conformity to the spirit and letter of the Constitution. The Supreme Court does not select a law after it has been passed and read through it to determine its constitutionality. Instead the law is held to be constitutional until a case comes before the Supreme Court via appeals procedure that proves that the law applicable to the facts of the case in question violates the constitution. The Supreme Court can discard the entire law or a part of it. The threshold for striking down an entire law is obviously much higher than for a part of it. The Supreme Court must apply various principles of constitutional theory and compellingly argue for the striking down of the law in question. The decisions of the Supreme Court on laws cannot be reversed. The government is expected to stop enforcing the law in line with some deadline given by the judiciary.
Final court of appeal
The power of judicial review stems from the power of to receive appeals. This means that when a case has gone through the High Courts, the Supreme Court of the Oan Isles can look at the case and determine whether the High Court and other courts through which the case has gone made a procedurally fair decision in considering the facts and circumstances of the case when arriving at their verdict. The Supreme Court does not try the case from scratch. It reviews applications and oral arguments from lawyers to determine whether the law was faithfully applied.
Miscellaneous powers
Through various acts of the National Assembly, the Supreme Court has accumulated various miscellaneous powers. For instance, the government can request a warrant to carry widespread actions against private citizens or juristic persons for the sake of public order. This warrant is rarely sought but is usually granted as there is only one person presenting the case, the government of the Oan Isles. The Chief Justice also swears in various public officials including the Prime Minister and Speaker of the Council of the People to their offices.