ATTORNEY-GENERAL (FIJI)

Fiji's chief governmental legal officer is the 'Attorney General.' According to the Constitution of Fiji, the Attorney-General is required to be a qualified lawyer and sits in the Cabinet. The office of the Attorney-General is the oldest surviving executive office in Fiji, having been established in the Kingdom of Viti in 1872. It continued throughout Fiji's years as a British crown colony (1874 - 1970) and subsequently as a Commonwealth realm (1970 - 1987) and republic (1987 - present), with minimal modifications.
The Attorney-General is the only Cabinet office, apart from that of the Prime Minister, specifically established by the Constitution. The Attorney-General must be a member of either the House of Representatives or the Senate. A unique feature of the office is that except for voting rights (which may be exercised only in the chamber of which the Attorney-General is officially a member), the Attorney-General has the authority to participate in the business of both chambers of Parliament. The office is normally held in personal union with that of the Minister for Justice, although they are distinct offices. Like other members of the Cabinet, the Attorney-General is appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister.

Contents

The Attorney-General's office

List of Attorneys-General of Fiji

Kingdom of Viti (1871 - 1874)

Crown colony (1874 - 1970)

Commonwealth realm (1970 - 1987)

Republic (1987 - present)

External links

The Attorney-General's office

The office of 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)

'Order'	'Attorney-General'	'Term of Office'	'Appointed by:'
1.	R.W. Hamilton	1872	King Seru Epenisa Cakobau
2.	C.R. Forwood	1872 - 1873
3.	Sydney Charles Burt	1873 - 1874

Crown colony (1874 - 1970)

'Order'	'Attorney-General'	'Term of Office'	'Appointed by (Governor):'
4.	J.H. De Ricci	1875 - 1876	Sir Arthur Hamilton Gordon
5.	Joseph Hector Garrick	1876 - 1882	Sir Arthur Hamilton Gordon
6.	Fielding Clark	1882 - 1886	Sir William Des Vœux
7.	Henry Spencer Berkeley	1886 - 1889
8.	John Symonds Udal	1889 - 1901	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.	James Muir 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 Leslie Brian Freeston
19.	Ashley Martin Greenwood	1956 - 1963	Sir Ronald Herbert Garvey
20.	Justin Lewis	1963 - 1970	Sir Kenneth Phipson Maddocks

Commonwealth realm (1970 - 1987)

'Order'	'Attorney-General'	'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 V. Pillai	1981 - 1984
			Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau
25.	Qoriniasi Babitu Bale	1984 - 1987
26.	Jai Ram Reddy	1987		Timoci Bavadra
[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)

'Order'	'Attorney-General'	'Term of Office'	'Served under [1]:'
			'President'	'Prime Minister'
27.	Sailosi Kepa	1987 - 1992	Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau	Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara
28.	Apaitia Seru	1992
29.	Kelemedi Bulewa	1992 - 1996		Sitiveni Rabuka
			Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara
31.	Anand K. Singh	1999 - 2000		Mahendra Chaudhry
32.	Alipate Qetaki	2000 - 2001	Ratu Josefa Iloilo	Laisenia Qarase
33.	Qoriniasi Babitu Bale	2001 - 2006
34.	Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum	2007- present		Commodore Frank Bainimarama
[1] ''The Attorney-General in this period is formally appointed by the President, but on the advice of the Prime Minister.

External links

★ Website of the Office of the Attorney General of Fiji