By Kirsty Needham
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Kiribati’s parliament has voted to remove Australian-born Supreme Court Justice David Lambourne, saying on Friday the move was politically motivated and an attack on the independence of the Pacific island nation’s judiciary.
Parliament voted to accept a special court’s recommendation that Lambourne be removed from office for misconduct.
An attempt to deport Lambourne, a judge married to Kiribati’s opposition party leader, sparked a judicial crisis in the remote atoll state two years ago, a case closely watched by the United Nations and international rights groups.
In a statement on Friday, Lambourne said he was saddened that Parliament had voted to advise the president that he should be removed from the judge’s post.
“This was a process motivated not by a desire to do the right thing with the Constitution but by politics, and the fabric of our democracy has been weakened as a result,” he said.
“Although the Chief Justice never received a complaint about my conduct or the exercise of my judicial duties, the (President) set up a tribunal to investigate me based on the flimsiest allegations made by the leader of his own political party. ” he added.
Kiribati’s presidential office did not respond to a request for comment.
The court’s report said Lambourne delayed serving written reasons in a judgment in a case during an election period. Lambourne had argued the delay was because he was stranded outside Kiribati due to COVID-19 border closures.
Lambourne has lived in Kiribati for 30 years and has lived there without a visa or salary since 2022, when President Taneti Maamau suspended him. Maamau then suspended all three Court of Appeal judges and the chief justice after they ruled that Lambourne should not be deported.
Kiribati is holding national elections this year and Lambourne appeared in court last month in a failed attempt to have his suspension overturned.
The attempt to deport Lambourne in August 2022 failed when a Fiji Airlines pilot refused to take Lambourne on the plane against his will.
The Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that Lambourne cannot be deported until Parliament considers the outcome of a special court.
Lambourne said on Friday he had not received a fair hearing at the tribunal.
“The last two years have seen a concerted attack on the independence of the judiciary in Kiribati by the (president) and the executive.”
In a letter to Kiribati in September 2023, Margaret Satterthwaite, UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, expressed concern about the suspension of four judges and her concern that the tribunal investigating Lambourne was being led by a lay judge with no formal legal qualifications .
Kiribati’s parliament will meet for its final session this month before being dissolved ahead of national elections in May.
(Reporting by Kirsty Needham; Editing by Michael Perry)